Asceticism And Anthropology In Irenaeus And Clement

Asceticism and Anthropology in Irenaeus and Clement examines the ways in which Irenaeus and Clement understood what it means to be human. By exploring these writings from within their own theological perspectives, John Behr also offers a theological critique of the prevailing approach to the asceticism of Late Antiquity. Writing before monasticism became the dominant paradigm of Christian asceticism, Irenaeus and Clement afford fascinating glimpses of alternative approaches. For Irenaeus, asceticism is the expression of man living the life of God in all dimensions of the body, that which is most characteristically human and in the image of God. Human existence as a physical being includes sexuality as a permanent part of the framework within which males and females grow towards God. In contrast, Clement depicts asceticism as man's attempt at a godlike life to protect the rational element, that which is distinctively human and in the image of God, from any possible disturbance and threat, or from the vulnerability of dependency, especially of a physical or sexual nature. Here human sexuality is strictly limited by the finality of procreation and abandoned in the resurrection. By paying careful attention to these two writers, Behr offers challenging material for the continuing task of understanding ourselves as human beings.

Evangelicals are often surprised or maybe even shocked whenever they encounter the early Church Fathers’ description of salvation in terms of deification, divinization, or apotheosis. It was Athanasius, the black dwarf, the champion of Nicene orthodoxy, who coined the phrase in his On the Incarnation, “God became man that man might become god.” Hundreds of years before Athanasius, Irenaeus, disciple of Polycarp, disciple of the Apostle John, wrote of Christ’s salvific provision for humanity using similar deification type concepts. Why did these Church Fathers use such seemingly foreign biblical concepts? Could it be that influential theologian, Adolf Harnack, is right and these church Fathers’ implementation of deification reveal that the gospel changed from what Jesus originally intended after being exposed to Hellenistic culture? Not at all, at least, that is what this work argues. It does so, first, by comparing an overall understanding of deification in both Athanasius’ and Irenaeus’ respective writings. This section encompasses the first three chapters, which exhibit how the Fathers’ use of deification is immersed in their respective descriptions of salvation history, the Trinity, and Christology. Further, this work assesses Harnack’s proposal by comparing the Fathers’ respective descriptions of deification with that of many Greek and Roman philosophers. Finally, this work seeks to propose that both Irenaeus and Athanasius contextualize the gospel by comparing the Father’s respective descriptions of deification with their respective understandings of scriptural authority and the rule of faith.

Building on the work of Tertullian and Paul and The Apostolic Fathers and Paul, this volume continues a series of specially commissioned studies by leading voices in New Testament/early Christianity and patristics studies to consider how Paul was read, interpreted and received by the early Church Fathers. In this volume the use of Paul's writings is examined within the writings of Irenaeus of Lyon. Issues of influence, reception, theology and history are examined to show how Paul's work influenced the developing theology of the early Church. The literary style of Paul's output is also examined. The contributors to the volume represent leading lights in the study of Irenaeus, as well as respected names from the field of New Testament studies.

Pagan asceticism: cultic and contemplative purity -- Asceticism in Hellenistic and Rabbinic Judaism -- Christian asceticism before Origen -- Origen and his ascetic legacy -- Cavemen, cenobites, and clerics.

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'.

This volume brings together contributions exploring a range of aspects of the Alexandrian patristic tradition from the second half of the second century to the first half of the fifth century, a tradition whose complex and significant legacy is at times misunderstood and, in some quarters, wholly neglected. With contributions by both Australian and international scholars, the fourteen chapters here highlight that, behind the complexity of this tradition, one finds a vibrant Christian spirit – granted, one that has successfully put on the flesh of Hellenistic culture – and a consistent striving towards the reformation and transformation of the human being according to the gospel. Furthermore, this volume contributes a nuanced voice to the scholarly choir which already hums a new song about Christian Alexandria and its representatives. Indeed, these contributions are interdisciplinary in approach, combining methods pertaining to the fields of historiography, theology and philosophy, pastoral care, hermeneutics, hagiography, and spirituality. By way of this complex approach, this book brings together areas which currently evolve in separate scholarly universes, which is wholly befitting to the complexities entailed by the ever-challenging Alexandrian legacy.