Irenaeus, bishop of Lyons in the late second century, is one of the earliest witnesses to what the Church believed between the apostles and Nicaea. James Beaven, an English clergyman, sketches his life and then works topic by topic through his writings — the Trinity, the origin of evil, the canon of Scripture, tradition, the creed, free will — setting beside them the strange cosmologies of the Gnostic sects Irenaeus opposed.
A patient, well-sourced guide for anyone reading the early Church Fathers or curious about ancient Gnosticism. Download the free EPUB.