Lecture 10: The Shaping of Orthodoxy
o Following the custom of ancient rhetoric, he mocks the
illogicality and inconsistency of opponents’ ideas. He uses
noble metaphors for traditional teaching and ludicrous
metaphors for his opponents.o Positively, he provides what he regards as a better reading of
the texts and traditions he thinks others are misreading. Thus,
Paul’s language about “flesh” versus “spirit” in his Letter to
the Galatians is not cosmological—pointing to an internal split
between body and soul—but ethical—pointing to ways of
conducting one’s life.o It is, above all, Irenaeus’s strategy of self-definition that makes
his work of such enduring value. He argues for a threefold
approach to tradition: the canon of Scripture, the rule of faith,
and the authority of bishops.• Because of the proliferation of literature—much of it claiming
to be “revealed”—it was necessary to establish the canon (“rule/
measure”) of compositions that could be used to define Christian
teaching and practice. In his rebuttal of the Gnostics, Irenaeus
named his sources from the Old and New Testaments, indicating
which were truly authoritative and which were to be rejected.• Irenaeus also drew on a developing tradition of a rule of faith (or
creed) to provide a doctrinal framework for Christian identity.
o Elements of a creed are found already in Judaism (“Hear
O Israel, the Lord your God is One God”) and in the New
Testament, where Paul tells the Corinthians, “... for us there is
One God, the Father, from whom all things come and for whom
we are; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom everything
was made and through whom we are” (1 Cor. 8:4–6). Inherent
even in the basic claim “Jesus is Lord” is a statement of belief.o Irenaeus’s rule of faith is similar to the so-called Apostles’
Creed, which presents an epitome of scriptural witness; as