Discussant: John Behr
Contemporary scholarship on Irenaeus of Lyons continues at an impressive rate. New monographs are published annually, while the top journals, be they patristic, theological, or historical, routinely offer multiple essays each year dedicated to the second-century pioneer and controversialist. In order to chart new territory, however, Irenaeus studies are more frequently investigating their subject with new and unconventional strategies. There is no denying such lines of inquiry have their merit and have provided insights both interesting and essential. Nevertheless, this workshop is dedicated to the study of Irenaeus within his immediate second-century context.
"Man in the image and likeness of God according to Irenaeus of Lyon".
From whom does man hold his image? What makes man stand stand in the image and likeness of God? What is the difference between image and likeness?
Ireneaus' answer is inseparable from his criticism of the Gnostics, particularly their conception of nature and freedom. This communication on a central point of Ireneaus' anthropology also wants to highlight the contribution of Antonio Orbe's studies on this subject.
In Book Five of the Adversus Haereses, Irenaeus of Lyon quotes Ignatius of Antioch without naming him. Irenaeus refers to the coming millennium when the wheat will be separated from the chaff. The coming tribulation, Irenaeus explains, is for the benefit of the wheat because they will be prepared for the banquet of God. “As a certain man of ours said when he was condemned to the wild beasts because of his testimony with respect to God: ‘I am the wheat of Christ, and am ground by the teeth of wild beasts, that I may be found the pure bread of God” (AH 5.18.4, quoting Rom. 4.1). In an apocalyptic and eschatological moment in his own writing, Irenaeus quotes an apocalyptic and eschatological moment in one of Ignatius’s letters. And within what we might call an apocalyptic and eschatological horizon, Irenaeus and Ignatius understand themselves in light of sacrifice. For Ignatius, as for Irenaeus, the heart of Christian discipleship is to sacrifice oneself as Christ did. The Eucharist offers this sacrifice to the Christian, and the Christian, though a life of faith and love lives out that sacrifice.
In the following article, I want to use Irenaeus’s quotation of Ignatius as an entryway to examine Ignatius on faith, love, and sacrifice. This, in turn, will help us understand Irenaeus’s quotation of Ignatius in Book Five. We will see that Irenaeus draws on Ignatius for his understanding of the Eucharist.