Data Bases • Custom Term Papers • Free Term Papers • Free Research Papers • Free Essays • Free Book Reports • Plagiarism? Links • Top 100 Term Paper Sites • Top 25 Essay Sites • Top 50 Essay Sites • Search 97,000 Papers @ DirectEssays.com • Search 101,000 Papers @ ExampleEssays.com • Search 90,000 Papers @ MegaEssays.com Free Essays • Term Paper Sites • Chuck III's Free Essays • Free College Essays • TermPaperSites.com • Free Essays • My Term Papers • Essay World • Planet Papers	Search Lots of Essays Back to Subjects - Religion Attack On Heresies Attack On Heresies Heresy in general refers to a doctrinal belief held in opposition to the recognized standards of an established system of thought. Theologically it means an opinion at variance with the authorized teachings of any church, notably the Christian, and especially when this promotes separation from the main body of faithful believers. By the time Irenaeus wrote Against the Heresies the word became fixed to designate a group cut off from the Church by reason of false doctrine. From apostolic times the church claimed authority to safeguard the deposit of faith handed down from Christ and consequently condemned what were considered substantial deviation from Christian orthodoxy. In the sub-apostolic age and before the year 200, there were fewer than forty distinct sects, usually named after their founder or leading exponent, which are branded heretical by Christian writers. Irenaeus attacks at least fifteen, mostly of Gnostic origin, that were current in his day. Irenaeus’ Against the Heresies contains a profound exposition of Gnosticism and other heresies. In refuting heterodox systems he gives important testimony regarding the common beliefs of the early Christian Church. He writes: “The Church, though dispersed through the whole world, even to the ends of the earth, has received from the Apostles and their disciples this faith…” He then records Catholic belief in the genuineness of the Gospels, in the Real Presence, and in a certain pre-eminence of the Church of Rome, the precise nature of which can be determined only from the whole context of Irenaeus’ writings. In Irenaeus’ Against the Heresies his principal attack is against the Valentinian Gnostics, whose myths shifted away from “creation” to Epistemology, examining how we know things, which he mocks as completely implausible. Irenaeus also attacks, non-Valentinian, heretics, but in a somewhat less sophisticated way. Gnosticism is a religious movement that attempted to reconcile a number of conflicting beliefs. The name is derived from the Greek word gnosis or knowledge. The Gnostic writings are full of quotations and echoes of the Bible. The conception of redemption is, as a rule, a forced and one-sided interpretation of Christian teaching, supported by texts taken out of their context, especially such as minimize the body or magnify the power of evil (e.g., I John 5:19, “The whole world lieth in the evil one”. In reality, the Bible is non-Gnostic, and some parts of the New Testament are strongly opposed to the rising Gnosticism in the first century. The Gnostics turned toward the invisible world of spiritual, comic reality, and looked for redemption through divinely revealed knowledge, i.e., knowledge of the true nature of man and his need for redemption from the evil world of matter. Thus, The Gospel of Truth read (p. 22): “He who knows [this truth, or knows himself] is a being from above. When called, he hears, he answers, he turns to the One who calls him, in order to return to Him.” The use of Biblical and of Jewish and early-Christian language in this passage is quite obvious. It reading some of the text from Irenaeus it is evident that he was ravished by the internal turmoil in Lyons, the city where he was Bishop, and other surrounding areas where divisions of Christians were taking place. Irenaeus blamed martyrdom, giving one’s life because of faith, for the division of Christians. He called the rival groups the Gnostics. Irenaeus is fighting on two fronts first against pagan critics and second against his fellow Christians. He argues that he is the true church because he is the oldest, he can add creditability his argument with the traditional mos maiorum, which he builds through the family tree, that dates all the way back to Peter and Paul the first Bishops. They add nothing more to the writings. He argues that the Gnostics have no proof that there aren’t inventions to their beliefs and myths. Irenaeus stresses unity: that there is only one true God, unified in being and purpose, between God and creation, God and Christ, Jesus and Christ, he is one being not two. The Gnostics took the Bible allegorical and combined it with neoPlatonic ideas and came up with a Gnostic myth of the creation. It is basically a retelling of the book of Genesis in an allegorical way. Irenaeus refutes the myth with the Apostalic Succession, mos maiorum, and original tradition of the Apostalic Church. In conclusion, Irenaeus’ attacks against Christian Heresies had a major impact on the social world of that time and influenced many other heresy hunters to follow, so it is evident that his description Gnosticism and other Christian heresies is historically accurate. We can assume that the heretical groups of Christians still exists but that the true Christians don’t even acknowledge them as a threat. During Irenaeus’ time they were a threat because Christianity was still developing and people were trying to understand Christianity, and what it really is. All these critics and writers helped in developing a true understanding of Christianity. Bibliography: Word Count: 824
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