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in the Hands of Soteriological Inclusivists: Validation or Tendentious Historiography? Todd L. Miles

Todd L. Miles is Assistant Professor of Introduction which must be rooted in faithful exegesis at Western Seminary in Port- Defending orthodox Christian doc- of ’s inspired word, Holy Scripture. land, Oregon. Miles received his Ph.D. trines does not allow for much creativity. Admittedly, these are broad boundaries, from The Southern Baptist Theological After all, the church has been commanded but they are boundaries nonetheless and Seminary. He has published articles in to contend for, not amend or alter, “the the -defender is faced with the theological journals and is the author of faith once for all delivered to the ” reality that there are only so many ways Son and Spirit: A of (Jude 3). Faithful contending certainly of saying the same thing. Of course, those Religions (Nashville: Broadman & Hol- demands discernment, wisdom, and who choose to ignore the boundaries do man, forthcoming). knowledge, an ability to listen and detect not face this dilemma. When historical a challenge to the gospel that is often and systematic theology are ignored, all concealed in a pastiche of modern sensi- bets are off, as it were, and the theologian bilities and fallen philosophies. Faithful is limited only by conscience and imagi- contending also requires a Christ-like nation (a troubling thought given the character united with a commitment to fallen nature of humanity). Further, new the Lord; a Spirit-enabled co-mingling of ideas sell well. Sadly, there is not as much grace and truth that is so beautifully and interest in saying the same thing as there remarkably exemplified and personified is in saying something new. What is the in the Lord Christ. Faithful defend- faithful contender to do? A critical tool in ing may require creativity in articulation; the gospel-defender’s arsenal is appeal to the ability to present a defense of the gos- church history. If it can be demonstrated pel that communicates to those governed that an idea runs contrary to the histori- by differing worldviews. But because the cal doctrines of the church, then one has faith was “once for all delivered,” that gone a long way towards demonstrating “creativity in articulation” is limited to that the idea does not belong in the “faith expressing truths that have been previ- once for all delivered to the saints.” On ously revealed. Though often difficult the other hand, marshalling the support to discern, creating new ways to say the of church history is an invaluable way of same thing is altogether different than validating a proposal as orthodox. creating new things to say. Making appeals to church tradition has The faithful defense of the gospel always been and is rightfully a powerful comes with boundaries that have histori- technique in demonstrating the validity of cally been governed by systematic theol- a position. One need look no further than ogy, developed throughout the history of the Magisterial Reformers to find appeals the church. Faithful systematic theology to the used with great must be built upon solid biblical theology, persuasiveness. For example, 4 quoted from, among others, , Exclusivism, Inclusivism, and Augustine, Athanasius, Clement of Rome, Religious Pluralism , Irenaeus, Justin , , The emergence of the postmodern age, and . His references to Augus- the rise of relativism as the prevailing epis- tine and Athanasius are most insightful, temological standard, and the shrinking because it is through appeal to these men of the world due to rapid advancements in that Calvin sought to make his case that transportation and communications tech- the Roman church had departed from the nology have caused a radical alteration in orthodox faith.1 But the writing of history the theological landscape. The changes (historiography) is by its very nature sub- that have occurred in culture and the jective. Interestingly, Peter Enns explains, academy with regard to the perception of historiography is not the objective restate- the nature and accessibility of truth have ment of facts, but involves a “shaping of occasioned a subsequent call for the revi- these facts for a particular purpose.”2 sioning of evangelical theological method As such, historical appeals can often be and the reformulation of Christian doc- tendentious, distorting historical reality trine. This is perhaps best exemplified for the purpose of garnering support for in Christian theology’s interaction with contemporary proposals. The subjective world religions. “Religious pluralism” no nature of historiography demands that longer simply reflects the recognition that historical appeals be scrutinized for accu- there are a multiplicity of worldviews or racy and legitimacy. that has to confront the major One area in which the church is strug- religions of the world. Rather, there is a gling to hang on to its doctrinal moor- call for a renewed Christian theology of ings is soteriology and the fate of the religions—an investigation into the bibli- unevangelized. Some are suggesting that cal understanding of world religions and gospel proclamation and conscious faith how the major religions of the world fit in Christ are not necessary for into the redemptive purposes of God.3 because the Holy Spirit is applying the The typical taxonomy for discussing work of Christ to those who do not believe the relationships between salvation, the in Christ (usually through no fault of claims of Jesus Christ, and world religions their own), even in the context of other employs the categories of exclusivism (or religions. In an attempt to validate this particularism), inclusivism, and plural- proposal as orthodox, appeals are made ism. Exclusivism is the historic orthodox to the great Patristic theologian, Irenaeus. Christian position and maintains that If it can be demonstrated that the proposal salvation is possible only through con- is not materially different than what was scious faith in Jesus Christ. Inclusivism being taught by one such as Irenaeus, then argues that one can only be saved by the it can be argued that the proposal is really life, death, and resurrection of Christ, but not a “new proposal” at all, but is part and that conscious faith in the work of Christ parcel of what the church had taught and is not necessary. In other words, inclu- ought to teach today. sivists defend the ontological necessity of the death and resurrection of Christ, but deny the epistemological necessity of conscious faith in Christ for salvation. 5 Religious pluralism rejects the claims of theological hermeneutics in particular) both exclusivists and inclusivists, believ- opens up toward a trinitarianism that is ing that one can find salvation through much more robust than that which has various religious traditions, belief sys- emerged to date from a christological tems, and ethics.4 starting point.”7 Many recent attempts by inclusivists to It is my firm conviction that contrary answer the question of how Christianity to those who assert either an independent and world religions relate center on the work of the Holy Spirit apart from the Son possibility that the Holy Spirit is at work or a work of the Son that is subordinate to in a salvific sense in other religions. These the Spirit in world religions, the roles of proposals are motivated by a struggle Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit are inex- over the seemingly irreconcilable axi- tricably linked, and they are linked in this oms that (1) God has a universal salvific way: the Holy Spirit always seeks to glo- will and (2) salvation is based upon the rify the Son. When Jesus said of the Holy historical work of Jesus Christ.5 While Spirit, “He will glorify Me, because He maintaining the work of Christ as the will take from what is Mine and declare it basis for redemption, some inclusivists to you” (John 16:14), Christ was not merely posit that the Spirit could be applying that defining one aspect of the work of the work to individuals apart from conscious Holy Spirit. Rather, he was declaring the faith in Christ. That is, the Holy Spirit is nature of the relationship between him- at work in the world, perhaps even in and self and the Holy Spirit within the broad through world religions, drawing people scope of trinitarian life and redemptive into a reconciled relationship with their history. Therefore, those who posit an Creator apart from the gospel. independent salvific work of the Holy Of course, to make such an asser- Spirit in world religions are denying the tion will require that one engage in a essential relationship of the Son and the fair amount of theological revisionism Spirit in the economic . That is, I at the Christological, pneumatological, believe that the pneumatological inclusiv- ecclesiological, and soteriological lev- ism posited by some current evangelicals els, just to name a few. Specifically, one fails on the grounds of proper theological must create a hypostatic independence method, historical theology, biblical theol- between the Son and the Spirit in order ogy, and systematic theology. to posit a relative autonomy of the Spirit A full-scale critique of pneumatologi- in his global operations. But evangelicals cal inclusivism at all of those levels lies such as Clark Pinnock and Yong outside the scope of this article but my are not intimidated by the prospects. attempts can be found elsewhere.8 The Indeed, Pinnock suggests, “Let us see purpose of this article is to examine the what results from viewing Christ as an appeals by inclusivists to the theology aspect of the Spirit’s mission, instead of . . . and writings of Irenaeus to support their viewing Spirit as a function of Christ’s.”6 claims. As any student of church history Yong believes that only a pneumatological realizes, the doctrine of the Holy Spirit approach will lead to a robust trinitarian had not received much attention until theology. “I propose that a pneumatologi- the last century. As Killian McDonnell cal approach to theology (in general and observes, “Anyone writing on pneuma- 6 tology is hardly burdened by the past example. Paul Knitter quotes Khodr at and finds little guidance there.”9 It is the Baar Consultation in 1990: precisely because of the relative dearth The Spirit is omnipresent and fills of writing on the Holy Spirit that current everything in an economy distinct theologians must be careful when making from the Son. The Word and the appeals to church history to support their Spirit are called the “two hands of the Father”. We must here affirm proposals. I want to demonstrate that any their hypostatic independence attempt to appeal to Irenaeus for support and visualize in the religions an all-comprehensive phenomenon of in advocating an independent economy of 13 grace. the Holy Spirit from the Son is to engage in serious misrepresentation. Irenaeus, Irenaeus is also a favorite of evan- far from justifying the claims of relative gelical pneumatological inclusivists Clark independence, actually speaks against Pinnock and Amos Yong. For example, such a proposal. Pinnock appeals to Irenaeus’s work on recapitulation as evidence of a wider Irenaeus and the “Two Hands” of hope: “The work of Christ as last the Father who represents all humanity was empha- Irenaeus is the earliest and most sig- sized by Irenaeus. God came into the nificant figure in most contemporary world in Jesus in order [sic] save humanity pneumatological inclusivists’ appeals to from and death, to restore and perfect church history. This is so, not because he the creation. This indeed is a broad con- developed a theology of the relationship cept of redemption.”14 From Irenaeus’s between Christ and the Holy Spirit, but recapitulation model of the atonement, because of the “two hands of God” meta- which Pinnock sees as a “broad concept phor that he employed a number of times of redemption,” Pinnock attempts to in his monumental work Against .10 characterize Irenaeus as emphasizing a Discussion of Irenaeus’s work will focus broader hope in salvation, thereby reject- on Against Heresies and Demonstration of ing the “sort of harsh views” that were the Apostolic Preaching.11 introduced by soteriological exclusivists such as Augustine.15 Illegitimate Appeals to Irenaeus’s Pinnock’s commitment to Irenaeus as “Two Hands of God” an advocate of a wider hope causes him In the current postmodern climate, to interpret Irenaeus’s works in that light. where many theologians are rethinking Although Irenaeus did not write anything how to reconcile the exclusive claims of that could be interpreted as expressly Christ and the reality of religious plural- supporting an inclusive view of salva- ism, much has been made of Irenaeus’s tion, Pinnock is not discouraged by the teaching on the “two hands of God.”12 silence. Irenaeus may not have possessed Appeals are made to Irenaeus to assert a an explicit openness to salvation outside “hypostatic independence” of the Spirit the church, but he cannot be blamed for from the Son, authorizing pneumatology this attitude. He was “unaware of the exis- as the starting point for a theology of tence of a large number of unevangelized religions. In the non-evangelical world, people and thus of our entire problem. We Georg Khodr provides an excellent cannot say what he might have thought 7 had he lived in our day.”16 fully trinitarian hermeneutical vision that Another example of Pinnock’s appeals builds on Irenaeus’s insight concerning to Irenaeus is when he quotes from Against the relationship between the Spirit and Heresies 3.12.13: “God by various dispensa- the Word.”22 Yong understands rightly tions comes to the rescue of humankind.” that the metaphor is a polemic against Pinnock, who is already committed to and its doctrine of creation. viewing Christ as an aspect of the Spirit’s It teaches the full ontological equality of mission in Scripture, uses Irenaeus’s the Son and the Spirit with the Father. quote to suggest that “[t]he Spirit is ever But Yong advances the metaphor beyond working to orient people, wherever they ontological equality when he suggests: are, to the mystery of divine love.”17 In his More important theologically, how- argument, Pinnock asserts that the Spirit ever, is that the two hands explicitly has been at work in the cosmos dispensing posits an intratrinitarian egalitarian- grace in advance of the . Else- ism. . . . Yet at the same time, because of its non-subordinationist vision of where, Pinnock uses the same quote from Spirit and Word, it also contained Irenaeus and immediately writes, “Spirit the seeds for the radically relational trinitarianism developed by the is present everywhere, and God’s truth 23 fourth century Greek fathers.” may have penetrated any given religion and culture at some point.”18 Perhaps Yong knows that Irenaeus Both Pinnock and Yong place great would not have used the figure of speech emphasis on Irenaeus’s “two hands” to assert an “intratrinitarian egalitarian- metaphor. Yong is more contextual and, ism,” but he is happy to use Irenaeus’s therefore, slightly more circumspect than metaphor as a springboard to advance his Pinnock in his use of the figure of speech. own proposals.24 In Spirit-Word-Community, Yong traces For Pinnock’s part, Irenaeus’s metaphor the development of Irenaeus’s metaphor suggests a “double mission” of the Son and summarizes, “Throughout Against and the Spirit.25 Elsewhere, he claims that Heresies, then, Spirit/Wisdom and Word Irenaeus’s “two hands” metaphor teaches are thus understood as the two hands a joint mission of the Son and the Spirit: of God which formed the visible world, “The missions are intertwined and equal; including its inhabitants, and accomplish one is not major and the other minor.”26 the purposes of God.”19 He also traces the Ironically, in the very next paragraph, development of the motif to the Magiste- Pinnock states, “We begin by placing rial Reformers who recaptured the image, Christology in the context of the Spirit’s arguing for the inseparability of the Word global operations, of which incarnation is and the Spirit, with strong regard to illu- the culmination.”27 mination. Yong, however, finds fault with Pinnock also appeals to Irenaeus in the Reformers for not following through an attempt to justify an ethical criterion with a full re-appropriation of the meta- for salvation. He quotes Irenaeus from phor.20 In Yong’s economy, Irenaeus devel- Against Heresies 4.13.1: “The Lord did not oped a “motif which has since proven abrogate the natural precepts of the law to be a rich source for reflection in the by which man is justified, which those Christian theological tradition.”21 In con- who were justified by faith and pleased trast to the Reformers, Yong “proposes a God did observe previous to the giving 8 of the law.”28 Immediately following this tion, Irenaeus was first introduced to the quotation, Pinnock begins a discussion of Gnostic teachings of and his Vatican II and its experimentation with followers. In the years following, during “holy pagans;” those who meet an ethical his service as Bishop of , Irenaeus criterion for salvation but do not meet any sought to fight the growing influence sort of faith in Christ criterion.29 The flow of Gnosticism. A brief overview of the of Pinnock’s argument leads the reader Gnostic threat as perceived by Irenaeus to believe that Irenaeus’s writing on the is important because it is only by under- non-abrogation of the Law in the life of standing this context that Irenaeus’s use a justified believer supports the inclu- of the “two hands of God” can be prop- sivist assertions of both Vatican II and erly understood. His five-volumeAgainst Pinnock. But is this a legitimate reading Heresies was the first systematic refuta- of Irenaeus? On analysis, it is clear that tion of the Gnostic by a Christian Irenaeus was addressing the need for both leader and his link to the Apostle John via belief and a changed life that continually no doubt served to enhance the grows into conformity with the character credibility of the work.32 and nature of God. Such is the way that Irenaeus is utilized Gnosticism by pneumatological inclusivists. Our next Though beginning to flourish, the task is to examine Irenaeus in order to Gnostic movements of the second century determine whether or not he can be legiti- were fragmented and disunited.33 Rather mately used or appealed to in this manner. than a particular uniform set of teach- It is significant that Terrance Tiessen, who ings, Gnosticism is best known for its has offered an inclusivist proposal of his syncretism.34 Such syncretism and eclec- own, did his doctoral work on Irenaeus ticism presented a unique challenge and and his teaching on the unevangelized. opportunity to the early church. Without In a telling footnote, he writes: a systematized set of doctrines, it was up to early church leaders to formulate The work of the Holy Spirit is given much attention in recent discussion many biblical doctrines such as salva- of the state of the unevangelized. For tion, knowledge of God, revelation, and this reason, the paucity of material creation in the context of fighting urgent in Irenaeus is somewhat disappoint- ing. However, it is not surprising heretical challenges. It is beyond the scope when one considers the time in of this article to give a thorough account- which he wrote and the Gnostic 30 ing of the diverse teachings of Gnosticism context he addressed. and the challenges that Gnostic theology Irenaeus and His Theology presented the early church, but some par- Background ticular Gnostic teachings must be covered Irenaeus, born in Asia Minor, served to set the stage for Irenaeus’s writing.35 It as Bishop of the church in Lyons, is evident that Irenaeus considered the from A.D. 178 until his death in 200. He Gnostics to be worse than the godless had the distinction of being discipled by heathen. He took it upon himself to pres- Polycarp of , who was himself the ent their teaching in a coherent form and of the Apostle John.31 On a trip systematically refute it.36 Discussion will to Rome during a time of great persecu- be limited to those areas that are germane 9 to the topic of Word and Spirit to which inextricably bound to the Son. Irenaeus Irenaeus responded, namely revelation, had discourses on the Father and the Son salvation, and creation.37 often in isolation from the other Triune Irenaeus was most concerned with members, but never the Holy Spirit.40 the radical dualism of Gnosticism that Irenaeus was not silent on the Holy Spirit impacted creation, epistemology, Chris- however. He taught the equal divinity of tology, soteriology, Scripture, the church, the Holy Spirit, and was the first theolo- anthropology, and hamartiology. 38 This gian to bring attention and focus to the sharp Gnostic dualism expressed itself work of the Holy Spirit in creation.41 But most fundamentally in the nature of even when discussing the role of the Spirit God and the nature of man. God was the in creation, ecclesiology, or revelation, ineffable unknowable Absolute, while the Son was always in view. Throughout material existence was and the active Irenaeus’s writings, the Spirit was never enemy of the spirit and spiritual living. mentioned in isolation from either or both Because of its material nature, the world the Father and the Son.42 was base and brought only despair. This Irenaeus consistently taught a sym- caused a seemingly unbridgeable gap metric order within the Godhead. The between God and the world. It fell to reli- Son is sent by the Father to reveal the gion to attempt to bridge that gap. Father. The Spirit is sent by the Son to There was diverse Gnostic teaching on reveal the Son. The Spirit reveals the Son creation, but given the nature of both the and brings people to the Son. The Son unknowable Absolute and the inherent in turn presents these to the Father.43 As evil nature of matter, Gnosticism was con- will be demonstrated, this general order sistent in denying that God was actively is repeated over and over again in the involved in creation. In some Gnostic doctrines of Irenaeus. For example, in thought, the Archons or created discussing the process of regeneration, the world. These evil gods also created Irenaeus writes, the soul and flesh of humankind (not the And for this reason the baptism of spirit), whose body was shaped “in the our regeneration proceeds through image of the divine Primal (or Archetypal these three points: God the Father Man) and animated it with their own psy- bestowing on us regeneration through His Son by the Holy Spirit. 39 chical forces.” In other Gnostic teaching, For as many as carry [in them] the emanations came from the unknowable Spirit of God are led to the Word, that is to the Son; and the Son brings Absolute. One of the lower emanations them to the Father; and the Father (very distant from God) was responsible causes them to possess incorruption. for creation. Without the Spirit it is not possible to behold the Word of God, nor with- out the Son can any draw near to The Teaching of Irenaeus on Son the Father; for the knowledge of the and Spirit Father is the Son, and the knowledge of the Son of God is through the Although, Irenaeus did not develop a Holy Spirit; and, according to the theology of Son and Spirit per se, refer- good pleasure of the Father, the Son ences to the relationship between the ministers and dispenses the Spirit to whomsoever the Father wills and as Son and the Spirit abound in his writ- He wills.44 ings. In Irenaeus’s economy, the Spirit is 10 In Proof 7 of Demonstration of Apos- the Spirit” and the Word who is the tolic Preaching, he summarized well the “announcer of the .” Thus while roles of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit the Spirit speaks to the prophets, it is in revelation and salvation. Irenaeus actually the Son who is speaking to and described the Son as “the knowledge of through the prophets. The purpose in the Father,” while knowledge of the Son Irenaeus’s thought was not to confuse the comes “through the Holy Spirit.”45 The Spirit and Son, or to separate the Spirit Word reveals the Father and the Spirit and the Son, but rather to demonstrate reveals the Word.46 This economy stems that the mission of the Spirit is to reveal from their inner-trinitarian relationships. the Son.51 Irenaeus, like most of the early church fathers, did not see a large distinction Soteriology between who God is in his being and the Irenaeus did not treat the procession economic Trinity: how God’s acts flows of the Spirit in a systematic manner, but out of who God is.47 This general economy much can be inferred from his writings. is very clear from Irenaeus’s writings on The Spirit’s role is determined by who the doctrines of revelation, salvation, he is: The Spirit of the Word. MacKenzie ecclesiology, and creation. suggests that this points to a procession of the Spirit. In summarizing Proofs 5-8 Inspiration of Demonstration of Apostolic Preaching, Irenaeus’s understanding of inspiration MacKenzie writes, was that the Holy Spirit spoke through the The cry of the Spirit, “Abba Father”, prophets and through the writers of both is the utterance of the Son in His the Old and New Testaments.48 As in all eternal relation to the Father in the things, the purpose of the Spirit’s speak- relations which the Godhead is. We therefore have at least an implicitly ing is to reveal the Word. This economy pointed trinitarian formula indicat- is evident from Proof 5 of Demonstration of ing the procession of the Spirit: that He comes “through” the Son in such Apostolic Preaching, where Irenaeus com- a way that the Son is personally mented on Eph 4:6: present with us.52

Well also does Paul His apostle say: The Holy Spirit brings people to the Son One God, the Father, who is over all and through all and in us all. For over all is and the Son “brings them to the Father . . . the Father: and through all is the Son, to possess incorruption.”53 In principle, for through Him all things were this does not limit the work of the Holy made by the Father; and in us all is the Spirit, who cries Abba Father, and Spirit in the life of non-Christians, but in fashions man into the likeness of the salvific economy of Irenaeus, the Holy God. Now the Spirit shows forth the Word, and therefore the prophets Spirit is tied immediately and expressly announced the Son of God; and the to the church. In responding to the false Word utters the Spirit, and therefore teachings of the “heretics” and “Gnostic is Himself the announcer of the prophets, and leads and draws man impiety,” Irenaeus declares, to the Father.49 “For in the Church,” it is said, “God hath set apostles, prophets, The Spirit “shows forth the Word” teachers,” and all the other means so that the prophets announce the Son through which the Spirit works; of of God.50 But it is the Word who “utters which all those are not partakers 11 who do not join themselves to the broader context that makes strong claims Church, but defraud themselves of of ecclesiological exclusivism.58 life through their perverse opin- ions and infamous behavior. For Salvation and the church are clearly where the Church is, there is the linked in Irenaeus’s theology, but this Spirit of God; and where the Spirit is consistent with his understanding of of God is, there is the Church, and every kind of grace; but the Spirit is the trinitarian economy. “The Father is truth. Those, therefore, who do not indeed above all, and He is the Head of partake of Him, are neither nour- Christ; but the Word is through all things, ished into life from the mother’s breasts, nor do they enjoy that most and is Himself the Head of the Church; limpid fountain which issues from while the Spirit is in us all, and He is the the body of Christ; but they dig for themselves broken cisterns out of living water, which the Lord grants to earthly trenches, and drink putrid those who rightly believe in him, and love water out of the mire, fleeing from Him.”59 The Spirit’s role in salvation does the faith of the Church lest they be convicted; and rejecting the Spirit, not and cannot stand alone in Irenaeus’s that they may not be instructed.54 economy. Believers are carried to the Son by the Spirit, through whom they Irenaeus was clearly granting to the Spirit then ascend to the Father.60 The mission a role in salvation that is exalted and nec- of the Spirit is important, but the reality essary, but he did not leave any room for a of the Spirit’s work in the church makes relative autonomy. The Spirit, in bringing salvation a trinitarian work. Ochagavia salvation, is simultaneously building the summarizes well: church, which is the body of Christ. The convictions of Irenaeus on the economy of In conclusion we can say that the Spirit works upon the faith revealed the Spirit are consistent: God has granted by Christ and transmitted by the to the church apostles, prophets, and apostles to the Church. A purely teachers. The Spirit has spoken to and charismatic Church–as we find it in the Montanist Tertullian–is through these to bring people to the Son. completely absent from Irenaeus’s The Spirit continues this work in the Son.55 perspective. In his conception the Where the Spirit is, there is the church. To Church is very much rooted in the visibility of the Word made flee from the “faith of the Church” is equal flesh–that corpus de terra, to speak to “rejecting the Spirit.” To reject the Spirit with Irenaeus’s realism–and in the apostles and their successors in the is to have no part in Christ. 61 episcopacy. Interestingly, Pinnock laments that the real weakness in the traditional theology In the economy of Irenaeus, Jesus Christ of the Spirit has been its “almost exclu- is the head of his church. The Holy Spirit sively ecclesial understanding of his work, bears testimony to this reality. as if God’s breath were confined within In light of this, one wonders how an the walls of the church.”56 Of course this appeal can be made to Irenaeus in support is precisely what Irenaeus believed and of a wider hope for the unevangelized. explicitly taught.57 Given this, how can Whereas Pinnock quotes Irenaeus’s dis- Pinnock appeal to Irenaeus? Pinnock cussion in Against Heresies 3.1.13: “God does interact with Against Heresies 3.24.1 by various dispensations comes to the (quoted above) to teach that the Spirit rescue of humankind” to garner support guides the church into truth. But Pinnock for a universal work of the Spirit whereby is selective in his quotation, ignoring the “truth may have penetrated any given 12 religion and culture at some point,”62 saw this as a consistent theme throughout Irenaeus consistently united the witness redemptive history, citing the translation of the Spirit to the building of the Body of and : of Christ. Any attempt to call on Irenaeus By means of the very same hands for support of a paradigm that asserts a through which they were molded at relative autonomy between the Spirit and the beginning, did they receive this the Son is misleading. translation and assumption. For in Adam the hands of God had become accustomed to set in order, to rule, Creation and to sustain His own workman- ship, and to bring it and place it Perhaps the most important thing 67 where they pleased. that Irenaeus could say about God was that “God is creator.”63 Gnostics believed So for Irenaeus, all the work of the that God is completely transcendent Father, including creation and providence, and unknowable. The sharp dualism of is carried out by the two hands of God, Gnosticism entailed an inability of God namely, the Son and the Spirit.68 to create unless he did so through emana- tions or intermediaries. It is in the context Conclusion of creation that Irenaeus used the strik- In the hands of pneumatological inclu- ing metaphor of the “two hands of God” sivists such as Georg Khodr, this meta- to describe the work of the Son and the phor becomes a statement of “hypostatic Spirit. God was actively at work in the independence.”69 For Irenaeus, it was a creation of the world and he had no need polemic against Gnosticism. Pinnock is of intermediaries to help him, right to affirm that the missions of the Son and Spirit are intertwined;70 such usage . . . as if he did not possess his own hands. For with him were always of the metaphor is consistent with how present the Word and Wisdom, the Irenaeus used it. But to use the work of Son and the Spirit, by whom and in Irenaeus to enable one to view Christol- whom, freely and spontaneously he made all things, to whom also he ogy as a function of the Spirit’s global speaks, saying, “Let us make man mission,71 or to authorize an “intratrini- after our image and likeness.”64 tarian egalitarianism” per Amos Yong,72 is to stretch the metaphor past the point Irenaeus returned to the metaphor to of breaking. describe the creation of Adam, where the Historiography is, by its very nature, Son and the Spirit were both involved: subjective. Unless one is intentionally “For never at any time did Adam escape careful, references to history can be ten- the hands of God, to whom the Father dentious. This is the case with pneuma- speaking said, ‘Let us make man in our tological inclusivists’ appeals to Irenaeus. image, after our likeness.’”65 Irenaeus Readers are not free to interpret him also saw continuity between the creation however they wish; rather, readers have of the first Adam and the second Adam, a moral obligation to read and interpret attributing that continuity to his hands. in context.73 Christian scholars, of all “And for this reason in the last times . . . people, should recognize this. Irenaeus’s his hands formed a living man, in order “two hands” metaphor has become a that Adam might be created [again] after playground of free interpretation in the the image and likeness of God.”66 Irenaeus 13 hands of pneumatological inclusivists. Of Pinnock, “An Inclusivist View,” in Four course, authors can use metaphors, even Views on Salvation in a Pluralistic Age, 98). metaphors that have been developed by This taxonomy was earlier developed others. But when that use concurrently by A. Rice in his Christians and Religious smuggles in the illegitimate affirmation Pluralism: Patterns in the Christian Theol- of church history then the metaphor is ogy of Religions (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis being used irresponsibly. This is what is Books, 1983). happening with pneumatological inclu- 5See, for example, P. F. Knitter, “A New sivists’ use of the “two hands” metaphor. Pentecost? A Pneumatological Theol- Appeals to Irenaeus, when the context is ogy of Religions,” Current Dialogue 19 ignored, make an attempt to claim the (1991): 34; C. H. Pinnock, A Wideness in support of church history that is simply God’s Mercy: The Finality of Jesus Christ in not there. a World of Religions (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1992), 13-14; J. Dupuis, Jesus Endnotes Christ at the Encounter of World Religions 1See A. N. S. Lane, “Calvin’s Use of the (trans. R. R. Barr; Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, Fathers and Medievals,” Calvin Theologi- 1991, 1993), 125-51. cal Journal 16 (1981): 149-205. 6C. Pinnock, of Love: A Theology of 2Peter Enns, Inspiration and Incarnation: the Holy Spirit (Downers Grove: InterVar- Evangelicals and the Problem of the Old sity, 1996), 80. Testament (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2005), 7A. Yong, Spirit-Word-Community: Theolog- 60. He elaborates, “To put it another way, ical Hermeneutics in Trinitarian Perspective historiography is an attempt to relay to (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2002), 9. someone the significance of history” 8See, for example, T. L. Miles, “Severing (ibid). the Spirit from the Son: Theological 3H. Netland, Encountering Religious Plural- Revisionism in Contemporary Theolo- ism: The Challenge to Christian Faith & Mis- gies of Salvation” (Ph.D. diss., The South- sion (Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2001), ern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2006); 12. Netland’s book provides an excellent Idem, Son and Spirit: A Christian Theology treatment of the issues surrounding of Religions (Nashville: Broadman & Hol- religious pluralism, although he leaves man, forthcoming). the door open for salvific faith through 9Killian McDonnell, “A Trinitarian Theol- general revelation (ibid., 323). ogy of the Holy Spirit?” Theological Stud- 4This taxonomy is used by D. Okholm and ies 46 (1985): 191. J. I. Packer notes that T. Phillips, ed., Four Views on Salvation in prior to the twentieth century, “Only one a Pluralistic Age (Grand Rapids: Zonder- full-scale study of the gifts of the Spirit van, 1996). Pluralism “maintains that the had been written in English, penned by major world religions provide indepen- the Puritan John Owen in 1679, 1680” dent salvific access to the divine Real- (Keep in Step with the Spirit [Old Tappan, ity” (ibid., 17). Inclusivism believes that NJ: Fleming H. Revell, 1984], 28). “because God is present in the whole 10Irenaeus, Against Heresies (in Ante-Nicene world . . . God’s grace is also at work in Fathers; trans. A. Roberts and W. H. some way among all people, possibly Rambaut; 10 vols. 1; New York: Charles even in the sphere of religious life” (C. H. Scribner’s Sons, 1899; repr., Grand Rap- 14 ids: Eerdmans, 1975). also idem, “An Inclusivist View,” also Alister E. McGrath, Christian 11Irenaeus, Demonstration of the Apos- 104-05. Theology (Malden, MA: Blackwell, tolic Preaching (in Irenaeus’s - 18Pinnock, Flame of Love, 202. 1997), 11ff.; and Justo L. Gonzalez, stration of the Apostolic Preaching: A 19Yong, Spirit-Word-Community, 51. The Early Church to the Dawn of the Theological Commentary and Transla- Yong believes that the “doctrine of (vol. 1 of The Story of tion; trans. J. , in coinherence logically follows from Christianity; San Francisco: Harp- Iain M. MacKenzie; Burlington, VT: Irenaeus’s two hands model and erCollins, 1984), 68ff. Ashgate, 2002). These two works of therefore presupposes it” (ibid., 33Tiessen, Irenaeus on the Salvation of Irenaeus provide his most thorough 53). the Unevangelized, 36. work on salvation and the Holy 20Ibid., 51. 34Justo L Gonzalez, From the Begin- Spirit. It is also in these two works 21Ibid. Yong then suggests that the nings to the (vol. that the “two hands” metaphor is trinitarian doctrine of coinherence 1 of A History of Christian Thought; developed and utilized. follows logically from Irenaeus’s Nashville: Abingdon, 1970), 128-29. 12Interest in the metaphor is not lim- “two hands” metaphor (ibid). 35By way of brief summary, Gnostics ited to issues surrounding inclusiv- 22Ibid., 52. did share a common belief that they ism and theology of religions. Kevin 23Ibid. possessed a higher knowledge or Vanhoozer also utilizes the “two 24For example, Yong uses the “two teaching than that offered by the hands” metaphor in the develop- hands” metaphor to establish the church or its bishops. Matter was ment of his theological method Word representing concreteness seen to be inherently evil, while proposal in The Drama Of Doctrine: and the Spirit representing dyna- the spirit was inherently good or A Canonical-Linguistic Approach to mism. From this, Yong develops divine. The material body, there- Christian Theology (Louisville, KY: a metaphysics of spiritual dis- fore, was a “prison” or “tomb” to Westminster , 2005), 69. In cernment. Amos Yong, Beyond the the essentially good human soul utilizing the metaphor he does not Impasse: Toward a Pneumatological or spirit. Salvation was seen as explicitly reference Irenaeus. Theology of Religions (Grand Rapids: release from the “tomb” of the 13Paul F. Knitter, “A New Pentecost? Baker, 2003), 43, 130-39. body that came through special A Pneumatological Theology of 25Pinnock, Flame of Love, 58. knowledge or . Borrowing Religions,” Current Dialogue 19 26Ibid., 82. from and perverting Christian (1991): 36. 27Ibid. doctrine, Gnostics believed that the 14Pinnock, A Wideness in God’s Mercy, 28Pinnock, A Wideness in God’s Mercy, Spirit was an emanation or offshoot 36. 97. from the unknowable and ineffable 15Ibid., 41. 29Ibid., 98. God. Jesus Christ was an immate- 16Clark H. Pinnock, “An Inclusivist 30Terrance L. Tiessen, Irenaeus on rial being (the incarnation being View,” 101. Such a statement strains the Salvation of the Unevangelized impossible due to the inherent evil the limits of credulity. It could be (ATLA Monograph Series, no. 31; of matter) who was sent from God granted that Irenaeus did not have Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow, 1993), to deliver a message of salvation the awareness of the world’s popu- 258 n. 3. to the other divine “offshoots” lation and diversity that twenty-first 31Geoffrey W. Bromiley, Historical trapped in a material prison. See century inhabitants possess, but it is Theology: An Introduction (Grand Olson, The Story of Christian Theol- farfetched to suggest that Irenaeus Rapids: Eerdmans, 1978), 19. ogy, 28-29; Gonzalez, A History of was “unaware of the existence of 32Roger E. Olson, The Story of Chris- Christian Thought, 128-40; McGrath, a large number of unevangelized tian Theology: Twenty Centuries Historical Theology, 40-41; Bromiley, people.” of Tradition and Reform (Downers Historical Theology, 18-19; William C. 17Pinnock, Flame of Love, 83. See Grove: InterVarsity, 1999), 69. See Placher, A History of Christian Theol- 15 ogy: An Introduction (Philadelphia: Ochagavia, Visibile Patris Filius: A of the Apostolic Preaching, 86. Westminster, 1983), 45-59; and Hans Study of Irenaeus’s Teaching on Rev- 53Irenaeus, Demonstration of the Apos- Jonas, The Gnostic Religion (Boston: elation and Tradition [Rome: Pont. tolic Preaching, 7. Beacon, 1963). Institutum Orientalium Studiorum, 54Irenaeus, Against Heresies 3.24.1. 36Irenaeus, Against Heresies 1, Preface 1964], 61). Ochagavia’s confusion is 55Tiessen summarizes the work of the 2. exaggerated and misplaced. The Spirit in the unevangelized: “Not to 37See especially Tiessen, Irenaeus on economy of the Father, Son, and have the Spirit is to be without life. the Salvation of the Unevangelized, Holy Spirit in Irenaeus’s thinking But, not to be a part of the church, 35-63. is Johannine. The Father sends the to which the Spirit gave apostles, 38Ibid., 41. Son who glorifies the Father. The prophets and teachers, and in and 39Jonas, The Gnostic Religion, 44. Son sends the Spirit who glorifies through which the Spirit does all 40Undoubtedly, this is due to the the Son. his work, is not to have a part in the lack of attention given to the Holy 46Tiessen explains, “The pattern is Spirit” (Irenaeus on the Salvation of the Spirit in early church doctrinal clear. The Father initiates a self- Unevangelized, 185-86). formulation, but the historian and manifestation according to his own 56Pinnock, “An Inclusivist View,” theologian can only examine the good pleasure. The Son mediates 105. texts before him. To suggest that this revelation to those whom the 57“For where the Church is, there is Irenaeus meant something other Father wills, and he does so by giv- the Spirit of God; and where the than what he wrote is to leave the ing them the Spirit. The Spirit leads Spirit of God is, there is the Church, path of exegesis and wander into them back to the Word, who pres- and every kind of grace; but the speculation. ents them to the Father, who gives Spirit is truth” (Against Heresies 41MacKenzie, Irenaeus’s Demonstration them eternal life, and the circle is 3.24.1). of the Apostolic Preaching, 83-84. complete” (Irenaeus on the Salvation 58Pinnock, Flame of Love, 221. 42Ibid., 84. of the Unevangelized, 181). 59Irenaeus, Against Heresies 5.18.2. 43Thus Irenaeus could rightly argue 47MacKenzie, Irenaeus’s Demonstration 60McDonnell, “A Trinitarian Theol- that the penultimate mission of of the Apostolic Preaching, 82. ogy of the Holy Spirit?” 208. the Holy Spirit is to bring people 48See for example, “ . . . to whom 61Ochagavia, Visibile Patris Filius, to God. “The Holy Spirit, through the Spirit through many men, and 133. whom the prophets prophesied, now by Paul, bears witness, that ‘he 62Pinnock, Flame of Love, 202. and the fathers learned the things believed God, and it was imputed 63Irenaeus, Against Heresies 2.1.1. of God, and the righteous were led . . .’” (Irenaeus, Against Heresies 64Irenaeus, Against Heresies 4.20.1. forth into the way of righteousness; 5.8.1). Letham points out that Irenaeus and who in the end of the times was 49Irenaeus, Demonstration of the Apos- taught here that the Son and Spirit poured out in a new way upon man- tolic Preaching, 5. are both coeternal with the Father kind in all the earth, renewing man 50Again Irenaeus, “The second point and that they both also share with unto God.” Irenaeus, Demonstration is: The Word of God, Son of God, him his work of creation. Robert of the Apostolic Preaching, 6. Christ Jesus our Lord, who was Letham, The Holy Trinity: In Scrip- 44Ibid., 7. manifested to the prophets accord- ture, History, Theology, and Worship 45So connected are the roles of the ing to the form of their prophesying (Phillipsburg, NJ: Presbyterian and triune members in the thought of and according to the Reformed, 2004), 93. Irenaeus that Ochagavia is led to of the Father” (ibid., 6). 65Irenaeus, Against Heresies 5.1.3. comment, “The only difficult point 51Tiessen, Irenaeus on the Salvation of 66Ibid. is to distinguish the function of the the Unevangelized, 179-80. 67Irenaeus, Against Heresies 5.5.1. Son from that of the Spirit” (Juan 52MacKenzie, Irenaeus’s Demonstration 68Letham points out that though this 16 may seem to subordinate the Son to the Father, Irenaeus was clear that the two hands are not external to the Father, but “unmistakably divine, always with the Father” (The Holy Trinity, 94). 69Georg Khodr, quoted by Paul F. Knitter, “A New Pentecost?” 36. 70Pinnock, Flame of Love, 82. 71Ibid. 72Yong, Spirit-Word-Community, 52. 73 See Kevin J. Vanhoozer, Is There a Meaning in This Text? The , The Reader, and the Morality of Literary Knowledge (Grand Rapids: Zonder- van, 1998), 367-441.

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