Against the Heresies: Book 1

Against Heresies #1

by Irenaeus of Lyons, Dominic J. Unger

This work, which establishes Irenaeus as the most important of the theologians of the second century, is a detailed and effective refutation of Gnosticism, and a major source of information on the various Gnostic sects and doctrines. This volume contains Book One. †

Genres: Theology, Christianity, History, Church History, Christian, Religion, Catholic

288 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 188

About the author

St. 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.

Reviews

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

The views Irenaeus describes here are even weirder than what you see on Twitter.

[Werner · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first book is essentially a detailed account of the core doctrines of the gnostic sects, the original heresiarchs and the main lineages of the subsequent breakaway sects and their specific beliefs. It has been said that due to the depth and accuracy of St. Irenaeus in detailing these errors, even modern day gnostics have recourse to this work, ironically.

I have to admit that I was simultaneously interested, disgusted, and irritated while reading this first book. It was fascinating to learn how fantastical and unfounded these doctrines were, and yet see an almost 1 to 1 parallel with the various gnostics and the modern protestant sects of today. It was sickening to learn how these so called "enlightened" and "spiritual" false prophets use their charisma to heap to themselves riches and honor, to defile virgins and wives, to cast souls into hell. It was ultimately irritating, for how stupid the whole system of theology was. There is video game lore out there that is more consistent and believable.

To summarize in St. Irenaeus' own words:

"They have now been fully exposed; and simply to exhibit their sentiments, is to obtain a victory over them.

Wherefore I have labored to bring forward, and make clearly manifest, the utterly ill-conditioned carcase of this miserable little fox. For there will not now be need of many words to overturn their system of doctrine, when it has been made manifest to all.
…
Even to give an account of them is a tedious affair, as thou seest. But I shall furnish means for overthrowing them, by meeting all their opinions in the order in which they have been described, that I may not only expose the wild beast to view, but may inflict wounds upon it from every side."

Looking forward to the next 4 books detailing the Triumph of the Truth Faith.

[Rev Reads · Rating 3 out of 5]

I gave this 3 stars because I would recommend this book to every pastor and I would encourage every church member to ignore it. I say this because Against the Heresies I is stupid and ridiculous. This is nothing against Irenaeus, I applaud him for taking the time to expose Gnosticism, but the teaching of Gnostics is stupid and ridiculous. It would be helpful for every pastor to read this book to learn the background of the false teaching combating the early church. But for the most part, Gnostic teaching was a silly combination of Greek polytheism with Christian terms. No one in the church should need to waste their time reading through it, but every pastor should get it from our earliest and most reliable source.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating 3rd generation Christian leader writing against the Gnostics. Love the 3rd book with its link to Polycarp and John the Apostle.

[Nathaniel Spencer · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's always fascinating to look carefully at what kinds of things Christians in the first few centuries thought it was important to argue about. As often as not, it's completely different from what modern Christianity thinks is most important. Or at least it comes from a radically different angle.

I'm getting the impression, the more patristic literature I read, that the first Christians really found Incarnation to be a much more totalizing concern than particulars of atonement theory or justification. And by virtue of Incarnation, crucifixion and resurrection, those being events concerning the flesh of Christ. Against Heresies is a symphony whose main themes are the goodness/saveability of the created physical nature of humans and the Oneness of the God who created them. The biggest, baddest heresies of the day were those that denied this.

Not that Irenaeus doesn't talk about atonement- he most definitely does, but he does so by taking it up into loooooong tracts of text about flesh and blood and physical form and its relation to Spirit, and the union of humans with God through Christ. The concern for him is that Christians will be led into one of these heretical sects that deny the physicality of Christ, or the possibility of bodily flesh being saved, or that what is saved is somehow a completely different substance than the bodies we currently have.

More or less, I think the heresies Irenaeus is attacking here are the same ones which are most prevalent and destructive today. They've simply gotten better at disguising themselves since the time of Marcion and Valentinus.

[Benjamin · Rating 4 out of 5]

...woah. Neat theological perspective, as Irenaeus clashed against Gnosticism. His method felt like a bombardment of foreign ideas, but once I worked through this, I could see and appreciate his struggle. The struggle against Gnosticism is a big deal today -- I think most escapist theology stems from Gnosticism ("We've got to get out of this evil, evil earth and get to some place better! vs. God is redeeming all creation!).

[Adam Carnehl · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first of Irenaeus's five books of Adversus Haereses in a critical English edition based on the best Latin/Greek/Armenian critical edition from the 19th century. In this first book Irenaeus outlines the frequently bizarre and contradictory beliefs of various gnostic sects from the first hundred and fifty years of Christianity. The Valentinians are the originary sect for most of the rest, and Simon Magus (Acts 8) and Cerdo, his follower - later the teacher of Marcion - are the original heresiarchs. Each chapter contains a sketch of each sect's basic cosmology and beliefs. In this Irenaeus says he is trying to strip the forest of trees and cover to expose the beast within, a beast that will all the more easily be hunted (by Irenaeus's elucidation of Christian doctrine) in future books.

This first volume lays the groundwork for the future four, and it is best described as a 2nd century catalogue of gnostic and other heretical sects' beliefs. However, there are glimpses of Irenaeus's later ideas. There are some positive formulations and confessions that the reader should take note of.

The first is from chapter 8: what the prophets preached, the Lord taught, and the Apostles handed down is the same catholic truth that the Church now possesses. There is a continuity, as Irenaeus demonstrates, between old and new, present and past and future. The apostolic succession and catholicity of the Church (circa 180 A.D.) is a demonstration that true, Christian tradition is not variable. There are no ideas up to the whim of bishops. The other important confessional section comes in chapter 10. Irenaeus gives the basic orientation of the Christian Faith, based on the incarnation and salvation of Jesus Christ, and then argues that the worldwide Church is of "one heart" when it comes to these saving doctrines.

Patristics scholar John Behr said somewhere that the Church in the 21st century must re-discover and appreciate anew the Gospel of John and the work of Irenaeus. I think he is correct. There is a treasure house here of theology, hermeneutics, and philosophical debate. We would do well to read Irenaeus and put most of modernity's theologians behind us.

[Ted · Rating 2 out of 5]

In general I really like the writings of Irenaeus. This book is part 1 of a trilogy needed to translate Irenaeus' Against the Heresies. If Irenaeus gives an accurate account of those he is opposing, it is an impressive amount of research. For me, the detail is too much as I'm more interested in what Irenaeus asserts as theology, than in the details and nuances of all the heretical claims he had to deal with. His response to them will come in the last two books. If you have an interest in knowing some of the many variations on Christianity were produced by various teachers, especially gnostics, Irenaeus provides a detailed summary of their beliefs. He does criticize them for contradicting each other, and their differences are many, though it seems to me many agreed on a basic point - the good God is totally transcendent beyond comprehension or in some cases even of being experienced by us. This good God is opposed to the God of the Jews who is viewed as evil. Often the gnostics had lesser gods create the world as that was beneath the dignity of God to have anything to do with creation/matter. Also they often make a distinction between Jesus and the Christ, usually some form of adoptionism where Jesus is adopted by the "creator" or "the Christ" comes to rest on or abide in Jesus but the two still remains separate with the Christ being the spiritual man and Jesus the human/physical man.

[Glenn Crouch · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had been waiting for all 5 books in this modern translation of Irenaeus’ classic work “Against Heresies” to come out before getting stuck into them. This is the first one, For the past 40+ years I have had a fascination with Early Church History, and many of the translations I have read (especially in my early days) were those made in the 19th Century. We are blessed to have so many modern translations being made, that not only are more readable to a 21st Century reader, but also include the latest manuscript evidence and reflect the many years of scholarly debate.

This is not an easy book for one starting out to read writings of the Early Church. Irenaeus is endeavouring to catalogue the foundational beliefs of various Gnostic groups. Some of the passages really do seem like the result of an overindulgence of magic mushrooms. However it is intriguing how far from the teaching of both the Septuagint and the writers of the New Testament these beliefs are. Especially when you allow for the writing of this volume in the latter half of the Second Century.

On to the next book :)

[Jesse · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to root for the heresies, but they are quite hard to sympathize with. I guess I just can't handle numerology once you get beyond 1, 2, 3 to 4, 6, 8, 12, 30, 360. How many Aeons do you really need? Marcus' alphabetizing tendencies, where each letter is expanded into its spelling (α = αλφα), were also quite silly.

I did enjoy the consistent theme, through many of the heresies, of Sophia-Wisdom (or perhaps her daughter Achamoth-Wisdom), who has sadly been separated from the Aeons (eg. The Deep, Mind, Truth, ...), giving birth to the Demiurge, who thinks he is God and who creates all corporeal things, while Sophia tries to secretly imbue people with knowledge, perhaps in the form of Christ, to guide them back to the true Fullness of the Aeons which gave birth to her. The Ophite/Sethian interpretation of Adam/Eve was also interesting.

[Emily Strom]

Gnosticism is so wild and convoluted that it seems like something someone would come up with after a LSD trip. I really couldn't explain what I read because it was so absurd: lots of aeons, emnations, and number theories, as well as spiritual entities having intercourse. And somehow they believed their weird theology was rooted in Scripture! Big shoutout to Irenaeus for taking the time to understand Gnosticism as thoroughly as possible in order to refute it--that must have required LOADS of dedication on his end. My favorite part by far was when he called the gnostics "nonsense-blabbering pumpkins!"

[John Lucy · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you know nothing of early Christian heresies, I wouldn't necessarily start here. Irenaeus's explanations are not always as clear or thorough as you might find in a more modern treatment. Still, it's fascinating to read what Christians at the time thought of those heresies that cropped up nearly everywhere in all sorts of different guises. The extent of variety is hard to imagine for us and well worth some fascinating reading, not to mention of course that Irenaeus helped set the trajectory for much of the Christianity we know today.

[Justin De · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't get me wrong, definitely something to read, but do so if you are prepared for hours of wacky Christian mythology about Aeons.
It is a thorough dispensation of Gnostic belief and a responding refutation. Some very strong chapters, in particular chapter 11, which outlines the universal, unified faith of the early church.
A good read, just be prepared for a lot of wacky mythology about all the different Aeons and their begetting of more Aeons

[A. Hagen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book 1 mostly focuses on explaining the beliefs of the Gnostics, which, as Irenaeus himself acknowledges in the last chapter, can be a bit tedious. That said, book 1 contains valuable insight into the beliefs of ante-Nicene orthodox Christianity, and Irenaeus' occasional poking fun at the Gnostics definitely made me laugh. I am very much looking forward to the later books.

[Robert Drumheller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked his description of the false teachings of the Gnostics. He compared them to mushrooms springing up in the morning. There were new heresies as the Gnostics disagreed among themselves concerning what was truth.

[Simon Field · Rating 4 out of 5]

A detailed account of 2nd Century Gnosticism. Book 2 is where he starts to pull it all apart!

[David Stevens · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rare second-century page-turner!

[Michael’ · Rating 2 out of 5]

At least Irenaeus admired he had no elegance of style

[Landon · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s crazy to see how the Devil tries to corrupt the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church even from its beginning and how many of these ideas persist to today.

[Storm Grimwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid overview of the early Church’s battle against Gnostic and mystical errors. Irenaeus clearly lays out the false teachings of the time. Simple, informative, and historically important.

[Brian Collins]

The first book of Against the Heresies is largely an account of the heresies that the church faced in the time of Irenaeus. These are complicated and sometimes incomprehensible. The main benefit of wading through them is to gain the recognition that completely implausible false teaching can seem quite persuasive in a given time and place while, in truth, being entirely empty. This is worth remembering when contemporary heresies seem formidable.

In terms of positive contributions to Christian theology, chapters 8-10 are the most significant. In general, Irenaeus is arguing that the Gnostics wrest Scripture from its context. He uses engaging illustrations to expose what the heretics do with Scripture: a mosaic of a king which is rearranged into the image of a fox; lines taken from throughout Homer and rearranged into a new poem. Interestingly, Irenaeus’s conclusion is not that one should investigate the contexts of the phrases the Gnostics wrest to their own ends, but rather that the rule of truth should be used as a template for performing the restoration. He states this rule of truth in 1.10.1 and 1.22.1. In support of the rule, Irenaeus argues that it is the truth confessed by the church in all parts of the world.

Irenaeus's argument makes sense in its time. Why wrangle over the exegesis of texts with the heretics if one has the slam dunk argument that the church is unified in its teaching against the heretics (cf. Tertullian, The Prescription against Heretics, ch. 19). This approach would, however, bear bad fruit as church tradition began to diverge from apostolic teaching.

[Christian Proano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though most of this book describes and traces all the gnostics heresies from its beginning (affecting the Church) with Simon Magus to Valentinus, the arch-heretic of St. Irenaeus times,, this book is worth reading because you may trace a lot of dangerous mysticism of essence, and rationalistic tendencies to today current of thoughts in different Christian and non-Christian traditions here and there.
However every time St. Irenaeus describes the Church tradition and teaching, is as if a peal is glean from the book.
It is remarkable that according to the content of the book both the gnostics heretics, and St. Irenaeus as well have a vast knowledge of the Old and the New Testament writings. The heretics putting their own interpretation on it, and St. Irenaeus speaking from the side of the Church's tradition and teaching.
Looking forward to start the 2nd book.
PS: When you read the Church Fathers, have a system of noting or referencing so you can mark when you find a commentary that may bring light to your understanding of Scripture, if you are into historical background this will help you because the Church Fathers for the most part claim to bring forth what they have received from the Apostles' teaching and preaching. This is surely the case with St. Ignatius of Antioch, St. Justin Martyr, and St. Irenaeus of Lyon. Surely this is just another Christianity than the one we have here in the West.

[Drew Bennett · Rating 2 out of 5]

I struggle with the early fathers. Always have. This book was much larger than I expected and for that reason I only read selections of it. It was hard for me to draw much practical application from it because the issues Irenaus is addressing- namely the gnostic controversy in the first two centuries of church history- are not the same issues that I am being forced to address in my life and ministry. The "two stars" is not an indication of the importance of this book nor even its contented relevance, but simply my enjoyment level of it.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very quickly: The translation and notes are excellent. I withhold one star simply because I find the first two books of Irenaeus interest me less than the later books! This is the book of Against the Heresies wherein Irenaeus presents his understanding of various groups today bunched together under the heading of 'Gnostics'. He seems to have access to some material written by these groups as well as material written about them by his fellow orthodox Christians.

[Tyson Guthrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A difficult read. Irenaeus' recounting of the gnostic heresies can be tedious, but it is worth the reader's attention, as it will lay a good seed-bed for understanding his refutation of them in the following 4 books.

[Joshua Rodning McIntyre · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great translation of a great work. Also, it is WAY more convenient to wield that all five books of Against the Heresies as found in the ANF set (vol. 1)

The end notes make the book worth its salt.

[Raul · Rating 3 out of 5]

An immense work though hard to follow at times.

[Phillip Howell · Rating 3 out of 5]

The translation is very good. The content is tough sledding. The whole book is mostly describing the false teachings of his day. A couple chapters he explains what he actually believes is the truth. If you want to learn about church history and read first hand sources then this is a great resource. As for the content and its helpfulness to the church or average Christian, I’d say it is not that useful.