This dissertation examines Irenaeus of Lyons’ teaching on the spiritual life through the perspective of his reflections on Gen 1:26—2 7 and the imago Dei. A work of constructive historical theology and spirituality, the project probes Irenaeus’ understanding of the relationship between God and humanity as expressed through his articulation of humankind’s creation and experience in the divine image and likeness. Chapter 1 introduces the bishop of second-century Lugdunum and surveys the essential elements of his spirituality and his doctrine of the imago Dei. Chapter 2 surveys the ways in which the doctrine was interpreted prior to Irenaeus. These include key biblical, philosophical, Gnostic, and patristic sources; together, they illustrate the wide variety of Gen 1:26 interpretations. The final three chapters analyse the key imago Dei texts, nearly all of which are found in Against Heresies Books 3 through 5. Chapter 3 examines Book 3 and notes that reference to the image of God is utilized in order to establish the key theological foundations of the spiritual life. Chapter 4 identifies the progressive quality of the imago texts in Against Heresies 4. demonstrating their emphasis on humanity as created beings meant to grow nearer to God. Chapter 5 illustrates how the texts of Book 5 are distinguished by their emphasis on human fulfilment and restoration. The Conclusion highlights the trajectory of the examined texts, noting how their cumulative witness demonstrates two key points: First, that his use of Gen 1:26 was to function primarily as a motif through which to frame his theological understanding of the spiritual life, and, second, that this life is predicated upon the idea that communion between God and humanity is the very foundation of authentic spirituality. Irenaeus’ employment of the language of the divine image and likeness functions as the means by which he describes the intimate connection meant to be shared between the Creator and humankind. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Submitted by SBI Biblioteca Digital (sbi.bibliotecadigital@puc-campinas.edu.br) on 2017-06-28T12:49:58Z No. of bitstreams: 1 LEONARDO HENRIQUE PIACENTE.pdf: 1178258 bytes, checksum: ff6627db41d7b7353cfeec2f755778a1 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-06-28T12:49:58Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 LEONARDO HENRIQUE PIACENTE.pdf: 1178258 bytes, checksum: ff6627db41d7b7353cfeec2f755778a1 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-12-14 / The encounter of nascent Christianity with classical Greco-Roman culture in the second century AD had points of confluence, dispersion and conjugation. The thought of Irenaeus of Lyons (130-208 AD) in Adversus haereses shows that the relation between Christian religion and classical culture came close to the Christian gnostic groups. These, when evangelized and adept at the good news of Jesus Christ, brought with them their cultural framework, and thus Christianity marked by Jewish customs, was gaining nuances of the diverse cultures, religions, peoples and languages present in the Roman Empire. The research was not intended to value this relation Greco-Roman culture and nascent Christianity, but rather to show the importance and the tensions present in this relation, from the first book of the Demonstration and refutation to the false gnosis. Irenaeus constructed his thought in order to make clear the thinking of the various gnostic groups, in order to refute them, and in the meantime presented a systematization of the Christian faith not yet seen in his time. Its Demonstration and Refutation of the Gnostic theses was not only a way of fighting the controversies that arose in the first centuries of the Church, but was also, as presented in this research, a means of showing the interaction between Christians, especially the thinkers, with The intellectual and cultural environment that they were inserted. As a process of conjugation, Christianity and the classical culture had mutual influences, differences and points in common, in the formation from initial Christian thought. The hermeneutics of the first book of the Adversus haereses, and classical thinking, made it possible to understand and deepen the relationship between culture and religion in the second century AD. / O encontro do cristianismo nascente com a cultura cl?ssica greco-romana, no s?culo II d.C., teve pontos de conflu?ncia, de dispers?o e de conjuga??o. O pensamento de Irineu de Li?o (130-208 d.C) na obra Adversus haereses mostra que a rela??o religi?o crist? e cultura cl?ssica teve uma aproxima??o grande em virtude dos grupos gn?sticos crist?os, que evangelizados e adeptos ? boa nova de Jesus Cristo, traziam consigo seu arcabou?o cultural, sendo assim o cristianismo marcado pelos costumes judaicos, foi ganhando matizes das diversas culturas, religi?es, povos e l?nguas presentes no Imp?rio Romano. A pesquisa n?o pretende valorar esta rela??o cultura greco-romana e cristianismo nascente, mas sim mostrar a import?ncia e as tens?es presentes nessa rela??o, a partir do primeiro livro da Demonstra??o e refuta??o ? falsa gnose. Irineu construiu seu pensamento em busca de tornar claro o pensamento dos diversos grupos gn?sticos, para assim refut?-los, e neste ?nterim apresentou uma sistematiza??o da f? crist? ainda n?o vista no seu tempo. A sua Demonstra??o e Refuta??o das teses gn?sticas, foi n?o s? um caminho de combate ?s controv?rsias, que surgiram nos primeiros s?culos da Igreja, mas tamb?m foi, como apresentado nesta pesquisa, um meio de mostrar a intera??o entre os crist?os, principalmente os pensadores, com o meio intelectual e cultural que estavam inseridos. Como um processo de conjuga??o, o cristianismo e a cultura cl?ssica tiveram influ?ncias m?tuas, diferen?as e pontos em comum, na forma??o desde pensamento crist?o inicial. A hermen?utica do primeiro livro da Adversus haereses, e do pensamento cl?ssico, possibilitou compreender e aprofundar-se na rela??o cultura e religi?o no s?culo II d.C.