The Living Tradition An Orthodox Archive of the Church Fathers and Early Church

Canon-of-Scripture witness — around 180

Irenaeus: the Gospels are four

The earliest surviving argument that there are four Gospels, neither more nor fewer — made in defence of something already settled.

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Primary evidence verified Content last reviewed 2026-08-29

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Irenaeus argues in Book III of Against Heresies that the Gospels cannot be more or fewer in number than they are, and supports it with symbolic reasons: four zones of the world, four principal winds, the four faces of the cherubim.

The reasoning persuades nobody now. What the passage establishes is different and more useful: Irenaeus is defending a number against people who were adding to it or subtracting from it, which is the posture of someone whose opponents are altering something already fixed.

What this witness says about particular books

Books this witness names, and how it treats them. A book's absence from a list is not by itself a rejection — see the limits above.
BookTreatmentNote
Matthew Treated as Scripture
Mark Treated as Scripture
Luke Treated as Scripture
John Treated as Scripture
Other gospels Rejected Irenaeus argues expressly against those who use more or fewer than four.

The witness in its own words

Against Heresies, Book III, Chapter XI.8

It is not possible that the Gospels can be either more or fewer in number than they are.

Ante-Nicene Fathers, Vol. I, trans. Alexander Roberts and William Rambaut. Public domain. Read the work in the archive.

Sources for this page

  1. Tier C The Apostolic Fathers with Justin Martyr and Irenaeus Alexander Roberts and James Donaldson (eds.); A. Cleveland Coxe (American ed.) Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Book III, Chapter XI.8 translated edition of primary texts Source record

Tiers are explained in the methodology. No page on this site has been reviewed or approved by any bishop, priest, synod or seminary.