hip as
consisting in the transformation of human nature; but the point of
immediate importance here is that it is no longer human freedom but
Christ that he contemplated in this connection. Corresponding to this he
has now also a different idea of the original destination of man, of
Adam, and of the results of the fall. Here comes in the mystical
Adam-Christ speculation, in accordance with the Epistles to the
Ephesians and Corinthians. Everything, that is, the "longa hominum
expositio," was recapitulated by Christ in himself; in other words he
restored humanity _to what it originally was_ and again included under
one head what was divided.[570] If humanity is restored, then it must
have lost something before and been originally in good condition. In
complete contradiction to the other teachings quoted above, Irenaeus now
says: "What we had lost in Adam, namely, our possession of the image and
likeness of God, we recover in Christ."[571] Adam, however, is humanity;
in other words, as all humanity is united and renewed through Christ so
also it was already summarised in Adam. Accordingly "the sin of
disobedience and the loss of salvation which Adam consequently suffered
may now be viewed as belonging to all mankind summed up in him, in like
manner as Christ's obedience and possession of salvation are the
property of all mankind united under him as their head."[572] In the
first Adam we offended God by not fulfilling his commandments; in Adam
humanity became disobedient, wounded, sinful, bereft of life; through
Eve mankind became forfeit to death; through its victory over the first
man death descended upon us all, and the devil carried us all away
captive etc.[573] Here Irenaeus always means that in Adam, who represents
all mankind as their head, the latter became doomed to death. In this
instance he did not think of a hereditary transmission, but of a mystic
unity[574] as in the case of Christ, viewed as the second Adam. The
teachings in III. 21. 10-23[575] show what an almost naturalistic shape
the religious quasi-historical idea assumed in Irenaeus' mind. This is,
however, more especially evident from the assertion, in opposition to
Tatian, that unless Adam himself had been saved by Christ, God would
have been overcome by the devil.[576] It was merely his moralistic train
of thought that saved him from the conclusion that there is a
restoration of _all_ individual men.

This conception of Adam as the representative of h