Irenaeus of Lyons: Identifying Christianity PDF
Preview Irenaeus of Lyons: Identifying Christianity
christian theology in context SERIESEDITORS TimothyGorringe SereneJones GrahamWard CHRISTIANTHEOLOGYINCONTEXT Anyinspectionofrecenttheologicalmonographsmakesplainthatitisstillthought possibletounderstandatextindependentlyofitscontext.Workinthesociologyof knowledgeandinculturalstudieshas,however,increasinglymadeobviousthat such divorce is impossible. On the one hand, as Marx put it, ‘life determines consciousness’. All texts have to be understood in their life situation, related to questionsofpower,class,andmodesofproduction.Notextsexistinintellectual innocence.Ontheotherhand,textsarealsoformsofculturalpower,expressing andmodifyingthedominantideologiesthroughwhichweunderstandtheworld. This dialectical understanding of texts demands an interdisciplinary approach if theyaretobeproperlyunderstood:theologyneedstobereadalongsideeconom- ics,politics,andsocialstudies,aswellasphilosophy,withwhichithastraditionally beenlinked.Theculturalsituatednessofanytextdemands,bothinitsowntime andinthetimeofitsrereading,aradicallyinterdisciplinaryanalysis. Theaimofthisseriesistoprovidesuchananalysis,culturallysituatingtextsby Christiantheologiansandtheologicalmovements.Onlybydoingthis,webelieve, will people of the fourth, sixteenth, or nineteenth centuries be able to speak to thoseofthetwenty-first.Onlybydoingthiswillwebeabletounderstandhow theologiesarethemselvesculturalproducts—projectsdeeplyresonantwiththeir particularculturalcontextsandyetneverthelessexceedingthosecontextsbybeing received into our own today. In doing this, the series should advance both our understandingofthosetheologiesandourunderstandingoftheologyasadiscip- line.Wealsohopethatitwillcontributetothefastdevelopinginterdisciplinary debatesofthepresent. Irenaeus of Lyons Identifying Christianity John Behr 1 3 GreatClarendonStreet,Oxford,OX26DP, UnitedKingdom OxfordUniversityPressisadepartmentoftheUniversityofOxford. ItfurtherstheUniversity’sobjectiveofexcellenceinresearch,scholarship, andeducationbypublishingworldwide.Oxfordisaregisteredtrademarkof OxfordUniversityPressintheUKandincertainothercountries #JohnBehr2013 Themoralrightsoftheauthorhavebeenasserted Firstpublished2013 Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedin aretrievalsystem,ortransmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans,withoutthe priorpermissioninwritingofOxfordUniversityPress,orasexpresslypermitted bylaw,bylicenceorundertermsagreedwiththeappropriatereprographics rightsorganization.Enquiriesconcerningreproductionoutsidethescopeofthe aboveshouldbesenttotheRightsDepartment,OxfordUniversityPress,atthe addressabove Youmustnotcirculatethisworkinanyotherform andyoumustimposethissameconditiononanyacquirer BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData Dataavailable PrintedinGreatBritainby CPIGroup(UK)Ltd,Croydon,CR04YY ISBN 978–0–19–921462–4 LinkstothirdpartywebsitesareprovidedbyOxfordingoodfaithand forinformationonly.Oxforddisclaimsanyresponsibilityforthematerials containedinanythirdpartywebsitereferencedinthiswork. For my students Preface It is an honour to be asked by the editors, Timothy Gorringe, Serene Jones,andGrahamWard,towritethisvolumeonIrenaeusofLyonsfor their series Christian Theology in Context.Irenaeus presents an unusual challengeforsuchatask,as,ontheonehand,heisthefirstprolificauthor oftheChristiantradition,andyet,ontheotherhand,theinformationthat we have to contextualize what remains of his work is rather slim. We knowsometantalizingdetails,teasedoutinChapter1,abouthisearlylife in Asia Minor; yet we know neither how he arrived in Lyons nor any details of his life there. As for Christianity in the city and surrounding region,wehaveonlythesparsestdetailsoutsidethescarceallusionsthat Irenaeushimselfmakes;thesehavealsobeendiscussedinChapter1.We do,ofcourse,knowsomethingofthemoregeneralhistoryofthecityand area,abouttradewith,andimmigrationfrom,theEast,aboutGaulunder Roman rule, and some reports of the pagan religions that had been practisedthere,butthisprovidesuswithverylittletohelpusunderstand Irenaeus’ theological context in Gaul. All this is in stark contrast to the abundant materialthatwe havefromafewdecadeslaterforcontextual- izing Origen within the rich intellectual and religious history of Alexan- dria, the detailed account by Eusebius of his life, travels, and eventual move to Caesarea, and his own voluminous work with its plentiful contextualizingcomments. WhilethereareonlyafewpointsinIrenaeus’majorwork,Againstthe Heresies, that allow parts of its five books to be dated, the nature of the workissuchthatitsrealcontextisthehistoryanddiversityofChristianity inRomeoverthecourseofthesecondcentury:itistothisthatIrenaeus responds,andsoIhavepresentedthis,inChapter1,asthebackgroundto Irenaeus’lifeandwork.Irenaeus’response,however,andhiselaboration of ‘Orthodoxy’ and ‘Heresy’, have their own history of interpretation, which has undergone significant modifications over the last couple of centuries and especially in recent decades. As such, this is another ‘con- text’ for situating and interpreting Irenaeus, which I have addressed outsidethemainbodyofthiswork,intheIntroductionandConclusion. Thus the contextualizing of Irenaeus undertaken in this contribution to the series is multi-faceted: Irenaeus’ own historical context and our own contextaswereadIrenaeusinhis,allowinghim,inturn,toaddressus. Preface vii The following two books regretfully appeared in print too late to be takenintoaccountinthiswork:PaulFosterandSaraParvis(eds)Irenaeus: Life, Scripture, Legacy (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2012); Anthony Brigg- man, Irenaeus of Lyons and the Theology of the Holy Spirit (OECS; Oxford: OxfordUniversityPress,2012). This page intentionally left blank Contents Abbreviations x Introduction 1 1. IrenaeusofLyons:AmbassadorforPeace,Reconciliation, andToleration 13 VienneandLyons 16 TheChristianCommunitiesinRome 21 IrenaeusandFlorinus,EleutherusandVictor 47 IrenaeusandPolycarp 57 TheChronologyofIrenaeus’LifeandWritings 66 2. AgainsttheHeresies 73 Structure 74 RefutationandOverthrowal(haer.1–2) 103 3. TheGloryofGod(haer.3–5) 121 TheConciseWord 124 TheArcoftheEconomy 144 TheWorkofGod 162 TheSymphonyofSalvation 185 LivingHumanBeings,theMartyrs 198 Conclusion 205 Bibliography 211 Index 233
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