One of the hallmarks of the writings of Irenaeus is his use of quotations (recapitulations) from either biblical writings or spoken traditions he claimed had been passed down from the apostles. He also quoted from several Gnostic texts in refuting them, and for many years (until the discovery of the Gnostic texts at Nag Hammadi) the only thing we knew of many of these Gnostic texts came through the writings of Irenaeus, so he was an invaluable source. But you've already noted what most other people have, which is, that much of what he says or quotes from the bible, or the interpretations he gives to biblical texts, is often quite contrary to those teachings. One of the things he was noted for saying is that Jesus was between 40 and 50 years of age when he died:
"So, likewise, he was an old man for old men
Now, that the first stage of early life embraces thirty years, and that this extends onwards to the fortieth year, every one will admit; but from the fortieth and fiftieth year a man begins to decline towards old age, which our Lord possessed while he still fulfilled the office of a teacher
those who were conversant in Asia with John, the disciple of the Lord affirming that John conveyed to them that information.
Some of them, those who teach this, moreover, saw not only John, but the other apostles also, and heard the very same account from them, and bear testimony as to the validity of the statement." ~~ Irenaeus, Against Heresies, 2:22:4-6
The bible doesn't give the age of Christ at death. Theologians have traditionally arrived at his age by way of counting numbers given within the texts of the gospels. So, maybe Irenaeus was right, maybe not, but it is rather controversial. He also said in "Against Heresies" that the reason he thought there should be four gospels was:
But it is not possible that the Gospels can be either more or fewer in number than they are. For since there are four zones of the world in which we live, and four principal winds, while the church has been scattered throughout the world, and since the "pillar and ground" of the church is the Gospel and the spirit of life, it is fitting that she should have four pillars, breathing incorruption on every side, and vivifying human afresh. From this fact, it is evident that the Logos, the fashioner demiourgos of all, he that sits on the cherubim and holds all things together, when he was manifested to humanity, gave us the gospel under four forms but bound together by one spirit." ~~ Against Heresies 3.11.8
That would seem a rather silly reason to have four gospels.
He also said some things that would probably make him the father of dispensational theology. As you quoted earlier:
12. "Now, having made man lord of the earth and all things in it, He secretly appointed him lord also of those who were servants in it. They however were in their perfection; but the lord, that is, man, was (but) small; for he was a child...."
When he says "servants" here, I take it to mean angelic beings of some kind (or possibly every kind). How is it they are said to have reached "perfection" and yet a short time later he says they commit all kinds of sin, "And the angels brought as presents to their wives teachings of wickedness."
It's easy to see why the Catholic Church has taught long and hard against the teachings of Irenaeus, but at the same time, theologians for many years have used him as their prime example of an early "church father" as a source for which books to incorporate into the canon of holy scriptures, as it was Irenaeus preaching against the Gnostics who started the ball rolling in creating a Holy Canon. He was an odd duck to put it mildly.
