ABSTRACT
Tatian has been associated with gnosticism since the end of the second century. Irenaeus (c.130-200 CE) was the first of the church fathers to condemn Tatian for heresy. In his book Against the Heresies Irenaeus claims that after Justin’s martyrdom, Tatian apostatized from the church and set down his own teaching. According to Irenaeus, this teaching included a myth about invisible aeons, like that of Valentinus, the rejection of marriage as ‘corruption and fornication’, and the denial of Adam’s salvation, which Irenaeus considered to be the invention of Tatian himself.1
