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Against Heresies #3
Against the Heresies: Book 3
Book 3 of St. Irenaeus s best-known work, Adversus Haereses (Against the Heresies), presented in a new translation with an introduction and notes.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 188
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About the author
Irenaeus of Lyons
117 books99 followersSt. Irenaeus (2nd cenutry C.E. – c. 202) was Bishop of Lugdunum in Gaul, then a part of the Roman Empire (now Lyon, France). He was an early church father and apologist, and his writings were formative in the early development of Christian theology. Irenaeus' best-known book, Adversus Haereses or Against Heresies (c. 180) is a detailed attack on Gnosticism, which was then a serious threat to the Church, and especially on the system of the Gnostic Valentinus.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
October 4, 2020
This is the last book in a series of 3, and for me the best of them. In the first 2 books Ireneaus spent more time identifying various heresies and false beliefs and refuting them. In this book he does more of the same but also does a little more of stating the Christian beliefs and toward the end especially in showing how Jesus is the Savior of Adam. Adam and Eve are not consigned to an eternity in hell for their sins, but rather are portrayed by Irenaeus as having been the victims of Satan/the Serpent. The serpent deserved to be cursed and was cursed by God. Adam and Eve are protected from growing every more evil by mortality. All that God does is for their salvation which fully occurs in Christ.
November 13, 2018
An excellent translation with extensive notes of the most important work written in the second century. Take up, read it, live it.
April 3, 2013
Book 3 of Against the Heresies is much more focused on positively stating Christian doctrine. Most of book 3 deals with Scripture proofs that counteract the heretics. But before engaging in the heretics on with Scripture itself Irenaeus makes the case that the Gospels contain accurate tradition from the apostles and that the oral tradition preserved in the orthodox church faithfully preserved apostolic teaching. This leads to an interesting discussion about the composition of the Gospels (including order of composition: Matthew, Luke, Mark) in chapter 1 and about the succession of the bishops of Rome in chapter 2. Irenaeus’s discussion of Scripture and tradition set the church down a trajectory that would need to be corrected by the Reformation. Two things should be noted in Irenaeus’s defense. First, his argument made good sense in its time—in general the church did preserve a more accurate tradition of apostolic teaching than the heretics (though this tradition was not always accurate, see 2.22.5-6). Second, Irenaeus locates apostolic tradition, in the first place, in the written Gospels, and he bases his arguments on Scripture.
The main thrust of book 3 is that there is only one God and that Jesus is the same God as the Father. Noteworthy passages in book 3 are the discussion of the various OT covenants (3.11.8) and the discussion of the virgin birth prophecy of Isa 7 (3.12). A discussion of Irenaeus’s distinctive doctrine of recapitulation takes place in 3.23.
Note especially Irenaues’s comments about the manifest authority of the four Gospels: "Now, the authority of these Gospels is so great that the heretics themselves bear witness to them, and each one of them tries to establish his doctrine with the Gospels as a starting point. The Ebionites use only the Gospel of Matthew. . . . Marcion, on the other hand, mutilated the gospel according to Luke. . . . Those, however, who prefer the Gospel of Mark and divide Jesus from Christ, and assert that Christ remained impassible but that Jesus suffered, can be corrected if they read this Gospel with a love for the truth. Finally, the followers of Valentinus, who make very ample use of the Gospel according to John . . ." 3.11.7
The main thrust of book 3 is that there is only one God and that Jesus is the same God as the Father. Noteworthy passages in book 3 are the discussion of the various OT covenants (3.11.8) and the discussion of the virgin birth prophecy of Isa 7 (3.12). A discussion of Irenaeus’s distinctive doctrine of recapitulation takes place in 3.23.
Note especially Irenaues’s comments about the manifest authority of the four Gospels: "Now, the authority of these Gospels is so great that the heretics themselves bear witness to them, and each one of them tries to establish his doctrine with the Gospels as a starting point. The Ebionites use only the Gospel of Matthew. . . . Marcion, on the other hand, mutilated the gospel according to Luke. . . . Those, however, who prefer the Gospel of Mark and divide Jesus from Christ, and assert that Christ remained impassible but that Jesus suffered, can be corrected if they read this Gospel with a love for the truth. Finally, the followers of Valentinus, who make very ample use of the Gospel according to John . . ." 3.11.7
May 29, 2024
What a book! Irenaeus could not be more clear about what the faith is and what the consequences are for submission and rejection. Must read!!!
November 9, 2022
This third book of Irenaeus's Adversus Haereses deals with Church "Tradition" (i.e. the Gospel handed down or "traditioned" by the Apostles), the nature of the fourfold Gospel, Old Testament passages which confirm the identify of God's Son as Jesus Christ as well as His unity, the utterly unique virgin birth of Christ, and the recapitulation of all things including the redemption of Adam in Christ the Son of Man. This book has some of the most important passages in the entire five volume work. It is from these passages, particularly regarding the recapitulation of all things in Christ, that many distinctively "Irenaean" theological ideas are gathered, though these ideas might not be so much original to the Bishop of Lyons as they were common stock of the 2nd century Church. It's just that Irenaeus was the one who most brilliantly gathered and elucidated them. Certainly Irenaeus was not trying to be original, but rather, orthodox; in fact, this desire undergirds his entire attack on the Valentinians, Marcosians, Marcionites, etc; they are trying to be original, and in their choosing-for-themselves the truth (i.e. their 'heresy'), they err, blaspheme, and lead the ignorant to destruction. The chief feature of their thought that Irenaeus attacks in this work is the widespread Gnostic belief that "Christ," "Savior," and "Jesus" are separate beings, or Aeons, and that the man who died on the cross either wasn't the Son of God. The corollary to this that Irenaeus dismantles is the heretical teaching which seems to be one held in common by all the disparate groups: it's that Christ's flesh is not actual flesh; "But according to the teaching of none of the heretics did the Word of God become flesh" (3.11.3).
In the course of his withering attack on Gnostic (mis)interpretation of the scriptures and Apostolic writings, Irenaeus tells a similar story as Justin in a defense of the Septuagint. The earliest Christians believed that the Seventy's unified translation was a miracle and therefore the work's more direct Christological passages, in comparison to the Hebrew versions of those passages, were manifestly to be preferred. An example is the quotation from Jeremiah that both Justin and Irenaeus hold that Jewish scribes had purposely excised from the prophetic book in their Hebrew version that the LXX had originally had: "And the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, was mindful of the dead who had slept in the land of burial; and He came down to them to announce to them the good news of salvation that comes from Him, in order to save them" (3.20.4).
I pointed out that recapitulation (ἀνακεφαλαίωσις) is perhaps the most crucial theological argument in this third book; now I'll quote a few passages now and offer comment.
Irenaeus writes, "The Son of God was made the Son of Man, that through Him we might receive adoption, since human nature bore and contained and embraced the Son of God" (3.16.3). "There is, therefore, as we have shown, one God the Father and one Christ Jesus our Lord, who comes through every economy and recapitulates in Himself all things. Now, man, too, God's handiwork, is contained in this 'all.' So He also recapitulated in Himself humanity; the invisible becomes visible; the incomprehensible, comprehensible; the impassible, passible; the Word, man. Thus He recapitulated in Himself all things, so that, just as the Word of God is the sovereign Ruler over super celestial, spiritual, and invisible beings, so too He might possess sovereign rule over visible and corporeal beings; and thus, by taking to Himself the primacy, and constituting Himself the Head of the Church, He might draw all things to Himself at the proper time" (3.16.6).
Recapitulation is the "summing up" of humanity and creation in Christ. Adam is made in Christ's image; Christ shares Adam's flesh from the womb of Mary; Christ undoes what Adam did. Salvation is participatory, filial adoption. By drawing near to Christ, by believing in Him, humans return to their original status as "sons/daughters" and enter into God's family.
One last note; exegetically Irenaeus reads the Scriptures as the testimonies and prophecies heralding Christ, His Apostles, and the Church. The Scriptures lead Christians to rightly understand theology, as they are the writings of men inspired by the Holy Spirit who is always leading men to Christ. Irenaeus does not have the overt, allegorical readings found in Clement of Alexandria and Origen a generation or two later (and in Alexandria, not Gaul). That being said, Irenaeus "reads" the OT typologically and Christologically. The history of Israel, in addition, serves as an example and warning to believers in the present. However, compared to modern "grammatical-historical," Protestant readings, Irenaeus never - for a single moment - wavers from his belief that all of the OT expounds Christ. There is nothing "extra," that is, no useless information or mere coloring. But neither is there a foundation for "biblical principles," such as how to be wise with money or how to be a good parent; the only biblical principle is Christ, Christ who demonstrates the economy of creation and redemption of God.
I should also say that this edition published in 2012 by Paulist Press is an outstanding piece of scholarship.
In the course of his withering attack on Gnostic (mis)interpretation of the scriptures and Apostolic writings, Irenaeus tells a similar story as Justin in a defense of the Septuagint. The earliest Christians believed that the Seventy's unified translation was a miracle and therefore the work's more direct Christological passages, in comparison to the Hebrew versions of those passages, were manifestly to be preferred. An example is the quotation from Jeremiah that both Justin and Irenaeus hold that Jewish scribes had purposely excised from the prophetic book in their Hebrew version that the LXX had originally had: "And the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, was mindful of the dead who had slept in the land of burial; and He came down to them to announce to them the good news of salvation that comes from Him, in order to save them" (3.20.4).
I pointed out that recapitulation (ἀνακεφαλαίωσις) is perhaps the most crucial theological argument in this third book; now I'll quote a few passages now and offer comment.
Irenaeus writes, "The Son of God was made the Son of Man, that through Him we might receive adoption, since human nature bore and contained and embraced the Son of God" (3.16.3). "There is, therefore, as we have shown, one God the Father and one Christ Jesus our Lord, who comes through every economy and recapitulates in Himself all things. Now, man, too, God's handiwork, is contained in this 'all.' So He also recapitulated in Himself humanity; the invisible becomes visible; the incomprehensible, comprehensible; the impassible, passible; the Word, man. Thus He recapitulated in Himself all things, so that, just as the Word of God is the sovereign Ruler over super celestial, spiritual, and invisible beings, so too He might possess sovereign rule over visible and corporeal beings; and thus, by taking to Himself the primacy, and constituting Himself the Head of the Church, He might draw all things to Himself at the proper time" (3.16.6).
Recapitulation is the "summing up" of humanity and creation in Christ. Adam is made in Christ's image; Christ shares Adam's flesh from the womb of Mary; Christ undoes what Adam did. Salvation is participatory, filial adoption. By drawing near to Christ, by believing in Him, humans return to their original status as "sons/daughters" and enter into God's family.
One last note; exegetically Irenaeus reads the Scriptures as the testimonies and prophecies heralding Christ, His Apostles, and the Church. The Scriptures lead Christians to rightly understand theology, as they are the writings of men inspired by the Holy Spirit who is always leading men to Christ. Irenaeus does not have the overt, allegorical readings found in Clement of Alexandria and Origen a generation or two later (and in Alexandria, not Gaul). That being said, Irenaeus "reads" the OT typologically and Christologically. The history of Israel, in addition, serves as an example and warning to believers in the present. However, compared to modern "grammatical-historical," Protestant readings, Irenaeus never - for a single moment - wavers from his belief that all of the OT expounds Christ. There is nothing "extra," that is, no useless information or mere coloring. But neither is there a foundation for "biblical principles," such as how to be wise with money or how to be a good parent; the only biblical principle is Christ, Christ who demonstrates the economy of creation and redemption of God.
I should also say that this edition published in 2012 by Paulist Press is an outstanding piece of scholarship.
September 16, 2025
Of the three volumes I have read so far, this is by far the superior. As with the previous volumes, I appreciate the translation - as the English is easy to read.
What I appreciated the most was that we moved on from the other volumes, where we covered the details of what the “heresies” claimed - to this one which dug into what Scripture teaches. It is wonderful to see an examination of so much of the New Testament some 100 years after its various books were written, and this provides good evidence for the use of the NT Canon. We also get some good insights into church history.
In this book, we see an early church leader using the Bible, fighting against false ideas, showing respect to those who came before, and proclaiming Christ. A worthwhile read for those interested in Church History, History of Theology and the Formation of the New Testament.
What I appreciated the most was that we moved on from the other volumes, where we covered the details of what the “heresies” claimed - to this one which dug into what Scripture teaches. It is wonderful to see an examination of so much of the New Testament some 100 years after its various books were written, and this provides good evidence for the use of the NT Canon. We also get some good insights into church history.
In this book, we see an early church leader using the Bible, fighting against false ideas, showing respect to those who came before, and proclaiming Christ. A worthwhile read for those interested in Church History, History of Theology and the Formation of the New Testament.
October 14, 2018
Irenaeus can be very hard to read and at times you find yourself nodding off and losing concentration. Still, the good bits are really good and he has some excellent theological reflections on several important topics.
November 16, 2021
As Irenaeus quoted from the Bible quite often, it provides clear evidence that the Bible is accurate and the true words have not been altered over the centuries.
September 15, 2015
If you want to know exactly what it means to be a Christian, read this volume of "Against Heresies." Written in the 2nd century, I don't think it's ever been matched as perhaps the clearest and most concise description of having faith in God through Jesus.
June 28, 2015
Incredible. Must read .
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews