Irenaeus, Christoph

Irenaeus, Christoph one of the most zealous defendants of the doctrine of the Flacians, was born at Schweidnitz, near the middle of the 16th century. First a deacon at Aschersleben, he was afterwards called to Eisleben as regular pastor, and finally appointed court preacher at Weimar. Accused of favoring the views of Flacius, a consistent though much persecuted follower of Luther, he was, with other prominent preachers guilty of the same failing, dismissed from his position in 1572. He now removed to Austria; where he published in 1581 a pamphlet against the first article of the Concordien formel, under the title of Christoph Irenaei Examen d. ersten Artikels u. d. lirbel-Geistes i. d. neuen Concordienbuch von der Erbsiinde. The date of his death is not known to us. See Aschbach, Kirchen-Lex. 2, 781. SEE FLACIUS.