The early life of Hippolytus is unknown. He was born about the year 170 and lived in Rome when young. Greek was his native tongue. He is believed to have been a [[disciple]] of [[Irenaeus of Lyons]] and to have met [[Origen]]. From the details of his work, ''Philosophoumena'' Hippolytus apparently was in Rome during the time [[Victor I of Rome|Victor]] was the [[bishop]] of Rome. At the beginning of the third century he was a priest noted for his learning, eloquence, zeal, and moral earnestness. He was also noted to be a bishop of an unspecified city by [[Eusebius of Caesarea]] and [[Jerome]] and by the poet Prudentius as bishop of Portus, a port for Rome.

The ''Philosophoumena'', that is a part of his larger work "Refutation of All Heresies", shows that he dissented from the compassionate views of Bps. Zephyrinus, whom he considered to be a weak man "unskilled the church's rule", and [[Callistus ‎Callistus I of Rome]] concerning the reception of backsliders and heretics who had repented. In the "Refutation of All Heresies" Hippolytus set out to refute the doctrines of the Gnostics and condemn [[heretic]]s by showing that their views were taken from pagan philosophy and oriental theosophy.