On Apostolic Preaching chapter 9

Chapter 9 of AP involves cosmology. We should recognize that it is not necessarily a cosmology to which moderns can ascribe. In addition, he performs some strange biblical analysis based upon this cosmology, that demands a little attention. We must preface this discussion with the reminder that more broadly Irenaeus is framing the relationship between the creation and the Creator. A relationship that unfolds throughout the biblical witness. 

So he begins:

Now this world is encompassed by seven heavens, in which dwell powers and angels and archangels, doing service to God, the Almighty and Maker of all things: not as though He was in need, but that they may not be idle and unprofitable and ineffectual.

The teaching on the seven heavens goes back to Jewish cosmology expressed in the Talmud and book of enoch, among others (Origen, Hipp0lytus). For Irenaeus, the heavens are where the angels and archangels dwell in the service of God. (Heb 1:14). But Irenaeus wants to be clear; God does not need them. God stands in need of nothing. He is the Creator and not dependent upon creation. This is the first point of the rule of faith. But in order that they don’t just lounge around in the heavens, God gives them stuff to do.

But then, in a odd fashion, Irenaeus connects the seven heavens to the seven spirits of Is 11:2: 

The Spirit of God, he says, shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, (the Spirit of knowledge) and of godliness; the Spirit of the fear of God shall fill him.

Irenaeus make this connection explicit saying:

Now the heaven which is first from above, and encompasses the rest, is (that of) wisdom; and the second from it, of understanding; and the third, of counsel; and the fourth, reckoned from above, (is that) of might; and the fifth, of knowledge; and the sixth, of godliness; and the seventh, this firmament of ours, is full of the fear of that Spirit which gives light to the heavens.

First off, we should note that for Irenaeus, the first heaven in the dwelling of God and the seventh is the lowest or the “firmament. This is the reverse of the traditional Jewish accounting of the seven heavens, where the seventh is the highest is immediately above. But this pattern is also the pattern for the lamp-stand in the tabernacle. 

The question arises, did Irenaeus believe that this is the structure of the cosmos? I suspect so, but we should make some observations about the nature of this ordering. First, it is deeply metaphysical. Irenaeus is taken by a worldview that affirms the reality of a spiritual realm. Second, it is aesthetically pleasing. The cosmos is coherent, fitting, ordered, and balanced. One should also note that the ordering of the cosmos corresponds to scripture. The pattern of things in the tabernacle represent the pattern of the cosmos. So while we may not adhere to the scientific perspective of Irenaeus, we should note that his views are distinctly scriptural.

~ by irenology on July 19, 2009.