Against Heresies

Against Heresies is a work of Christian theology written in Greek by Irenaeus, the bishop of Lugdunum (now Lyon in France). Due to its reference to Eleutherus as the current bishop of Rome, the work is usually dated c. 180. In it, Irenaeus identifies and describes several schools of Gnosticism, and other schools of Christian thought, whose beliefs he rejects as heresy. He contrasts them with orthodox Christianity (proto-orthodox Christianity). Only fragments of the original text in ancient Greek remain today, but a complete (less one paragraph) Latin translation – "very ancient", "probably made in the fourth or early fifth century" – still survives. Books IV and V exist in their entirety in a literal version in Armenian. There are quotations in Syriac, but it is not clear if a translation of the whole was ever made into Syriac. Against Heresies (Latin: Adversus haereses, Greek: Κατὰ αἱρέσεων), also given as Against the Heresies, is the conventional name for the work. That name for it comes from Eusebius, whose Ecclesiastical History contains many quotations from Against Heresies. The original title of the work, in Koine Greek, was Ἔλεγχος καὶ ἀνατροπὴ τῆς ψευδωνύμου γνώσεως (Elenchos kai anatropē tēs pseudōnymou gnōseōs). And so in English the work is sometimes referred to by translations of the full Greek title, such as Refutation and Overthrow of the Knowledge Falsely So-called, The Detection and Overthrow of Knowledge Falsely So-Called, Detection and Overthrow of Knowledge Falsely So-Called, The Refutation and Overthrowal of Knowledge falsely so-called, and Refutation and Overthrowal of Knowledge falsely so-called. The final phrase "of knowledge falsely so-called" (Ancient Greek: tes pseudonymou gnoseos genitive case; or nominative case pseudonymos gnosis – ψευδώνυμος pseudonymos meaning "under a false name, falsely called") is found in 1 Timothy 6:20 Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the...