2nd century church father Irenaeus accepts,
unquestioningly, a bizarre non-canonical story, allegedly from Papias,
where Jesus is teaching that one day, grapes will talk to human beings:
The predicted blessing, therefore, belongs unquestionably to the times of the kingdom, when the righteous shall bear rule upon their rising from the dead; when also the creation, having been renovated and set free, shall fructify with an abundance of all kinds of food, from the dew of heaven, and from the fertility of the earth: as the elders who saw John, the disciple of the Lord, related that they had heard from him how the Lord used to teach in regard to these times, and say: The days will come, in which vines shall grow, each having ten thousand branches, and in each branch ten thousand twigs, and in each true twig ten thousand shoots, and in each one of the shoots ten thousand clusters, and on every one of the clusters ten thousand grapes, and every grape when pressed will give twenty-five metretes of wine. And when any one of the saints shall lay hold of a cluster, another shall cry out, “I am a better cluster, take me; bless the Lord through me.” In like manner [the Lord declared] that a grain of wheat would produce ten thousand ears, and that every ear should have ten thousand grains, and every grain would yield ten pounds (quinque bilibres) of clear, pure, fine flour; and that all other fruit-bearing trees, and seeds and grass, would produce in similar proportions (secundum congruentiam iis consequentem); and that all animals feeding [only] on the productions of the earth, should [in those days] become peaceful and harmonious among each other, and be in perfect subjection to man. 4. And these things are bone witness to in writing by Papias, the hearer of John, and a companion of Polycarp, in his fourth book; for there were five books compiled (συντεταγμένα) by him. And he says in addition, “Now these things are credible to believers.” And he says that, “when the traitor Judas did not give credit to them, and put the question, ‘How then can things about to bring forth so abundantly be wrought by the Lord?’ the Lord declared, ‘They who shall come to these [times] shall see.’”
The Ante-Nicene Fathers (electronic ed.). Garland, TX: Galaxie Software.
That was book 5, but earlier in book 3, Irenaeus admits accepting the 4 completed canonical gospels:
Matthew also issued a written Gospel among the
Hebrews in their own dialect, while Peter and Paul were preaching at Rome, and laying the foundations
of the Church. After their departure, Mark, the disciple and interpreter of
Peter, did also hand down to us in writing what had been preached by Peter.
Luke also, the companion of Paul, recorded in a book the Gospel preached by
him. Afterwards, John, the disciple of the Lord, who also had leaned upon His
breast, did himself publish a Gospel during his residence at Ephesus
in Asia.
Irenaeus, Against Heresies,
Book 3, ch. 1
Given that Irenaeus had already admitted acceptance of the 4 completed canonical gospels, and assuming as you do that the text of those gospels told Ireaneus nothing more or less than what the English of those gospels tells you today, to what degree was his general credibility impeached, if at all, by his willingness to accept stories about Jesus that not only are absent from the canonical NT, but stories that no Christian scholars today think Jesus really taught?
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