Irenaeus of Lyons: Identifying Christianity

This book provides a full account of the most important theologians in the early history of Christianity: it is due to his work that one can speak of an Orthodox or Catholic Christianity, with Scripture that includes a New Testament, a rule of truth, apostolic tradition and succession. Against the usual modern assumption that 'orthodoxy' is a rhetorical construction, excluding the 'heretics' on the basis of patriarchal power and intolerance, this book argues thatthe 'heretics' were the ones who were intolerant, wanting everyone to agree with themselves and leaving the broader community to found churches consisting of those who agree with themselves; in turn,the early Church was 'catholic' not because it was monolithically uniform, but because it embraced a variety of voices all willing to work together within parameters that became clearer as a result of others leaving.The theological vision that is sketched out in this period is important in its own right, as a historical phenomenon, and also for our own contemporary situation: it answers questions we have today about Scripture, interpretation of Scripture, and what it means to behuman in a tremendously positive fashion. Never thereafter does someone say, with such clarity and force, that 'the glory of God is a living human being'. But what Irenaeus means by this statement, themartyr, is one which simultaneously challenges us in a unique manner today.