Abstract

In the theology of Irenaeus the sign of Jonas is put to use to explain the antithesis between man fallen in Adam and victorious in the Word made flesh. The devil is the fish that tried to eat up man. God allowed it in order so to dispose the salvation of the human race. The sign of Jonas does not only prefigure the resurrection of Christ, but also the mystery of the Church and the salvation of men. Since this salvation is realized through the victory of Christ over death, no man can glory before the Lord. That is why man is the glory of God, just as the glory of God is man alive. Only in appearance are the two Irenaean formulas incompatible. The first shows that man can glorify God only by God's work; the other, that God communicates to man his own glory. God himself raises man, progressively, to divinization and immortality. Just as the whale launched Jonas into a new life, so also death launched the Saviour as first fruits of the new life that crowns the likeness of man with God