As an early missionary, Irenaeus eventually made his way to Gaul, to the Roman city of Lugdunum, now known as Lyon. This was during the time of great persecution and in 177, when the Bishop of Lyon, Pothinus, was martyred, along with dozens of other Christians, Irenaeus was chosen as his successor. It was a position he would hold until his own martyrdom almost 25 years later.
Unfortunately, only a few of the saint's writings have survived, but those that we have are enough to show us the brilliance and the sanctity of this Early Church Father. From these writings we realize that the Church had already developed a fully Catholic theology very early. Much of Irenaeus' writings were directed against the Gnostic heresy which had already infected parts of the Church. Gnosticism was a rather diverse heresy, but one version claimed that the real truths of Christianity were secret knowledge accessible only by a select few. Countering this, Irenaeus wrote his primary work, Against Heresies. It’s a wonderful work and should be more widely read today since echoes of ancient Gnosticism can still be heard from too many politicians, and even from some Christians.
I don’t intend here to offer a review of St. Irenaeus’ works but would like to share just one brief passage in which this early bishop and theologian describes the presence of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, in the Old Testament. Too many Christians seem to think the Son, the Second Person of the Trinity, was somehow hidden away in some heavenly cell before the Incarnation. St. John, of course, tells us otherwise with the very first words of his Gospel:
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God; all things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made” [Jn 1:1-3].
As John reveals, the Son, the Creative Word of God, was present from the beginning. Now read what St. Irenaeus had to say about that presence:
“The Son of God has been sown everywhere throughout the Scripture [of Moses]. Sometimes He speaks with Abraham, sometimes with Noah, giving him the measurements of the ark. He looks for Adam, brings judgment on the Sodomites. There are times when He is actually seen, guiding Jacob on his way, speaking with Moses from the bush.”
We must never forget that Jesus, the Word of God Incarnate, is also the Word of God Revealed. Read Irenaeus. The above link connects to an excellent translation of his major work, with a beautiful introduction by the great twentieth-century theologian, Hans Urs von Balthasar.
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