Statue of Irenaeus sculpted by Carl Rohl-Smith, Frederikskirken, Copenhagen, Denmark
Creeds, the New Testament canon, and apostolic succession gave the church a full medicine chest of antidotes to heresy, but medicine has to be administered by doctors and false doctrine must be countered by skilled teachers. In this lesson, we examine "doctors of the faith" who rose to the task in the 2nd & 3rd centuries: Irenaeus of Lyons, Tertullian of Carthage, Clement of Alexandria, and Origen of Alexandria.
Key Quotes
- “The Son of God became man so that man might become the son of God.” (Irenaeus)
- “We should not ask what God can do but what He has, in fact, done.” (Tertullian)
- “The way of truth is one. But into it, as into a perennial river, streams flow from all sides.” (Clement)
- "Origen might be the only person ever to be declared a heretic and get a line into one of the creeds."
- What was the appeal of the Gnostic idea that matter is evil to people in the ancient world? How did Irenaeus counter it?
- How did Tertullian's attitude to philosophy contrast with Clement and Origen's approach?
- What should we think about Origen's habit of using philosophy to go beyond Scripture? Is it ever right to use other means of knowledge to go beyond what Scripture says?
- One of my favorite books, "God in Dispute" by Roger Olson, a series of imagined conversations between great thinkers in Christian history, is available for free online. If you click the link below, I recommend you then click "Search inside" and scroll down to Chapter 2, which imagines a conversation between Irenaeus, Tertullian, and Clement.
https://www.google.com/books/edition/God_in_Dispute/wtJ9h1vCw_oC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=irenaeus
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