CHAPTER IV

THE MARTYRS COMMEND IRENÆUS IN THEIR EPISTLE

THESE same martyrs recommending also Irenæus, who was then a presbyter of the church at Lyons, to the bishop of Rome before mentioned, bear abundant testimony in his favour, as the following extracts show: “We pray and desire, father Eleutherus, that you may rejoice in God in all things and always. We have requested our brother and companion Irenæus to carry this epistle to you, and we exhort you to consider him as commended to you as a zealous follower of the testament (covenant) of Christ. For if we knew that any place could confer righteousness upon any one, we would certainly commend him among the first as a presbyter of the church, the station that he holds.” Why should we here transcribe the list of those martyrs given in the above-mentioned epistle, of whom some were made perfect by decapitation, some cast to be devoured by wild beasts, and others again fell asleep in prison? Why repeat the number of confessors still living? For whoever wishes to learn these, can more easily obtain the fullest account by consulting the epistle itself, which, as I said, has been inserted by us in our collection of martyrs. Such were the events that happened under Antonine.