Page 102 - Orthodoxy Zizioulas

O r t h o d o x y
theme appears in the Apologists, it is presented in a strikingly
different way. Justin, for example, distinguishes between the
“fall” of the demons and the disobedience of Adam and Eve.
What humanity loses is not something already possessed, but
something intended for the future: immortality and deifica-
tion.
This eschatological perspective becomes clearer in the Fa-
thers of the second century. Tatian denies the natural immor-
tality of the soul, making its survival dependent on the Spirit.
Theophilus of Antioch teaches that humanity was created nei-
ther mortal nor immortal, but capable of becoming immortal
through obedience. Similarly, Athenagoras links creation itself
to the future resurrection, suggesting that the end gives mean-
ing to the beginning.
This orientation reaches its full expression in St. Irenaeus.
For Irenaeus, humanity in its original state is not perfect
but immature—like a child destined to grow. The human be-
ing is by nature “animal,” and only through the Spirit becomes
fully human. Perfection lies not in the beginning, but in the
end—in the likeness of God, in deification.
Thus, Adam did not fall from perfection, but from a calling.
He fell not from what he already possessed, but from what he
was meant to become. The fall is therefore the loss of the fu-
ture.
Even death, in this perspective, is not merely a punishment,
but becomes part of a divine pedagogy. Humanity passes
through mortality in order to come to resurrection, learning
through experience the meaning of life and salvation.
For Irenaeus, Christ—the “last Adam”—is not simply a
response to the fall, but its ontological foundation. Humanity
exists because the Savior exists. The end precedes the begin-
ning. The destiny of humanity is revealed not in Adam, but in
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