February 9, 2013

Ante-Nicene Fathers (Volume 1) - XXVIII - Fragments from the lost writings of Irenaeus

Required reading
Ante-Nicene Fathers (Volume 1) (Available from
Amazon or free here) - Read 'Fragments from the lost writings of Irenaeus'.
 
My summary
Today our journey finishes with Irenaeus as we read odds and ends from his lost writings.

We learn a little bit about a lot of things, including:
(i) Polycarp;
(ii) fasting;
(iii) the will of God;
(iv) creation;
(v) bending the knee on Sundays;
(vi) the resurrection;
(vii) suffering;
(viii) Balaam;
(ix) typology of Christ in the Old Testament;
(x) Matthew's gospel;
(xi) Moses;
(xii) baptism;
(xiii) wisdom;
(xiv) the Eucharist;
(xv) Samson;
(xvi) Satan;
(xvii) John the Baptist;
(xviii) ark;
(xix) the mother of James and John.

What grabbed me
I can see why this quote was kept from disappearing into oblivion: 'The business of the Christian is nothing else than to be ever preparing for death.'

So true!

Next week's reading
Commence Ante-Nicene Fathers (Volume 2) by reading the 'Introductory Note to the Pastor of Hermas' and then the First (Visions) and Second Books (Commandments).


Now it's your turn
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.

2 comments:

CJ said...

I must admit that the readings from Irenaeus were difficult going! I appreciated this statement though:

"The man, however, who would undertake their conversion, must possess an accurate knowledge of their system of doctrine. For it is impossible for any one to heal the sick, if he has no knowledge of the disease of the patients."

And I praise the Lord for raising up such a man as Irenaeus to tackle the convoluted doctrines of the Gnostics, and to search the Scriptures to show them their faults.

Joel Radford said...

Thanks for the feedback on Irenaeus CJ.

It's really encouraging to know that you're persisting through some very difficult reading.