Irenaeus on creation : the cosmic Christ and the saga of redemption / / by M.C. Steenberg.

• Superior document: Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae, v. 91
• Author: Steenberg, M. C. 1978-
• Year of Publication: 2008
• Language: English
• Series: Supplements to Vigiliae Christianae ; v. 91.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (258 p.)
• Notes: Description based upon print version of record.

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’.

Table of Contents

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 -- 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 -- 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 -- 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 -- 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 fight and confrontation with God -- The response to sin : God -- The curse -- The clothing and the expulsion from paradise -- 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.