ST IRENAEUS OF LYONS
Translated & with an Introduction
by
John Behr
st vladimir’s seminary press
crestwood, new york
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Irenaeus, Saint, Bishop of Lyons.
[Epideixis tou apostolikou kerygmatos. English]
On the apostolic preaching / St. Irenaeus of Lyons: translation and introduction by John Behr.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 0-88141-174-4
1. Theology—Early works to 1800. 2. Apologetics—Early works to 1800. I. Title.
br65.163e6413 | 1997 |
238'.1—dc21
97-42422
CIP
copyright © 1997
ST VLADIMIR’S SEMINARY PRESS
575 Scarsdale Rd, Crestwood, NY 10707
1-800-204-2665
ISBN 0-88141-174-4
ISBN 978-088141-174-4
ISSN 1555-5755
All Rights Reserved
st vladimir’s seminary press
Popular Patristics Series
Number 17
The Popular Patristics Series published by St Vladimir’s Seminary Press provides readable and accurate translations of a wide range of early Christian literature to a wide audience—students of Christian history to lay Christians reading for spiritual benefit. Recognized scholars in their fields provide short but comprehensive and clear introductions to the material. The texts include classics of Christian literature, thematic volumes, collections of homilies, letters on spiritual counsel, and poetical works from a variety of geographical contexts and historical backgrounds. The mission of the series is to mine the riches of the early Church and to make these treasures available to all.
Series Editor
John Behr
I call upon You, Lord, God of Abraham and God of Isaac and God of Jacob and Israel, You who are the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the God who, through the abundance of your mercy, was well-pleased towards us so that we may know You, who made heaven and earth, who rules over all, You who are the one and the true God, above whom there is no other God; You who, by our Lord Jesus Christ gave us the gift of the Holy Spirit, give to every one who reads this writing to know You, that You alone are God, to be strengthened in You, and to avoid every heretical and godless and impious teaching.
St Irenaeus of Lyons, Against the Heresies 3:6:4
The Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching
THE DEMONSTRATION OF THE APOSTOLIC PREACHING
“No early Christian writer has deserved better of the whole Church than Irenaeus.”1 This assessment is unfortunately borne out both by the paucity of information that we have concerning his life and by the poor state in which his writings have survived. For all his importance as the most profound and influential theologian of the second century, a decisive period in the history of Christianity, we know relatively little about Irenaeus which he does not tell us himself in the few works of his which we now have, and these, for the most part, have survived only in Latin and Armenian translation.
Irenaeus tells ...
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About On the Apostolic PreachingSt. Irenaeus, undisputedly the most important theologian of the second century, laid a firmer foundation for all future Christian thinkers. Both in his work, Against the Heresies and in this present study, Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching, St. Irenaeus explains that there is but one God, made known to the human race by his one Son, Jesus Christ, through the one Holy Spirit; and this one God brings his creatures made from mud into intimate communion with himself. Writing in an age not unlike our own, among a plethora of religions and diverse gods, he exhorts his readers to hold fast to Scripture, which recounts the deeds that bring them into the covenant established by God. This version of Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching, translated from Armenian, clearly and simply introduces this crucial work by a church father whose christocentric exegesis produced the key that unlocked scriptural understanding for his contemporaries, and for us. |
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