Datos Generales:

Continuing his description of the freedom of human nature, in this portion Irenaeus emphasizes the necessity for humans to progress morally through obedience. Following this Irenaeus suggests that to obey God is good and to disobey God is evil. Through experience with good and evil, human being become more resolute in their obedience toward God, which allows the creative hands of God to re-fashion the corruptible aspects of human nature.157 _{Anticipating the future second creation}

from the dust, where the faithful are resurrected and recreated in the image and likeness of God, Irenaeus offers a poetic description that blends together the imagery of the creation from the dust in Gen 2:7 with Exod 25:11 and Psalm 44:12 LXX.

The final re-creation, for Irenaeus is not a singular event set apart from the creative activity of God in the present, but in Gen 1:26 the Father’s work of creation by means of the Son and the Spirit is a “continuous creation” throughout salvation history.158 _{This universal truth is summarized in the Irenaean axiom: “For you did}

not make God, but God made you” (Non enim tu Deum facis, sed Deus te facit).159 _The

unilateral creation of God in Gen 2:7 informs this saying and the designation of humanity as the “workmanship of God” (opera Dei). As a result, Irenaeus pleads with his readers to “await the hand of your maker” (manum artifices tui exspecta) referring to the “hand” (manum) of God that formed Adam in Gen 1:26. In continuity with his argument for patient, progressive sanctification and his understanding of the structure of the divine economy, he suggests that God creates everything in due time.160 _{Extending the imagery of Gen 2:7 to the present state of sanctification, he}

beseeches his readers to offer a softened, malleable heart to God so that they “preserve the form” (custodi figuram) in which the Creator has fashioned them. This form is characterized by “moisture” (humorem) that calls to mind the imagery of rain on the earth in Gen 2:5, which becomes clear in the next line when Irenaeus

157_{cf. AH 4.11.2}

158 _{Orbe, Teología IV, 524 n. 23.} 159_{AH 4.39.2.}

160 _{Vogel, “The Haste of Sin, the Slowness of Salvation: An Interpretation of Irenaeus and the Fall and}

refers to the “moist clay” (lutum) of Adam’s formation.161 _{This is the most illustrative}

use of the potter imagery that has characterized Irenaeus’ interpretation of Gen 2:7 to this point. For Orbe, the reference to water in this context, which most naturally alludes to Gen 2:5, is a reference to the Spirit who, alongside the Son (cf. Gen 1:26), is active in the creation of Adam.162

On the other hand, those who remain hardened and obstinate towards God lose “the impressions of His fingers” (amittas vestigia digitorum ejus), because the Son and the Spirit are not actively forming them.163 _{In doing so, they “reject His}

workmanship” (respuas artem ejus) and will loose both God’s “workmanship and life” (artem… et vitam).164 _{The language of artem and vitam refer back to the artful}

formation from the dust in Gen 2:7 where Adam became a living being. Thus, while creation may be motivated by the goodness of God, it is the nature of humanity to be created.165 _{Although it is clear that the “hand” (manus) of God is never separated}

from his creation, but actively involved in a continual act of creation, the key is the receptivity of the creature towards the Creator. The creature can become hardened and obstinate toward the Creator and in turn deny the formative presence of the Spirit.166 _{On the other hand, the faithful who are open and submissive to the Creator}

allow themselves to be fashioned by God.167

The creative imagery that characterizes Irenaeus’ reading of Gen 1:26 and Gen 2:7 naturally evokes reference to the construction of the Ark of the Covenant in Exod 25:11 and the king’s admiration for his bride in Psalm 44:12 LXX.168 _{With highly}

specific dimensions, Exod 25:10 describes how the ark should be formed out of wood, while Exod 25:11 directs Moses to cover the wood with a layer of pure gold. Irenaeus applies this imagery to the resurrected body, where God will figuratively cover the mortal form of flesh fashioned from feeble dust with a layering of “pure gold and silver” (auro puro et argento). The quality of the elements reflects the immortal nature of the resurrected body that receives the perfection God intended

161_{AH 4.39.2; Orbe, Teología IV, 524 n. 27.} 162 _{Orbe, Teología IV, 524 n. 23, n. 27-28.} 163_{AH 4.39.2.}

164_{AH 4.39.2.}

165_{AH 4.39.2. See a similar reference to goodness as the motivation for creation in AH 3.25.5.}

Steenberg, Irenaeus, 33.

166 _{For the contrary positions on free will in Irenaeus and the Valentinians see: Orbe, Teología IV, 527-}

8.

167 _{Behr, Asceticism, 117.}

in Gen 1:26 and Gen 2:7. Likewise, Irenaeus also mentions Psalm 44:12 LXX, which compares a king’s admiration for the beauty of his daughter to the beauty of the resurrected body and the pleasure God will take in the resurrected, perfected humanity. Steenberg submits that the concept of God’s goodness motivating

creation is borne principally out of the Gospels—not necessarily Gen 1-2—where the same substance of the flesh is assumed and recovered in the Incarnation, but in the present context we find that Exod 25:11 and Psalm 44:12 LXX describe the beautiful nature of God’s creative activity.169 _{As we have seen above, when Irenaeus uses the}

language “creation” (facere) the creation accounts are at the forefront of his mind, but not the creation accounts alone. The original creation motivated by the goodness of God, initiates the active, ongoing work of creation in throughout time that gradually directs the believer towards perfection. The beauty of this creation is expressed in the imagery of Exod 25:11 and Psalm 44:12 LXX.