3.26 Christianity in the Year 200

Irenaeus died around the year 200. In his final decades, pagan intellectuals first turned their sights on the Christians. The first was Celsus. Christians counter-attacked with more apologies. They also produced homilies, such as the 2nd letter of Clement.  Fans also produced some fanciful acts and gospels of the various disciples, and two biographies of the young Jesus: the Paidika, and the Protevangelium of James. I finish with a look at two accounts of local persecutions during the period, in Lyon and Scillium. Did they actually happen?