Authority in the Early Church – Irenaeus to Origen – Video

In this 30 minute video, Dr. Italy explains the paramount issue that Christians had to resolve in the second century, the issue of authority — scripture, tradition and what is now called magisterium.   He shows how the heresy of Marcion and the Gnostics helped such men as Irenaeus and Origin clarify the Church’s teaching on the matter of authority of Scripture and Tradition.

Marcellino D’Ambrosio (aka Dr. Italy) explains the struggle in the early Church of the second century over the issue of authority raised by heresies.  He shows how the early Church confronted the challenges of Marcion and Gnosticism through the writings of St. Irenaeus who is a significant authority on Scripture and Tradition from that time to the present.

Dr. Italy goes on to explain the immense influence of Origen over Biblical study and interpretation.  Included is the development of the Christian Canon or list of sacred, authoritative and canonical books included in what we now call the Bible.  This lecture is 8th in a Masters level course for the Catholic Distance University entitled “the Catholic Theological Tradition,” the gateway course to CDU’s Masters program in theology.

This lecture is part of the course entitled Theology 503 – The Catholic Theological Tradition, which is a required course in the M.A. program of the Catholic Distance University (CDU).  For more information on the program and taking this and other courses for academic credit, visit the CDU Website.

 

This lecture on authority in the Early Church is part of the course entitled Theology 503 – The Catholic Theological Tradition, which is a required course in the M.A. program of the Catholic Distance University (CDU).  For more information on the program and taking this and other courses for academic credit, visit the CDU Website.  For more videos from this course, see THE CATHOLIC THEOLOGICAL TRADITION LIBRARY at the Crossroads Initiative.