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74-549: The Solemn Collects are divided into five sections that address the five major areas of life that intercessory prayer is designed to address: prayers are said seeking God's aid for the Christian church, for all the nations of the world, for those sick and in need, for any not yet reached by the missionary efforts of the Church, and for the people who are praying, that they may act holily and live eternally. Each section begins with

148-579: A 2006 meta analysis on 14 studies concluded that there is "no discernible effect" while a 2007 systemic review of intercessory prayer reported inconclusive results, noting that 7 of 17 studies had "small, but significant, effect sizes" but the review noted that the most methodologically rigorous studies failed to produce significant findings. Irenaeus Irenaeus ( / ɪ r ɪ ˈ n eɪ ə s / or / ˌ aɪ r ɪ ˈ n iː ə s / ; ‹See Tfd› Greek : Εἰρηναῖος , translit.   Eirēnaîos ; c.  130  – c.  202 AD )

222-413: A bidding sung or spoken by a deacon , which invites the congregation to pray silently for a particular set of concerns. A period of silence follows. The celebrant then sings or says a collect which concludes those prayers, after which the deacon gives the next bidding. Traditionally, the congregation stands for each bidding, kneels for silent prayer, and then stands for the collect. The exact date of

296-818: A distinction between the Monad and the Demiurge . Irenaeus uses the Logos theology he inherited from Justin Martyr . Irenaeus was a student of Polycarp , who was said to have been tutored by John the Apostle . (John had used Logos terminology in the Gospel of John and the letter of 1 John ). Irenaeus often spoke of the Son and the Spirit as the "hands of God," though he also spoke of

370-531: A hostile or unfriendly God, whom we need to manipulate to get what we need. Such is not the meaning of the hapax legomenon in the New Testament of the word for intercession. Sullivan goes on: When we ask a saint to intercede for us, what is happening at a deeper level is that we are taking refuge in the all-enfolding community of the redeemed, approaching God thru saintly symbols of Christ's victory and of our hope. Saints want always what God wants, what

444-505: A new order is formed, and being under the Law, is being under the sin of Adam. Reconciliation is also a theme of Paul's that Irenaeus stresses in his teachings on Salvation. Irenaeus believes Jesus coming in flesh and blood sanctified humanity so that it might again reflect the perfection associated with the likeness of the Divine. This perfection leads to a new life, in the lineage of God, which

518-520: A pre-existence as a saving Being, it was necessary that what might be saved should also be called into existence, in order that the Being who saves should not exist in vain." Some theologians maintain that Irenaeus believed that Incarnation would have occurred even if humanity had never sinned; but the fact that they did sin determined his role as the savior . Irenaeus sees Christ as the new Adam, who systematically undoes what Adam did: thus, where Adam

592-636: A saint "we take refuge in faith in the all-enfolding community of all the redeemed," where "each is responsible for all". They are "creative models of holiness". Although the idea of intercession or mediation (Arabic: s̲h̲afāʿa ) has historically played a very prominent role in Islamic thought, it is not universally accepted by all Muslims in the present day. The Quran says that the pre-Islamic Arab pagan gods will not be able to intercede with God on behalf of humankind, and that "the guilty" ( al-mujrimīn , Q74:41 ) will not benefit from any intercession on

666-612: A stronger bond between him and God. Prof. Dr Johannes van Oort, Professor Extraordinarius in the Department of Church History and Church Polity of the Faculty of Theology at the University of Pretoria, South Africa, adds that, in addition to praying for wisdom, the early church was very much involved with different charismas , one of which being healing. Praying for other people's illnesses was another way that intercessory prayer

740-492: A type of polytheism, in a manner akin to the attitude of many Protestants towards the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox practice of saint-intercession. Some religions claim that praying for somebody who is sick can have positive effects on the health of the person being prayed for. Meta-studies of the literature in the field have been performed showing evidence only for no effect or a potentially small effect. For instance,

814-490: Is best for us whether we pray for it or not. They are in a perpetual attitude of praise for God’s love and care, to which we join ourselves, praying, more precisely, with them rather than to them. The value of our petitions is that they turn us in confidence toward the God who loves us, allowing God’s work to be more effective in us, and thru us in others. It would be anathema to ask God to try any harder to do good. By invocation of

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888-559: Is forever striving for eternal life and unity with the Father. This is a carryover from Paul, who attributes this reconciliation to the actions of Christ: "For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ". A third theme in both Paul's and Irenaeus's conceptions of salvation

962-524: Is not the Cause of Evil , On Easter . Irenaeus exercised wide influence on the generation which followed. Both Hippolytus and Tertullian freely drew on his writings. However, none of his works aside from Against Heresies and The Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching survive today, perhaps because his literal hope of an earthly millennium may have made him uncongenial reading in

1036-853: Is our true life, has the power of [effecting] this". Throughout all of Ignatius's letters, the word for prayers of intercession appears nineteen times, and Ignatius asks for prayer "for himself (eight times), for the Christian church in Syria (seven times), for persecutors, heretics, and all people generally (once each)". St. Ignatius and the other church fathers, such as Paul the Apostle , who were keen on intercessory prayer based this practice on Jesus' own teachings which required that one pray for others, especially one's enemies: But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. According to Lionel Swain, of St. Edmund's College, Ware , St. Paul believed intercession to be one of

1110-597: Is picked up in Irenaeus's discussion of the topic when he asserts, "By His own blood He redeemed us, as also His apostle declares, 'In whom we have redemption through His blood, even the remission of sins.'" The frequencies of quotations and allusions to the Pauline Epistles in Against Heresies are: To counter his Gnostic opponents, Irenaeus significantly develops Paul's presentation of Christ as

1184-399: Is the door of life." But he also said, "Christ came not only for those who believed from the time of Tiberius Caesar, nor did the Father provide only for those who are now, but for absolutely all men from the beginning, who, according to their ability, feared and loved God and lived justly. . . and desired to see Christ and to hear His voice." The purpose of "Against Heresies" was to refute

1258-484: Is the sacrifice of Christ being necessary for the new life given to humanity in the triumph over evil. It is in this obedient sacrifice that Jesus is victor and reconciler, thus erasing the marks that Adam left on human nature. To argue against the Gnostics on this point, Irenaeus uses Colossians in showing that the debt which came by a tree has been paid for us in another tree. Furthermore, the first chapter of Ephesians

1332-467: Is too young. Jesus's opponents argue that Jesus was not yet 50 years old. Irenaeus argues that if Jesus were in his thirties, his opponents would have argued that he was not yet 40 years old, since that would make him even younger. Irenaeus's argument is that they would not weaken their own argument by adding years to Jesus's age. Irenaeus also writes: "The Elders witness to this, who in Asia conferred with John

1406-718: Is when Jesus makes wine out of water, he goes up to the Paschal feast-day, after which he withdraws and is found in Samaria. The second is when Jesus goes up to Jerusalem for Passover and cures the paralytic, after which he withdraws over the sea of Tiberias. The third mention is when he travels to Jerusalem, eats the Passover, and suffers on the following day. Irenaeus quotes scripture (John 8:57), to suggest that Jesus ministers while in his 40s. In this passage, Jesus's opponents want to argue that Jesus has not seen Abraham, because Jesus

1480-633: The Day of Judgment . Other passages that deny the efficacy intercession include Q32:4 & Q39:44 . Still others say that God is the only intercessor ( Q6:51 , Q6:70 ; Q32:4 ; Q39:44 ). However, "intercession is mentioned in the Qurʾān with respect to angels praying for the believers and the Prophet praying for erring but repentant Muslims." Furthermore, it became an orthodox Islamic doctrine or "cardinal belief" that "Muḥammad will intercede for all Muslims on

1554-404: The Day of Resurrection ." While this particular tenet practically remained unchallenged throughout Islamic history, the widespread Sunni and Shia practice of asking deceased prophets and saints for intercession by praying at their tombs have become contentious issues in the modern Islamic world, with all these different types of intercession often being labelled by Salafi / Wahhabi Muslims as

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1628-506: The Greek East . Even though no complete version of Against Heresies in its original Greek exists, we possess the full ancient Latin version, probably of the third century, as well as thirty-three fragments of a Syrian version and a complete Armenian version of books 4 and 5. Evelyn Underhill in her book Mysticism credited Irenaeus as being one of those to whom we owe "the preservation of that mighty system of scaffolding which enabled

1702-711: The Last Adam . Irenaeus's presentation of Christ as the New Adam is based on Paul's Christ-Adam parallel in Romans 5:12–21 , but also derives significantly from the Johannine presentation of the Adam-Christ typology. Irenaeus uses this parallel to demonstrate that Christ truly took human flesh. Irenaeus considered it important to emphasize this point because he understands the failure to recognize Christ's full humanity

1776-448: The crucifixion , although the latter event is an integral part of the former. Part of the process of recapitulation is for Christ to go through every stage of human life, from infancy to old age, and simply by living it, sanctify it with his divinity. Although it is sometimes claimed that Irenaeus believed Christ did not die until he was older than is conventionally portrayed, the bishop of Lyon simply pointed out that because Jesus turned

1850-450: The incarnation of God as a man. He characterizes the penalty for sin as death and corruption . God, however, is immortal and incorruptible, and simply by becoming united to human nature in Christ he conveys those qualities to us: they spread, as it were, like a benign infection. Irenaeus emphasizes that salvation occurs through Christ's Incarnation, which bestows incorruptibility on humanity, rather than emphasizing His Redemptive death in

1924-681: The tradition handed down from the apostles , and the teaching of the apostles' successors . He is the earliest surviving witness to regard all four of the now- canonical gospels as essential. Irenaeus is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church , Anglican Church , Lutheran Churches , the Eastern Orthodox Church , the Oriental Orthodox Churches , and the Assyrian Church of

1998-519: The 3rd century AD, such as from Origen and Clement of Alexandria . In addition to praying for each other in life, early Christians would pray for those who had died. There is no unequivocal evidence that Christians began to pray for the dead before the third century AD. G. F. Hamilton argues that the earliest example of Church prayer on behalf of dead Christians is found in the Sacramentary of Serapion of Thmuis (350 AD). Rather than pray for

2072-667: The 8th century. Intercessory prayer Intercession or intercessory prayer is the act of praying on behalf of others, or asking a saint in heaven to pray on behalf of oneself or for others. The Apostle Paul 's exhortation to Timothy specified that intercession prayers should be made for all people. I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. The early Christians continued to practice intercessory prayer on behalf of others after Jesus' death. Ignatius of Antioch

2146-507: The Apostle , and that the Gospel of Luke was written by Luke, the companion of Paul . Scholars contend that Irenaeus quotes from 21 of the 27 New Testament books, such as: He may refer to Hebrews 2:30 and James 4:16 and maybe even 2 Peter 5:28, but does not cite Philemon. Irenaeus cited the New Testament approximately 1,000 times. About one third of his citations are made to Paul's letters. Irenaeus considered all 13 letters belonging to

2220-565: The Apostolic Preaching (also known as Proof of the Apostolic Preaching ), an Armenian copy of which was discovered in 1904. This work seems to have been an instruction for recent Christian converts. Eusebius attests to other works by Irenaeus, today lost, including On the Ogdoad, an untitled letter to Blastus regarding schism, On the Subject of Knowledge , On the Monarchy or How God

2294-718: The Catholic mystics to build up the towers and bulwarks of the City of God." Irenaeus's works were first translated into English by John Keble and published in 1872 as part of the Library of the Fathers series. Irenaeus pointed to the public rule of faith , authoritatively articulated by the preaching of bishops and inculcated in Church practice, especially worship, as an authentic apostolic tradition by which to read Scripture truly against heresies. He classified as Scripture not only

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2368-653: The Church on 21 January 2022. The Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates Irenaeus, the feast being on 23 August. Lutheran Churches honor Irenaeus in their calendar of saints on 28 June. Irenaeus is honored in the Church of England and in the Episcopal Church on 28 June . Irenaeus wrote a number of books, but the most important that survives is the Against Heresies (or, in its Latin title, Adversus haereses ). In Book I, Irenaeus talks about

2442-600: The East . Irenaeus was a Greek from Polycarp 's hometown of Smyrna in Asia Minor , now İzmir , Turkey, born during the first half of the 2nd century. The exact date is thought to be between the years 120 and 140. Unlike many of his contemporaries, he was brought up in a Christian family rather than converting as an adult. During the persecution of Christians by Marcus Aurelius , the Roman emperor from 161 to 180, Irenaeus

2516-523: The Evangelist , and thus was the last-known living connection with the Apostles . Chosen as bishop of Lugdunum , now Lyon , his best-known work is Against Heresies , often cited as Adversus Haereses , a refutation of gnosticism , in particular that of Valentinus . To counter the doctrines of the gnostic sects claiming secret wisdom , he offered three pillars of orthodoxy : the scriptures ,

2590-556: The Gospel of John. The Gospel of Matthew was the most popular overall. Irenaeus asserted that all four of the Gospels, John , Luke , Matthew , and Mark (which is the order presented in his four pillar narrative in Adversus haereses ( Against Heresies ) III 11,8), were canonical scripture. Thus Irenaeus provides the earliest witness to the assertion of the four canonical Gospels, possibly in reaction to Marcion 's edited version of

2664-460: The Gospel of Luke, which Marcion asserted was the one and only true gospel. Based on the arguments Irenaeus made in support of only four authentic gospels, some interpreters deduce that the fourfold Gospel must have still been a novelty in Irenaeus's time. Against Heresies 3.11.7 acknowledges that many heterodox Christians use only one gospel while 3.11.9 acknowledges that some use more than four. The success of Tatian 's Diatessaron in about

2738-528: The Lord's disciple, to the effect that John had delivered these things unto them: for he abode with them until the times of Trajan. And some of them saw not only John, but others also of the Apostles, and had this same account from them, and witness to the aforesaid relation." In Demonstration (74) Irenaeus notes "For Pontius Pilate was governor of Judæa , and he had at that time resentful enmity against Herod

2812-788: The Nag Hammadi texts have raised no substantial challenges to the overall accuracy of Irenaeus's information. Religious historian Elaine Pagels criticizes Irenaeus for describing Gnostic groups as sexual libertines, for example, when some of their own writings advocated chastity more strongly than did orthodox texts. However, the Nag Hammadi texts do not present a single, coherent picture of any unified gnostic system of belief, but rather divergent beliefs of multiple Gnostic sects. Some of these sects were indeed libertine because they considered bodily existence meaningless; others praised chastity, and strongly prohibited any sexual activity, even within marriage. Irenaeus also wrote The Demonstration of

2886-529: The Old Testament but most of the books now known as the New Testament, while excluding many works, a large number by Gnostics, that flourished in the 2nd century and claimed scriptural authority. Oftentimes, Irenaeus, as a student of Polycarp, who was a direct disciple of the Apostle John, believed that he was interpreting scriptures in the same hermeneutic as the Apostles. This connection to Jesus

2960-508: The Pauline corpus to have been written by Paul himself. In his writing against the Gnostics, who claimed to possess a secret oral tradition from Jesus himself, Irenaeus maintained that the bishops in different cities are known as far back as the Apostles and that the oral tradition he lists from the Apostles is a safe guide to the interpretation of Scripture. In a passage that became a locus classicus of Catholic-Protestant polemics, he cited

3034-510: The Roman church as an example of the unbroken chain of authority, which text Catholic polemics would use to assert the primacy of Rome over Eastern churches by virtue of its preeminent authority . The succession of bishops and presbyters was important to establish a chain of custody for orthodoxy. Irenaeus's point when refuting the Gnostics was that all of the Apostolic churches had preserved

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3108-404: The Son as the "Logos." Irenaeus's emphasis on the unity of God is reflected in his corresponding emphasis on the unity of salvation history. Irenaeus repeatedly insists that God began the world and has been overseeing it ever since this creative act; everything that has happened is part of his plan for humanity. The essence of this plan is a process of maturation: Irenaeus believes that humanity

3182-537: The Valentinian Gnostics and their predecessors, who he says go as far back as the magician Simon Magus . In Book II he attempts to provide proof that Valentinianism contains no merit in terms of its doctrines. In Book III, Irenaeus attempts to show that these doctrines are false, by providing counter-evidence gleaned from the Gospels . Book IV consists of Jesus's sayings, and here Irenaeus also stresses

3256-446: The age of thirty, citing Luke 3:23, Gnostics then falsely assert that "He [Jesus] preached only one year reckoning from His baptism," and also, "On completing His thirtieth year He [Jesus] suffered, being in fact still a young man, and who had by no means attained to advanced age." Irenaeus argues against the Gnostics by using scripture to add several years after his baptism by referencing 3 distinctly separate visits to Jerusalem. The first

3330-592: The big fish that swallowed Jonah : it was only in the depths of the whale's belly that Jonah could turn to God and act according to the divine will. Similarly, death and suffering appear as evils , but without them we could never come to know God. According to Irenaeus, the high point in salvation history is the advent of Jesus . For Irenaeus, the Incarnation of Christ was intended by God before he determined that humanity would be created. Irenaeus develops this idea based on Rom. 5:14 , saying "Forinasmuch as He had

3404-522: The bond linking the various strains of Gnosticism together, as seen in his statement that "according to the opinion of no one of the heretics was the Word of God made flesh." Irenaeus believes that unless the Word became flesh, humans were not fully redeemed. He explains that by becoming man, Christ restored humanity to being in the image and likeness of God, which they had lost in the Fall of man . Just as Adam

3478-548: The dead faithful were rejoiced over.   In an article in Theological Studies , Catholic theologian Patricia A. Sullivan warns that saints should not be built up in a way that brings down God. Saint Augustine had famously said that we pray not to instruct God but to get our will in line with God's. Sullivan warns away from the dictionary meanings of "intercession" as “intervention, mediation, arbitration, negotiation”, all of which sound like we are dealing with

3552-441: The departed in regular church services on Sunday, these early Christians would hold special commemorative occasions during the week. There was a sharp distinction drawn between remembering and praying on behalf of the dead, and those who were the " 'faithfully' departed", where Christians would only pray for those who had died as believers. The First Epistle of Clement (95 AD) contains a prayer which, while mainly for protection for

3626-415: The discovery of the Library of Nag Hammadi in 1945, Against Heresies was the best-surviving description of Gnosticism. Some religious scholars have argued the findings at Nag Hammadi have shown Irenaeus's description of Gnosticism to be inaccurate and polemic in nature. However, the general consensus among modern scholars is that Irenaeus was fairly accurate in his transmission of gnostic beliefs, and that

3700-427: The disobedience of the one man who was originally moulded from virgin soil, the many were made sinners, and forfeited life; so was it necessary that, by the obedience of one man, who was originally born from a virgin, many should be justified and receive salvation." The physical creation of Adam and Christ is emphasized by Irenaeus to demonstrate how the Incarnation saves humanity's physical nature. Irenaeus emphasizes

3774-464: The king of the Jews . But then, when Christ was brought to him bound, Pilate sent Him to Herod, giving command to enquire of him, that he might know of a certainty what he should desire concerning Him; making Christ a convenient occasion of reconciliation with the king." Pilate was the prefect of the Roman province of Judaea from AD 26–36. He served under Emperor Tiberius Claudius Nero . Herod Antipas

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3848-454: The law was spiritual, it merely made sin to stand out in relief, but did not destroy it. For sin had no dominion over the spirit, but over man." Since humans have a physical nature, they cannot be saved by a spiritual law. Instead, they need a human Savior. This is why it was necessary for Christ to take human flesh. Irenaeus summarizes how Christ's taking human flesh saves humanity with a statement that closely resembles Romans 5:19 , "For as by

3922-503: The living, also includes the dead. Even quite early, a distinction was drawn between those who had died as Christians, and those who had died as unbelievers. In the Martyrdom of Polycarp (155 AD), Polycarp is killed and his bones are taken by fellow Christians and a shrine is set up to him, where they may remember his martyrdom . In contrast, the " Apology of Aristides " shows how those who were not Christians were grieved for, while

3996-401: The most important aspects of faith and praying life, as praying for others is a recurring theme in his works. Prayer acts as a way for St. Paul to acknowledge God's power. Intercessory prayer also acts as a way for the Apostle to "share in ... the Father's redemptive love". Paul believed that prayer transformed the person doing the praying, as much as the one being prayed for, which creates

4070-473: The permissible age for becoming a rabbi (30 years old and above), he recapitulated and sanctified the period between 30 and 50 years old, as per the Jewish custom of periodization on life, and so touches the beginning of old age when one becomes 50 years old. (see Adversus Haereses, book II, chapter 22 ). In the passage of Adversus Haereses under consideration, Irenaeus is clear that after receiving baptism at

4144-647: The practice of the Quartodeciman celebration of Easter . Nothing is known of the date of his death, which must have occurred at the end of the second or the beginning of the third century. He is regarded as a martyr by the Catholic Church and by some within the Orthodox Church. He was buried under the Church of Saint John in Lyon, which was later renamed St Irenaeus in his honour. The church

4218-461: The same time period is "... a powerful indication that the fourfold Gospel contemporaneously sponsored by Irenaeus was not broadly, let alone universally, recognized." (The apologist and ascetic Tatian had previously harmonized the four gospels into a single narrative, the Diatesseron c.  150 –160) Irenaeus is also the earliest attestation that the Gospel of John was written by John

4292-403: The same traditions and teachings in many independent streams. It was the unanimous agreement between these many independent streams of transmission that proved the orthodox faith, current in those churches, to be true. The central point of Irenaeus's theology is the unity and the goodness of God , in opposition to the Gnostics' theory of God; a number of divine emanations (Aeons) along with

4366-704: The second bishop of Lyon . During the religious peace which followed the persecution by Marcus Aurelius, the new bishop divided his activities between the duties of a pastor and of a missionary (as to which we have but brief data, late and not very certain). Almost all his writings were directed against Gnosticism. The most famous of these writings is Adversus haereses ( Against Heresies ). Irenaeus alludes to coming across Gnostic writings, and holding conversations with Gnostics, and this may have taken place in Asia Minor or in Rome. However, it also appears that Gnosticism

4440-401: The teachings of various Gnostic groups; apparently, several Greek merchants had begun an oratorial campaign in Irenaeus's bishopric, teaching that the material world was the accidental creation of an evil god, from which we are to escape by the pursuit of gnosis . Irenaeus argued that the true gnosis is in fact knowledge of Christ, which redeems rather than escapes from bodily existence. Until

4514-513: The understanding found in Paul's letters. Irenaeus first brings up the theme of victory over sin and evil that is afforded by Jesus's death. God's intervention has saved humanity from the Fall of Adam and the wickedness of Satan. Human nature has become joined with God's in the person of Jesus, thus allowing human nature to have victory over sin. Paul writes on the same theme, that Christ has come so that

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4588-405: The unity of the Old Testament and the Gospel. In the final volume, Book V, Irenaeus focuses on more sayings of Jesus plus the letters of Paul the Apostle . Irenaeus wrote: "One should not seek among others the truth that can be easily gotten from the Church. For in her, as in a rich treasury, the apostles have placed all that pertains to truth, so that everyone can drink this beverage of life. She

4662-619: The writing of the Solemn Collects is uncertain: dates as early as the 2nd century AD and as late as the 5th century AD appear in various sources. Some sources suggest that the biddings were written 100–200 years prior to the collects that accompany them. The Solemn Collects appear in the Gelasian Sacramentary and the Gregorian Sacramentary , which mean that they must have entered their modern form by

4736-427: Was a Greek bishop noted for his role in guiding and expanding Christian communities in the southern regions of present-day France and, more widely, for the development of Christian theology by combating heterodox or Gnostic interpretations of Scripture as heresy and defining proto-orthodoxy . Originating from Smyrna , he had seen and heard the preaching of Polycarp , who in turn was said to have heard John

4810-413: Was a priest of the Church of Lyon. The clergy of that city, many of whom were suffering imprisonment for the faith, sent him in 177 to Rome with a letter to Pope Eleutherius concerning the heresy of Montanism , and that occasion bore emphatic testimony to his merits. While Irenaeus was in Rome, a persecution took place in Lyon. Returning to Gaul, Irenaeus succeeded the martyr Saint Pothinus and became

4884-469: Was created immature, and God intended his creatures to take a long time to grow into or assume the divine likeness. Everything that has happened since has therefore been planned by God to help humanity overcome this initial mishap and achieve spiritual maturity. The world has been intentionally designed by God as a difficult place, where human beings are forced to make moral decisions, as only in this way can they mature as moral agents. Irenaeus likens death to

4958-593: Was devastated in 1562 by the Huguenots . Several relics supposedly of Irenaeus are held in various churches in Lyon. Two crania from different churches were dated by carbon-14 to the Middle Ages, but a piece of heelbone kept in the Lyon Cathedral is from the right time period. The Latin Catholic Church celebrates Irenaeus' memorial on 28 June. Pope Francis declared Irenaeus the 37th Doctor of

5032-563: Was disobedient concerning God's edict concerning the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil , Christ was obedient even to death on the wood of a tree. Irenaeus is the first to draw comparisons between Eve and Mary , contrasting the faithlessness of the former with the faithfulness of the latter. In addition to reversing the wrongs done by Adam, Irenaeus thinks of Christ as "recapitulating" or "summing up" human life. Irenaeus conceives of our salvation as essentially coming about through

5106-769: Was important in the early church, as healing was a sign of "the power of God's Kingdom". This gift of healing is specifically mentioned, among the other charismata, as a sign of being a true Christian by Irenaeus of Lyons in his text, Against Heresies . Intercession of the saints is a doctrine held by the Eastern Orthodox , Oriental Orthodox , and Roman Catholic churches, as well as by some Lutheran and Anglican churches (chiefly those of Evangelical Catholic or Anglo-Catholic churchmanship, respectively). It teaches that saints may be asked to intercede (or pray ) for others. The doctrine of requesting intercession from saints can be found in Christian writings from

5180-525: Was important to Irenaeus because both he and the Gnostics based their arguments on Scripture. Irenaeus argued that since he could trace his authority to Jesus and the Gnostics could not, his interpretation of Scripture was correct. He also used "the Rule of Faith", a "proto-creed" with similarities to the Apostles' Creed , as a hermeneutical key to argue that his interpretation of Scripture was correct. Before Irenaeus, Christians differed as to which gospel they preferred. The Christians of Asia Minor preferred

5254-412: Was one man who exhorted Christians to continue to pray for others, and especially for those who became Docetists or held other heretical beliefs. In his letter to the churches of Smyrna , St. Ignatius exhorts the Christians there to pray for other people: "only you must pray to God for them, if by any means they may be brought to repentance, which, however, will be very difficult. Yet Jesus Christ, who

5328-514: Was present near Lyon: he writes that there were followers of ' Marcus the Magician ' living and teaching in the Rhone valley . Little is known about the career of Irenaeus after he became bishop. The last action reported of him (by Eusebius, 150 years later) is that in 190 or 191, he exerted influence on Pope Victor I not to excommunicate the Christian communities of Asia Minor which persevered in

5402-521: Was tetrarch of Galilee and Perea, a client state of the Roman Empire. He ruled from 4 BC to 39 AD. In refuting Gnostic claims that Jesus preached for only one year after his baptism, Irenaeus used the "recapitulation" approach to demonstrate that by living beyond the age of thirty Christ sanctified even old age. Many aspects of Irenaeus's presentation of salvation history depend on Paul's Epistles. Irenaeus's conception of salvation relies heavily on

5476-577: Was the original head of humanity through whom all sinned, Christ is the new head of humanity who fulfills Adam's role in the Economy of Salvation . Irenaeus calls this process of restoring humanity recapitulation. For Irenaeus, Paul's presentation of the Old Law (the Mosaic covenant ) in this passage indicates that the Old Law revealed humanity's sinfulness but could not save them. He explains that "For as

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