IRENAEUS: Refuting Heresies
Irenaeus was perhaps the most significant church father in the latter half of the 2nd century. As a boy born into a Greek Christian home, he listened to Polycarp, who had known the Apostle John. As a presbyter and then a bishop, his major contribution to early Christianity was the refutation of the Gnostic heresy and the exposition of apostolic Christianity.
Gnosticism, which had creeped into Christian circles in the first century and took roots in the early second century, believed in a supreme God who is totally remote from this world. The evil in this world was explained by attributing creation to the work of a lesser deity. Between the supreme God and this evil world was an intervening realm controlled by hostile divine beings. Our souls were considered to be divine sparks trapped in our physical bodies and for salvation, our souls had to escape from our bodies and travel through this intervening realm, for which knowledge (gnosis) was key. As with all heresies, Gnosticism progressed from reducing the supremacy of Christ to totally doing away with the need for Christ. Irenaeus refuted Gnosticism by appealing to the common widespread apostolic traditions in the early churches, wherein Christ took centerstage in the theology of salvation. He also highlighted Scriptural authority, combining apostolic books which were widely accepted as prophetic with Old Testament Scripture. This also paved the way for the eventual compilation of the New Testament as canonical. It was primarily Irenaeus’ efforts along with others that helped orthodox Christianity triumph over Gnosticism.
Heresies in different forms have been a challenge for the Christian faith through the centuries. It is no different today. Many heresies have organized into ‘churches’ which have no semblance to classic Christian philosophy; others have seeped into Christian churches and continue to devour the pure faith on which churches were initially established. In the words of the Apostle John,
‘This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God., but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world’ (1John 4:2,3)
The beginning of heresy is with diminishing the importance of Christ. What takes the place of Christ can be varied including money, alternate theology, organizational affiliation, religious leaders, societal tendencies and the pressure to conform to the evolving world. So, when we find trends within the church like giving God-like status to religious leaders or an unwillingness to separate from the increasingly popular liberal philosophy, it is the beginning of heresy. Unless Christ is made the center of a Christian’s life and that of the church, and unless the church is willing to adopt a pattern of non-conformity with the world as instructed in the word of God, heresy is nourished with an eventual rejection of Christ.
The legacy of Irenaeus is one of refuting heresies and every generation needs to continue that legacy to preserve the integrity of the church in the face of various heresies.
