Against Heresies: Book III

IT IS WITHIN THE POWER OF ALL: therefore, in every Church, who wish to see the truth, to clearly contemplate the tradition of the apostles shown throughout the whole world; and we are able to identify those who were appointed as bishops in the Churches by the apostles, and to demonstrate the succession of these men to our own times, those who neither taught nor knew of anything like what these heretics rave about. For if the apostles had known hidden mysteries, which they were in the habit of imparting to "the perfect" separately and privately from the rest, they would have delivered them especially to those to whom they were also committing the Churches themselves. For they wanted these men to be very perfect and blameless in all things, whom they were leaving behind as their successors, handing over their own place of leadership to these men; these men, if they fulfilled their duties honestly, would be a great benefit to the Church, but if they should fall away, the direst calamity.

SINCE IT WOULD BE VERY TEDIOUS: in a volume like this, to list the successions of all the Churches, we confound those who, in any manner, whether by evil self-pleasing, vainglory, or blindness and perverse opinion, gather in unauthorized meetings. We do this by highlighting the tradition derived from the apostles, of the significant, ancient, and universally known Church founded and organized at Rome by the two most glorious apostles, Peter and Paul, and also by pointing out the faith preached to people, which has come down to our time through the successions of the bishops. It is necessary for every Church to agree with this Church because of its pre-eminent authority, as the apostolical tradition has been consistently preserved by faithful men everywhere.

THE BLESSED APOSTLES: having established and built up the Church, entrusted the role of the episcopate to Linus. Paul mentions Linus in the Epistles to Timothy. Anacletus succeeded him, and after him, Clement became the bishop, third in line from the apostles. This man, having seen and interacted with the blessed apostles, still had their preaching echoing in his ears and their traditions before his eyes. He was not alone in this, for many others remained who had received instructions from the apostles.

During Clement's time, a significant disagreement arose among the brethren in Corinth, and the Church in Rome sent a powerful letter to the Corinthians. This letter exhorted them to peace, renewed their faith, and declared the tradition recently received from the apostles, proclaiming the one omnipotent God, the Maker of heaven and earth, the Creator of man, who caused the deluge, called Abraham, led the people out of Egypt, spoke to Moses, established the law, sent the prophets, and prepared fire for the devil and his angels.

From this document, anyone who wishes may learn that He, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, was preached by the Churches and may also understand the apostolic tradition of the Church. This Epistle predates those who now spread falsehoods and invent another god beyond the Creator and Maker of all things. Clement was succeeded by Evaristus, followed by Alexander; then, sixth from the apostles, Sixtus was appointed; after him, Telesphorus, who was gloriously martyred; followed by Hyginus, then Pius, and then Anicetus.

Soter succeeded Anicetus, and now, in the twelfth place from the apostles, Eleutherius holds the office of the episcopate. Through this order and succession, the ecclesiastical tradition from the apostles and the preaching of the truth have come down to us. This is ample proof that there is one and the same life-giving faith, preserved in the Church from the apostles until now, and handed down in truth.

POLYCARP WAS NOT ONLY TAUGHT BY THE APOSTLES AND SPOKE WITH MANY WHO HAD SEEN CHRIST: but he was also appointed by apostles in Asia to be the bishop of the Church in Smyrna. I saw him in my early youth, for he lived a very long time and, as an old man, nobly suffered martyrdom, leaving this life after consistently teaching what he had learned from the apostles and what the Church has passed down as the only truth.

All the Asian Churches testify to this, as do the successors of Polycarp to this day—a man of far greater significance and a more steadfast witness of truth than Valentinus, Marcion, and the other heretics. He was the one who, coming to Rome during the time of Anicetus, led many away from these heretics to the Church of God, declaring that he received this singular truth from the apostles—that which is transmitted by the Church. Some heard him recount that John, the disciple of the Lord, went to bathe at Ephesus, and upon seeing Cerinthus inside, rushed out without bathing, shouting, "Let us flee, lest the bath-house collapse, because Cerinthus, the enemy of truth, is inside." Polycarp himself also replied to Marcion, who once encountered him and asked, "Do you know me?" “I do know you, the firstborn of Satan.” This illustrates the disdain the apostles and their disciples held against even speaking with anyone who corrupted the truth; as Paul also says, “A heretic, after the first and second warning, reject; knowing that such a person is warped and sins, condemned by himself.” There is also a very powerful Epistle of Polycarp written to the Philippians, from which those who wish to and are concerned about their salvation can learn the nature of his faith and his preaching of the truth.

Also, the Church in Ephesus, founded by Paul and where John remained until the time of Trajan, is a true witness of the apostolic tradition.