Editing Irenaeus (section)

==Notes==
{{notelist|refs=

{{efn|name=Gregory|[[Gregory of Tours]] is the first to mention a tradition which held Irenaeus to be a martyr}}

{{efn|name=Harnack|This work was first published in 1907 in Armenian, along with a German translation by Adolf von Harnack. It is Harnack who divided the text into one hundred numbered sections.}}

{{efn|name=atonement|For other theories of atonement see [[Atonement in Christianity]]}}

{{efn|name=AH.IV26|"Wherefore we must obey the priests of the Church who have succession from the Apostles, as we have shown, who, together with succession in the episcopate, have received the certain mark of truth according to the will of the Father; all others, however, are to be suspected, who separated themselves from the principal succession.{{harv|Irenaeus|1885|loc=[http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0103426.htm Book IV, Chapter 26]}} }}

{{efn|name=AH.III3|"Since, however, it would be very tedious, in such a volume as this, to reckon up the successions of all the Churches, we do put to confusion all those who, in whatever manner, whether by an evil self-pleasing, by vainglory, or by blindness and perverse opinion, assemble in unauthorized meetings; [we do this, I say,] by indicating that tradition derived from the apostles, of the very great, the very ancient, and universally known Church founded and organized at Rome by the two most glorious apostles, Peter and Paul; as also [by pointing out] the faith preached to men, which comes down to our time by means of the successions of the bishops. For it is a matter of necessity that every Church should agree with this Church, on account of its pre-eminent authority, that is, the faithful everywhere, inasmuch as the apostolical tradition has been preserved continuously by those [faithful men] who exist everywhere."{{harv|Irenaeus|1885|loc=[http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0103303.htm Book III, Chapter 3]}} }}

{{efn|name=AH.III11|"But it is not possible that the Gospels can be either more or fewer in number than they are. For since there are four zones of the world in which we live, and four principal winds, while the church has been scattered throughout the world, and since the 'pillar and ground' of the Church is the Gospel and the spirit of life, it is fitting that she should have four pillars, breathing incorruption on every side, and vivifying human afresh. From this fact, it is evident that the Logos, the fashioner ''[[demiurge|demiourgos]]'' of all, he that sits on the cherubim and holds all things together, when he was manifested to humanity, gave us the gospel under four forms but bound together by one spirit."{{harv|Irenaeus|1885|loc=[http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0103311.htm Book III, Chapter 11, Section 8]}} }}

{{efn|name=AH.III3a|Irenaeus himself tells us {{harv|Irenaeus|1885|loc=[http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0103303.htm Book III, Chapter 3, Section 4]}} cf {{harvnb|Eusebius|1890|loc=[https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/250105.htm Book V Chapter 20, Section 5ff]}} that in his 'youth' he saw [[Polycarp of Smyrna|Polycarp]], the [[Bishop of Smyrna]] who was martyred c156. This is the evidence used to assume that Irenaeus was born in Smyrna during the 130s–140s.}}

{{efn|name=M&S|{{harvnb|McDonald|Sanders|2001|pp= 280, 310}} summarizing {{harvnb|Irenaeus|1885|loc=[http://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0103311.htm Book III, Chapter 11, Section 7]}}: the [[Ebionites]] use Matthew's Gospel, Marcion mutilates Luke's, the [[Docetist]]s use Mark's, the [[Valentinians]] use John's}}

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