Irenaean Spirituality

What does it mean for humanity to be created in the divine image and likeness? The question has long remained an enigma of Christian theology–and finds one of its earliest and most profound explorations in Irenaeus of Lyons. While references to the imago Dei are relatively sparse prior to the late second century, in Irenaeus this biblical motif emerges as a richly generative theological vision. In this volume, Don Springer uncovers the deeper rationale behind Irenaeus’s sustained engagement with the doctrine of the divine image. Through close and attentive readings of key Irenaean texts, he reveals how the imago Dei functioned not merely as a theological theme but as a unifying framework for understanding humanity’s origin, vocation, and destiny in communion with God. For this influential bishop of the early church, the doctrine of the image was nothing less than a window into the drama of divine-human relationship itself.