In his article “Our Hearts of Darkness: Original Sin Revisited,” in Theological Studies 49 (1988) (597-621), Father Stephen J. Duffy sums up Irenaeus’ teaching on Adam and humanity in this way: “For Irenaeus, the unification of creation and redemption in a single order is pivotal. Perfection is at the end, not at the beginning; hope burns…
In order to understand what Irenaeus was driving at by emphasizing that Adam and Eve were children, you need to first understand that Irenaeus saw Christ as truly the Alpha and Omega of the entire creation. He saw God’s fundamental purpose for creation as being to bring all creation to fullness in Christ. That was…
As I mentioned in the earlier posts, Irenaeus taught that Adam and Eve were essentially children. Such an understanding relates to the very way Irenaeus understood the purpose creation itself, and salvation in Christ. Concerning Adam and Eve, Irenaeus said,“Adam and Eve were naked and were not ashamed, for their thoughts were innocent and childlike,”…
This past Sunday, in the Sunday school class I attend, the lesson was on Luke 3-4: the accounts of John the Baptist, Jesus’ baptism and temptations, and Jesus’ early ministry. Having not grown up in either a Baptist or Church of Christ, I was not aware of the controversy over John’s “baptism of repentance for…
So what did Irenaeus believe about Adam and Eve? Or more properly, what does Irenaeus tell us about what the view of the early Church was concerning Adam and Eve? In order to understand what Irenaeus says, though, we have to first understand what many of the heretics of Irenaeus’ day were saying about Adam…
Over the past year and a half, I have been doing quite a lot research and writing about the young earth creationist movement of Ken Ham and Answers in Genesis. In the book I am in the midst of writing, I am arguing that at a fundamental level, young earth creationism is not simply unscientific,…
The final chapter of Mere Christianity is entitled, “The New Men.” In it, Lewis touches upon something that will no doubt drive your modern day fundamentalist crazy: evolution. Not only does Lewis mention it, but he actually says, “Perhaps a modern man can understand the Christian idea best if he takes it in connection with…
Since my son is still napping, I thought I’d just continue and move on to Lewis’ next chapter in Mere Christianity: “Nice People or New Men.” In this chapter, Lewis touches upon a very common complaint often levied against Christians. It goes something like this: If Christianity is so great, then how come so many…
As C.S. Lewis continues to wrap up his book Mere Christianity, he addresses the idea in the Bible in which God says, “Be ye perfect.” He makes it clear that “becoming perfect” is not a requirement you must achieve in order for God to accept you. Rather, it is the goal and purpose for which…
The last few chapters of Mere Christianity have had a tremendous challenging influence on me ever since my high school days. This chapter is fairly straightforward, and actually puts into perspective the challenge Christianity offers. The first thing Lewis states comes directly from the previous chapter: if you start to “put on Christ” and start…