Irenaeus

90 Irenaeus: Life, Scripture, Legacy

1. Irenaeus was in close personal contact to them to the point that he can liter-
   ally reproduce their teachings from memory;


2. their teaching is anti-Marcionite;


3. they are immediate disciples of the Apostles.

Hill’s Theory Reconsidered
Let us now take a closer look at the validity of these arguments.

1. In the letter to Florinus, to which Hill refers, Irenaeus informs us about his rela-
   tion to Polycarp:

For, while I was yet a boy, I saw thee in Lower Asia with Polycarp, distinguishing

thyself in the royal court, and endeavouring to gain his approbation. For I have

a more vivid recollection of what occurred at that time than of recent events

(inasmuch as the experiences of childhood, keeping pace with the growth of

the soul, become incorporated with it); so that I can even describe the place

where the blessed Polycarp used to sit and discourse—his going out, too, and

his coming in—his general mode of life and personal appearance, together with

the discourses which he delivered to the people; also how he would speak of his

familiar intercourse with John, and with the rest of those who had seen the Lord;

and how he would call their words to remembrance. Whatsoever things he had

heard from them respecting the Lord, both with regard to His miracles and His

teaching, Polycarp having thus received [information] from the eye-witnesses of

the Word of life, would recount them all in harmony with the Scriptures. These

things, through God’s mercy which was upon me, I then listened to attentively,

and treasured them up not on paper, but in my heart; and I am continually, by

God’s grace, revolving these things accurately in my mind. (HE V.20.5-7)^3

As far as the elder in Hae r. V.27-32 is concerned, Irenaeus is actually quoting from
his teachings in the said passages, and there is no particular reason to doubt the authen-
ticity of these statements. As for Polycarp, however, Irenaeus does not provide us with
such proof of his mnemonic ability; in other words, in this case we have to rely simply
on his (repeated) assertion that he is able to recollect Polycarp’s teachings. In fact, it
may be doubted whether this constant (self-) affirmation really helps the credibility of
his claim. Several features seem to question it.^4 First of all, Irenaeus was very young
when he met Polycarp. Both the “while I was yet a boy” (παῖς ἔτι ὦν) in the letter as well
as the “in my early youth” (ἐν τῇ πρώτῃ ἡμῶν ἡλικίᾳ) in Hae r. III.3.4 suggest a childlike
age rather than that of a young man. We would have to postulate an enormous degree
of comprehension for young Irenaeus, if we were to assume that he was not only able
to understand the teachings of Polycarp in the first place, but also to keep them in
his mind until he wrote Adversus haereses—about forty years later. It is in accordance
with this observation that all the things Irenaeus actually reports about Polycarp in
the letter to Florinus (or elsewhere) are nothing but very general information and do