From the preface to Book 4
"Now man is a mixed organization of soul and flesh, who was formed after the likeness of God, and moulded by His hands, that is, by the Son and Holy Spirit, to whom also He said, “Let
Us make man"
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Friday, July 06, 2007
Mercy for Adam
In chapter 22 I was surprised by the passion with which Irenaeus attacks Tatian's teaching that Adam was not saved. Amongst Irenaeus' arguments are:
1) To do so is to deny the power of God to save.
2) To do so is to limit the mercy of God. This is a major theme in this chapter. God was merciful towards Adam and Eve and hence they were not cursed for their sin, in fact this curse was transferred to the land and to the serpent. God was merciful and provided them with animal skin to cover their genitals rather than itchy fig leaves [there is unintentional humour in this section]. Even the punishment of being expelled from Paradise and subject to death is a sign of God's mercy. As Irenaeus affirms:
"Wherefore also He drove him out of Paradise, and removed him far from the tree of life, not
because He envied him the tree of life, as some venture to assert, but because He pitied him, [and did not desire] that he should continue a sinner for ever, nor that the sin which surrounded him should be immortal, and evil interminable and irremediable. But He set a bound to his [state of] sin, by interposing death, and thus causing sin to cease, putting an end to it by the dissolution
of the flesh, which should take place in the earth, so that man, ceasing at length to live to sin, and dying to it, might begin to live to God."
It may be due to such reflections on God's mercy that after ending the book summarizing the teachings of the heretics and their imminent punishment, Irenaeus ends with a prayer for their salvation.
1) To do so is to deny the power of God to save.
2) To do so is to limit the mercy of God. This is a major theme in this chapter. God was merciful towards Adam and Eve and hence they were not cursed for their sin, in fact this curse was transferred to the land and to the serpent. God was merciful and provided them with animal skin to cover their genitals rather than itchy fig leaves [there is unintentional humour in this section]. Even the punishment of being expelled from Paradise and subject to death is a sign of God's mercy. As Irenaeus affirms:
"Wherefore also He drove him out of Paradise, and removed him far from the tree of life, not
because He envied him the tree of life, as some venture to assert, but because He pitied him, [and did not desire] that he should continue a sinner for ever, nor that the sin which surrounded him should be immortal, and evil interminable and irremediable. But He set a bound to his [state of] sin, by interposing death, and thus causing sin to cease, putting an end to it by the dissolution
of the flesh, which should take place in the earth, so that man, ceasing at length to live to sin, and dying to it, might begin to live to God."
It may be due to such reflections on God's mercy that after ending the book summarizing the teachings of the heretics and their imminent punishment, Irenaeus ends with a prayer for their salvation.
Thursday, July 05, 2007
The virgin birth
After referring in chapter 20 to our dependence on God for salvation, in chapter 21 Irenaeus seeks to defend the doctrine of the virgin birth:
Amongst the arguments he uses are:
1) The priority of the Septuagint version of the OT, the weakness of which I have already commented on when discussing Justin.
2) If Jesus was truly the son of Joseph, then he could not be king, as Joseph descended from the discontinued line of Jehoiachim.
3) For Jesus to truly recapitulate what Adam did, he had to be born without a human father as was the case with Adam
Amongst the arguments he uses are:
1) The priority of the Septuagint version of the OT, the weakness of which I have already commented on when discussing Justin.
2) If Jesus was truly the son of Joseph, then he could not be king, as Joseph descended from the discontinued line of Jehoiachim.
3) For Jesus to truly recapitulate what Adam did, he had to be born without a human father as was the case with Adam
The importance of christology
In chapter 19 we see that christology is so important for Irenaeus because it is intrinsically linked to salvation.
"For it was for this end that the Word of God was made man, and He who was the Son of God became the Son of man, that man, having been taken into the Word, and receiving the adoption, might become the son of God."
If Jesus did not genuinely share in the divine life, or was not truly human, then salvation as Irenaeus understands it would be impossible.
"For it was for this end that the Word of God was made man, and He who was the Son of God became the Son of man, that man, having been taken into the Word, and receiving the adoption, might become the son of God."
If Jesus did not genuinely share in the divine life, or was not truly human, then salvation as Irenaeus understands it would be impossible.
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Incarnation and Salvation
Irenaeus stresses strongly in chapter 18 the reality of the incarnation, and is particularly critical of adoptionist and docetic christologies. Some reasons for this concern are:
(1) For Irenaeus salvation requires a genuine incarnation. "For unless man had overcome the enemy of man, the enemy would not have been legitimately vanquished. And again: unless it had been God who had freely given salvation, we could never have possessed it securely."
(2) The suffering of Christians makes sense if Christ genuinely suffered. If not, it becomes a mockery and Christ can be seen to mislead them.
Irenaeus sees salvation as communion with God involving a process in which "God recapitulated in Himself the ancient formation of man, that He might kill sin, deprive death of its power, and vivify man; and thereforeHis works are true."
There are also links between Irenaeus Christology and Trinitarian theology in this chapter, as when he says:
"For in the name of Christ is implied, He that anoints, He that is anointed, and the unction
itself with which He is anointed. And it is the Father who anoints, but the Son who is anointed by
the Spirit, who is the unction, as the Word declares by Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because He hath anointed me,”pointing out both the anointing Father, the anointed Son, and the unction, which is the Spirit."
(1) For Irenaeus salvation requires a genuine incarnation. "For unless man had overcome the enemy of man, the enemy would not have been legitimately vanquished. And again: unless it had been God who had freely given salvation, we could never have possessed it securely."
(2) The suffering of Christians makes sense if Christ genuinely suffered. If not, it becomes a mockery and Christ can be seen to mislead them.
Irenaeus sees salvation as communion with God involving a process in which "God recapitulated in Himself the ancient formation of man, that He might kill sin, deprive death of its power, and vivify man; and thereforeHis works are true."
There are also links between Irenaeus Christology and Trinitarian theology in this chapter, as when he says:
"For in the name of Christ is implied, He that anoints, He that is anointed, and the unction
itself with which He is anointed. And it is the Father who anoints, but the Son who is anointed by
the Spirit, who is the unction, as the Word declares by Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because He hath anointed me,”pointing out both the anointing Father, the anointed Son, and the unction, which is the Spirit."
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