Irenaeus: Proof of The Apostolic Preaching

 A Work Discovered After the Ante-Nicene Fathers Set Was Compiled

The following is a summary of the article that Dr. Edgar J. Goodspeed wrote in the journal, The Biblical World:

In 1904 a native scholar found in Erivan in Armenia an Armenian manuscript containing a lost work of Irenaeus, In Proof of the Apostolic Preaching. Up to that time only one complete work of Irenaeus was known to be extant, his famous treatise Against Heresies, written about A.D. 180. However, here there was restored to us a large book which no one, previous to this discovery, could ever have hoped to see. Irenaeus was born probably at Smyrna, a few miles from Ephesus, within half a century of the traditional date of the apostle John’s death. He enjoyed the instruction of Polycarp, who was a pupil of the apostle John. Irenaeus may have accompnied Polycarp on his journey to Rome in connection with the Easter controversy (A.D. 154).

At any rate, Irenaeus was a missionary to Gaul. Under the persecution of Marcus Aurelius (A.D. 177), he witnessed there the terrible torture and death of many of his fellow Christians. In A.D. 178 he was elected bishop of Lyons, and for the rest of his life this great man and most superb scholar of his generation labored with pen and tongue for Christianity. His writings prove conclusively that in  the churches of his day strong emphasis was put upon the New Testament and other Scripture, upon the Apostolic Creed, and upon episcopal organization. In the work previously known, he had made hundreds of quotations from the New Testament in his ardent defense of the “faith delivered to the saints.” It ought to be almost awe inspiring for any devout Christian to read a new literary and spiritual work from the pen of this commanding figure in early Christian literature.

“The newly discovered work,” says Dr. Goodspeed, “was evidently addressed to the laity.” It sets forth in a simple and telling way the apostolic type of Christianity which Irenaeus maintained, and shows its agreement with numerous Old Testament prophecies. Irenaeus’ usual method is to describe an incident in the gospel story and then quote some prophecy which he believes is fulfilled in it. The work shows Irenaeus at the task of teaching his Gallic flock to defend their Christian faith in all its aspects by appeal to the Old Testament. Many New Testament books are reflected in it, but here, as in the older work of Irenaeus, no use is made of Hebrews or Revelations. As a result, it seems clearer than ever that these books were not part of the New Testament he used. It will be remembered that in the second century many theologians were inclined to look upon Hebrews as edifying literature but not as inspired Scripture, and Irenaeus may have seriously objected to Revelation because of the Montanist controversy which made so much of this work.