This book provides a full, contextual study of St Irenaeus of
Lyons, the first great theologian of the Christian tradition. John
Behr sets Irenaeus both within his own context of the second
century, a fundamental period for the formation of Christian
identity, elaborating the distinction between orthodoxy and heresy
and expounding a comprehensive theological vision, and also within
our own contemporary context, in which these issues are very much
alive again. Against the commonly-held position that 'orthodoxy'
was established by excluding others, the 'heretics', Behr argues
that it was the self-chosen separation of the heretics that
provided the occasion for those who remained together to clarify
the lineaments of their faith in a church that was catholic by
virtue of embracing different voices in a symphony of many voices
and whose chief architect was Irenaeus, who, as befits his name,
urged peace and toleration. The first chapter explores Irenaeus'
background in Asia Minor, as a disciple of Polycarp of Smyrna, his
activity in Gaul, and his involvement with the Christian
communities in Rome. The theological and institutional significance
of his interventions is made clear by tracing the coalescence of
the initially fractionated communities in Rome into a united body
over the first two centuries. The second chapter provides a full
examination of Irenaeus' surviving writings, concentrating
especially on the literary and rhetorical structure of his five
books Against the Heresies, his 'refutation and overthrowal' of his
opponents in the first two books, and his establishing a framework
for articulating orthodoxy. The final chapter explores the
theological vision of Irenaeus itself, on its own terms rather than
the categories of later dogmatic theology, grounded in an apostolic
reading of Scripture and presenting a vibrant and vigorous account
of the diachronic and synchronic economy or plan of God, seen
through the work of Christ which reveals how the Hands of God have
been at work from the beginning, fashioning the creature, made from
mud and animated with a breath of life, into his own image and
likeness, vivified by the Holy Spirit, to become a 'living human
being, the glory of God'.
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