Irenaeus of Lyons: Identifying Christianity . By John Behr. Christian Theology in Context. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013. xii + 236 pp. $110 hardcover.

(ProQuest: ... denotes non-US-ASCII text omitted.)Irenaeus of Lyons: Identifying Christianity . By John Behr . Christian Theology in Context. New York : Oxford University Press , 2013. xii + 236 pp. $110 hardcover.Book Reviews and NotesThe proliferation of studies in recent decades devoted to a better understanding of the theological communities known to history as "Gnostics" is a welcome development for early Christian studies. Nevertheless, the casualties of this reappraisal have been the early heresiologists and, in particular, Irenaeus of Lyons, whose lack of nuance in describing these communities now renders him in much of recent scholarship little more than a power-hungry, theological witch hunter. The great irony here is that this judgment comes only by removing Irenaeus from his own late second century context. In his latest book, Irenaeus of Lyons: Identifying Christianity, John Behr attempts a defense of Irenaeus by restoring the late second century as the appropriate context in which to understand Irenaeus's thought. In so doing, per the aims of the "Christian Theology in Context" series of which it is a part, Behr allows Irenaeus to speak "to our own context" (vi).The structure of the book is relatively simple, with the first chapter devoted to Irenaeus's life and context and the remaining two chapters addressing the structure and content of Against Heresies. (Irenaeus's shorter work, Demonstration of the Apostolic Preaching, receives only passing attention.) Behr's exposition includes thorough treatments of key Irenaean themes, such as economy and recapitulation. Of note is Behr's compelling use of a musical motif ("the symphony of salvation") to illuminate how these different components fuse into a unity in Irenaeus' mind as well as the helpful structural analysis of Against Heresies 2-5--each book follows the threefold movement of (1) God, (2) Christ and the economy, and (3) humanity.Throughout, Behr's singular focus on Irenaeus as a faithful and careful reader of scripture makes his defense of the Bishop of Lyons effective. This focus paints a new portrait of Irenaeus' method, one that is not marked by episcopal power but by congenial argumentation with scripture as the common, accepted authority of both sides. While both Irenaeus and the "Gnostics" accept Christ as the hypothesis or key to understanding the scriptures, Irenaeus alone insists that Christ "must be understood within the mosaic or matrix of Scripture" (123). This Christ, as opposed to the "Gnostic" Aeon, reveals the unity of the economy of salvation culminating in Christ's death and resurrection, which is itself the event that "provides the catalyst for the veil to be removed and the books to be opened" (131). In contrast, "his opponents' reading simply does not 'fit' the text" (110).This new portrait of Irenaeus's method accords much better with the late second century context in which the church is comprised of many different communities with varying beliefs and customs. Without a pope or mechanism of excommunication, the unifying feature of these communities was only scripture read according to the canon of truth. Irenaeus's appeal to the canon was not intended, then, to "stymie further reflection or thought, but to make it possible" by opening the scriptures (114). …