stephan huller

I would suggest that Irenaeus did not write a book called Against Heresies or Refutation and Detection of Knowledge Falsely So Called. Photius points us in the direction of original 'lectures' that he gave. I suppose that someone collected these lectures along with other material (Justin's Syntagma) and compiled them together as a book after his death. A similar process must have led to Tertullian's Five Books Against Marcion.

There are other problems which you may not be aware of. Who wrote the Philosophumena? Scholars put Hippolytus's name on the text but Photius describes seeing a completely different Refutation of All Heresies which looked more like a small book. Theodoret likely only saw Book Ten. There is no end to the problems and the gaps in our knowledge about the earliest Church Fathers. That doesn't mean we have to go off claiming they didn't exist.

aa5874

Where did I write that Irenaeus or Hippolytus did not exist?

I am having grave difficulties following you.

Now tell me what did Irenaeus write if he did NOT write "Against Heresies"?