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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