Eschatology—In the First Period (3)

IRENAEUS Only very scanty accounts are possessed of the personal history of Irenaeus, one of the Church Fathers. It has been generally supposed that he was a native of Smyrna, or some neighbouring city, in Asia Minor. But, it is also believed that he was born in Syria, and that he removed to Smyrna in his boyhood. He himself tells us that he was acquainted in his early youth with Polycarp, the illustrious bishop of that city. It is certain that lrenaeus was bishop of Lyons, in France, during...