In the late second century the Church suffered an infestation of heresies — many of them, and they kept changing their claims. Into the fray God sent the great pioneer of anti-heretical literature, Irenaeus of Lyons. The title of his best known work says it all: Against Heresies. Irenaeus’s tools range from logic to parody. He put the smack down on some strains of heresy, and they stayed down for centuries.

Links

Free text of Book 3 of Irenaeus's "Against Heresies" https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1612

Pope Benedict XVI on Irenaeus https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/view.cfm?recnum=1610

More works by the Fathers https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/fathers/

Mike Aquilina’s website https://fathersofthechurch.com

Theme music: Gaudeamus (Introit for the Feast of All Saints), sung by Jeff Ostrowski. Courtesy of http://www.ccwatershed.org.