II. Recapitulation
Recapitulation refers to the “summing up” of all things in Christ through the incarnation. By becoming human and living a perfect life, the Son restored fallen mankind to communion with God and undid the evil caused by Satan in the Garden of Eden. Irenaeus particularly developed this theme in his writings.
In Him we have redemption through His blood, … having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together [recapitulate] in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth. Eph. 1:10.
He came to save all by means of Himself. I am referring to all who through Him are born again to God: infants, children, boys, youth, and old men. He therefore passed through every age. He became an infant for infants, thus sanctifying infants. He became a child for children.… At last, he came to death itself, so that He might be “the first-born from the dead.” Irenaeus (c. 180, E/W), 1.391.
The Lord took dust from the earth and formed man. For that reason, He who is the Word, desiring to recapitulate Adam in Himself, rightly received a birth. For this enabled Him to gather up Adam from Mary, who was as yet a virgin.… If the former [Adam] was taken from the dust, and God was his Maker, it was necessary that the second [Adam] also, making a recapitulation in Himself, should be formed as man by God.… For if He had not received the substance of flesh from a human being, He would have been neither man nor the son of man. And if He was not made into what we are, He did no great thing in what He suffered and endured. But everyone will allow that we are a body taken from the earth, and a soul receiving spirit from God. Therefore, the Word of God was made into this, too, thereby recapitulating in Himself His own handiwork. Irenaeus (c. 180, E/W), 1.454.
The Lord, coming to the lost sheep, made recapitulation of so comprehensive a dispensation. Seeking after his own handiwork, it was necessary for him to save that very man who had been created after his image and likeness—that is, Adam.… Man had been created by God so that he might live. Now what if, after losing life (by being injured by the serpent who had corrupted him), man would not any more return to life? What if he were utterly abandoned to death? It would mean that God would have been conquered! It would mean the wickedness of the serpent would have prevailed over the will of God. Irenaeus (c. 180, E/W), 1.455.
Luke points out that the genealogy that traces the lineage of our Lord back to Adam contains seventy-two generations. This connects the end with the beginning, and indicates that He has summed up in Himself all nations dispersed from Adam forward and that he has summed up all languages and generations of men, together with Adam himself. Irenaeus (c. 180, E/W), 1.455.
It was for this reason that the Son of God, although He was perfect, passed through the state of infancy in common with the rest of mankind. He partook of it thus not for His own benefit, but for that of the infantile stage of man’s existence, in order that man might be able to receive Him. Irenaeus (c. 180, E/W), 1.521.
He would not have been one truly possessing flesh and blood, by which He redeemed us, unless He had summed up in Himself the ancient formation of Adam. Irenaeus (c. 180, E/W), 1.527.
Through the instrumentality of a tree, we were made debtors to God. So also, by means of a tree [i.e., the cross], we can obtain the remission of our debt. Irenaeus (c. 180, E/W), 1.545.
The Lord then was manifestly coming to His own things, and was sustaining them by means of that creation that is supported by Himself. He was making a recapitulation of that disobedience that had occurred in connection with a tree, through the obedience that was upon a tree. Furthermore, the original deception was to be done away with—the deception by which that virgin Eve (who was already espoused to a man) was unhappily misled. That this was to be overturned was happily announced through means of the truth by the angel to the virgin Mary (who was also [espoused] to a man).… So although Eve disobeyed God, Mary was persuaded to be obedient to God. In this way, the virgin Mary might become the helper of the virgin Eve. And thus, as the human race fell into bondage to death by means of a virgin, so is it rescued by a virgin. Virginal disobedience has been balanced in the opposite scale by virginal obedience. For in the same way, the sin of the first created man received amendment by the correction of the First-Begotten, and the cunning of the serpent was conquered by the harmlessness of the dove. Irenaeus (c. 180, E/W), 1.547.
Into this Paradise, the Lord has introduced those who obey His call, “summing up in Himself all things that are in heaven and that are on earth.” … These things, therefore, He recapitulated in Himself. By uniting man to the Spirit, and causing the Spirit to dwell in man, He is Himself made the head of the Spirit, and gives the Spirit to be the head of man.… In His work of recapitulation, He has summed up all things. He has waged war against our enemy. He has crushed the one who had in the beginning led us away captives in Adam, and trampled upon his head. Irenaeus (c. 180, W), 1.548.
Indeed the enemy would not have been fairly vanquished, unless it was a man [born] of a woman who conquered him. For it was by means of a woman that he got the advantage over man at first, setting himself up as man’s opponent. Irenaeus (c. 180, E/W), 1.549.
At the beginning, it was by means of food that [the enemy] persuaded man to transgress God’s commandments (although man was not suffering hunger). Similarly, in the end the enemy did not succeed in persuading Christ, who was hungry, to take that food which proceeded from God. Irenaeus (c. 180, E/W), 1.549; see also 1.541.
David W. Bercot, ed., “Atonement,” A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs: A Reference Guide to More than 700 Topics Discussed by the Early Church Fathers (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1998), 47–48.
Recapitulation refers to the “summing up” of all things in Christ through the incarnation. By becoming human and living a perfect life, the Son restored fallen mankind to communion with God and undid the evil caused by Satan in the Garden of Eden. Irenaeus particularly developed this theme in his writings.
In Him we have redemption through His blood, … having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together [recapitulate] in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth. Eph. 1:10.
He came to save all by means of Himself. I am referring to all who through Him are born again to God: infants, children, boys, youth, and old men. He therefore passed through every age. He became an infant for infants, thus sanctifying infants. He became a child for children.… At last, he came to death itself, so that He might be “the first-born from the dead.” Irenaeus (c. 180, E/W), 1.391.
The Lord took dust from the earth and formed man. For that reason, He who is the Word, desiring to recapitulate Adam in Himself, rightly received a birth. For this enabled Him to gather up Adam from Mary, who was as yet a virgin.… If the former [Adam] was taken from the dust, and God was his Maker, it was necessary that the second [Adam] also, making a recapitulation in Himself, should be formed as man by God.… For if He had not received the substance of flesh from a human being, He would have been neither man nor the son of man. And if He was not made into what we are, He did no great thing in what He suffered and endured. But everyone will allow that we are a body taken from the earth, and a soul receiving spirit from God. Therefore, the Word of God was made into this, too, thereby recapitulating in Himself His own handiwork. Irenaeus (c. 180, E/W), 1.454.
The Lord, coming to the lost sheep, made recapitulation of so comprehensive a dispensation. Seeking after his own handiwork, it was necessary for him to save that very man who had been created after his image and likeness—that is, Adam.… Man had been created by God so that he might live. Now what if, after losing life (by being injured by the serpent who had corrupted him), man would not any more return to life? What if he were utterly abandoned to death? It would mean that God would have been conquered! It would mean the wickedness of the serpent would have prevailed over the will of God. Irenaeus (c. 180, E/W), 1.455.
Luke points out that the genealogy that traces the lineage of our Lord back to Adam contains seventy-two generations. This connects the end with the beginning, and indicates that He has summed up in Himself all nations dispersed from Adam forward and that he has summed up all languages and generations of men, together with Adam himself. Irenaeus (c. 180, E/W), 1.455.
It was for this reason that the Son of God, although He was perfect, passed through the state of infancy in common with the rest of mankind. He partook of it thus not for His own benefit, but for that of the infantile stage of man’s existence, in order that man might be able to receive Him. Irenaeus (c. 180, E/W), 1.521.
He would not have been one truly possessing flesh and blood, by which He redeemed us, unless He had summed up in Himself the ancient formation of Adam. Irenaeus (c. 180, E/W), 1.527.
Through the instrumentality of a tree, we were made debtors to God. So also, by means of a tree [i.e., the cross], we can obtain the remission of our debt. Irenaeus (c. 180, E/W), 1.545.
The Lord then was manifestly coming to His own things, and was sustaining them by means of that creation that is supported by Himself. He was making a recapitulation of that disobedience that had occurred in connection with a tree, through the obedience that was upon a tree. Furthermore, the original deception was to be done away with—the deception by which that virgin Eve (who was already espoused to a man) was unhappily misled. That this was to be overturned was happily announced through means of the truth by the angel to the virgin Mary (who was also [espoused] to a man).… So although Eve disobeyed God, Mary was persuaded to be obedient to God. In this way, the virgin Mary might become the helper of the virgin Eve. And thus, as the human race fell into bondage to death by means of a virgin, so is it rescued by a virgin. Virginal disobedience has been balanced in the opposite scale by virginal obedience. For in the same way, the sin of the first created man received amendment by the correction of the First-Begotten, and the cunning of the serpent was conquered by the harmlessness of the dove. Irenaeus (c. 180, E/W), 1.547.
Into this Paradise, the Lord has introduced those who obey His call, “summing up in Himself all things that are in heaven and that are on earth.” … These things, therefore, He recapitulated in Himself. By uniting man to the Spirit, and causing the Spirit to dwell in man, He is Himself made the head of the Spirit, and gives the Spirit to be the head of man.… In His work of recapitulation, He has summed up all things. He has waged war against our enemy. He has crushed the one who had in the beginning led us away captives in Adam, and trampled upon his head. Irenaeus (c. 180, W), 1.548.
Indeed the enemy would not have been fairly vanquished, unless it was a man [born] of a woman who conquered him. For it was by means of a woman that he got the advantage over man at first, setting himself up as man’s opponent. Irenaeus (c. 180, E/W), 1.549.
At the beginning, it was by means of food that [the enemy] persuaded man to transgress God’s commandments (although man was not suffering hunger). Similarly, in the end the enemy did not succeed in persuading Christ, who was hungry, to take that food which proceeded from God. Irenaeus (c. 180, E/W), 1.549; see also 1.541.
David W. Bercot, ed., “Atonement,” A Dictionary of Early Christian Beliefs: A Reference Guide to More than 700 Topics Discussed by the Early Church Fathers (Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, 1998), 47–48.
