or gatherings of bishops (§ 26). Although it was not difficult to bring about a condemnation of novel and

re precise determination of what writings should be regarded as apostolic, or the canon of the New Testament (§ 28); and the apostolic faith, which was regarded as summed up in the Apostles' Creed (§ 29). These norms of orthodoxy seem to have been generally established as authoritative som

g

of Councils as a De

he local church still persisted, these councils had little more than the combined authority of the several members composing them. They had, as yet, onl

t. Ec., V, 16 (given above, § 25, a), V, 24;

Synodicus,

ellus Synodicus, a compilation of the ninth ce

Montanus and Maximilla, the false prophets, and at the same time, Theodotus the tanner, were condemned and expelled. A holy and local synod was gathered un

c., V, 18. (MSG, 20:4

ch to meet the heresy of the Montanists by gatherings of bishops. It

ew prophecy, as it is called, are an abomination to all the brethren throughout the world, I have sent you writings of the most blessed Claudius Apollinarius, bishop of Hierapolis in Asia." In the same letter of Serapion are found the signatures of several bishops, of whom one has subscribed himself as follows: "I, Aurelius Cyrenius, a witness, pray for yo

lic Tradition an

on which it never had had any doubt, but was vouched for, not by obscure teachers, but by the churches which had been founded by the Apostles themselves in large cities and by the bishops whom the Apostles had instituted in those churches. Those churches, furthe

of teachers, see Tertullian, De Pr?scr., 25; Clement of Alexandr

g

, III, 3: 1-4. (MSG, 7

f its more powerful leadership," has been a famous point of discussion. While it is obscure in detail, the application of its general purport to the argument of Iren?us is clear. Since for this passage we have not the original Gre

taught nor knew anything resembling these men's ravings. For if the Apostles had known hidden mysteries which they used to teach the perfect, apart from and without the knowledge of the rest, they would have delivered them especially to those to whom they were also committing the churches themselves.

ought, by pointing out the tradition derived from the Apostles of the greatest, most ancient, and universally known Church, founded and established by the two most glorious Apostles, Peter and Paul, and also the faith declared to [pg 113] men which through the succession of bishops comes down to

nt received the episcopate. He had seen and conversed with the blessed Apostles, and their preaching was still sounding in his ears and their tradition was still before his eyes. Nor was he alone in this, for many who had been taught by the Apostles yet survived. I

oriously, and then Hyginus; after him Pius, and after Pius Anicetus; Soter succeeded Anicetus, and now, in the twelfth place from the Apostles, Eleutherus [174-

itness of the truth than Valentinus and Marcion and the rest of the evil-minded. It was he who was also in Rome in the time of Anicetus and caused many to turn away from the above-mentioned heretics to the Church of God, proclaiming that he had received from the Apostles this one and only truth which has been transmitted by the Church. And there are those who heard from him that John, the disciple of the Lord, going to bathe in Ephesus, when he saw Cerinthus within, ran out of the bath-house without bathing, crying: "Let us flee, lest even the bath-house fall, because Cerinthus, the enemy of the truth, is within." And Polycarp him

Pr?scriptione, 20

stolic churches. He may have obtained the argument from Iren?us, as he was evidently acquainted with hi

be counted as apostolic, being the offspring of apostolic churches. Every kind of thing must be judged by reference to its origin. Therefore so many and so great churches are all one, being from that first Church which is from the Apostles. Thus they are all pr

should preach, that is, what Christ revealed to them, can, as I must likewise here enter as a demurrer, properly be proved in no other way than by those very churches which the Apostles themselves founded by preaching to them, both viva voce, as the phrase is, and subsequently by epistles. If this is so, it is evident that all doctrine which agrees with those apostolic churches, the wombs and origins of the faith, must be reckoned for truth, as

De Pr?scriptione

h it was brought forward. The argument, whenever it occurs, does not turn upon the infallibility of any one see or church as such. That point is not touched. Suc

you get Ephesus. Since, moreover, you are close upon Italy, you have Rome, from which there comes even into our own hands the very authority of Apostles themselves. How happy is that church, on which Apostles poured forth all their doctrine along with their blood! Where Peter endures a passion like his Lord's; where Paul wins a crown in a death like John's; where the Apostle John was first plunged, unhurt, into boiling oil, and thence remitted to his island exile! See what she has learned, what taught; what fellowship she ha

g

the Authoritative N

]. The point to be made by the champions of the faith of the great body of Christians was that only those books could be legitimately used in support of Christian doctrine which could claim actual apostolic origin and had been used continuously in the Church. As a fact, the books to which they appealed had been in use generation after generation, but the Gnostic works were unknown unt

Analecta, II, Tübingen, 1910; Tatian, Diate

e History of the Canon of the New Testament, seventh ed., Cambridge, 1896

ning and end. It belongs to the middle or the second half of the second century. It cannot with certainty be attributed to any known person.

ome he was present, a

ter the ascension of Christ, Paul had taken him to be with him like a student of law. Yet neither did he see the Lord in t

t with me this day for three days; and what may be revealed to any of us, let us relate to one another." The same night it

nce by one guiding Spirit all things are declared in all of them concerning the nativity, the passion, the resurrection, the conversation with His

ve seen with our eyes and heard with our ears and our hands have handled, these things we have written to you"? For so h

t Theophilus," that the several things were done in his own presence, as he also plainly shows by leaving o

lf, following the order of his predecessor John, writes only by name to seven churches in the following order: to the Corinthians a first, to the Ephesians a second, to the Philippians a third, to the Colossians a fourth, to the Galatians a fifth, to the Thessalonians a sixth, to the Romans a seventh; and yet, although for the sake of admonition there is a second to the Corinthians and to the Thessalonians, but one Church is recognized as being spread over the entire world. For John, too, in the Apocalypse, though he w

ly we receive; which some of us will not have read in the Church. But the Shepherd was written quite lately in our times by Hermas, while his brother Pius, the bishop, was sitting in the chair of the church of the city

thing at all, who have also composed a long new book of Psalms,

. H?r., III, II:

also the opinion of the author that there were but four gospels, and could be no more than four. It sho

ift of the Spirit hovering over the Church. And therefore the gospels are in accord with these things, among which Christ is seated. For that according to John relates His original, effectual, and glorious [pg 121] generation from the Father, thus declaring, "In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God" [cf. John 1:1 ff.], and further, "All things were made by Him and without Him was nothing made." For this reason, also, is that Gospel full of confidence, for such is His person. But that according to Luke, which takes up His priestly character, commenced with Zacharias, the priest, who offers sacrifice to God. For now was made ready the fatted calf, about to be immolated for the recovery of the younger son [Luke 15:23]. Matthew, again, relates His generation as a man, saying, "The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham" [Matt. 1:1]; and "The birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise" [Matt. 1:18]. This, then, is the gospel of His humanity; for which reason the character of a humble and meek man is kept up through the whole gospel. Mark, on the other hand, commences with reference to the prophetical Spirit who comes down from on high to men, saying, "The

dv. Marcion., IV,

ument from the apostolic churches with the authority of the apostolic witness. This is the special importance of the reference to the connection of

pse, the order of bishops, when traced to their origin, will rest on John as their author. Likewise the noble lineage of the other churches is recognized. I say, therefore, that in them, and not only in the apostolic churches, but in all those which are united with them in the fellowship of the mystery [sacramenti], that Gospel of Luke, which we are defending with all our might [cf. § 23], has stood its ground from its very first publication; whereas Marcion's gospel is not known to most people, and to none whatever is it known without being condemned. Of course it has its churches, but they are its own; they are as late as they are spurious. Should you want to know

e Apostl

stolic faith. They were naturally attributed to the Apostles themselves, although they seem to have varied in many details. They were used principally in baptism, and were long kept

der Symbole und Glaubensregeln der allen Kirche,

v. Haer., 1, 10

s, v. supr

resurrection from the dead, and the bodily assumption into the heavens of the beloved Christ Jesus our Lord, and His appearing from the heavens in the glory of the Father, in order to sum up all things under one head [cf. Ephes. 1:10], and to raise up all flesh of all mankind, that to Christ Jesus, our Lord and God and Saviour and King, every knee of those that are in heaven and on earth and under the earth should bow [cf. Phil. 2:11], according to the good pleasure of the Fath

v. H?r., III, 4

bles the traditional Apostles' Creed. With it comp

by the Spirit without paper and ink, and guarding diligently the ancient tradition: Believing in one God, Maker of heaven and earth, and all that is in them; through Jesus Christ, the Son of God; who, because of His astounding love toward His creatures, sustained the birth of the Virgin, Himself uniting ma

Virginibus Veland

important are the following and d, e. The date of the work De Virg

and His Son, Jesus Christ, born of the Virgin Mary, crucified under Pontius Pilate, on the third day raised again from the dead, received in

Adv. Praxean,

he doctrine of the Trinity as opposed to the Patripassianism of Praxeas. To this theory of Praxeas, Tertullian

d without whom nothing was made. This One was sent by the Father into the Virgin, and was born of her, Man and God, the Son of Man and the Son of God, and called Jesus Christ; He suffered, He died and was buried, according to the Scriptures; and raised again by the [pg 126] Father, and taken up into the heavens, and He sits at the right hand of the Father; He shall come again to judge the quick and the dead: and He then

De Pr?scriptione

rd in the prophets, at last was sent down from the Spirit and power of God the Father, into the Virgin Mary, was made flesh in her womb, and born of her, lived as Jesus Christ; that thereupon He preached the new law and the new promise of the kingdom of the heavens; wrought miracles; was fastened to the cross; rose again the third day; w

ater Gn

ining in the third century. The strength of the movement was still further diminished by loss of many adherents to Manich?anism (v. § 54), which had much in common with Gnosticism. The persistence of these sects, together with various later heresies, in spite of the very stringent laws of the

Epistul? 81, 145.

s, A. D. 445. Ep. 145 was written to

us and Montanus, yes, and even to pagans and Jews; but I, the foremost champion of the teaching of the Gospel, am excluded from every city.... I led eight villages of Marcionites with their su

to be of one and the same faith with myself, the arguments which I have already urged against the victims of the pl

g

Results of

uch a development of the episcopate that the Church was recognized as based upon an order of bishops receiving their powers in succession fro

H?r., IV, 26:2,

tence of a wide-spread episcopal organization at an early date in the second century. Possibly the connection of Iren?us with Asia Minor, where the episcopal organization admittedly was earliest, diminis

those who together with the succession of the episcopate have received the certain gift [charisma] of the truth according to the good pleasure of t

give them their meat in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his Lord when he cometh shall find so doing" [Matt. 24:45 f.]. Paul, then, teaching us where one may [pg 129] find such, says: "God hath placed in the Church, first, Apostles; secondly, prophets; thirdly, teachers" [I Cor. 12:28].

De Pr?scriptione

an in Iren?us's. Bishop and presbyter are not used as interchangeable terms, as would appear in the pa

cession from the beginning in such manner that that first bishop of theirs shall be able to show for his ordainer or predecessor some one of the Apostles or of apostolic men-a man, moreover, who continued steadfast with the Apostles. For in this manner the apostolic churches transmit their registers; as the church of Smyrna, which records t