Appian Way Press

The Refutation of All Heresies

by Hippolytus of Rome

One of the most ambitious polemical works of the early third century, examining the philosophical and religious origins of Christian error and defending apostolic teaching. The Refutation of All Heresies, long associated with Hippolytus of Rome, occupies a unique place in early Christian literature. No other surviving work offers such a broad and sustained attempt to trace contemporary heresies back to their philosophical and religious predecessors. The text is valuable not only for its doctrinal polemic, but also for its detailed preservation of ancient philosophical systems and religious practices. As such, it serves historians of Greco-Roman thought and religion as well as students of Christian theology.