The Ancient Witnesses

42 • The Ancient Witnesses: A Journey to Discover Our Sacred Roots

had given me something like a parallel reading. Putting Justin’s Dialogue back on the shelf felt like more than simply returning a book to its place. Justin Martyr was now a familiar presence with us in the library. Irenaeus of Lyon and his Against All Heresies Next, I chose the first book in a five-volume set entitled Against the Heresies . Unlike Justin’s Apology , this book opened with many strange ideas that were difficult to understand. After listening to a few pages of it, I reopened Eusebius’ History to learn more about the author, Irenaeus of Lyon. Unlike Justin, Irenaeus had been born into a Christian family. His home town was Smyrna, in ancient Greece, a city famous as one of the seven cities named in the book of Revelation, and as the birth place of both Homer, the classical Greek poet, and Polycarp the martyr. Hearing this made me wish I had listened to more of Polycarp’s story. In fact, at the very time Polycarp was martyred, Irenaeus left his home and family to fulfill the Great Commission, traveling to Rome and eventually beyond the Alps to the northern frontier of the Roman Empire. 2 During his visit to Rome, Irenaeus encountered the teaching of two infamous heretics, Marcion and Valentinius. In Against the Heresies , Irenaeus described their teachings in minute detail, disproving them from the Scriptures. Irenaeus described the heresies as Gnosis or Knowledge Falsely So-Called , saying they were “the very abyss of madness and blasphemy against Christ.” Ironically, though Gnosis (knowledge) was supposed to be secret and available only to the chosen few, the language of these documents suggested they were

2 That is to Lugdunum, Gaul, which is modern day Lyon, France.