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St. Irenaeus
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Against Heresies Kindle Edition

by St. Irenaeus (Author), Paul Böer Sr (Editor) Format: Kindle Edition
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 263 ratings
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This work, which establishes Irenaeus as the most important of the theologians of the second century, is a detailed and effective refutation of Gnosticism, and a major source of information on the various Gnostic sects and doctrines.
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  1. Print length
    518 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publication date
    March 25, 2012
  5. File size
    826 KB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
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  8. Enhanced typesetting
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B007OUPNWO
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Veritatis Splendor Publications (March 25, 2012)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ March 25, 2012
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 826 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 518 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 263 ratings

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St. Irenaeus

St. Irenaeus

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Top reviews from the United States

Dragonstuer
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read and must add too all Christian Libraries
Reviewed in the United States on January 18, 2024
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A great read. A heads up, this books cannot be read passively and you need to really put your attention. It's the complete library and all 5 books of "Against the Heresies"

5 stars for the price, but does not have references to the scriptures cited.
4 people found this helpful
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Aran Joseph Canes
5.0 out of 5 stars Why Against Heresies is Still Important
Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2020
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In some ways, St. Iraneus’s work seems anything but important. It is often dedicated to explaining in detail mythologies and cosmogonies that no one in the modern world believes in or has even heard of.

But, in a certain sense, the Gnosticism that St. Iraneus combatted is alive and well. Gnosticism was devoted to the idea that there was a form of mystical knowledge (hence Gnosis) that led to salvation. It taught that the material world was inherently corrupt but that there was a seed of divinity within each human being. Jesus was reimagined, in newly written Gospels, as a teacher of this esoteric wisdom who could liberate the divine in all of us from the materiality of our physical bodies.

Is it too strained an analogy to suggest that many modern intellectuals share the same views? That reason, particularly genius, is celebrated and almost worshipped as the of acme of humanity? That our bodies are to be used for sexual pleasure as if they are an instrument and somehow separable from the self? And do we really differ so much from the Gnostics in our constant need to retell the Jesus story to meet modern cultural needs?

It’s interesting that St. Iraneus saw the Catholic Church as the great enemy of Gnosticism. It is everything Gnosticism is not: beginning with a Jesus who is fully human and extending to a Church which is enfleshed in real human beings, sacraments which are material and believers united by membership in a physical parish it is the exact opposite of the retreat from physicality that was endemic to Gnosticism and is so much a part of the modern ethos.

So while the details of ancient Gnosticism are admittedly rather passé, Against Heresies retains its importance as the essential response of Catholicism to all efforts to separate matter from the divine. While not necessary reading, recommended to all those with an avid interest in the forerunners of modern religious sentiments.
40 people found this helpful
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Owen
5.0 out of 5 stars Is good
Reviewed in the United States on September 8, 2023
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Was absolutely worth the buy, I can't remember the names of the aeons and there is a lot of Greek you have to search up while reading but definitely worth the buy.
One person found this helpful
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Sheila S.
5.0 out of 5 stars Important and Informative reference book
Reviewed in the United States on October 30, 2017
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It's very satisfying in that it is a complete set of all five books. There are things in here that I have never seen before,
such as in Book Two where Irenaeus asserts that Jesus died in his 50's, not 33 like I thought was common knowledge.
That's just a diversion though because that's not even his point. The point of this whole book is that God and this planet
was not created by other gods or angels, and that Jesus is His only Son, not the creation of some other kind of gods.
The Heresies back then were so intricate and complicated! And they use the Bible to support them. The heresies we have
now seem so easy to understand and don't generally require biblical support. It's really important to learn about the early
church, way before the Reformation, when Christians were one.....or were we?
21 people found this helpful
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Robert J. Wilkins
4.0 out of 5 stars "Against Heresies"
Reviewed in the United States on July 22, 2015
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How does one write a review on a 1900 year old work? I only wish I had read this before tackling the Dag Hammadi scriptures, but Irenaeus' first chapter explained what Gnosticism was at that time. I love the history; Irenaeus is writing ca. 150 years after the death of Christ and referring to the then bishops by their order of descendence from the apostles. I would like to learn how/why Gnosticism became so popular so as to vie with the four gospels for control of the then Christian world. I understand that Paul was the architect who took Jesus' teachings to the gentiles and made it an empire wide religion instead of another Jewish sect, but the Gnostic interpretation lacks the mass appeal of salvation against a rather dreary process of learning which didn't get everyone through and up to the seventh tier of their heavens. The Gnostic creation of their mythology seems like another version of Babylonian/Egyptian/Greek/Roman pantheisim. I'm still searching for answers how Christianity became an institution from a few nomadic apostles, but Gnosticism was one of the first obstacles it had to overcome. Also looking for an explanation of when God created the angels, their hierarchy, how Satan left the spiritual fold, and why God can't control or eliminate him. Haven't found this in either Testament yet.
20 people found this helpful
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KiwiStalk
5.0 out of 5 stars First impressions
Reviewed in the United States on July 16, 2019
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No forward or information of translation. The good is that this is likely how books looked before 451 AD. The bad is the same; you can only hope this is accurate.
2 people found this helpful
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Bob 443
5.0 out of 5 stars A good translation of Iranaeus' magnum opus.
Reviewed in the United States on May 6, 2015
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This is the major work of Iranaeus. It is an arrogant, sarcastic polemic directed against his personally chosen enemies, the Gnostics. It has to be arrogant and sarcastic, because there is no other particular argument, other than politics, to make the cosmology of the Gnostics inferior to the cosmology of the developing mainstream Christianity of his day. For me, this translation of his work was astoundingly revealing about the mindset of the early Church fathers. It is worth mentioning that this is very work in which Iranaeus invents the idea of Original Sin, for which Christians have been paying dearly ever since. If you are interested in how and why Christians came to believe what Christians believe, here is a concrete example of how the traditions came to be. Read it and, probably, weep.
10 people found this helpful
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Jeremy
5.0 out of 5 stars Enlightening
Reviewed in the United States on April 2, 2022
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Many Christians don't know what their religion teaches. Irenaeus is an early figure in the Church, having learned from Polycarp, who learned from John the apostle. Irenaeus makes it plain that matter is good and that the one God doesn't intend to do away with matter, but will glorify matter in his Word.
15 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

maripurinocomia
5.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 9, 2024
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Interesting, a classic
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Ken
5.0 out of 5 stars great for historical reference
Reviewed in Canada on November 19, 2019
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Needed for historical reference
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Timoteo S Gomes
4.0 out of 5 stars Hard to read but full of treasure
Reviewed in Brazil on June 5, 2014
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This is not an easy book to read. The way Irenaeus organizes his thoughts is somewhat complicated. He begins by describing the Gnostics and their creeds, and then moves on to refute them. He does this so carefully that you have to force yourself to keep focus and maintain attention through the many details and arguments.

I found the 4th book to be most interesting, since it brings some insights on how this early church leader understood the "big picture" about God and Man.

I'm still digesting it, and will probably read it again many times throughout my life.
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Pierre Whalon
5.0 out of 5 stars 1850 years young
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 17, 2015
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Irenaeus was bishop of Lyon when he was martyred in 177 A.D. His writings are essential to understanding the development of Christianity as we know it. The second century was full of novel interpretations of the faith, and Irenaeus' defense remains cogent and clear to this day. The fact that he does not quote the gnostic gospels that are fashonable these days (you know, that the Church DOES NOT WANT YOU TO READ) is clear evidence for the antiquity and reliability of the four that we have used since the beginning. And lots of other important details...

At the price, there is no reason not to buy this classic.
One person found this helpful
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J Millar
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 4, 2014
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Also a work of great interest, to students of Church History, Systematic Theology.
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