Irenaeus on Creation
The Cosmic Christ and the Saga of Redemption
Gebonden Engels 2008 9789004166820Samenvatting
Scholarship on Irenaeus has long acknowledged the centrality of creation to his theology, yet without fitting this theme securely into the Christological vision of Christ the ‘Recapitulator’. Studies have considered elements of Irenaeus’ cosmology and anthropology in extraction; but without seeing creation as an intrinsic part of his Christocentric vision, these have only partially been able to capture the intricacy and significance of his embrace of the creation saga. Drawing on the most recent Irenaean scholarship, the present volume explores in detail the Christocentric cosmology of one of the second century’s greatest writers, setting him in the context of the theological currents of his day. The result is a volume that offers new insights into the trinitarian articulation of early Christianity, the full significance of humanity as bearing God’s ‘image’, and a fuller reading of the details behind the title, ‘Irenaeus the creationist’.
Specificaties
Lezersrecensies
Inhoudsopgave
Citation Conventions
Introduction
Creation and the life of the human race: The contours of Irenaeus’ cosmic anthropology
Comparative sources
The ‘Gnostics’
Contemporary Christian sources: Justin and Theophilus
Jewish sources
Chapter One
Creation’s Stage: The Background to Irenaeus’ Protology
The motivation and cause of creation
Contemporary interpretations of creation and motivation
Irenaeus on the motivation for creation
The creator’s untrammelled power: a doctrine of creation ex nihilo
Creation ex nihilo in the broader theological milieu
Irenaeus’ developments: creation ex nihilo clarified in Christ
Chiliasm: Reading the beginning through the end and the end through the beginning
Chapter Two
‘The Work of His Hands’: The Creation of the Cosmos
‘Trinity’? Creation as an act of Father, Son and Spirit
A triune act – three roles in creation
Distinguishing the creative work
The ‘hands’ of the Father
A ‘timeline’ of creation
The days of creation and the beginning of redemption
Days that lead to growth: ‘Increase and multiply’
Recapitulation, and a definition of history
Chapter Three
Dust and Life: The Creation of the Human Person
The triune creation of humanity
The untilled earth and the constitution of the human person
The creature wrought of dust and breath: the composition of the human formation
Four categories of incarnational reading
God and not angels created the human handiwork
Christ’s birth and human nature
The material aspect of humanity’s being as a creature of flesh
The human-shaped soul: man’s immortal element in relation to the Holy Spirit
From dust and breath to living image
The paradise of humankind
Humanity’s relationship to the cosmos
Humanity’s social context: the relationship of Adam and Eve
Chapter Four
History Transformed: Humanity’s Transgression
The tree and the prohibition
The nature of the prohibition: protection from knowledge misused
The relationship of knowledge and obedience
The dynamic of maturing knowledge and responsibility
A prohibition but not a test
The fall of knowledge and knowing
The question of humanity’s ‘fall’
The devil and the deception of the human child
The devil’s motivation
The nature and the accomplishment of the deceit
The response to sin: humankind
The opening of humanity’s eyes: awareness and reaction
Humanity’s flight and confrontation with God
The response to sin: God
The curse
The clothing and the expulsion from paradise
Chapter Five
Stumbling to Perfection: Life after Eden
Cain and Abel, and the internalisation of transgression
Enoch, Noah and the deluge
The descendents of Noah and the future of the race
The tower of Babel and the distribution of races
Conclusion
Appendix I: A note on Irenaean source texts and dates
The Irenaean corpus
Reading Irenaeus: a note on source texts
Dating the Epideixis with respect to the Adversus haereses
Appendix II: Use of Genesis 1-11 in the Irenaean Corpus
Appendix III: Irenaeus’ employment of the two accounts of humanity’s creation
Bibliography
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