Early Christian Beliefs About the Doctrine of Man

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book V Direct teaching

... to be like His own Son. Through the Father's hands, meaning through the Son and the Holy Spirit, humans, not just a part of humans, were made in God's likeness. Although the soul and spirit are part of a human, they do not make up the entire person; the complete human is the union of the soul receiving the Spirit of the Father and the blending of that physical nature formed in God's image. This is why the apostle states, "We speak wisdom among those who are perfect," referring to those who have received the Spirit of God and who speak in all languages through the Spirit of God, just as he did. Similarly, we also hear many members in the Church who have prophetic gifts, speaking all kinds of languages through the Spirit and revealing hidden truths for the common good and declaring God's mysteries. The apostle calls these people "spiritual" because they share in the Spirit, not because their flesh has been stripped away and they have become purely spiritual. If someone removes the fleshly substance, which is God's workmanship, and considers only the purely spiritual, such a being would not be a spiritual person but just the spirit of a human or the Spirit of God. When the spirit,

Clement of Alexandria, Exhortation to the Heathen Direct teaching

...? Only the Maker of the universe. The great Artist and Father has formed us, this living image that man is. But your Olympian Jove, the image of an image, far removed from the truth, is the senseless work of Attic hands. For the image of God is His Word, the true Son of Mind, the Divine Word, the original light of light. And the image of the Word is the true man, the mind that is in man. Therefore man is said to have been made in the image and likeness of God, Genesis 1:26, being made like the Divine Word in the affections of the soul, and therefore rational. But images carved in human form, the earthly image of that part of man which is visible and born from the earth, are only a fading imprint of humanity, and plainly far from the truth. So then, a life that is so seriously occupied with matter seems to me to be nothing but madness. And custom, which has made you experience bondage and irrational care, is fed by empty opinion. And ignorance, which has become for the human race the cause of unlawful rites and deceitful spectacles, and also of deadly plagues and hateful images, has, by inventing many forms of demons, stamped on all who follow it the mark of a long-lasting death.

Novatian, Treatise Concerning the Trinity Direct teaching

...hrinks from insisting that Christ is God, even though he sees that Christ is proved to be God by so many words and facts. If Christ is only man, then when He came into this world, how did He come to His own, since a man could not have made the world? If Christ was only man, how is the world said to have been made by Him, when the world was not made by man, but man was appointed after the world? If Christ was only man, how was it that Christ was not only from the seed of David, but was also the Word made flesh and dwelt among us? For although the first-formed man was not born from seed, yet the first-formed man was not made by the joining together of the Word and flesh. For he is not the Word made flesh, nor did he dwell among us. If Christ was only man, how does He who comes from heaven testify to what He has seen and heard, John 3:31, when it is clear that man cannot come from heaven, because he cannot be born there? If Christ is only man, how are visible and invisible things, thrones, powers, and dominions, said to be created by Him and in Him, when the heavenly powers could not have been made by man, since they had to exist before man? If Christ is only man, how is He present

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Supporting witness

Therefore the image of God is not that which is fashioned by the fingers of men out of stone, or bronze, or other material, but man himself, since he has both perception and motion, and performs many and great actions.

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Supporting witness

Then He made for Himself a figure endowed with perception and intelligence, that is, after the likeness of His own image, than which nothing can be more perfect: He formed man out of the dust of the ground, from which he was called man, because He was made from the earth.

Novatian, Treatise Concerning the Trinity Supporting witness

For we know that man was made after the image or likeness, not after the form, of God.

Clement of Alexandria, Exhortation to the Heathen Supporting witness

A beautiful breathing instrument of music the Lord made man, after His own image.

Theophilus of Antioch, To Autolycus Supporting witness

For when God said, Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness, He first intimates the dignity of man.

Novatian, Treatise Concerning the Trinity Supporting witness

He is therefore God who made man in the image of God;

Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (Miscellanies) Supporting witness

Is not man, then, rightly said to have been made in the image of God?

Cyprian, Treatises Supporting witness

God says, Let us make man in our image and likeness;

Justin Martyr, On the Resurrection, Fragments Supporting witness

...with it. These individuals seem unaware of God's entire work, both in the creation and formation of man originally, and the purpose behind the creation of the world. Doesn't the word say, "Let Us make man in our image, after our likeness?" What kind of man? Clearly, it means a physical man, since the word says, "And God took dust of the earth and made man." Thus, it is evident that man, made in the image of God, was of flesh. Is it not, then, unreasonable to say that the flesh, made by God in His own image, is worthless and contemptible? Moreover, that the flesh is valued by God is clear, firstly, from it being formed by Him—assuming that the image is of value to its creator and artist—and also its value can be inferred from the creation of the rest of the world. For that, for which the rest is made, is the most valuable of all to the maker.

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Direct teaching

...e are born. In this way, we can discover what the result of virtue is. Man is made up of two parts, soul and body. Many things belong especially to the soul, many especially to the body, and many are common to both, as virtue itself is. And when virtue is spoken of in relation to the body, it is called fortitude, to distinguish it. Since, therefore, fortitude is connected with each, a struggle is set before each, and victory from that struggle is offered to each. The body, because it is solid and can be grasped, must fight with things that are solid and can be grasped. But the soul, because it is slight, subtle, and invisible, fights against enemies that cannot be seen or touched. But what are the enemies of the soul except lusts, vices, and sins? And if virtue overcomes and drives these away, the soul will be pure and free from stain. From where, then, can we learn what the results of the soul's fortitude are? No doubt, from what is closely connected with it and resembles it, that is, from the fortitude of the body. For when the body enters any battle or struggle, what does it seek from victory except life? For whether you fight with a man or a beast, the struggle is for safety

Tertullian, On the Resurrection of the Flesh Direct teaching

Some, however, argue that the soul is the natural, or animate, body. They do this so they can separate the flesh from any connection with the body that rises again. But it is a clear and settled point that the body which will rise again is the one that was sown in death. So they must be pressed to examine the fact itself. Otherwise, let them show that the soul was sown after death. In other words, let them show that it underwent death — that it was destroyed, torn apart, dissolved in the ground. Yet God never declared any such thing against it. Let them show us its corruption and dishonor, as well as its weakness, so that it too may be said to rise again in incorruption, in glory, and in power, as 1 Corinthians 15:42-43 says. Now in the case of Lazarus, which we may take as the chief example of a resurrection, the flesh lay helpless in weakness. The flesh was nearly rotten in the dishonor of decay. The flesh gave off a bad smell in corruption. And yet Lazarus rose again as flesh — with his soul, of course. But that soul was not corruptible. No one had wrapped it in burial cloths. No one had placed it in a tomb. No one had yet noticed it smelling bad. No one had seen it sown for fou

Athenagoras, The Resurrection of the Dead Direct teaching

But although the reason we can see in the creation of human beings is by itself enough to prove that the resurrection naturally follows the dissolution of bodies, it is perhaps right not to avoid bringing forward both of the proposed arguments. As has been said, we should point out to those who are not able to see them for themselves the arguments that come from each of the truths drawn from the first truth. And first of all, the nature of the human beings who were created leads us to the same conclusion and has the same force as proof of the resurrection. For if the whole nature of human beings in general is made up of an immortal soul and a body fitted to it at creation, and if God assigned such a creation, such a life, and such a complete course of existence not to the nature of the soul by itself, nor to the nature of the body by itself, but to human beings made from both, then this was so that, after passing through their present life, they might arrive at one common end with the same elements of which they are made at birth and during life. It unavoidably follows that, since one living being is formed from these two parts, and this one living being experiences whatever the so

Archelaus, Disputation with Manes Direct teaching

... profess that man is the workmanship of an author of this sort? “But again, if man consists of both soul and body, and not merely of body without soul, and if the one cannot exist apart from the other, why will you say that these two are hostile and contrary to each other? For our Lord Jesus Christ seems to me indeed to have spoken of these in His parables, when He said, ‘No man can put new wine into old bottles, else the bottles will break and the wine run out. But new wine is to be put into new bottles.’ For there is indeed one and the same Lord for the bottle and for the wine. For although the substance may be different, yet by these two substances, in their proper powers and in the keeping of their proper mutual relations, the one person of man exists. “We do not say, indeed, that the soul is of one substance with the body, but we affirm that they each have their own distinctive qualities. And as the bottle and the wine are used in the likeness of one race and one species of men, so the reckoning of truth requires us to grant that man was produced complete by the one God. For the soul rejoices in the body, and loves and cherishes it. And no less does the body rejoice that it

Gregory Thaumaturgus, On the Subject of the Soul Direct teaching

That the soul is in our body has been shown above. Therefore, we should now find out in what way it is in the body. Now if it is next to the body, like one pebble beside another, then it follows that the soul would be a body. It would also follow that the whole body would not be made alive by the soul, since the soul would be next to only one certain part of it. But if, again, it is mixed or fused with the body, then the soul would become manifold and not simple, and so it would be stripped of the reasoning nature proper to a soul. For what is manifold is also divisible and able to be dissolved. And what can be dissolved is compound. And what is compound can be separated in three ways. Moreover, when body is joined to body, it adds weight. But the soul, existing in the body, does not add weight. Rather, it gives life. Therefore, the soul cannot be a body, but is incorporeal.

Athenagoras, The Resurrection of the Dead Supporting witness

...ed anything of this kind. By itself, it does not desire, fear, or suffer anything like the things human beings usually suffer. But even if we say that these affections do not belong to the body alone, but to the human being, we would be speaking correctly, because human life is one life, though made up of both soul and body. Still, we certainly must not say that these things belong to the soul, if we simply consider its own proper nature. For if it is completely without need of food, then it can never desire things that it does not at all need in order to live. Nor can it be moved toward things that it is not fitted to use. Nor can it be grieved by the lack of money or other property, since such things are not suited to it. And if the soul is also beyond corruption, then it fears nothing at all as something that could destroy it. It does not fear hunger, disease, mutilation, disfigurement, fire, or the sword, since none of these can harm it or cause it pain. Neither bodies nor bodily powers touch it at all. But if it is absurd to attach the passions to the soul as if they especially belonged to it, then it is extremely unjust and unworthy of the judgment of God to place on the s

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Supporting witness

...eeds of the body are mortal for this reason, because the body itself is mortal, it follows that the soul is shown to be immortal from this: we see that what it produces is not mortal. In the same way also, the desires of the body and of the soul show that the one is mortal and the other everlasting. For the body desires nothing except what is temporal, that is, food, drink, clothing, rest, and pleasure. And it cannot desire or attain even these things without the assent and help of the soul. But the soul by itself desires many things that do not relate to the duty or enjoyment of the body. And these are not frail, but eternal, such as the fame of virtue and the remembrance of a name. For the soul, even in opposition to the body, desires the worship of God, which consists in abstinence from desires and lusts, in enduring pain, and in contempt of death. From this it is reasonable to believe that the soul does not perish, but is separated from the body. For the body can do nothing without the soul, but the soul can do many great things without the body. Why should I mention that those things which are visible to the eyes and can be touched by the hand cannot be eternal, because the

Archelaus, Disputation with Manes Direct teaching

But, again, if man consists both of soul and of body, and not merely of body without soul, and if the one cannot subsist apart from the other, why will you assert that these two are antagonistic and contrary to each other?

Archelaus, Disputation with Manes Supporting witness

and, in truth, unless the soul be in unison with the body by commixture and due introduction, so that the two are in mutual connections, the man will not exist, neither can we speak of him.

Athenagoras, The Resurrection of the Dead Supporting witness

Nor can it be said either that there is any injustice done as regards the man to be raised, for he consists of soul and body, and he suffers no wrong as to either soul or body.

Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata (Miscellanies) Supporting witness

The soul of man is confessedly the better part of man, and the body the inferior.

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Background

There are many things peculiar to the soul, many peculiar to the body, many common to both, as is virtue itself;

Lactantius, The Divine Institutes Direct teaching

But this was not language he should have used, since he argued that souls perish with bodies. Yet he was overcome by the truth, and the true system came over him without his knowing it. Also, the very argument he makes—that the soul is dissolved, that is, that it perishes together with the body because they are produced together—is false, and it can be turned in the opposite direction. For the body does not perish together with the soul. When the soul departs, the body remains whole for many days, and it often remains whole for a very long time by medical preparations. For if both perished together, just as they are produced together, the soul would not quickly depart and leave the body. Instead, both would be destroyed alike at the same moment. And while breath still remained in the body, the body would also dissolve and perish as quickly as the soul departs. Yes, truly, if the body were dissolved, the soul would vanish like moisture poured out from a broken vessel. For if the earthly and fragile body, after the soul departs, does not immediately melt away and return to the earth from which it came, then the soul, which is not fragile, endures forever, since its origin is eternal.

Methodius, From the Discourse on the Resurrection Direct teaching

...t was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also should walk in newness of life, Romans 6:4. But if anyone thinks that the earthly image is the flesh itself, while the heavenly image is some other spiritual body besides the flesh, let him first consider that Christ, the heavenly man, when He appeared, bore the same form of limbs and the same image of flesh as ours. Through this also, He who was not man became man, so that as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive, 1 Corinthians 15:22. For if He bore flesh for any other reason than to set the flesh free and raise it up, why did He bear flesh needlessly, since He intended neither to save it nor to raise it up? But the Son of God does nothing needlessly. He did not take the form of a servant for no purpose, but to raise it up and save it. For He truly was made man and truly died, not in mere appearance, but so that He might truly be shown to be the first begotten from the dead, changing the earthly into the heavenly, and the mortal into the immortal. Therefore, when Paul says that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, 1 Corinthians 15:50, he is not speaking poorly of the regeneratio

Peter of Alexandria, The Genuine Acts of Peter Supporting witness

...s raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also should walk in newness of life," Romans 6:4. But if anyone thinks that the earthy image is the flesh itself, while the heavenly image is some other spiritual body besides the flesh, let him first consider that Christ, the heavenly man, when He appeared, bore the same form of limbs and the same image of flesh as ours. Through this also, He who was not man became man, so that "as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive," 1 Corinthians 15:22. For if He bore flesh for any other reason than to set the flesh free and raise it up, why did He bear flesh needlessly, if He intended neither to save it nor to raise it up? But the Son of God does nothing needlessly. He did not, then, take the form of a servant for no purpose, but to raise it up and save it. For He truly was made man, and died, not merely in appearance, but so that He might truly be shown to be the first begotten from the dead, changing the earthy into the heavenly, and the mortal into the immortal. Then, when Paul says that "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God," 1 Corinthians 15:50, he is not speaking against the regeneration of

Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions Direct teaching

...at He did not need matter, but by His will alone brought into being those things that Christ was commanded to make—we mean the heaven, the earth, the sea, the light, the night, the day, the lights, the stars, the birds, the fish, the four-footed beasts, the creeping things, the plants, and the herbs—so also He will raise up all men by His will, since He does not need any help. For it belongs to the same power both to create the world and to raise the dead. And then He made man, who was not a man before, out of different parts, giving him a soul made out of nothing. But now He will restore the bodies that have been dissolved to the souls that still exist. For rising again belongs to things that have been laid down, not to things that have no being. Therefore, He who made the first bodies out of nothing and formed their different shapes will also bring back to life and raise up again those who are dead. For He who formed man in the womb out of a little seed, and created in him a soul that did not exist before—as He Himself says somewhere to Jeremiah, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you," Jeremiah 1:5, and elsewhere, "I am the Lord who established the heaven, and laid the f

Tertullian, Against Marcion Direct teaching

... Marcion does not at all admit the resurrection of the flesh. He promises only the salvation of the soul. So the question he raises is not about the sort of body, but about its very substance. Nevertheless, he is very plainly refuted even by what the apostle says about the quality of the body, when answering those who ask, "How are the dead raised up? With what body do they come?" For by discussing what sort of body it will be, he plainly declared that it is a body that will rise again. Indeed, he gives examples of a grain of wheat, or some other seed, to which God gives a body as it has pleased Him. 1 Corinthians 15:37-38. He also says that each seed has its own body. 1 Corinthians 15:38. Then he says there is one kind of flesh of men, another of beasts, and another of birds. He says there are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, and that there is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars. 1 Corinthians 15:39-41. Does he not, then, show that there will be a resurrection of flesh, or of the body, since he explains it by examples taken from fleshly and bodily things? Does he not also assure us that the resurrection will be brought about b

Athenagoras, The Resurrection of the Dead Supporting witness

...kind, because they all begin from the same point. Their starting point is the creation of the first human beings. Some of these arguments get their force from that starting point itself. Others, which follow from human nature and human life, get their credibility from God's care over us. For the reason according to which, and for which, human beings came into existence is closely connected with human nature, and so it gets its force from creation. But the argument from justice, which shows God judging people according to whether they have lived well or badly, gets its force from the end of human existence. People come into being on the former ground, but their condition depends more on God's care. Now that I have shown the earlier points as well as I could, it is right to prove our position by the points that come after. I mean the reward or punishment due to each person according to righteous judgment, and the final purpose of human existence. Of these, I put first the one that naturally comes first, and so I will examine the argument about judgment first. I will state only one thing beforehand, for the sake of the principle that belongs to the matters before us, and for the sa

Methodius, From the Discourse on the Resurrection Supporting witness

...e all the work and business of life are carried on by the hands of men. But the body, being the workmanship of God, is not said to be made with hands, since it is not formed by the arts of men. But if they say that it is made with hands because it was the workmanship of God, then our souls also, and the angels, and the spiritual clothing in the heavens, are made with hands, for all these things also are the workmanship of God. What, then, is the house that is made with hands? It is, as I said, the short-lived existence that is supported by human hands. For God said, “In the sweat of your face shall you eat bread,” Genesis 3:19, and when that life is dissolved, we have the life that is not made with hands. As the Lord also showed when He said, “Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when you fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations,” Luke 16:9. For what the Lord there called habitations, the apostle here calls clothing. And what He there calls friends of unrighteousness, the apostle here calls houses dissolved. So then, when the days of our present life come to an end, those good deeds of kindness that we have attained in this unrighteou

Justin Martyr, On the Resurrection, Fragments Direct teaching

...He gives the promise to the flesh as well. For what is man but a rational being made up of body and soul? Is the soul by itself man? No, it is the soul of a man. Would the body be called man? No, it is the body of a man. If neither on its own is man, but together they form man, and God has called man to life and resurrection, then He has called not just a part, but the whole, which includes both soul and body. Wouldn't it be absurd if, while these two are part of the same being and follow the same law, one were saved and the other not? And if it is not impossible for the flesh to be regenerated, as has already been shown, what distinguishes the soul to be saved but not the body? Do they suggest God is grudging? But He is good and desires everyone to be saved. According to God's word, not only has your soul heard and believed in Jesus Christ, but so has your flesh, and both have been washed and acted righteously. They make God seem ungrateful and unjust if, while both believe in Him, He wishes to save one and not the other. They argue that the soul is incorruptible, being a part of God and inspired by Him, and thus He wants to save what belongs to Him; but the flesh is corruptibl

Irenaeus, Against Heresies: Book V Supporting witness

...ed at the end of his letter, aligning with what he had already expressed, “And as we have borne the image of him who is of the earth, we shall also bear the image of Him who is from heaven. For this I say, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.” Now, what he means by “as we have borne the image of him who is of the earth” is similar to what has been stated, “And such indeed you were; but you have been washed, but you have been sanctified, but you have been justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God.” So, when did we bear the image of him who is of the earth? Clearly, it was when those actions, referred to as “works of the flesh,” were carried out in us. And again, when do we bear the image of the heavenly? Clearly, when he says, “You have been washed,” it is by believing in the name of the Lord and receiving His Spirit. Now, we have washed away not the substance of our body or the image of our initial formation, but our former empty behavior. In these members, therefore, in which we were heading towards destruction by doing the works of corruption, in these very members we are made alive by doing the works of the Spiri

Irenaeus, Connection to 1 Corinthians 15:44 Supporting witness

It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. For the Spirit of God, who is in us here, will be there in the place of nature.

1 Corinthians 15:21 Background

For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead.

1 Corinthians 15:49 Background

And as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly Man.