Chapters two, three, and four identify, develop, and describe how creation themes and motifs are both explicitly and implicitly woven into the framework of Paul’s theology giving
attention to the study of texts with the aid of modern critical methods of exegesis. Chapters five and six outline and assess the creation theology of Irenaeus with special attention given to his reading of Paul. Collectively, these chapters provide the resources for chapter seven, which uses the stimulus of Irenaeus’ synthesis to suggest how Pauline creation theology might have implications for contemporary ecotheology.
1.4.1 Chapter Two: Christ of the New Creation
The primary inquiry in chapter two is the question of what Paul means by the phrase new
creation (καινη` κτι'σις, 2 Cor 5:17; Gal 6:15). Given that Paul is the sole NT author to use this
relatively rare Jewish phrase and that he cites the phrase in only two letters, one may rightly wonder why I chose to begin this study with these texts. This methodological decision, ---
72 R. B. Hays, Echoes of Scripture in the Letters of Paul (New Haven/London: Yale University Press,
combination of ‘new’ with ‘creation’ needs to be analyzed in relationship to the Christ event. Although many studies have addressed the theological significance and meaning of new creation in Paul’s letters, a consensus has not been reached. The debate hinges primarily on which of three possible trajectories Paul intends: an anthropological, ecclesiological, or cosmological new creation. This chapter considers this matter at length through an analysis of three scholarly traditions that align with the three interpretive options. After ascertaining the sphere intended by Paul for the phrase new creation, the primary question guiding this inquiry is: What are the christological implications and how does Paul relate Christ to the new
creation? A comparison of these approaches reveals that the theological significance and
meaning of the phrase new creation is to a large extent dependent on how scholars place Paul’s theology within an apocalyptic framework. This highly significant feature of the debate becomes the focus of the second part of this chapter.73 Thus, this chapter begins to draw
conclusions regarding how new creation, as understood within a christologically determined framework, may provide the theological horizon from which to organize other creation motifs and themes in the Pauline letters.
1.4.2 Chapter Three: Christ of the Beginning and End
In chapter three I narrow my focus slightly by addressing Christ’s relationship to the very beginning and ending of all things. As Paul came to understand Jesus as the risen Messiah,
how does he understand and articulate the relationship of Christ to the origination of the creation and to the telos of his own creation? By asking this question, I am considering the
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73 The bibliography on the apocalyptic features in Paul is enormous with only a few representative works
included here. A. Schweitzer, The Mysticism of Paul the Apostle (London: Black, 1931); E. Käsemann, “Die anfänge christlicher theologie,” ZTK 57 (1960): 162–85. Later published in English translation, E.
Käsemann, “The Beginnings of Christian Theology,” in New Testament Questions of Today
(London/Philadelphia: SCM/Fortress, 1971), 1-31; J. C. Beker, Paul the Apostle: The Triumph of God in
Life and Thought (Philadelphia: Fortress, 1980); J. L. Martyn, Theological Issues in the Letters of Paul
(SNTW; New York: T & T Clark, 1997); J.J. Collins, The Apocalyptic Imagination: An Introduction to the
Jewish Matrix of Christianity (New York: Crossroads, 1984); M. C. de Boer, The Defeat of Death. Apocalyptic Eschatology in 1 Corinthians 15 and Romans 5 (JSNTSup, Vol 22; Sheffield: Sheffield
mediatorial roles of Christ in the creation and the eschaton (sometimes termed ‘cosmic Christology’), this chapter focuses instead on 1 Cor 8-10 with added insight from 1 Cor 15:20-28. Special attention is given to the articulation of the relationship between Christ and creation in 1 Cor 8:6 and 10:26 combined with a more thorough study of 1 Cor 8:6 guided by the following question: How is the relationship between Christ, God, all things, and us
formulated, and what implications might be drawn from that formulation?
Because Paul is dealing with the practical questions related to one’s relationship to food in 1 Cor 8-10, his directives provide a unique example of the ethical implications for believers in their relationship to the created realm; and of special significance is that his directives are grounded upon theological claims about the relationship of Christ and creation.
1.4.3 Chapter Four: Christ as Image of God and as Adam
Chapter four takes up the incarnate nature of Jesus Christ as articulated through two Pauline
signature motifs drawn from Gen 1-2: the Adam/Christ typology (Rom 5; 1 Cor 15) and the
image of God (ει’κω`ν τουñ θεουñ) language (2 Cor 4:4; Col 1:15; Rom 8:28-30; 1 Cor 15:49; 2 Cor 3:18; Col 3:9-10). Through a careful study of Paul’s intertextual application of these motifs, the distinctiveness of God in Christ as creature comes into sharper focus. Through use of these first creation categories, Paul both compares and contrasts the first humanity with Jesus Christ, prompting the primary question for consideration: How does Paul interpret and
apply the first creation narrative in light of the new creation in Christ framework? These
texts provide probing examples of Paul’s intertextual hermeneutic whereby he interprets the first creation narrative through the new creation narrative, while also shedding light on his ecclesiological formulation.
1.4.4 Chapter Five: Irenaeus of Lyons, Theologian of Creation
This chapter is dedicated to a summary of Irenaeus of Lyons’ historical situation and an analysis of his creation theology with an emphasis on his incorporation of Pauline texts. As one of the earliest interpreters of Paul, Irenaeus crafted innovative intertextual interpretations that intricately fused redemption with creation. Yet, as scholars regularly note, due to the
creation theology which attempts to demonstrate the degree to which creation themes and motifs are thoroughly embedded within Irenaeus’ theology. Irenaeus reads the creation narrative as a conceptual framework with a ‘Christ centered vision of history moving from creation to eschatological fulfillment’, famously known as his signature recapitulation reading.75 In order to access and learn from Irenaeus, this chapter probes the following
question: In what ways can Irenaeus’ theological readings of Scripture, which bind
redemption to creation/pre-creation, be the stimulus for interpreting a substructure of creation theology in Paul?
1.4.5 Chapter Six: Irenaeus and Paul
This chapter focuses more closely on how Irenaeus employs the Pauline corpus in the construction of his creation theology and on what interpretive methods inform Irenaeus’ hermeneutical exercise. The chapter begins with an analysis of his hermeneutical approach to reading Paul. This task is an important starting point because Irenaeus’ hermeneutical
approach is decidedly different from what characterizes a modern historical/exegetical inquiry (more characteristic of chapters two through four). This naturally leads into the final goal of this chapter, which is to determine which Pauline texts bind his creation framework together. The primary question guiding the latter part of the chapter is: How might the theological
matrix of texts that Irenaeus weaves together establish a trajectory for reconceptualizing Paul’s teaching on creation as outlined in chapters two, three, and four? This synthesis of
the structural and theological connections of Irenaeus’ reading of Paul with my own facilitates new possibilities for constructing a Pauline theology of creation; a theology that enables Paul to speak into the ecotheological debate, not by way of a few isolated proof-texts, but rather by way of a broader theological framework connecting Christology to creation and redemption.
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74 Steenberg, Irenaeus, 3.
75 Z. Hayes, The Gift of Being: A Theology of Creation (NTS 10; Minneapolis: The Liturgical Press,
the trajectory of this study for current ecotheological readings of the Pauline corpus. One intent of this concluding chapter is to break open the artificial constriction that primary attention given to Rom 8:18-23 and Col 1:15-20 has created for ecotheological readings of Paul. The question guiding this inquiry is: In what ways does this study of creation categories
in Paul and of Irenaeus’ reading of Pauline motifs inform a theology of creation that extends and broadens a contemporary ecotheological reading of Scripture? This question provide the
basis for a conclusion to this study that offers proposals on two key fronts: first, to consider possible new hermeneutical considerations for ecotheology and second to outline three Pauline theological categories for further exploration.
Each individual Pauline text that I identify here has already received a vast amount of scholarly attention. Many of the Pauline texts have full-length monograph analyses and each individual text has drawn considerable scholarly interest, resulting in a massive corpus of secondary scholarship. This large web of texts necessarily limits the detailed treatment that any one text can receive, yet it also provides an adequate breadth of texts from which to evaluate the structural relation between various creation themes in Pauline theology. Furthermore, this focus of the dissertation — the relationship between creation and
Christology in Pauline theology — is strengthened and made more fruitful by its relationship to Ireneaus and then to ecotheology. The inclusion of Irenaeus supplements and develops the exegetical and theological contours of my reading of Paul and provides a deeper and stronger basis from which to suggest fresh readings of Paul for contemporary ecotheology.
Now, I conclude this introductory chapter by restating the overarching questions driving this research: How does Paul articulate the relationship of Christ to the cosmological
origins of the first creation, to the ongoing creative work of God, and to the eschatological culmination of creation in the telos? Does Irenaeus help us discern a structural relationship between creation and Christology in Pauline theology in a way that could prove fruitful for a Christian ecotheology?
Chapter Two
Christ of the New Creation
2.1 New Creation within a Pauline Theological Framework: The Debate