Sure, but it's interesting that the works of Irenaeus that are preserved are not as strongly representative and do not reflect Christianity as it is alleged to have been in his time.Ben C. Smith wrote: ↑Thu Nov 19, 2020 8:07 pmWhat do you find surprising about a work entitled Refutation and Overthrow of the Knowledge Falsely So Called devoting most of its space to the refutation and overthrow of knowledge falsely so called? Does that not seem like exactly what one would expect from such a work? If something strange can be divined from it, I do not know what it could be.MrMacSon wrote: ↑Thu Nov 19, 2020 2:02 pmAnd I find it noteworthy that the Church Fathers like Irenaeus seems to have devoted far more ink to discussing so-called Gnostic theology than Christian theology - it's almost as if Christian theology was in its infancy when Irenaeus is supposed to have written.
Interestingly, some say the that title, Refutation and Overthrow of the Knowledge Falsely So Called, is derived from 1 Tim 6:20-21
"Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to your care. Turn away from godless chatter and the opposing ideas of what is falsely called knowledge, 21 which some have professed and in so doing have departed from the faith"