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’.

Drawing on current scholarship and exhaustive textual study, this volume offers a detailed exploration of creationa "of the cosmos and humanitya "in the thought of the second-century Irenaeus of Lyons, connecting it to themes of trinity, image, progress and perfection.

Eschatology and ethics are joined at the hip, says Michael Allen, and both need theocentric reorientation. In Grounded in Heaven Allen retrieves the traditional concept of the beatific vision and seeks to bring Christ back into the heart of our theology and our lives on earth. Responding to the earthly-mindedness of much recent theology, Allen places his focus on God and the heavenly future while also appreciating ways in which the Reformed tradition provides a unique angle on broadly catholic concerns. Reaching back to classical ethics as well as its reformation by Calvin and other Reformed theologians, Grounded in Heaven offers a distinctly Protestant account of the ascetical calling to be heavenly-minded and to deny one’s self.

"Against Heresies - Book IV" from Irenaeus. Bishop of Lugdunum in Gaul (-202A.D.).

with a Postcript coauthored by Michael W. Goheen In print for two decades and translated into eight languages, Albert Wolters's classic formulation of an integrated Christian worldview has been revised and expanded to reach new readers beyond the generation that has already benefited from this clear, concise proposal for transcending the false dichotomy between sacred and secular. Wolters begins by defining the nature and scope of a worldview, distinguishing it from philosophy and theology. He then outlines a Reformed analysis of the three basic categories in human history -- creation, fall, and redemption -- arguing that while the fall reaches into every corner of the world, Christians are called to participate in Christ's redemption of all creation. This Twentieth Anniversary edition features a new concluding chapter, coauthored with Michael Goheen, that helpfully places the discussion of worldview in a broader narrative and missional context.

A translation and analysis of the third book of St. Irenaeus' influential work 'Against Heresies'. This book offers a detailed critique of Gnostic teachings and provides insights into the early development of Christian theology. With an informative introduction and helpful notes, this volume is an essential resource for scholars and students of early Christian history and theology. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

In The Intertextual Reception of Genesis 1-3 in Irenaeus of Lyons, Stephen Presley explores the intertextual nature of Irenaeus’ interpretation of Genesis 1-3 by drawing on contemporary discussions on the topic. Irenaeus interprets the creation accounts, Presley argues, in continuity with the rest of the scriptural witness through a series of reading strategies including: a literary sense, prophetic fulfillment, typology, philological associations, organizational strategies, narratival arrangements, prosopological interpretation, illustrative identification, and general-to-particular reasoning. Irenaeus’ perspective competes with his Gnostic interlocutors who utilize similar methods of interpretation, but fashion distinctive textual relationships between Genesis 1-3 and other texts. These reading strategies circumscribe precisely how Irenaeus’ intertextual exegesis is applied to these creation texts within the integrative structure of his theological perspective.

In Irenaeus on the Trinity, Jackson Lashier provides a fresh reading of Irenaeus' understanding of God, in dialogue with his opponents and sources, which reveals a more developed Trinitarian theology than traditionally thought. Key Trinitarian themes that emerge are the Fatherhood of God, the mutual indwelling relations of Father, Son, and Spirit, and the cooperative divine work of all three in the economy. The study finds Irenaeus' thought to depart in these areas from standard second century trajectories--Apologists and Gnostics--moving Trinitarian theology in the direction of more developed Trinitarian thought of later centuries. This monograph offers not only a better understanding of Irenaeus' thought, but also a fuller picture of the development of Trinitarian thought in early Christianity.

Saint Irenaeus was the first great Christian theologian. Born in Asia Minor in about 130 A.D., he became Bishop of Lyons and died as a martyr early in the third century. His main work, Adversus Haereses (Against the Heresies), is as relevant today as it was eighteen hundred years ago. It is a critique of Gnosticism, the 'anti-body' heresy, which, far from dying out, continues to flourish as the main threat to the Christian faith in our own day. With serenity and good humor, Irenaeus unfolds the unity of God's purpose in creation and redemption, in Old and New Testaments. The flesh and blood which Gnosticism so despised has been assumed by God in the womb of the Virgin Mary, and glorified in the Resurrection and the Eucharist. In this book, quotations from Saint Irenaeus have been arranged thematically in order to show the unity of his Christian view of the world. The texts have been selected and are introduced by the late Hans Urs von Balthasar, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest Catholic theologians of this century. They are translated by John Saward. "Everything in Irenaeus is bathed in a warm and radiant joy, a wise and majestic gentleness. His words of struggle are hard as iron and crystal clear, ... so penetrating that they cannot fail to enlighten the unbiased observer." - Hans Urs von Balthasar