Das Corpus Johanneum bei Irenäus von Lyon

How does the Asian bishop Irenaeus of Lyon respond to the Gnostic challenge? What is the role of Johannine theology in his answer, and how does he allude to and explain Johannine verses or words? In giving a theological and philological commentary on the third book of Adversus Haereses, the author attempts to find an answer to these questions. In the first Christian approach to a systematic theology, the church father of the second century deals with the questions of the unity of God, Christ, creation, incarnation and salvation. In all these topics, Irenaeus bases his theories substantially on the Corpus Johanneum and Johannine theology. It is his opinion that the Gospel according to John, the Apocalypse and the Epistles of John were all written by John of Ephesus, »the disciple of the Lord«, as he calls him.