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Bishop and Martyr. Born around 130 AD, Saint Irenaeus of Lyons was bishop of Lugdunum in Gaul, (now Lyons) in France. His writings were formative in the early development of Christian theology. He was a disciple of Polycarp of Smyrna, who himself was a disciple of the Apostle John the Theologian. Irenaeus is thought to have been a Greek from Smyrna in Asia Minor, now Izmir, |
Turkey. He was brought up in a Christian family. Irenaeus was one of the first Christian writers to refer to the principle of Apostolic Succession.
St Irenaeus is remembered as the second bishop of Lyons, although there is no clear evidence that he ever officially assumed the episcopal duties. The first bishop, Pothinus, was martyred around 177 during persecutions under Marcus Aurelius, when Irenaeus was visiting Rome.
Irenaeus was martyred in 202, but there is no information about his death. He was buried under the church of Saint John in Lyons, which was later renamed St Irenaeus. His tomb and his remains were destroyed in 1562 by the Calvinist Huguenots.
Irenaeus wrote a number of books. The most important that survives is the five-volume work against heresies. Only fragments in its original Greek exist, but a complete copy exists in a wooden Latin translation, made shortly after its publication in Greek, and Books IV and V are present in a literal Armenian translation.
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