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The Scandal of the Incarnation
St. Irenaeus of Lyons
A carefully chosen collection of passages from Irenaeus’s Against Heresies that reveals the coherence, beauty, and scope of his theological vision.
About This Book
The Scandal of the Incarnation: Irenaeus Against the Heresies Selected and introduced by Hans Urs von Balthasar; translated by John Saward. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 1990.
Irenaeus’s Against Heresies is vast, dense, and often difficult to enter. Balthasar gathers essential passages into an accessible theological portrait, allowing Irenaeus’s larger vision to emerge: the unity of creation and redemption, the Incarnation as the fulfillment of God’s purpose, and humanity’s growth into the likeness of Christ. This is an excellent doorway into Irenaeus for readers not yet ready to undertake all five books of Against Heresies.
What This Book Forms
The fragments of a great theological vision begin to cohere here. Reading Irenaeus through Balthasar’s careful selection trains us to see creation, Scripture, the Incarnation, and human destiny as parts of one divine economy rather than as isolated doctrines. It cultivates the habit of looking for the unity of God’s work from beginning to end.
From Dr. Doom's Shelf
This is where I would send a reader after On the Apostolic Preaching. The complete Against Heresies can be intimidating, but Balthasar’s selection makes its theological architecture visible without flattening its richness. It doesn't replace reading the full—and difficult—Irenaean text, but it does give the reader a map and a desire to go further.
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