How did tradition confront Gnosticism and the heresies of the second century?

In the second century, the Gnostics misinterpreted the Holy Bible to serve their own needs by quoting some Bible verses out of context and apart from the tradition of the Church. Moreover, they claimed that they had received secret traditions from the apostles²¹⁸ and that

211 St. Irenaeus of Lyon, Against Heresies 5.33.4 (ANF 1:563).

212 Jean Daniélou, The Theology of Jewish Christianity. A History of Early Christian Doctrine Before the Council of Nicaea, vol. 1 (Darton, Longman & Todd, 1964): p. 46.

213 F. F. Bruce, Tradition: Old and New (Michigan: Zondervan, 1972): p. 108.

214 Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 3.39.3–4 (FOTC 19:203–206; PG 20:297; ANF 1:151–155).

215 Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 3.39 (FOTC 19:203).

216 F. F. Bruce, Tradition: Old and New (Michigan: Zondervan, 1972): p. 111.

217 Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History 5.20.4–7 (FOTC 19:329).

218 St. Irenaeus of Lyon, Against Heresies 3.3.1 (ANF 1:415).

they themselves knew better than either bishops or even the apostles.²¹⁹ The early Church Fathers confronted the Gnostics and refuted their beliefs. Among these fathers was St. Irenaeus , who was called the “Father of Church Tradition.” We can summarize his view of “tradition” in the following points:

First : The tradition that has come down to us from the apostles was preserved and passed down to us without interruption through the succession of presbyters in the Church (the Greek-origin word presbyter means the priesthood, and here refers to bishops).²²⁰

• a. Tradition is preserved in the Church by the Holy Spirit who renews the Church’s youth.²²¹

• b. The apostolic tradition is not a matter for secrecy; it can be known by all who desire to accept the truth. It is proclaimed in every Church throughout the whole world.²²²

Second : The heretics misinterpreted the Holy Bible by relying on passages they lifted from the Bible and rearranged to suit their own thought,²²³ thus disregarding the underlying unity of the Scripture. They used biblical texts, but they did not read them within the Church or according to the tradition of the apostles. The true understanding of the Bible is found in the Church, where the holy tradition and the apostolic teaching are preserved. “For the Church has been planted as a garden ( paradisus ) in this world; therefore says the Spirit of God, ‘You may freely eat from every tree of the garden,’ (Gen. 2:16) that is, eat from every Scripture of the Lord; but you shall not eat with an uplifted mind, nor touch any heretical discord. For these men do profess that they have themselves the knowledge of good and evil; and they set their own impious minds above the God who made them.”²²⁴

Third : “the Church, having received this preaching and this faith, although scattered throughout the whole world, yet, as if occupying but one house, carefully preserves it … For, although the languages of the world are dissimilar, yet the import of the tradition is one and the same. For the Churches which have been planted in Germany do not believe or hand down anything different, nor do those in Spain, nor those in Gaul, nor those in the East, nor those in Egypt, nor those in Libya, nor those which have been established in the central regions²²⁵ of the world.”²²⁶

Fourth : “all those are not partakers who do not join themselves to the Church, but defraud themselves of life through their perverse opinions and infamous behaviour. For

219 G. L. Prestige, Fathers and Heretics: Six Studies in Dogmatic Faith (London: SPCK, 1948), 16.

220 St. Irenaeus of Lyon, Against Heresies 3.2.2, 3.3.1, 3.4.1 (ANF 1:415, 417).

221 St. Irenaeus of Lyon, Against Heresies 3.24.1 (ANF 1:458).

222 St. Irenaeus of Lyon, Against Heresies 3.3.1 (ANF 1:415).

223 St. Irenaeus of Lyon, Against Heresies 1.8.1 (ANF 1:326).

224 St. Irenaeus of Lyon, Against Heresies 5.20.2 (ANF 1:548), amended.

225 Probably referring to the Churches in Palestine.

226 St. Irenaeus of Lyon, Against Heresies 1.10.2 (ANF 1:331).

where the Church is, there is the Spirit of God; and where the Spirit of God is, there is the Church, and every kind of grace; but the Spirit is truth.”²²⁷