David Jones's Irenaean Theology of History

Late in his life David Jones described the second-century theologian Irenaeus of Lyon as "his special Lather." Jones's work does not reference Irenaeus often, but two key allusions, one in a painted inscription and another in the poem "The Sleeping Lord," allow us to underst...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Simmons, Joseph (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Dep. 2017
In: Religion & literature
Year: 2017, Volume: 49, Issue: 1, Pages: 42-51
RelBib Classification:BF Gnosticism
HB Old Testament
KAB Church history 30-500; early Christianity
KAJ Church history 1914-; recent history
Further subjects:B Influence (Literary, artistic, etc.)
B Marcionism
B MARCION, of Sinope, fl. 2nd century
B Bible. Old Testament
B LONG Conversation, The (Book)
B JONES, David, 1895-1974
Online Access: Volltext (lizenzpflichtig)
Description
Summary:Late in his life David Jones described the second-century theologian Irenaeus of Lyon as "his special Lather." Jones's work does not reference Irenaeus often, but two key allusions, one in a painted inscription and another in the poem "The Sleeping Lord," allow us to understand his attachment. Jones valued Irenaeus for his theology of history, in the sense not of a schema for interpreting history, but of a claim for history's value. Jones followed Irenaeus in recognizing a need to preserve the ultimate continuity of history despite the apparent caesuras between past and present, between body and soul, and between faith and reason. Jones was Irenaean as well in associating this preservation with the Virgin Mary's creative acceptance of the historically given, a connection which Jones associated with Irenaeus himself. Finally, Jones was Irenaean in the weight he put on apostolic succession. In his essays, however, Jones analogically transferred this understanding of traditio from the priest to the poet, in a way which places great strain on the relationship between their rival claims to authority. In this way, Irenaeus's theology posed a challenge as well as a support to Jones's poetic theory.
ISSN:2328-6911
Contains:Enthalten in: Religion & literature