The anthropological foundations of the concept of resurrection according to Methodius of Olympus (original) (raw)

2013, Studia Patristica by M. Vincent

Abstract

De resurrectione (The Resurrection), a work by Methodius of Olympus, written shortly before the alleged martyrdom of the Author (probably in 311), was the first to present in a profound and organic fashion the orthodox response to a number of eschatological positions of Origen and his followers, which were based on a common Platonic philosophical background. The value of this dialogue consists above all in a new way of reasoning that will continue and be developed in successive centuries. The task of this research is to outline the fundamental anthropological categories used by Methodius to defend the reasonableness of faith regarding the resurrection of the flesh. Particular attention will be placed on the argument which is based on Scriptures as well as that based on the natural sciences of the time (cosmology, medicine). By referring to them, the Olympian tried to prove the existence of elements that, beginning with the prenatal development of each person, shape the human body in an unrepeatable way. According to him, the individual elements of the body, unlike the humoral mass, are 'personal' and therefore the resurrection, implicating physical categories, is possible, just and worthy of God. This concept allows Methodius to maintain the material and formal identity between the earthly body and the risen one. The Author juxtaposes this concept to that of the eidos used by Origen, which he considers imprecise, insufficient and incongruous. According to him, the glorious transformation and spiritualization of the risen body does not imply an abandonment of matter, or material qualities, but rather the gain of incorruptibility, immortality and impassibility in full communion with the Holy Spirit.

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References (2)

  1. Gregory of Nyssa seemed to have been inspired by this vision, which he attempted to bring close to the position of Origen, see: De hominis opificio XXVII.
  2. De res. II,13,8-9: aòe ko(do nasq µo(e byµi ne mo(eµ´ ch i bqxmo èasto åko(e mnäµ´ podle(aòemoã esµvu pribyvaúòoã i oãbyvaúòô µhlhsnomoã åko(e inomu byµi desätem´ dne i inomoã nn› h. µhm(e n4 h n4 a i mµ0 i rodila ni vqskromila inq bh rodivyisä i inq vqskorqmlenyi i inq paky nnhšnði. l(a (e i gl0 anoe kq ieremii slovo: drhvle sqdanða µvoego oãvhdhxµä. Inq bo bh podrugq sqzdanago onq kq nemoã (e by slovo, in Q.I.265,118b,4-16. 54 In the De res. II,13,10, Memianus draws the extreme conclusions of his reasoning: if the body changes completely, it means that with it man also disappears and, therefore, neither baptism nor penitence have any sense. The reasoning of Memianus constitutes a confutation of the ideas of Aglaophon, exposed in the De res. I,9. 55 See: E. Prinzivalli, 'La risurrezione nei Padri', DSBP 45 (Roma, 2007), 222. 56 Methodius underlines that the development of the embryo, that is, the passage from sperm to the formed and animated body is the work of divine power, see: De res. II,20; also Symposium II,6.