Irenaeus of Lyons: Guardian of the Gospel

The second century AD (100s) was an age of difficult change for the young Christian church. The last of the apostles, John the beloved disciple, had passed into glory at the turn of the century. The church found herself assailed by per- secution from without and troubled by heresy, her more dangerous enemy, from within. For the first time the leadership of the church fell to men, many of whom had never heard in person the preaching of the apostles. Thus the second century marked the change of...