Anti-Heretical Writerswriter
Who he was
- A Jew born in Syria or Palestine and converted to Christianity. He visited various churches and came to Rome in the time of bishop Anicetus (ca. 156-167) and survived bishop Eleutherus (174-189) possibly.
- He returned home (174-179) and compiled his Memoirs (hypomnemata) from notes taken on his travels.
- He died under Commodus (180-192).
What he wrote
- Hypomnemata: More probably the work was a polemical writing aiming at proving the official Church teaching against the Gnostics. He insists on the uninterrupted succession of bishops as a guarantee of apostolicity of their doctrine. He drew up a list of the Jewish and first Gnostic sects. He was mediocre, perspicacious as an observer, and a good, reliable witness to tradition.