Irenaeus of Lyons. Guardian of the Apostolic Tradition, 2nd century (against heresies). Precursor of the Council of Nicaea, 325 (in orthodoxy). A guide for 21st-century religiosity
Main Article Content
Abstract
Having lived close to the apostolic era, Ireneus (ca, 159 – ca, 207) presents his theological thoughts with a double approach. On
the one hand he describes and rebuts the gnostic heresy in its varied versions; on the other hand, he ratifies, defends, and transmits the primitive Church tradition (the rule of truth), and further develops them, to such an extent that his Christological and Trinitarian doctrine clearly anticipates that of his successors, especially the terms of the Symbol of Faith formulated in the Council of Nicaea (325), 17 centuries ago, completed in Constantinople I. The theological terms scattered among
his two outstanding works are so congruent with those of Nicaea that they can be grouped and synthetize following the sequence of the Symbol’s articles. It thus shows to what extent Ireneus predicts Nicaea. If, however, in a certain section of his works Ireneo’s terminology seems to differ from tradition, in a special section an alternative exegesis is presented, showing the opposite to be true.
Finally, Ireneo is particularly relevant to overcome the current
deficiencies of the christic monotheism, and to attain a fully trinitarian monotheism in today’s Christian spirituality.
Downloads
Article Details
Previously, the journal operated under a traditional copyright regime. As of 2025, the journal is published under a Creative Commons license.
Authors who publish in Estudios Trinitarios agree to the following conditions:
- Authors retain copyright © and grant the journal the right of publication under the Creative Commons Attribution–NonCommercial–NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND).
- The content may be copied, used, shared, transmitted, and publicly displayed provided that:
- Give proper attribution to the author(s) and to the publication in Estudios Trinitarios, indicating the volume, issue, year, and the page numbers on which the information is found.
- No commercial use is made of the material.
- No derivative works may be created for commercial purposes without the authorization of the journal.
Authors are permitted and encouraged to disseminate their articles electronically (including full citation details: Estudios Trinitarios, volume, issue, year, pagination, ISSN, DOI, etc.) in order to enhance circulation and dissemination and to increase citation and academic impact within the scholarly community.
Information about the journal will be supplied to Dulcinea and SHERPA/Romeo.
