Irenaeus of Lyons Flashcards
Irenaeus is the first _____
… have a Trinitarian logic that accompanies his Trinitarian belief.
How does Irenaeus distinguish the HS and the Word?
Uses a Jewish tradition to identify Wisdom and Spirit to distinguigh the HS and Word.
Wisdom = HS
Word = Son
What is a “rule of truth?”
Rule of Truth = essential tenant of the faith that must be held by true believers
True or False?
Irrenaeus believed that the Logos/Word of God is produced/generated in a manner that is analogous to the way in which the human mind produces a word.
False
How does Irenaeus explain why you can’t think about the production of the Word the same way as a human word comes into being?
God is simple - mind and word aren’t separate
God is timeless - there is no point where the Word did not exist
God is homogeneous - no variance
Above all, what does Irenaeus want to avoid “assigning” to the generation of the Word?
A beginning and course of production as they do their own word.
Who, according to Irenaeus, does and does not understand the Son’s “production, or generation, or calling, or revelation”?
no man understands
Only the Father understands
Who, according to Irenaeus, should not be thought to have participated in the work of creation (there are 3 answers)?
Angels
Other Gods
Other powers removed from the Father
- eliminating Justin’s theology of angelic/eternal beings
If creation didn’t occur by angels, or other gods, or powers, or whatever, then who was responsible for creation according to Irenaeus?
His Hands = Word/Son and Wisdom/Spirit
What is Irenaeus’ creation logic?
- reference to Gen 1:26; “Let us make man in OUR image and likeness”
- logic is that the Son and HS are as much God as the Father because they participate in creation and this also distinguishes them by what they do.
o Father commands, Word creates, HS orders
o Word furnishes the apartment, HS unpacks and decorates
o Creative activity is how he differentiates but also unifies
What are the two different aspects of creation that Irenaeus says God did by his Word and by his Wisdom?
God made all things by the Word, and adorned them by [His] Wisdom
Irenaeus moves to show that the Holy Spirit also “was present with [God the Father], anterior to all creation.” What verses does he quote in order to prove the eternal existence of the Holy Spirit?
“God by Wisdom founded the earth, and by understanding hath He established the heaven. By His knowledge the depths burst forth, and the clouds dropped down the dew.” (Prov. iii. 19, 20)
Irenaeus identifies the HS with what figure?
Wisdom
What, exactly, is the goal of salvation for human beings according to Irenaeus? Why did “the Word of God, our Lord Jesus Christ… become what we are”?
following the only true and stedfast Teacher, the Word of God, our Lord Jesus Christ
Toward the end of 5.1.1 Irenaeus speaks of the redemption of human beings through the blood of the Lord, what precisely did Jesus give for human beings to secure their redemption?
redeemed us through His own blood, giving His soul for our souls, and His flesh for our flesh,
(Quoting Clement)
