descended from that protoplast—the first Adam. Therefore in order to reverse the Fall and renew the race that fell because of Adam, the Word had to live through it in order to transform both it and its posterity. From Mary, then, the Word took “the very same formation” as Adam—not just one like it. Adam was in some mysterious way reborn of Mary as the humanity of Jesus Christ. For Irenaeus if man is to be saved, it is necessary that the first man, Adam, be brought back to life, and not simply that