3.6 Conclusion: Irenaeus' Intertextual Reading of Gen 1–3 in Haer. 2
REFUTING GNOSTIC CREATION
This paragraph includes a citation of Gen 2:7 and a short exegetical treatment of the specific phrase, he became a "living being" (animam vivam). He reads this text prosopologically, saying directly that the "prophetic word said to the firstformed Man that he became a living being" (propheticus sermo de protoplasto ait: Factus est in animam uiuam).45 What is more, in the next sentence Irenaeus identifies with this instruction given to Adam, and says that by this phrase the prophetic word taught that "the soul became living by sharing in life" (participationem uitae uiuens facta est anima). Irenaeus dramatizes the narrative and imagines that what happened in Adam is specifically instructive for the people of God concerning the relationship of the body and soul. For Irenaeus, the soul is also distinct from "life," which is given as a gift from God.46 Under the provision of the divine will, God bestowed life upon the soul and gave it both "life and perpetual duration" (uitam et perpetuam perseuerantiam).47
3.6
Conclusion: Irenaeus' Intertextual Reading of Gen 1–3 in Haer. 2
In conclusion, the nature of Irenaeus' textual networking in Haer. 2 extends the intertextual reading strategies that he employed in Haer. 1. Although these allusions to Gen 1–3 are embedded in polemical arguments, they continue to provide insight into the intertextual logic he applies to Gen 1–3. These include the way he relates texts narratively and chronologically, links passages with catchwords and linking terms, utilizes texts for illustrative purposes, and dramatizes passages with a prosopological reading. However, in terms of his reading of Gen 1–3, the most unique feature of Haer. 2 is his explicit defense of the authority and integrity of the Mosaic account of creation (Haer. 2.2.5).
In Haer. 2.2.5, Irenaeus interjects his defense of the reliability of Gen 1–3 account in light of the Gnostic revision of the creation material. He asserts that Moses is a more trusted authority (Heb 3:5) on creation than the Gnostic thinkers who amend Genesis in accordance with their own theological perspective. The reliability of Moses is also confirmed through its continuity with the apostolic teaching.48 Contrary to the Gnostics, the teaching of Moses and the apostles is harmonious. This general intertextual assumption directs Irenaeus' hermeneutic as it is applied to Gen 1–3, and the specific ways that Irenaeus reads creation alongside the rest of divine revelation. Though Irenaeus and the 45 Haer. 2.34.4.
46 Haer. 2.34.3. Cf. Haer. 1.18.1–2, Haer. 3.21.10, Haer. 5.12.2–6.
47 Haer. 2.34.4.
48 See also Haer. 2.30.6.
chapter 3 Gnostics are using similar methods, their competing theological perspectives develop distinctive intertextual relationships.
Considering the specific reading strategies in Haer. 2, he continues to frame Gen 1–3 in narratival or chronological arrangements. In Haer. 2.28.1 he summarizes the creation narrative with allusions to Gen 1:1, Gen 2:7, and Gen 1:28.
The inverted order is important, because Gen 1:28 communicates the growth and progression of the one created in Gen 2:7 toward the divine likeness. In Haer. 2.30.7, Irenaeus interprets the spiritual mysteries that Paul witnessed while raptured to Paradise in 2 Cor 12:4 as the operations of God. He defines these operations as the creative acts of God in Gen 1:1, Gen 2:7, and Gen 2:15.
Similarly, in Haer. 2.30.9 Irenaeus continues his discussion of the nature of God and God's economic activity using Gen 2:7 and Gen 2:8 to frame certain events of salvation history and allusions to Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the Law, Prophets, and Christ.
He also continues to bind texts together through linking terms and catchwords. In Haer. 2.2.5 the imagery of God "speaking" (εῖπεν) creation into existence in Gen 1:3,49 corresponds with God speaking in Psalm 32(33):9,50 and God creating my means of the Word in John 1:3. The parallel catchwords "created and formed" ( fecerit et plasmauerit) link Psalm 118(119):73 and Gen 2:7 in Haer. 2.26.1. In Haer. 2.30.7, the language of "paradise" (paradisus) links
2 Cor 12:4 with God placing Adam in paradise in Gen 2:15. While Adam was expelled from Paradise for his disobedience, Paul is raptured to paradise. In Haer. 2.34.3–4, the language of "life" (vitae) and "forever" (saeculum) links
Gen 2:7, Psalm 32(33):9, Psalm 20:5(21:4), and Luke 16:10.
In addition to narratival arrangements, and catchwords, Irenaeus also uses texts from Gen 1–3 as illustrations or examples for other passages. In Haer. 2.26.1, he claims his opponents assume they are superior to their Creator due to knowledge (1 Cor 8:1), but for Irenaeus the Creator-creature relationship established in Gen 1–2 exemplifies the natural humility of humankind.
Not only this but humankind was endowed with the capacity for growth and increase (Gen 1:28), which he illustrates with the imagery of the greater blessing the lesser in Heb 7:7, the birth imagery in Job 3:16, and the wheat harvesting imagery in Matt 3:12.51 In addition to the narratival structure of Gen 1:1,
Gen 2:7, and Gen 2:15, these creative acts also illustrate the work of God that Paul witnessed in his rapture to paradise in 2 Cor 12:4. Lastly, in Haer. 2.34.2–4 he unites a series of passages that illustrate how creation is subjected to the 49 Gen 1:3, 6, 9, etc.
50 Psalm 148:5.
51 Haer. 2.28.1.
REFUTING GNOSTIC CREATION
will of the Creator including: Gen 2:1, Gen 2:7, Psalm 32(33):9, Psalm 20:5(21:4), and Luke 16:10.
Finally, there are prosopological readings of Gen 1–3 where Irenaeus identifies the divine persons active in the creation accounts. In these readings, he dramatizes the passages and emphasizes the performative and dialogical elements of the texts. In Haer. 2.2.5 Irenaeus assumes the act of creation involves not only the Father, but also the Word of God (John 1:3). Then, in Haer. 2.30.9 he conflates a reference to Word of God (Heb 1:3) with the Wisdom of God in Mand 1 to prove the activity of the Word and Wisdom in the act of creation.
In Haer. 2.34.3–4 Irenaeus reads Gen 2:7 prosopologically and argues that the prophetic word announced to Adam that he would become a living being.52
Throughout Irenaeus' argumentation, he thinks in terms of textual networking, and every reading of Gen 1–3, in various ways, relies upon his reading of theologically and hermeneutically related passages united through a variety of reading strategies. These intertextual strategies become even more prevalent in Haer. 3–5. In these books, Irenaeus moves from exposing and refuting the Gnostic theological system to expounding his own theological perspective.
Throughout these arguments, Irenaeus applies his intertextual logic to a great diversity of scriptural passages that are shown to be consonant with the creation accounts.
52 Haer. 2.34.4.