Before Jerusalem Fell

Irenaew, Bishop of Lyon.s 61
narrator, may be so tinged in the narrator’s subjectivity y as to convey
an impression positively false. We are thus obliged to discount the
tales and remarks for which Irenaeus refers us to the authority of “the
Elders,” by whom he seems chiefly to mean Papias and Polycarp.
Now Eusebius does not hesitate to say that Papias was a source of
error to Irenaeus and others who relied on his “antiquity.” When
Irenaeus says that the “Pastor of Hermas” is canonical; that the head
of the Nicolaitans was the Deacon Nicolas; and that the version of the
LXX. was written by inspiration; – we know what estimate to put
on his appeals to apostolic tradition.G3
Late date advocate Guthrie admits that Irenaeus is too often uncritical
in his evaluation of evidence.‘4 Another, and even more vigorous,
late date advocate, James Moffatt, observes that “Irenaeus, of course,
is no great authority by himself on matters chronological.”G5
If Irenaeus’s famous statement is not to be re-interpreted along
the lines of the argument as outlined above (although the present
writer believes it should), it may still be removed as a hindrance to
early date advocacy on the following grounds. These grounds may
not be so substantial when considered individually, but when their
combined weight is added to the above translational problem, they
tend to render Irenaeus’s statement of questionable significance.
Ireno.au% Relatiowhip to Po~carp
In the statement regarding John’s writing Revelation while banished
by Domitian, Irenaeus makes reference to the testimony of
those who saw John “face to face. ” It is a noteworthy fact emphasized
by Irenaeus that he met Polycarp, who had known the Apostle John.
Indeed, Irenaeus highly cherished the memory of Polycarp, as he
mentions in his letter to Florinus:
For I saw thee when I was yet a child [mrfg .&n &v], in Lower Asia
with Polycarp, and thou wert in stately position in the royal palace
and studying to approve thee to him. For I recall rather what happened
then than what are more recent (for what we learnt from our
very childhood grow on us with our soul and are a part of it) so that
I can even tell the place where the blessed Polycarp and I conversed
63. Farrar, Ear~ Days, p. 398.
64. Guthrie, Introdudion, p. 17.
65. Moffatt, Revelation, p. 320.