The Role of Mary as Co-recapitulator in St Irenaeus of Lyons

AbstractIn this article, the author takes up the theme of Marian consideration in the thought of Irenaeus, long considered by many to have been exhaustively addressed by past scholarship. But there is yet ground to be covered: this study addresses the hitherto neglected theme of co-recapitulation as it applies to Mary in the Irenaean corpus. What to make of Irenaeus' assertions of an active, dynamic participation in the salvation process by the 'obedient virgin'? Arguing against the possibility that Irenaeus is driven primarily by aesthetic concerns, the author posits a reading of Irenaeus that finds in Mary's person an integral and essential component of a theologically coherent system of personal and social recapitulation.