Some recent scholarship has claimed Irenaeus as an early proponent of a non-violent atonement theory. In response, this essay argues that by tracing out tracing out the themes of the guilt of Adam and Eve, the justice and judgement of God, the passion of Christ, and their relations in the thought of Irenaeus of Lyons, it becomes evident that Irenaeus was not an early proponent of a non-violent atonement theory.