5.12 Image, Likeness, and Freedom: Haer. 4.37.4 (Gen 1:26, Gen 2:17–18)
Genesis, the Creation, and the Divine Economy because every human is his own creation even though they may be ignorant of this fact (Gen 2:7).93 To emphasize the inclusiveness of God's creative acts, he closes with the description of God causing the sun to rise on the evil and the good and sending rains upon the just and unjust alike (Matt 5:45). Once again the formation from the dust in Gen 2:7 contributes to the theological argumentation and intertextual interpretation, by means of unifying all humanity in the original formation from the earth in Gen 2:7. In each parable there is imagery that unites these texts with Gen 2:7 including the farming imagery in Matt 21:33–43 and implied connection to Adam's formation in Noah and "his armies" in Matt 22:7. In each case, the formation of Adam is also framed within a trajectory of salvation history, so that the formation of Adam is preserved and restored in Christ.
5.12
Image, Likeness, and Freedom: Haer. 4.37.4 (Gen 1:26, Gen 2:17–18) Following his emphasis on Adam's formation in the Gospel parables, in this instance Irenaeus contemplates the nature of human liberty with in the divine economy. The entire section of Haer. 4.37–39 considers why God made humankind free in Adam. In Haer. 4.37.1–2, he states that God's will is universally good and God grants humankind the power of free choice in order that God might judge them justly. In Haer. 4.37.3, he laces together several passages expressing the independent will of humankind, while in Haer. 4.37.4 he organizes a series of texts to communicate human's power to disobey God. These texts connect the language of "likeness" in Gen 1:26 to the nature of human liberty. He also cites an array of texts that illustrate human freedom and validate the connection between the likeness of God in Gen 1:26 and human liberty.
Irenaeus begins Haer. 4.37.1 by citing Christ's desire to gather up his children in Matt 23:37, suggesting that this expression, which communicates the "ancient law of human liberty" (veterem legem libertatis hominis, Gen 2:17–18), necessitates human beings possess free will from the beginning.94 Irenaeus reiterates this point in the conclusion of Haer. 4.37.4, only in this case he uses the language of "likeness" (similitudinem, Gen 1:26). He suggests humanity has the power to act freely in accordance with the divine command or reject God outright. This is because, alluding to Gen 1:26, in the beginning humankind was created with "free will" (liberae sententiae) in the "likeness" (similitudinem) of God because God possess "free will" (liberae sententiae). However, even
93 Haer. 4.36.6.
94 Haer. 4.37.1. Orbe, Teología IV, 508 n. 29.