Marcus Grodi and Msgr. Jeffrey Steenson continue their discussion of “Against Heresies” by St Irenaeus of Lyons, this time digging into chapters 12-16 of Book IV.

When it comes to doctrinal disputes among Christian denominations, or even debates within the Catholic Church, it can be tempting to fixate on one passage and isolate it from the whole of Scripture. But St. Irenaeus reminds us that each verse is both applicable to the argument or topic at hand, but also part of a larger story that has to be taken into account in order to understand its proper meaning.