Ecumenical Commemoration
Bishop & Doctor of the Church
June 28 · d. 202
also known as Irenaeus of Lyons, Irenaeus, St. Irenaeus
Irenaeus of Lyons was the most important Christian theologian of the 2nd century — the man who defended orthodox Christianity against Gnosticism and articulated the principles of apostolic tradition, scriptural authority, and the rule of faith that would shape Christian theology for centuries. Born in Smyrna where he heard Polycarp preach (and Polycarp had known John the Apostle), Irenaeus became bishop of Lyons and spent his life combating heresy and defending the faith. His masterwork, Against Heresies, is both a devastating refutation of Gnosticism and a positive theological statement of enduring importance.
Traditionally, Irenaeus is said to have died as a martyr under Septimius Severus around 202 AD. This tradition, however, first appears in Gregory of Tours (6th century) and is not confirmed by earlier sources. Neither Jerome nor earlier authorities mention his martyrdom. The tradition likely reflects the fact that many Christians in Lyons were martyred under Severus; Irenaeus's death may have been assumed to fall within this persecution.
Irenaeus was born around 130 in Smyrna in Asia Minor and received a thoroughly Christian education. His most treasured memory was hearing Bishop Polycarp preach — an encounter that gave him a direct link to the apostolic generation. He later wrote: 'I could describe the very place in which blessed Polycarp sat as he discoursed, and his goings out and comings in, and the character of his life, and his physical appearance, and his discourses to the people, and the accounts which he gave of his intercourse with John and with the others who had seen the Lord.' This personal connection to apostolic tradition deeply shaped Irenaeus's entire theological project.
Irenaeus traveled to Gaul (modern France) and became a presbyter at Lyons. He was away from the city on a mission to Rome when the catastrophic persecution of 177 devastated the Lyonnaise church and killed his predecessor, Bishop Pothinus. Upon his return, Irenaeus was elected bishop and spent the remainder of his life serving the church and defending it against heresy.
His great work, Adversus Haereses (Against Heresies), written in the 180s, is a five-book refutation of the elaborate mythological systems of Valentinus and other Gnostic teachers who claimed possession of secret knowledge unavailable to ordinary Christians. Against Gnostic systems that split creation from salvation and the material from the spiritual, Irenaeus proclaimed the goodness of creation, the reality of the incarnation, and the importance of the physical, fleshly resurrection. His doctrine of 'recapitulation' — that Christ, in becoming human, gathered up and healed all of human existence from Adam onward — is one of the most beautiful soteriological conceptions in Christian theology.
Against the Gnostic claim to secret tradition received from the apostles, Irenaeus appealed to the public teaching of the churches founded by the apostles — what he called the 'rule of faith' (regula fidei), handed down openly from generation to generation through the bishops in unbroken succession. Against Gnostic multiplication of scriptures, he insisted on the authority of the four Gospels and the apostolic writings, establishing the foundation of the New Testament canon. Against Gnostic contempt for the body and matter, he proclaimed the incarnation and insisted on bodily resurrection.
Irenaeus's theological vision was optimistic and incarnational. He saw in Christ not the escape from matter but its redemption. His most famous statement encapsulates this vision: 'The Word of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, ... became what we are in order that we might become what he is' — a doctrine that would be developed further by the Cappadocian fathers and became central to Eastern Christian theology.
Irenaeus died around 202. Later tradition claims he was martyred during the persecution under Septimius Severus, but the evidence for this is uncertain. The confusion may arise from the fact that many Christians in Lyons were indeed martyred under Severus; Irenaeus's death may have been assumed to be part of the same persecution.
Almighty God, you gave your servant Irenaeus of Lyons special gifts of grace to understand and teach the truth revealed in Christ Jesus: Grant that by this teaching we may know you, the one true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.