they claimed that their teachings were the true and accurate interpretation of the sacred texts of the church. As Irenaeus reports, “These men falsify the oracles of God and prove themselves evil interpreters of the good word of revelation.”[7] The root of the controversy was exegesis. For Irenaeus to succeed in his goal of refuting such teaching, he needed to explain just how and why the Valentinians interpreted falsely. Irenaeus had to show how he, the representative of true teaching, read the