Irenaeus of Lyon
Against Heresies — defender of orthodoxy
The first great systematic theologian and the man who defeated Gnosticism intellectually. A student of Polycarp, who had known John, Irenaeus is a living link to the apostolic generation.
Key works
- Against Heresies (Adversus Haereses)~180— Five books dismantling Gnosticism
- Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching~190— The earliest surviving catechetical handbook