Gottebenbildlichkeit
Irenaeus was unique for his time in that he places a great deal of emphasis on the physicality of the body and the Image of God. In his "Against Heresies", he writes "For by the hands of the Father, that is by the Son and the Holy Spirit, man, and not a part of man, was made in the likeness of God." For Irenaeus, our actual physical body is evident of the image of God. Further, because the Son is modeled after the Father, humans are likewise modeled after the Son and therefore bear a physical likeness to the Son. This implies that humans' likeness to God is revealed through embodied acts. Humans do not currently just exist in the pure image of God, because of the reality of sin. Irenaeus claims that one must "grow into" the likeness of God. This is done through knowingly and willingly acting through one's body. Because of sin, humans still require the Son's salvation, who is in the perfect image of God. Because we are physical beings, our understanding of the fullness of the image of God did not become realized until the Son took physical form. Further, it is through the Son's physicality that he is able to properly instruct us on how to live and grow into the full image of God. Jesus, in becoming physically human, dying a human death, and then physically resurrected, "recapitulated," or fully revealed, what it means to be in the Image of God and therefore bears the full restoration of our being in God's image. By so doing, Jesus becomes the new Adam and through the Holy Spirit restores the human race into its fullness.