3.26 Christianity in the Year 200

<p>Irenaeus died around the year 200. In his final decades, pagan intellectuals first turned their sights on the Christians. The first was Celsus. Christians counter-attacked with more apologies. They also produced homilies, such as the 2nd letter of Clement. </p> <p>Fans also produced some fanciful acts and gospels of the various disciples, and two biographies of the young Jesus: the Paidika, and the Protevangelium of James.</p> <p>I finish with a look at two accounts of local persecutions during the period, in Lyon and Scillium. Did they actually happen?</p>