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WHDL - 00009486

The Holy Spirit in Irenaeus's doctrine of recapitulation.

Marie Joy D. Pring

Resource Types

Academic (Thesis, Dissertation, Etc.)

Resource Languages

English

Institutional Repository

Description / Abstract

Irenaeus’s doctrine of recapitulation is typically related to his Christology, so much so that the significance of the Holy Spirit in the recapitulative work is often unmentioned or neglected. This study presents the roles the Holy Spirit in Irenaeus’s doctrine of recapitulation, particularly in the three major phases: the incarnation, the messianic mission, and the ecclesiastical age.The researcher used both historical and descriptive method. Life history sought to answer the influences and important events that shaped Irenaeus, and inter-textual analysis and interpretation were also employed to answer the questions that relate to Irenaeus’s doctrine of recapitulation and the roles and significance of the Holy Spirit in the redemptive act of God in Jesus Christ. The result of this study justified the assumption that Irenaeus understood recapitulation not only a work of the incarnate one but also of the Holy Spirit. Irenaeus clearly identified that it is the Spirit who comingled in the womb of Mary that resulted to the incarnation of the Word of God; it is the Spirit who empowered of Jesus Christ to victoriously accomplish the messianic mission, and it is the Spirit who administers salvific grace to the Church and restores the image of God in the sanctified humanity. It is also established that Irenaeus had a clear understanding of the divinity and personality of the Spirit of God. Irenaeus gave attributes to the Holy Spirit that is used only to a person and to God. For instance, he referred to the Holy Spirit as being “accustomed to humanity,” and the Spirit as the giver of life and eternal life. From this perspective, the researcher insists that recapitulation could not have happened through Jesus Christ and would not continue to happen in the Church apart from the person and the work of the Holy Spirit.