c. 180

Irenaeus: recapitulation – Christ as the new Adam

Irenaeus calls the work of Christ "recapitulation" (anakephalaiosis, a term from Eph 1:10; literally – placing under a new head): Christ became the head of a new humanity, as Adam was the head of the old. The incarnation is a new beginning, yet not opposed to creation but its continuation and fulfilment: in Christ the history of Adam is repeated in reverse – the virgin earth and Mary, the disobedience of one woman and the obedience of another, the temptation in paradise and in the desert, the tree and the cross. Christ sums up in himself all the stages of human life, becomes the leaven of a new humanity, imparts immortality to those united with him by faith, and by his obedience makes up for Adam's disobedience. According to Berkhof, Irenaeus sees redemption partly as deliverance from the power of Satan, but Christ's death satisfied the justice of God, not Satan.