Divine greatness and providence according to the theology of Irenaeus of Lyons
Viktor Zhukovskyy
Український Католицький Університет (Львів) , UkraineAbstract
The article discusses the problem of the ontological distinction between God’s
transcendence and immanence in the theological thought of Irenaeus of Lyons,
a Church Father of the II-III century. The author presents the main conceptual
and terminological apparatus that Irenaeus used in his antinomic approach to the
“reconciliation” of apophatic and kataphatic images of God. He analyzes the key
characteristics of these two dimensions of the nature of God. Special attention is
paid to the analysis of the kataphatic approache in answering the question: how
can God, who is completely ontologicaly removed from created reality, be at the
same time actively present in the world and filling it. In this context the author
analyzes the key notions, which express the “intradivine” remoteness and God’s
active nearness in relation to created being.
Keywords:
Irenaeus of Lyons, Divine greatness, divine philanthropy, divine hands, Logos, Sophia, divine energyReferences
Irenaeus, Adversus haereses, ed. A.Rousseau, II, SCh 294, Paris 1982; III, SCh 211, Paris 1974; IV, SCh 100/2, Paris 1965; V, SCh 153, Paris 1969.
Irenaeus, Fragmenta deperditorum operum, ed. W.W. Harvey, в: Sancti Irenaei episcopi Lugdunensis libri quinque adversus haereses, т. 2, Cambridge 1857, 470-511.
A Patristic Greek Lexicon, ed. G.W.H. Lampe, Oxford 1961.
Andia Y. De, Homo vivens: Incorruptibilité et divinisation de l’homme selon Irénée de Lyon, Paris 1986.
Cross F.L., The Early Christian Fathers, London 1960.
Donovan M.A., Alive to the glory of God: key insight in St. Irenaeus, ThS 49 (1988) 288-290. (Crossref)
Fantino J., L’Homme, image de Dieu chez saint Irénée de Lyon, Paris 1986.
Grant R.M., Irenaeus of Lyons, London – New York 1997.
Lanne D.E., La vision de Dieu dans l’oeuvre de saint Irénée, “Irénikon” 33 (1960) 311-320.
Lawson J., The Biblical Theology of Saint Irenaeus, London 1948.
Loewe W.P., Christus victor Revisited: Irenaeus’ Soteriology, ATR 67 (1985) 1-15.
Loewe W.P., Irenaeus’ Soteriology: Transposing the Question, в: Religion and Culture: Essays in Honor of Bernard Lonergan, ed. T.P. Fallon – P.B. Riley, Albany 1986, 167-179.
Loewe W.P., Myth and Counter-Myth: Irenaeus’ Story of Salvation, в: Interpreting Tradition: The Art of Theological Interpretation, ed. J. Kopas, Chicago 1984, 39-54.
Lossky V., Vision de Dieu, Neuchatel 1962.
Moor L. De, The Idea of Revelation in the Early Church, “Evangelical Quarterly” 50 (1978) 231-243.
Norris R.A., The Transcendence and freedom of God: Irenaeus, the Greek Tradition and Gnosticism, w: Early Christian Literature and the Classical Intellectual Tradition, ed. W.R. Schoedel – R.L. Wilken, Paris 1979, 87-100.
Ochagavia J., Visibile Patris Filius: A Study of Irennaeus’s Teaching on Revelation and Tradition, OCA 171, Roma 1964.
Prestige G.L., God in Patristic Thought, London 1952.
Rusecki M., Objawienie w teologii patrystycznej, "Vox Patrum" 52 (2008), 913-932.
Schoedel W.R., Enclosing, not Enclosed: The Early Christian Doctrine of God, в: Early Christian Literature and the Classical Intellectual Traditionn, ed. W.R. Schoedel, R.L. Wilken, Paris 1979, 75-86.
Tiessen T.L., Irenaeus on the Salvation of the Unevangelized, London 1993.
Поснов М.Э., Гностицизм ІІ века и победа Христианской Церкви над ним, Брюссель 1991.
Український Католицький Університет (Львів)
License
Papers published in Vox Patrum are covered by the Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0) licence. Authors and users can use published works licensed under the CC-BY-ND since 2018. For earlier publications, copyrights are available under fair use rights in accordance with the Act of February 4, 1994 on copyrights and related rights.
