interpretation and revision of the Rule of Faith in opposition to
Gnosticism, on the basis of the New Testament and the Christian
Philosophy of the Apologists, Melito, Irenæus, Tertullian, Hippolytus,
Novatian
1. The theological position of Irenæus and of the later contemporary
Church teachers
Characteristics of the theology of the Old Catholic Fathers, their
wavering between Reason and Tradition; Loose structure of their Dogmas;
Irenæus' attempt to construct a systematic theology and his fundamental
theological convictions; Gnostic and anti-Gnostic features of his
theology; Christianity conceived as a real redemption by Christ
(recapitulatio); His conception of a history of salvation; His
historical significance: conserving of tradition and gradual hellenising
of the Rule of Faith.
2. The Old Catholic Fathers' doctrine of the Church
The Antithesis to Gnosticism; The "Scripture theology" as a sign of the
dependence on "Gnosticism" and as a means of conserving tradition; The
Doctrine of God; The Logos Doctrine of Tertullian and Hippolytus;
(Conceptions regarding the Holy Spirit); Irenæus' doctrine of the Logos;
(Conceptions regarding the Holy Spirit); The views of Irenæus regarding
the destination of man, the original state, the fall and the doom of
death (the disparate series of ideas in Irenæus; rudiments of the
doctrine of original sin in Tertullian); The doctrine of Jesus Christ as
the incarnate son of God; Assertion of the complete mixture and unity of
the divine and human elements; Significance of Mary; Tertullian's
doctrine of the two natures and its origin; Rudiments of this doctrine
in Irenæus; The Gnostic character of this doctrine; Christology of
Hippolytus; Views as to Christ's work; Redemption, Perfection;
Reconciliation; Categories for the fruit of Christ's work; Things
peculiar to Tertullian; Satisfacere Deo; The Soul as the Bride of
Christ; The Eschatology; Its archaic nature, its incompatibility with
speculation and the advantage of connection with that; Conflict with
Chiliasm in the East; The doctrine of the two Testaments; The influence
of Gnosticism on the estimate of the two Testaments, the _complexus
oppositorum_; the Old Testament a uniform Christian Book as in the
Apologists; The Old Testament a preliminary stage of the New Testament
and a compound Book; The stages in the history of salvation; The law of
freedom the climax of the revelation in Christ.
3. Results to Ecclesiastical Christianity, chiefly in the West,
(Cyprian, Novation)