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❇❛rt③✐s✱ ❊✈❛❣❣❡❧♦s
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❯s❡ ♣♦❧✐❝②
❚❤❡ ❢✉❧❧✲t❡①t ♠❛② ❜❡ ✉s❡❞ ❛♥❞✴♦r r❡♣r♦❞✉❝❡❞✱ ❛♥❞ ❣✐✈❡♥ t♦ t❤✐r❞ ♣❛rt✐❡s ✐♥ ❛♥② ❢♦r♠❛t ♦r ♠❡❞✐✉♠✱ ✇✐t❤♦✉t ♣r✐♦r ♣❡r♠✐ss✐♦♥ ♦r
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•
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•
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•
t❤❡ ❢✉❧❧✲t❡①t ✐s ♥♦t ❝❤❛♥❣❡❞ ✐♥ ❛♥② ✇❛②
❚❤❡ ❢✉❧❧✲t❡①t ♠✉st ♥♦t ❜❡ s♦❧❞ ✐♥ ❛♥② ❢♦r♠❛t ♦r ♠❡❞✐✉♠ ✇✐t❤♦✉t t❤❡ ❢♦r♠❛❧ ♣❡r♠✐ss✐♦♥ ♦❢ t❤❡ ❝♦♣②r✐❣❤t ❤♦❧❞❡rs✳
P❧❡❛s❡ ❝♦♥s✉❧t t❤❡ ❢✉❧❧ ❉✉r❤❛♠ ❊✲❚❤❡s❡s ♣♦❧✐❝② ❢♦r ❢✉rt❤❡r ❞❡t❛✐❧s✳
❆❝❛❞❡♠✐❝ ❙✉♣♣♦rt ❖✣❝❡✱ ❉✉r❤❛♠ ❯♥✐✈❡rs✐t②✱ ❯♥✐✈❡rs✐t② ❖✣❝❡✱ ❖❧❞ ❊❧✈❡t✱ ❉✉r❤❛♠ ❉❍✶ ✸❍P
❡✲♠❛✐❧✿ ❡✲t❤❡s❡s✳❛❞♠✐♥❅❞✉r✳❛❝✳✉❦ ❚❡❧✿ ✰✹✹ ✵✶✾✶ ✸✸✹ ✻✶✵✼
❤tt♣✿✴✴❡t❤❡s❡s✳❞✉r✳❛❝✳✉❦
✷
Divine Abandonment
of
Christ and the Soul
•
In
Byzantine Exegesis
and
Ascetic Literature
The copyright of this thesis rests with the
author or the university to which it was
submitted. No quotation from it, or
information derived from it may be
published without the prior written
consent of the author or university, and
any information derived from it should be
acknowledged.
Evaggelos Bartzis
Ustinov College
A Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
to the Department of Theology and Religion
Durham University
2008
0 1 SEP 2008
Evaggelos Bartzis
Divine Abandonment of Christ and the Soul in Byzantine Exegesis and Ascetic
Literature
Ph.D. Thesis abstract
2008
This thesis examines the role that the motif of divine abandonment played in
the exegetical and ascetical literature of late antiquity. Divine abandonment of the
soul was an integral part of the spiritual life. Its "normativeness" was related to the
notion of divine paideia: God instructed the soul by abandoning the soul to ethical
trials. This paideia had eschatological implications: divine abandonment highlighted
the eschatological orientation of the Christian faith. Divine abandonment of Christ,
however, is treated in Christological, rather than ascetical, terms. The experience of
abandonment by the ascetics was not based on a "Christ-like" ethical model: Christ's
abandonment was only connected to the ascetical abandonment within the scope of
divine providence.
The first part introduces the Patristic exegesis on the Song of Songs. It shows
that Patristic exegesis related divine abandonment of the soul to ethical trials and
highlights the role of the motif as part of divine paideia that leads the soul to an
eschatological ethical perfection. The second part discusses Christ's abandonment on
the cross, which Patristic literature handled with a certain hesitancy, even
uncertainty. The last part examines the ascetical tradition. The motif illustrated God's
providential care for the ascetic soul where God remedied the soul's weakness and
led her to the ethical fulfilment in the eschaton. This part also addresses the subtle
way in which asceticalliterature envisaged Christ as a spiritual model.
The conclusion that this thesis draws is that it is within the theological
framework of divine paideia and eschatology that the Patristic literature understood
the notion of divine abandonment. Furthermore, it suggests that it is in this
framework of their common tradition that the Eastern and Western spiritual traditions
might mutually approach and understand each other.
Dedicated to the memory
of my mother
Athena
(1950-2002)
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( Odysseas Elytes, The Monogram)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract
2
Table of Contents
5
Acknowledgments
7
Abbreviations
8
Introduction
13
Part 1
1. The Song of Songs and the Patristic commentators
20
2. The main characters of the Song of Songs: the bride and
28
the bridegroom
3. Absence and presence in the Song of Songs
i. The biblical background
34
ii. Abandonment of the soul: perfection and sin
39
a. Origen: perfection and trials
40
b. Gregory of Nyssa: the intellectual abandonment
51
c. Theodoret of Cyrrhus: the ethical development
63
d. Nilus of Ancyra: the ascetical features
76
Part2
1. The Groom abandoned on the cross
i. The Byzantine sources
82
ii. The historical context
88
2. Christ's abandonment on the cross
i. Byzantine exegesis: separation or prayer?
92
a. Origen: patristic foundations
94
b. Athanasius of Alexandria: against the Arians
99
c. Gregory Nazianzen: typology or realism?
105
5
d. Gregory of Nyssa: the polemicist
108
Basil of Cresarea: the ascetic
e. Didymos the blind: the technical foundations
112
f. Epiphanios of Salamis: the anti-Arian/Apollinarian rigorist 116
g. Cyril of Alexandria: the Nestorian outbreak
118
h. Theodoret of Cyrrhus: the sober exegete
123
i. John Damascene: defining the tradition
126
Part3
1. Origenist ascetical themes
131
2. The Vita Antonii and the Letters ofAntony
142
3. The ascetical tradition
i. Causes of divine abandonment
154
ii. Perfection and sin
179
iii. Imitation of Christ: kenosis and the ascetics
198
Conclusion
207
Bibliography
213
6
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
For my doctoral research I was awarded a full grant from the Institute of National
Grants (I.K. Y), Athens. I would like to thank them for their financial support.
Professor Emeritus Dionysius Dakouras was appointed as my academic advisor in
Greece. I would like to thank him for his encouraging reports.
I can find no words adequate to express my gratitude to Prof. Andrew Louth. It has
been a privilege and an immense honour for me to work under his inspirational
supervision. I have profited greatly from his stimulating direction and his love for
academic research. In many cases, he has been not only a supervisor but also a
"spiritual father". No words can express my thankfulness to my father, Michael
Bartzis. It is thanks to his sacrifices that I have reached my dream and have
completed my doctoral research. This thesis is a small token of my love for him.
Many thanks ~lso
go to my brother George Bartzis, and my relatives Anastasios
Tsiggos and Georgia Tounta. My beloved grandmother Helen Tsiggou has always
been a second mother to me and I would like to thank her from the bottom of my
heart.
In my research I have profited from discussions with and the comments of the
following academics whom I would like to thank: Dr. Carol Harrison, Dr. Augustine
Casiday, Dr. Andreas Andreopoulos, Dr. Demetrios Bathrellos, Dr. Mika Toronen,
Dr. Igor Dorfmann-Lazarev, Prof. Ruth Gregory, and Prof. Nikolaos Loudovikos.
Brooke Attwood-Smith has been a constant source of inspiration and support for me.
I would like to express my feelings of gratitude to her for being there for me,
encouraging and helping me to discern the presence of beauty and wisdom in my life.
David Wagschal endured many endless late-night discussions about 'abandonment',
Origen and Evagrius. He has shared with me many of the 'ups' and 'downs' of my
doctoral research. I would like to express my deep appreciation for his friendship and
support. My gratitude also goes to Jonathan and Tatiana Zecher, George Siskos,
Andy Watts and Constantinos Boyopoulos in Durham, and Nektarios Kontis,
Lambros Psomas and George Ioannou in Greece. I would also like to thank Dr
Michael and Mrs Lourdes Watts for providing an encouraging environment for my
studies. Aidan Wightman and Dr Joshua Coleman undertook the task of reading my
drafts. Their corrections and observations are deeply appreciated. And last but not
least, I would like to express my gratitude to Ms. Ellen Middleton, Postgraduate
secretary in the Department of Theology and Religion, for always providing kind
assistance and guidance.
7
ABBREVIATIONS
i) Primary Sources
Apophth. (AC)
Apophthegmata Patrum: The Alphabetical Collection
Apophth. (AnC)
-- The Anonymous Collection
Apophth (SysC)
-- The Systematic Collection
Antony, Letts.
Letters 1-6
Apollinarius. FrPs.
Fragmenta in Psalmos
Athanasius, Arian.
Athanasius of Alexandria, Orationes tres contra Arianos
Ps.
Expositiones in Psalmos
Trin.
De Sancte Trinitate
Vita
Vita Antonii
Cyril, ComLk
Commentarii in Lucam (in catenis)
ComJn
--, Commentarii in Johannem
Nest
Libri V contra Nestorium
Chr.
Quod unus sit Christus
Thes.
Thesaurus de Sancta Consubstanstantiali Trinitate
Damascene. ExpF
Expositio Fidei
Nest.
Contra Nestorianos
Volunt.
De duabus in Christo Voluntatibus
Diadochus, Keph
Gnostic Century
Didymos, Eccl.
Commentarii in Ecclesiasten
Didym. Trin.
De Trinitate
FrPs.
Fragmenta in Psalmos
Epiphanius, Pan.
Panarion
Evagrius, AdMan.
Ad Monachos
8
De Octo
De Octo Spiritibus Malitiae
Eccl.
Scalia in Ecclesiasten
Gnost.
Gnostikos
KephGn.
Kephalaia Gnostica
Orat.
De Oratione
Prakt.
Praktikos
Prov.
Scholia in Proverbia Salomonis
Gregory, Apol.
Antirrheticus adversus Apollinarium
Beat.
De Beatitudinibus
Hom.
Homiliae xv in Canticum Canticorum
Moses
De Vita Mosis
Macarius. Hom.
Homilice Spirituales 50 [in PTS]
Serm.
Homilice Spirituales [in TLG]
Typs.
Homilice Spirituales [in TU]
Maximus, Chari!.
Capita de Caritatce 1-4
Lib.
Liber Asceticus
Opus c.
Opuscula
QnD.
Qucestiones et Dubia
Thai.
Qucestiones ad Thallasium
Nazianzene, Fil.
Oralio 30 (De Filio)
Nilus, Com
Commentary on the Song ofSongs
Nemesius, Natur.
De Natura Hominis
Origen, Com.
Commentarii in Canticum Canticorum
Hom.
Homilice in Canticum Canticorum
Martyr.
Exhortatio ad Martyrium
9
27Nm.
Homily xvii on Numbers
Prine.
De Principiis
Palladius, Laus.
Historia Lausiaca
Theodoret, EpP.
Interpretatio in xiv Epistulas Sancti Pauli
Expl.
Explanatio in Canticum Canticorum
Psalm.
Interpretatio in Psalmos
ii) Modem Works
ACO
Edward
Schwartz
(ed.),
Acta
Conciliorum
CEcumenicorum, vol. 1-4 (Berlin: De Gruyter, 19141974)
Rudolf
Riedinger
(ed.),
Acta
Conciliorum
CEcumenicorum, Series Secunda, vol. 1-2 (Berlin: De
Gruyter, 1984-1995)
ACW
Johannes Quasten et. al. (eds. ), Ancient Christian
Writers: The Work of the Fathers in Translation (New
York NY, Mahwah NJ: Newman and Paulist, 1946sqq)
CPG
M. Geerard (ed.), Clavis Patrum Graecorum, vol. 1-5,
CCSG (Turnhout: Brepols, 1974-1987)
CCSG
Corpus Christianorum Series Graeca (Leuven: 1977sqq)
cs
Cistercian Studies Series (Kalamazoo MI: Cistercian)
csco
Corpus
Scriptorum Christianorum
(Louvain: Peeters, 1903-sqq)
CthBQ
Catholic Biblical Quarterly
CUP
Cambridge University Press
DOP
Dumbarton Oaks Papers
EsChQ
Eastern Churches Quarterly
10
Orientalium
EsChR
Eastern Churches Review
DSp
M. Viller (ed.), Dictionnaire de spiritualite ascetique et
mystique: Doctrine et histoire (Paris: Beauchesne,
1932-1995)
FOTC
Thomas P. Halton et. al (eds.), The Fathers of the
Church (Washington D.C: Catholic University of
America, 194 7-sqq)
GCS
Die Griechischen Christlichen Schriftsteller der Ersten
Drei Jahrhunderte (Leipzig: J.C. Hinrichs, 1897-sqq)
GNO
W. Jaeger et al. (eds.), Gregorii Nysseni Opera
(Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1952-sqq)
HThR
Harvard Theological Review
JR
Journal of Religion
JThS
Journal ofTheological Studies
LCL
Loeb Classical Library (London: W. Heineman;
Cambridge MA: Harvard University Press, 1911-sqq)
OThM
Oxford Theological Monographs (Oxford: Oxford
University Press)
OUP
Oxford University Press
PG
J.P. Migne (ed.), Patrologiae Cursus Completus Series
Graeca, vol. 1-161 (Paris: 1857 -1866)
PTA
Patrologische Texte und
Rudolph Habelt Verlag)
PTS
Patristische Texte und Studien (Berlin: Walter de
Gruyter, 1964- sqq)
RSR
Recherche des sciences religieuse
RSPhTh
Revue des sciences philosophiques et theologiques
sc
J. Danielou and H. de Lubac (eds.), Sources
Chretiennes (Paris: Editions du Cerf, 1941-sqq)
SH
Scripta Hierosolymitana
11
Abhandlungen
(Bonn:
SP
Studia Patristica (Leuven: Peeters) [some titles under
TU]
SVS
St. Vladimir's Seminary Press
TLG
Thesaurus Linguce Grcecce Workplace, Silver Mountain
Software, vers. 8, 2000.
TU
Texte und Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der
Altchristlichen Literatur (Berlin: Akademie Verlag,
1882-sqq)
VgCh
Vigiliae Christianae: Revue of Early Christian Life and
Language (Leiden: Brill, 1947-sqq)
12
INTRODUCTION
Reassertion of the normativeness of Godforsakenness also opens new horizons for
exploring the relationship between the spiritual heritage of the East and that of the
West. 1
With these words, Nicholas Sakharov concluded his examination of the theme
of divine abandonment in the thought of the Russian ascetic, Archimandrite
Sophrony Sakharov. This was his theological proposal, an invitation to a creative
dialogue in order to discern the common traditions underlying the spirituality of the
East and the West. 2 The place of Sophrony Sakharov in modem Eastern spirituality
meant that the centrality of the theme of divine abandonment for the ascetic soul in
his thought inaugurated a new era of scholarly interest in the motif of divine
abandonment as part of Christian spirituality. Most significantly, the term was felt to
create a bridge between Eastern asceticism and Western spirituality. The presence of
the motif in St. John of the Cross and Sophrony initiated a creative discussion about
the place of the motif of God-forsakenness in the two ascetics.
But this is not the only bridge that the motif of divine abandonment provides
with modem thought. Most importantly, the theme of divine abandonment is felt to
be based on a Christ-like model that has brought the ascetical soul closer to Christ.
The experience of divine abandonment, in the case of Sophrony, expresses the
intimate bond between Christ and the soul which, in Eastern theology according to
Nicholas Sakharov, is established on the notion of the "hypostatic principle".
1
N. Sakharov, The Theology of Archimandrite Sophrony (PhD Thesis: University of Oxford, 1999),
255. [This introduction and the bibliography included in it follows the discussion of N. Sakharov
because he has presented the most complete survey of the modem approach on divine abandonment].
2
See J. Danielou, Platonisme et theo/ogie mystique: Doctrine spirituelle de Saint Gregoire de Nysse,
Theologie 2 (Aubier: Montaigne, 1944), 134. Alongside this positive approach that showed the
parallel lines of thought in St. John of the Cross and the Patristic thought of late antiquity, Sakharov
indicated a line of reasoning that firmly distinguished the Eastern from the Western spiritual tradition.
See I. Hausherr, 'Les Orientaux connaissent-ils les 'nuits' de Saint Jean de Ia Croix?', in Hesychasme
et Priere, Orientalia Christian Analecta 176 (Rome: Pont. lnstitutum Orientalium Studiorum 1966),
87-128. V. Lossky, The Mystical Theology ofthe Eastern Church (Cambridge: James Clarke, 1991),
197. H. C. Puech, 'La Tenebre mystique chez le Pseudo-Denys l'Areopagite et dans Ia tradition
patristique', in En Quete de Ia gnose: La gnose et /es temps et autres essais, vol. 1, Bibliotheque des
sciences humaines (Paris: Gallimard, 1978), 53. M. Lot-Borodine, La Deification de I 'homme seton Ia
doctrine des Peres grecs, Bibliotheque fficumenique 9 (Paris: Editions du Cerf, 1970), 86. A. Louth,
"Patristic Mysticism and St. John of the Cross", in The Origins of the Christian Mystical Tradition:
From Plato to Denys (Oxford: Clarendon, 1981), 179-190.
13
Nicholas Sakharov has presented the most complete review of modem
bibliography with regard to the place of the motif in Eastern spirituality. 3 The
"normativeness" of the motif of divine abandonment has not been unanimously
accepted. The main theological points that Sakharov places his discussion of divine
forsakenness between two theological poles: i) the "Palamite" theological filter
through which Eastern spirituality has been received by modem scholars; and ii) the
theme of "person/hypostasis" that was developed in the middle of the last century.
Although Nicholas Sakharov provides an interesting analysis of the Patristic
foundations of the notion of divine abandonment, his main purpose was to develop
the concept in the second of the two above-mentioned theological poles. In doing so,
he placed the notion of abandonment in its contemporary framework.
Sakharov argues that the theological pole represented by the 'Palamite filter'
renders the motif of abandonment foreign to Eastern spirituality because of the
notion of God's union with the soul through his divine energies. Lossky is cited as an
exponent of this position, among others. According to Lossky, the immanent nature
of the divine energies meant that God was always in intimate closeness to his
creation. Thus, there could be no notion of divine abandonment: as it is in the case
of the sun always radiating, so it was with God's energies. For Lossky, it was absurd
to argue that God was withdrawing his grace: it was the human individual that was
closing down to the divine energies due to the presence of sin. 4 However, to
understand divine abandonment in ethical terms in relation to the "Palamite"
distinction between the transcendent divine nature and immanent divine energies is,
in itself, to evoke a point that remains debatable. The true significance of Palamas'
thought is still to be evaluated for its theological value beyond the historical
controversy between PaJamas and Barlaam. I have placed the term "Palamite" in
inverted commas in order to make this exact point that it is still quite disputed what
Palamas did argue. It was the "Palamite" understanding of the ethical life that made
3
Sakharov, 'Theological Assessment of the Mystical-Ascetic Experience of Godforsakeness and its
Integration into the Framework of Eastern Theology through the Teaching of Persona', in The
Theology ofArchimandrite Sophrony, 217-255.
4
Lossky, The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church. Idem, The Vision of God, trans. A.
Moorhouse (London: 1963). R. Williams, The Theology of Vladimir Nikolaevich Lossky: An
Exposition and Critique (PhD Thesis: University of Oxford, 1975). E. Every, 'Nature and Grace in
the Eastern Orthodox Tradition', EsChQ 8 ( 1949-1950), 21-28. B. Krivoshein, 'The Ascetic and
Theological Teaching of Gregory PaJamas', EsChQ 3 (1938-1939), 26-33; 71-84; 138-156; 193-214.
14
Lossky reject the "normativeness" of divine abandonment and argue the non-Patristic
foundations of St. John of the Cross (and, therefore, by implication of Fr Sophrony).
The second pole of 'person/hypostasis' highlighted the "normativeness" of
divine abandonment in the spiritual life in terms of the notion of "personhood" in
modern Greek theology, or "hypostasis" in the Russian thought. 5 The development of
the notion of "personhood/hypostasis" originated in the kenotic theology of the 191h
century. This led to the notion that kenosis can be found within the Godhead itself, so
that the traditional distinction between theo/ogia and oikonomia is more or less
elided. Divine abandonment was introduced in terms of the "kenotic" estrangement
of the divine persons: the generation and the procession of the Son and the Spirit,
respectively, were understood in terms of the Father's acceptance of their
"otherness". It was this notion of "otherness" in the intratrinitarian relations of the
three divine persons that led Bulgakov, for instance, to view abandonment in terms
of Christ's "separation" from the Holy Spirit. 6 For Balthasar, who employed a
kenotic theology not unlike Bulgakov's, in assuming the sin of humanity, Christ
became "estranged" from the Father. 7
The assimilation of theo/ogia and oikonomia provided a helpful context for an
ontological understanding ofthe Christian spiritual experience. The "normativeness"
of divine abandonment for the spiritual life was due to the "normativeness" of the
motif in the life of Christ. The introduction of a "Christ-like" model for the spiritual
experience filled the gap that the Patristic literature had left concerning a more
ontological understanding of the relationship between Christ and the ascetics. 8 This
is, in part, because the Patristic literature generally upheld a clear distinction between
the theo/ogia and the oikonomia. Thus, the introduction of a "Christ-like" model is
not easy to reconcile with the distance between the two theological moments, i.e.
5
See Sakharov, 'Fr. Sophrony and 'Hypostatic Palamism", in The Theology of Archimandrite
Sophrony, 221-224. G. Florovsky, 'St. Gregory PaJamas and the Tradition of the Fathers', Sobornost
4, no. 4 (1961), 165-176.
6
S. Bulgakov, Du Verbe incarne (Agnus Dei), trans. Constantin Andronikof (Paris: Aubier, 1943).
Idem, The Comforter, trans. Boris Jakim (Grand Rapids M1: William B. Eerdmans, 2004). Balthasar,
Theodrama: Theological Dramatic Theory, vol. IV, trans. Graham Harrison (San Francisco CA:
Ignatius, 1994). Idem, Mysterium Paschale: The Mystery of Easter, trans. A. Nichols (Edinburgh:
T&T Clark, 1990).
7
See Balthasar, Heart of the World, trans. E. S. Leiva (San Francisco CA: Ignatius, 1979).
8
Lossky objected to the idea that Christ was an ethical model for the early ascetics. Lossky, Mystical
Theology, 215. Hausherr challenged Lossky's position in I. Hausherr, 'L'Imitation de Jesus-Christ
dans Ia spiritualite byzantine', in A. G. Martimort (ed.), Melanges offerts au R. P. Ferdinand
Caval/era (Toulouse: Bibliotheque de I'Institut Catholique, 1948).
15
theologia and oikonomia, which implies a distinction between the life of the Logos in
terms of the theologia and the life of the Logos in his oikonomia.
Furthermore, although the stereotyped idea of an "existential" West and a
"personalistic" East seems to have retreated somewhat at a theoretical level, in
practice it remains an important point in the separation and misunderstanding
between the theologies of the East and the West. 9 In his discussion of the 'dark
nights', Hausherr had highlighted the different approaches in St. John of the Cross
and the Patristic literature of late antiquity and the Byzantine period and related them
to the notion of divine abandonment, Nicholas Sakharov employed the notion of
"personhood" to distinguish between the teaching of St. John and that of the Eastern
ascetics.
These are the main lines of thought with regard to the "normativeness" of the
motif of divine abandonment in modem Orthodox theology. What this thesis
proposes to do is to provide an examination of the degree to which the Patristic
literature saw divine abandonment as a spiritual norm. In doing this, the thesis is
working on two levels:
i) It shows that the Patristic literature of late antiquity established the
"normativeness" of divine abandonment in the spiritual life in terms of divine
paideia: in all stages of her spiritual life, the ascetical soul remained subject to divine
providence which was understood in terms of God's instructing the soul. This
paideia was also related to the eschatological message of the Christian faith: divine
abandonment introduced the soul to the distinction between the spiritual progress in
this present life and the final ethical completion in the life to come.
ii)
It addresses the degree to which Christ's abandonment on the cross was
understood as a "Christ-like" model of spiritual experience. It questions whether
Patristic literature was capable of making any connection between Christ's
abandonment on the cross and the abandonment of the ascetical soul. This is related
to understanding what the Patristic sources actually made of the notion of the
"imitation" of Christ. Characteristically, the linking bond between Christ's
9
See D. B. Hart, 'The Mirror of the Infinite: Gregory of Nyssa on the Vestigia Trinitatis', in S.
Coakley (ed.), Re-thinking Gregory of Nyssa (London: Blackwell, 2003), 111-131. See the
introductory chapter in C. Gunton and C. Schwtlbel (eds), Persons: Divine and Human: King's
College Essays in Theological Anthropology (Edinburgh: Clark, 1991 ). I. Devtic, Der Personalismus
bei Nikolaj A. Berdjaew: Versuch einer Philosophie des Konkreten (Rome: Pontificia Universitas
Gregoriana, 1981). K. Ware, 'The Human Person as an Icon ofthe Trinity', Sobornost 8, no 2 (1986),
6-23.
16
abandonment and the ascetical abandonment was the notion of "divine consent" that
instructs and leads to salvation.
Thus, the main purpose of this thesis is to show that, for Patristic literature, the
"normativeness" of divine abandonment derived from the Patristic notion of the
divine providence (pronoia) that instructed the soul, and led the latter to her ethical
completion.
The thesis is structured in three parts that address independent areas of thought
in Patristic literature, namely: exegesis, Christology and asceticism. But this structure
is meant to address the potential interactions between the three areas of theological
deliberation.
The first part examines the notion of divine abandonment in Patristic exegesis
of the Song of Songs. It starts with an historical account concerning the character of
this book and discusses why, despite its debatable presence in the Canon and its de
facto exclusion from the liturgical life of the Church, it still attracted the attention of
the Patristic exegetes. This part presents the biblical foundation of the notion of
divine abandonment as a spiritual norm and addresses the relation between
abandonment and sin. The main discussion in this part is dedicated to the exegetical
works of Origen, Gregory of Nyssa, Theodoret of Cyrrhus and Nilus of Ancyra,
which are examined with respect to the motif of divine abandonment. It aims to show
that, despite their individual approaches, these exegetes saw divine abandonment as
an integral part of the spiritual life. This part provides the "theoretical" background
against which the Fathers addressed the idea of divine abandonment. It also
highlights the shift that the introduction of more systematic "ascetical ideals" brought
to Patristic exegesis. As a result of this shift, "theoretical" deliberation encountered
the "practical" application of what divine abandonment might mean for the Christian
spiritual life.
ii) The second part focuses on the Patristic interpretation on Mt. 27:46, i.e.
Christ's abandonment on the cross. First of all, this part examines Elliott's
hypothesis that the fate of the exegetical interest on the Song of Songs was bound to
the Christological debates of late antiquity. 10 In arguing against this hypothesis, we
anticipate the explanation that Christ's abandonment on the cross was not
immediately linked to the abandonment of the ascetical soul at either a theoretical
10
M. Elliott, Christology in the Song ofSongs in Early Church 381-451, Studien und Texte zu Antike
und Christentum 7 (TUbingen: M. Siebeck, 2000).
17
(exegetical) or practical (ascetical-spiritual) level. The subsequent discussion
involving a thorough analysis of the Patristic sources that interpreted Christ's
abandonment on the cross aims to explain the Patristic unwillingness to provide
insights to the exact mechanism of his abandonment. It addresses with scepticism
Jouassard's position that, after Origen, Patristic literature faced the danger of
understanding Christ's abandonment as an act of pretence that did not involve Christ
personally. As opposed to Jouassard's conclusions, we demonstrate that Patristic
literature addressed Christ's abandonment in a twofold way i) in terms of separation,
but without ever exemplifying the subject and the object of this separation; and ii) as
a faithful prayer. Thus, the second part addresses the uncertainty with which Patristic
literature approached Christ's abandonment due to i) the connection between
abandonment and sin in a Christo logical context; and ii) the unique identity of Christ.
Thus, it anticipates the discussion in the third part concerning the degree to which
Patristic literature could have formed a firm notion of "imitating" Christ and also
point to a "Christ-like" model of divine abandonment.
Both points are discussed in the final part of the thesis. Before that, we bring
out some further insights into Origen' s ethical thought in order to show the centrality
that divine abandonment played in his thought. Then we address the case of
Athanasius' Vita Antonii and Antony's Letters in order to illustrate the two
theological stands that shaped the ascetical literature of late antiquity. The next
chapter addresses the ascetical literature per se. It shows the main lines of reasoning
that permeate ascetical discourse concerning abandonment and revisits the position
that the asceticalliterature had discerned two "kinds" of abandonment. We move to
discuss the notion of perfection in the light of divine abandonment and thus highlight
the motif of divine abandonment as a spiritual norm in the ethical life. Finally, the
third part concludes by seeking to shed some more light on the notion of the
"imitation of Christ" for the ascetics. It shows that it was actually the notion of
ascetic "humility" that provided the most fruitful grounds for connecting Christ's
kenosis with the ascetical practice of progressively withdrawing from the society and
even the self.
Finally, we summarise and conclude our discussion concerning the degree to
which divine abandonment was a spiritual norm in the theological Patristic thought
of late antiquity. In doing so, we show the common Patristic grounds in which
18
Eastern and Western tradition could understand the Christian ethical life as part of
God's paideia.
19
PARTl
1. The Song of Songs and the Patristic commentators.
The book of the Song of Songs has witnessed an adventurous journey from its
compilation to its inclusion in the biblical canon for both Jews and Christians. 1 Its
status as a canonical book -not to mention divinely inspired- had been put under
criticism. It is only after the third-fourth century A.D. that a place among the other
canonical books of the Old Testament was granted to it. 2 The history of interpreting
the book is closely related to rabbinic disputes about its value and also to the
interaction between rabbis and Christians with regard to the compilation of the
Hebrew and Christian canons in late antiquity. 3 Its imagery is picturesque, quite
sensual, and this fact became the stumbling block for rendering any religious value to
its literal content. However, it was felt that the book invited an allegorical reading. In
viewing the Song as an allegory of spiritual mysteries, the rabbinic tradition
established its spiritual nature and also, illustrated its conformity with the rest of the
Hebrew canon. However, Cohen has taken a step back by questioning the reason that
1
For an introduction to the author, date and setting of the Song of Songs see R. S. Hess, Song of
Songs, Baker Commentary on the Old Testament (Grand Rapids MI: Baker Academic, 2005), 17-22.
For its status among the Hebrew and Christian biblical canon see Lee M. McDonald, The Biblical
Canon: Its Origin, Transmission, and Authority (Massachusetts MA: Hendrickson, 2007). S. Z.
Leiman, The Canonization of Hebrew Scripture: The Talmudic and Midrashic Evidence (Hamden CT:
Archon, 1976). E. E. Ellis, The Old Testament in Early Christianity: Canon and Interpretation in the
Light of Modern Research, Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 54 (Tubingen:
J. C. B. Mohr, 1991). See The Midrash Rabbah: Esther and Song of Songs, vol. 9, trans. M. Simon
(London: Soncino, 1951), 18 (footnote no. 5) [hereafter, The Midrash].
2
Even after that date, its perception from Christian authors remained equivocal, as the case of
Theodore of Mopsuestia suggests. Cohen and Gilbert argued that after the council of Jamnia (c. A.D.
90) the Song of Songs enjoyed a canonical status. See G. D. Cohen, 'The Song of Songs and the
Jewish Religious Meantality', inS. Z. Leiman (ed.), The Canon and Masorah of the Hebrew Bible: An
Introductory Reader (New York NY: KTAV, 1974), 262. S. L. Gilbert, The Targum of the Song of
Songs: A Study in Rabbinic Biblical Interpretation (PhD Thesis: University of Wisconsin-Madison,
1977), 4-5. However, pace Leiman, McDonald has doubted the significance of Jamnia for the
completion of the Hebrew canon, indicating that "the list of books acknowledged to be sacred
continued to vary within Judaism up through the fourth century C.E". McDonald, 'Myth of the
Council of Jarnnia', in The Biblical Canon, 173. J.P. Lewis, 'Jamnia Revisited' in L. M. McDonald
and J. A. Sanders (eds.), The Canon Debate (Peabody MA: Hendrickson, 2002), 146-192. The work
was included to the Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Canon (c. 200 B.C). The first Christian
witness to the book as part of the Old Testament Canon came from Melito of Sardis (c. A.D. 170). See
Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, 4.26.12-14. See McDonald, 'Myth', 200-201. Also: A. W. Astell,
The Song ofSongs in the Middle Ages (Ithaca NY: Cornell University Press, 1990), 1 [footnote no. 1].
R. Beckwith, The Old Testament Canon of the New Testament Church and its Background in Early
Judaism (Grand Rapids MI: W. B. Eerdmans, 1985).
3
For the various exegetical tools of interpretation in the rabbinic, early Patristic and modem times see
S. 0. Fawzi, 'Major Views of Interpretation of the Song', in The Mystical Interpretation of the Song of
Songs in the Light of Ancient Jewish Mysticism (PhD Thesis: University of Durham, 1994), 6-36.
Gilbert, The Targum, 1-20. Hess, 'History oflnterpretation', in Song ofSongs, 22-28.
20
someone would have expressed any interest in interpreting it, notwithstanding its
sensual imagery:
The problem is, really, why anyone should have thought of treating the work as an
allegory in the first place. There must have been works aplenty that were excluded
from the canon and that were not interpreted. One must, therefore, ask why the
scales were tipped in favour of this particular poem that was a priori so religiously
questionable. 4
What Cohen has presented is the fact that various other works were felt to lack a
religious content and thus remained unexploited theologically. However, the Song of
Songs -a work of no particular religious significance in its content- was revisited in
order to illustrate its significance as a religious work of spiritual value. Thus, Cohen
put under question the mere affirmation that the allegorical interpretation was
employed as part of justifying its canonical status. Why was the Song of Songs the
only puzzling work that attracted the attention of exegetes such as Rabbi Akiba and
Origen?
Cohen provided a satisfactory answer which indicated the fact that the content
of the Song ofSongs was felt to fill a theological gap that "no other work in the Bible
could fill". 5 Cohen has established the importance of the work for three reasons: i)
conformity with Pentateuch; ii) content as love song; and iii) interaction with
Hellenism. According to him, the depiction of a relation between husband and
spouse was already an established device to express the relation between God and
Israel in the Pentateuch and also the Prophets. 6 However, it was only in the Song of
Songs that love stands at the very core of the narrative. 7 What is more, such love has
taken dialectic form in the Song of Songs. Thus, whereas in the rest of the canon,
God has addressed Israel and vice versa, in the Song of Songs, it is felt that God has
responded to Israel who, in her turn, has opened a dialogue with God.
8
In other words, whereas the other books of the Bible do proclaim the bond of love
between Israel and the Lord, only the Song of Songs is a dialogue of love, a
4
Cohen, 'The Song ofSongs', 264.
Cohen, ibid, 265.
6
Cohen brought forth the dialectical interaction between religious fidelity and infidelity to God as
expressed through depictions of loyalty to the husband and ethical adultery. See also Gilbert, The
Targum, 3. Also, Fawzi, Mystical Interpretation, 8-9.
7
For the centrality of the theme of love in the Song of Songs and the rabbinic exegesis see M.
Zlotowitz and N. Scherman (eds.), 'Love in its Highest Sense', in Shir Hashirim: An Allegorical
Translation based upon Rashi with a Commentary from Talmudic, Midrashic and Rabbinic Sources,
ArtScroll Tanach Series (Brooklyn NY: Mesorah, 1979), 1-lvii. J. B. White, A Study of the Language
of Love in the Song of Songs and Ancient Egyptian Poetry, Society of Biblical Literature 38 (Missoula
MT: Scholars, 1978).
8
The Midrash, 19 alluding to Sol 1: 16-17.
5
21
conversation between man and God that gives religious faith a kind of intensity no
other form of expression can. 9
Finally, Cohen turned to the intellectual interaction between Hellenism and
Judaism to establish the importance of the theme of love for the ancient world and,
consequently, rabbinical interpretation. He has noted that, "wherever the Greek
literature and philosophy went, the problems of Beauty and Love went with them." 10
According to Cohen, an interpretation of the Song of Songs with its emphasis on the
notion of love as the feature uniting human and divine became an intellectual
response to the Hellenic search for eros, i.e. the common attribute between soul and
divine. It is in its interaction with Hellenism that rabbinic exegetes turned to
discerning the theme of love as the mutual union between God and Israel. Thus, the
Song of Songs was felt to be an Old Testament interlocutor to Phaedrus and
Symposium. However, unlike the eros of the Platonic dialogues, the Song of Songs
maintained the Jewish theological agenda of arguing the unconsummated meeting of
God and man, where the love between bride and groom as union in one flesh has
been avoided, in order to keep the characters of the two lovers distinct. 11
Rabbi Akiba advocated the supreme value of the Song of Songs: "The whole
world is not worthy the day that the Song of Songs was given to Israel". 12 His
statement is based on an allegorical interpretation that has brought forward the
mystical character of the book. Its value springs from its carrying a spiritual
meaning, depicting the loving union between God and Israel. It is the work that
concludes human history, depicting Israel's ascension to God. Behind the sensual
imagery the reader needs to discern the hidden meaning. 13 In this sense, the Song of
Songs has addressed the spiritual elite. 14 It is confined only to the mature, spiritually
speaking, since its sensual/erotic expressions could lead even the more instructed
astray. Rabbi Akiba has moved within an established rabbinic tradition where a song
9
Cohen, ibid, 275.
ibid, 277.
II ibid, 279.
12
Gilbert, The Targum, 13.
13
For the allegorical and mystical interpretation of the Song of Songs see the mentioned doctroral
thesis: Fawzi, The Mystical Intepretation of the Song of Songs in the Light of Ancient Jewish
Mysticism. Fawzi researched on the importance of the Song as a mystical work and drew the common
lines between the Song of Songs and Merkabah mysticism. Also, McDonald, 'Song of Songs:
Hermeneutics and Canon', in The Biblical Canon, 111-113.
14
Cohen, 'The Song of Songs', 276.
10
22
is the ultimate expression of worshipping God. 15 The Song of Songs, with its mystical
character, is the ultimate Song that Israel sings when meeting God. 16 That it was
called the Song of Songs needs to be understood as a superlative indicating its value
and also distinct character: it is the Song of all Songs. It concludes them as the
supreme Song of the human race. 17 There is a spiritual ladder of ten Songs, found in
various places of the canon, leading to higher levels of the worship of God. They also
manifest the history of the human/Israelite race on earth after the fall. The Song of
Songs lies on the ninth step of this ladder, being the highest expression of the
worship and glorification of God. One last Song is to be sung, the tenth. It is the
Song anticipating the Messianic restoration of Israel. 18 As Cohen has commented:
As the ultimate form of theological expression, it [Song of Songs] was comparable to
the one moment in the year when the high-priest entered the royal chamber, as it
were, the Holy of Holies, and confronted his God privately on behalf of the house of
Israel. It was to this supreme religious experience to which Rabbi Akiba compared
the effulgence of emotion evoked by the Song of Songs when he said that all the
Scriptures are holy, but the Song of Songs -the Holy ofHolies. 19
Melito of Sardis was the first Christian author to include the Song of Songs in
his list of canonical books. Hippolytus was the first author to appropriate its content
in a Christian environment. 20 Yet, the reason that Christians were interested in the
Song ofSongs remains obscure. Hess has indicated that, in the hands of Hippolytus it
became a device to communicate ascetical ideals? 1 For Elliot, it is due to the theme
of love that this work was felt to be appropriate for the Christian canon.
15
Zlotowitz and Scherman (ed.), Shir Hashirim, xxii-xxxiii. In fact, rabbinic tradition supported that
the Song ofSongs was composed on the day that the Temple of Solomon was built. The rabbis saw the
value of the Song in close connection to the importance of the temple. The temple was thought to be
the "symphony of creation" and the Song of Songs melodically attributed this symphony that united
the human to the divine: "Rabbi Yosi began: King Solomon was inspired to compose the Song of
Songs when the Holy Temple was built and all the spheres, upper and lower, were completed with one
wholeness ... and the Holy Temple was built as a replica of the Holy Temple above." See D. Marinov,
Gr~oy
ofNyssa and Ambrose of Milan's Commentaries on the Song of Songs: A Comparative Study
of 41 Century Christian Mysticism- East and West, 2, URL: http://rites.huji.ac.il/mazkirut/Dania.doc.
For Rabbi Simon the title of the work had anticipated the dialectical theme of mutual love in the Song
of Songs: "[b]eing composed of two strands -Israel's praise to God and God's praise to Israel". See
The Midrash, 19 [footnote no. 4].
16
The Midrash, 19ff.
17
F. Landy, Paradoxes of Paradise, Bible and Literature Series (Sheffield: Almond, 1983), 15-16.
18
Zlotowitz and Scherman, Shir Hashirim, xxxiii [footnote no. 1].
19
Cohen, 'The Song ofSongs', 275.
2
For a list of the earliest Christian lists of canonical books see Appendices B-1 and B-2 in
McDonald, The Biblical Canon, 439-442. For a list of late antiquity commentaries on the Song of
Songs and their editions, see the monumental work of M. Geerard (ed.), Clavis Patrum Graecorum,
vol. 3, CCSG (1979), 125-126. See also Marinov, Gregory of Nyssa. For the available commentaries
in the Latin world see E. A. Matter, The Voice of my Beloved: The Song of Songs in Western Medieval
Christianity, Middle Ages Series (Philadelphia PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1990), 203-210.
21
Hess, Song ofSongs, 22.
°
23
Christological concerns of late antiquity urged Christian authors to seek for an
appropriate language in which they could explain the mystery of the incamation?2
Thus, it is suggested that Origen used the Song of Songs as a vehicle to communicate
his speculative Christo logy, addressing questions concerning the identity of Christ.
The language of union and love -a unique theme featured in this puzzling book- was
felt to be appropriate to interpret the mystery of the incarnation. Such a position has
enjoyed considerable support in modem scholarly circles. 23 However, we need to
take into account that Christian exegesis on the Song of Songs primarily comprised
an interpretation of the scriptures into the light of the incarnation. As DeSimone put
it:
(The fathers of the Church) drew from the Sacred Scripture the basic orientation
which shaped the doctrinal tradition of the Church, and provided fruitful theological
instruction for the faithful. Their interpretations of Sacred Scripture were always of a
theological and pastoral nature, relevant to man's relationship to God. The Fathers
took the liberty to take a sentence out of its context to bring out some revealed truth
which they found expressed in Scripture. 24
This is not to say that every passage of the Song of Songs became a reason to reflect
on Christology. So, why were Christians interested in commenting on the Song of
Songs?
We need to look at Origen's exegetical interest in order to answer this question.
King has shown that Origen was interested in interpreting the Song of Songs quite
early in his exegetical career. Alongside his Commentary and Homilies, which are
thought to be compositions of later date, Origen had also composed a brief
Commentary on the Song of Songs which no longer survives. It seems that this work
was the first attempt to interpret the scriptures. 25 If this is so, then it is interesting to
22
Elliott, Christology in the Song of Songs in Early Church 381-451. Also, R. DeSimone, The Bride
and the Bridegroom of the Fathers Subsidi Patristici 10 (Roma: lstituo Patristico Augustinianum,
2000).
23
See A. Grillmeier, Christ in the Christian Tradition, vol. 1, trans. J. Bowden (London: Mowbrays,
1995), 143. Also, H. Crouzel, Origen, trans. A. S. Worrall (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1989), 192ff. For
Crouzel 's exposition of Origenist Christo logy in the Song of Songs see Origene, Commentaire sur /e
Cantique des Cantiques, vol. 1, L. Bresard and H. Crouzel (eds.), SC 375 (1991), 31. See also J.-N.
Guinot, 'La Christologie de Theodoret de Cyr dans son Commentaire sur /e Cantique', VgCh 39
(1985), 256-272.
24
DeSimone suggested that from the time of Origen and Jerome onwards the Christians made
extensive use of the Jewish tradition to draw the meaning of the Sacred Scripture. DeSimone, The
Bride, 9-12. However, it seems that, after Origen, it was only Ephrem the Syrian and Theodoret of
Cyrrhus that made extensive use of the Jewish exegetical resources. See E. Narinskaya, Ephrem - a
'Jewish Sage': A Comparison of the Exegetical Writings of St. Ephrem the Syrian and Jewish
Traditions (PhD Thesis: University of Durham, 2007).
25
J. C. King, Origen and the Song of Songs as the Spirit of Scripture: The Bridegroom's Perfect
Marriage-Song, OThM (Oxford: OUP, 2005), 6ff.
24
know why this puzzling book attracted his attention. King has argued that Origen felt
that the Song of Songs concluded the "spirit of scriptures". It was felt to be the book
that held the summit of union to God through its dramatic form. 26 It is due to this fact
that Origen applied an allegorical interpretation to the Song. Through it, God has
been manifested as reciprocal love. It is the theme of love as the intimate nuptial
union of two parts that attracted his attention. 27
If we are to give any validity to King's observation that Origen's first attempt
to comment on the Song had coincided with his conversion from the pagan literature
to the Christian scriptures, then it is apparent that Origen had desired to manifest the
Song ofSongs as the equivalent of the Symposium. 28 Origen has spotted the centrality
of love for the Christian message and also for the pagan sages. 29 He has indicated the
classical philosophical failures to discuss the theme of love. 30 What seems to be
missing from the philosophical argument is the reciprocity and dialectical form that
love might acquire at a personallevel. 31 It needs to be noticed here that McGinn has
observed the crisis that swept across second-Temple Judaism and its contemporary
Hellenism. This crisis produced the apocalyptic literature of Judaism and introduced
the need of individuals to unite with God at a more personal and reciprocal level. 32
26
Parente argued that, "it is exactly its spiritual and allegorical interpretation that has vindicated to the
Canticle of Canticles a divine origin and a place among the canonical books in both Jewish and
Christian tradition. Otherwise, how could a book be considered as divinely inspired for our instruction
and edification in which the name of God is never mentioned and no religious or supernatural ideas
ever seem to occur"? P. P. Parente, 'The Canticle of Canticles in Mystical Theology', CthBQ 6
(1944), 143. King challenged such an idea by indicating that the fonn and the content of the Song as a
marriage-song of perfect loving union was felt to have invited Origen to apply the allegorical
interpretation to it.
27
According to King, Origen introduced and developed the theme of intimate relation between God
and soul within the era of the persecutions: "[f]rom his much later Exhortation to Martyrdom we learn
of the prominence that he gave to the martyr's 'bridal' status before Christ the Bridegroom, wherein
martyrdom and exhaltation to heavenly nuptial union become indistinguishable ... Perhaps, then, even
during the Severan persecutions, Origen had already developed a nuptial understanding of martyrdom
and, thus realizing the Song's relevance to the persecution that so preoccupied him, applied himself to
a short exegesis of the text at this time". King, The Spirit, 8.
28
King, ibid, 8.
29
1 Jn 4:8. See Origen, Com. Prologus, 2.32 [all references in ACW 26 followed by number of book,
chapter and page in ACW 26].
30
Origen, Com. Prologus, 2.23ff. It is indicative that, in his extensive Prologue, Origen highlighted
and discussed the centrality of love for the Song.
31
Origen, Com. Prologus, 1.21. Origen indicated the dialectical form ofthe Song.
32
B. McGinn, 'The Jewish Matrix', in The Foundations ofChristian Mysticism, Presence of God, vol.
1, (New York NY: Crossroad, 1991), 9-22. In Judaism, the book of Ezekiel signalled the shifting point
to an interest in sacred texts that substituted the destruction of God's place of cultic worship, i.e.
Temple. As Tuell illustrated, the book of Ezekiel transmitted the notion of prophecy in written form.
Thus, prophecy took the form of written text: "Ezekiel, unlike his prophetic forebears, has written a
book ... the reader of the text is able to experience what the prophet experienced". S. S. Tuell: 'Divine
Presence and Absence in Ezekiel's Prophecy', in M. S. Odell and J. T. Strong (eds.), The Book of
25
Thus, sacred texts were felt to make the godhead more intimate to the devotee. It is
the era when sacred texts were standing in the place of the temple in Judaism. At the
other end, Hellenism was substituting the notion of written authority for the Platonic
presence of the divinity within. 33 As King indicates, even the gospels were felt to be
lacking this centrality of reciprocity. 34 Thus, Origen directed his attention to this
small book that was meant to become the Christian Symposium. Origen's purpose
was to set the scripture at the very heart of religious experience. 35 At the hands of
Origen, the content of the Song became a device resembling the Platonic myth. The
text invited its reader to move from the ephemeral to the eternal; from external
appearances of the text to its hidden meaning. The Song led the soul from the
depiction of sensual love to divine love. It is indicative that, in a semi-Platonic
fashion, Origen tried to show the resemblance between the soul's love and divine
love. Thus, through its content, the Song communicated something of the divine
archetype of love to its reader.
Origen's interest in the Song needs to be seen in close connection with his
attempt to provide Christians with a distinct religious culture. 36 It is indicative that
the people of the Old and New Covenants had simultaneously tried to establish their
individual biblical canons and provide their interpretation in order to mark their
religious individuality and independence. Biblical exegesis became the device
through which Christians reflected their own distinct character on the book of the
Ezekiel: Theological and Anthropological Perspectives, Symposium Series (Atlanta GA: Society of
Biblical Literature, 2000), I 09-110.
33
In Hellenism, the introduction of the Chaldean Oracles, Hermitism and, primarily, the Neo-Platonic
Commentaries on Plato expressed the need for written authorities through which the human individual
attained union with the divine. See McGinn, The Foundations, 14. For an examination of the
psychology of religion at late antiquity see E. R. Dodds, Pagan and Christian in an Age of Anxiety:
Some Aspects of Religious Experience from Marcus Aurelius to Constantine (New York NY: Norton,
1970). For the shifting to written authority with regard to allegory see R. Lamberton, Homer the
Theologian: Neoplatonist Allegorical Reading and the Growth of the Epic Tradition, Classic Heritage
9 (Los Angeles CA: University of California Press, 1986).
34
King, The Spirit, 27.
35
Louth, Origins, 54. Louth argued that the Song of Songs was "the book on the summit of the
mystical life". King slightly differentiated his position by indicating that "Origen approaches the Song
of Songs itself, in its manifest intelligibility, as the summit of the mystical life and the supreme textual
point of contact and union between the Christian soul and her heavenly Bridegroom". King, The
Spirit, 36.
36
P.M. Blowers, 'Interpreting Scripture', in A. Casiday and F. Norris (eds.), Constantine to c. 600,
Cambridge History of Christianity, vol. 2 (Cambridge: CUP, 2007), 619. According to Blowers,
Christian exegesis meant to "establish a sacred past and credible identity for Christians". Also B. Neil,
'Towards Defining a Christian Culture: The Christian Transformation of Classical Literature', in
Casiday and Norris, ibid, 317-342. H. de Lubac, Medieval Exegesis: The Four Senses of Scripture,
vols. 1-2, trans. M. Sebanc and E. M. Macierowski, Ressourcement (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 19982000). Fr. Young, Biblical Exegesis and the Formation a/Christian Culture (Cambridge: CUP, 1997).
26
Old Testament. 37 The Platonic Symposium was missing the theme of reciprocity. The
rabbinic interpretation was missing the theme of the incarnation. Thus, Origen
applied his reading of the scriptures in the light of the incarnation in order to
illustrate the theme of love as the motif par excellence that has united the human and
divine.
Thus, Origen' s interest in the Song of Songs was not related to his need to
demonstrate his speculative theology in more concrete terms. His exegesis on the
biblical Song did not become the vehicle through which he demonstrated the more
speculative aspects of his thought. His interest was to manifest the conformity of the
Song to the Christian message. His purpose was to bring into light the fact that the
love that the Song has demonstrated is related to the archetypal divine love: love has
originated from God and has been directed to God. 38 Thus Origen referred to its
hidden wisdom, i.e. the secret meanings that only the Logos could have illuminated.
When Origen addressed the inner meaning, what he had in mind was the presence of
Logos as God's Wisdom. Thus, the reader is not invited to read the Song as an
allegory that would introduce him to something different from the Logos himself.
The fact that Origen turned to the classical form of Commentaries is indicative of his
attempt to illustrate the tools through which his reader could have discerned the
presence of the Logos behind the obscure passages of the Song. 39 Hence, the classical
Commentary genre became a tool with which Origen could illustrate the inner
coherence of the Song's obscure content. Blowers has indicated that Christian
Commentaries in late antiquity had acquired a twofold function: i) contemplative
and, ii) performative. In their first function, they had illustrated a "comprehensive
vision of God's revelation to and in the world". In their latter function, they had
37
For an interesting illustration of the intellectual interaction between Origen and his contemporary
rabbis see N. R. M. de Lange, Origen and the Jews: Studies in Jewish Christian Relations in the
Third-Century Palestine, Oriental Publications 25 (Cambridge: CUP, 1976). Y. Baer, 'Israel, the
Christian Church, and the Roman Empire: From the Time of Septimius Severns to the Edict of
Toleration of A.D. 313', SH 7 (1961), 79-149. For a discussion focusing on the interpretation of the
Song seeR. Kimelman, 'Rabbi Yohanan and Origen on the Song of Songs: A Third Century JewishChristian Disputation', HThR, vol. 73. no. 3/4 (Jui-Oct. 1980), 567-595. E. E. Urbach, 'The
Homiletical Interpretations of the Sages and the Expositions of Origen on Canticles, and the JewishChristian Disputation', SH22 (1971), 247-275.
38
Origen, Com. Prologus, 2.32ff.
39
King, The Spirit, 12.
27
urged to moral praxis: the reader had meant to identify himself with the persons
presented to him and ponder on his spiritual position. 40
2. The main characters of the Song ofSongs: the bride and the bridegroom
As an epithalamium, i.e. a nuptial Song, the Song praises the love of two
persons on the occasion of their marriage. 41 As such, the drama focused on the
central characters of the bride and her groom. As the drama unfolds, a group of
maidens escorting the Bride is involved, alongside a second group following after the
groom. In treating the Song of Songs as an allegory, the rabbis argued that the groom
was God leading Israel to the promised land, whereas the bride was the nation of
Israel. 42 As Gilbert wrote, Christians "found it easy to extend the Jewish allegory
beyond the Old Testament Israel". 43 Hence, as early as Hippolytus, the Song ofSongs
was read within the context of the incarnation. 44 Christ was the groom and the
Church was his bride. Already, Paul had depicted the relation between Christ and his
Church in terms of the relation between groom and bride. 45 Patristic commentators
had no doubts about the identities of the participants in the biblical drama. 46 Christ
was the groom, and the bride was the individual soul/Church. The group of maidens
was composed of uninitiated souls, and the second group was constituted by angels
and prophets. 47
All Christian commentators agree that the groom was an allegory for Christ,
the incarnate manifestation of God. 48 From the time of Irenaeus onwards Christ was
°
4
For the classical commentaries on Plato see Lamberton, Homer, 63. Also Neil, 'Christian
Transformation', 326. The Neo-Platonic commentaries illustrated the tensions and inconsistencies of a
text as "perfectly reasonable and consistent" with the purposes of the commentator. Blowers,
'Interpreting Scripture', 619. Origen, Com. 1.5.89 and also 3.8.198: "if there is anyone who has at
some time burned with this faithful love of the Word of God; if there is anyone who has received the
sweet wound of Him who is the chosen dart ... ". Origen, Hom. 1.7.279-280.
41
Gregory, Hom. I, 22 [references indicate Homily number and page in GNO 6]. D. Turner, Eros and
Allegory, CS 156 (1995), 83.
42
Gilbert, The Targum, 3. Elliott, Christo/ogy, 4.
43
Gilbert, ibid, 6.
44
DeSimone, The Bride, 30ff.
45
Eph 5:22.
46
Byzantine commentators did not share the same confidence about the persons participating in the
dialogues. This was due to the obscure character of the dialogues.
47
Theodoret followed the scheme: Groom=Christ, bride=Church (perfect soul occasionally),
maidens=pious souls, followers of groom=angels. Theodoret, Expl. Prrefatio, 44D and 1.64A
[reference in pillar numbers in PG 81]. Origen believed that the maidens were allegories of the
imperfect souls. Origen, Com. I. 4.119.
48
It is entirely not within the scope of this thesis to present the problem of the identity of Christ with
regard to the person ofthe Logos and the number of his natures. For a thorough analysis on the issue
of Christo logy in the Song of Songs and the part that Commentaries on the Song of Songs played in
28
presented as the author of the two testaments. In the Commentaries, Christ stands at
the middle of the two testaments, uniting them. According to Turner, for the Patristic
commentators, the identity of Christ was related to the eschatological perspective of
the Christian faith: he was the always-awaited saviour, long-awaited, yet always
present.
49
His coming had been foretold through types, prophecies and theophanies
in the Old Testament. He came in the New Covenant, to depart again, leaving the
promise of his second coming to the faithful. After Origen' s exegesis, Christ was the
Logos that descended to human history. In his presence, he unified human history
leading time to redemption. He condescended to the weakness of his bride, in order
to lift her up. Primarily, the Logos provided knowledge of the true God and thus his
role needs to be viewed in terms of the soul's conversion from idolatry to the true
faith. Hippolytus was the first commentator to stress the juxtaposition between the
old synagogue and the Church, placing Christ in the middle. 50 It is through the Logos
that the bride learned about God and she ascended to his knowledge.
The bride was a multifaceted character for the Patristic commentators of late
antiquity. According to individual exegetical viewpoints the person of the bride
ranged from the Church, to individual souls and even Mary. 5 1 Origen presented a fair
balance between the Church and the individual soul. The one allegory was part of the
other. That is to say, in Origen's scheme, the Church is the congregation of
individual souls. And again, individual souls have achieved spiritual perfection only
shaping Christological formulations in the early Church see Elliott, The Song of Songs and
Christology in the Early Church 381-451. Elliott examined the case that the Song of Songs was
employed in order to abstract from its imagery an idea of the union between human and divine in
Christ. Christ's soul was the representative of all humanity. It was through it that the Logos was
united to his humanity. The fact that there was a declining interest in composing Commentaries on the
book after Chalcedon (A. D. 451) was considered to be the result of seeking for more precise
Christological expressions that the imagery of the Song of Songs seemed to lack. However, this
position overlooks the fact that, as was illustrated earlier, the primary interest of the commentators,
such as Origen, was to establish a Christian correspondence to the Platonic theme of eros in the
Symposium and thus, provide Christians with a cultural identity. Also, as Louth has put it, "Origen's
real concern was with the interpretation of the Scripture. This was the repository of all wisdom and all
truth, and the interpretation of Scripture lies at the very heart of his mystical theology". Louth,
Origins, 54. See also J. Behr, The Way to Nicaea, Formation of Christian Theology, vol. I (Crestwood
NY: SVS, 2001). Fr. Young, Biblical Exegesis and the Formation ofChristian Culture.
49
Turner, Eros, 85.
50
DeSimone, The Bride, 30-31.
51
Elliott, Christology, 120. Elliott also included the theme of Christ's soul as an allegory ofthe bride.
However, apart from some passages in Nilus of Ancyra, I do not think that the other exegetes ever
employed this allegory. See Louth, Origins, 55. DeSimone, The Bride, 30 and 38. As Parente noticed,
the bride was originally thought to be an allegory of the Church (as in the work of Hippolytus). For
this reason, the Christian writers followed the Jewish tradition, but by adapting it to the new reality of
the incarnation, they replaced Yahweh with Christ. The synagogue was substituted by the Church. In
the course of time, the righteous soul replaced the Church. Parente, 'The Canticle', 146.
29
within the Church, the latter being the locus in which they have met the Logos. For
the purpose of our discussion, we will focus on the bride being an allegory of the
individual Christian souJ.5 2 What is exactly her character/nature? Why is she distinct
from the other souls/maidens? Eventually, why was she chosen to be the bride of
Christ? These are the questions that need treatment, before moving to examine the
nature of her experience (i.e. dereliction).
The bride was not an allegory of any faithful soul; she was an image of
perfection. She was advancing to the virtuous life having turned from idolatry to the
true knowledge of God. Though she was not perfect, yet she was advancing to the
way of perfection. There were two features that showed her as the bride of the divine
groom: i) she was made "according to the image" of the Groom; and ii) she was
baptised. These two factors actually interacted in Patristic exegesis. Origen stressed
the fact that the soul was the image of the image of God, i.e. the Logos. But she was
advancing spiritually because she had turned from ignorance to the knowledge of
God. Spiritual life was envisaged as the soul's way to actualise the gifts of baptism,
hence regaining the divine image. Procopius of Gaza, in his exegesis, firmly
interwove divine image and baptism:
I introduce you to intellect (voO<;), which is the house of the mother who, as it were,
has given birth to me through baptism, that is, the grace of the all-Holy Spirit, as
again it (i.e.
receptive of this in accordance with the likeness (15u) To Ka6' o~iwmv);
intellect) is the inner chamber of grace, as the hidden treasures of grace laid down in
it in accordance with the "image" (15u'l To KOT' EiK6va); which grace has conceived me
through faith. 53
It is through baptism that the soul was cleansed and recovered the divine imprint on
her. Eventually, this imprint enabled her to approach the groom. 54
Origen portrayed spiritual life as the soul's journey from Egypt, i.e. sinful life,
to crossing the Red Sea (an allegory of the baptism). In the story of Exodus, Israel
52
Origen, Com. 1.1.58. Theodoret, Expl. Prrefatio 440 and 1.64A. Gregory, Hom. I, 22. DeSimone,
The Bride, 40.
53
Procopius of Gaza, Catena in Canticum Canticorum, PG 87, 1709 C: "Eioayayw OE Ei<; voov, 0<; oTKo<;
~tv
tori Tf)<; l51o jkmrio~a<;
Ka6' 6~oiWOIV
XWPI'JTIK6<;• TO~IEiV
Orr06tTOU<; tv taUT4J• {ill<; ~E
TEKOUOI'J<; ~E
oTa ~I'JTpO<;,
15£ TTOAIV OUTf)<;.
ToO rravayiou nvEu~aro<;
XOPITo<;,
we;
TOUTI'J<; l51o TO
w<; TOU<; clTTOKpU(j)OU<; TOUTI'J<; 61'JOOupou<; 1510 TO KOT' EiK6va fxwv
XOPI<; OUVtAOJ3E 1510 TTiOTEW<;".
54
All commentators agree that the notion of the soul's recovering the divine imprint through baptism
was seen as an extension ofthe incarnation and the passion. It was by means of Christ's incarnation
that she was cleansed, due to the fact that he assumed the soul's human nature. Philo of Carpasus,
£narratio in Canticum Canticorum, PG 40, 9 and 11. Nilus, Com. 7.13.23 and 77.l.l92 [numbers
refer to chapter, paragraph and page in PTS 57].
30
had left Egypt behind by crossing the Red Sea. In the same fashion, the soul departed
from every sinful condition. As Louth commented,
[the] ascent of the soul to God begins with her 'coming out of Egypt and crossing the
Red Sea', that is her conversion and baptism. The mystical ascent for Origen begins
in baptism and is a deepening and bringing to fruition of baptismal grace. 55
For Nilus of Ancyra, it was through baptism that the soul received divine grace. In
her baptism, the soul put off her previous sinful life. Thus, she found the true God.
She recovered the divine image within, the one that sin had tarnished. Gregory of
Nyssa argued thus: the soul was the image of the Groom. She approached him in
order to resemble him. As he put it, "by approaching the archetypical beauty (apxtrunov KaMo~)
EIJQ xapKr~l
you became fair, since like a mirror you have obtained my character (np
EIJIJOp<pw9e:loa)". 56 Thus, the soul's recovery of the image was
envisaged within the scope of spiritual life. It was not a given condition. It is a
dynamic condition that has followed the soul's ascension to the divine. The more the
soul has advanced in her approaching the divine groom, the more she has recovered
his image within. The concept of the divine image has placed the soul in close
relation to the groom. A part of the soul is kinsman to the groom:
57
"(The soul
became fair) when she approached the good and obtained the image (tve:1Jopcpw911) of
the divine beauty". 58 For Gregory, the soul was identical to the groom in terms ofthe
divine image. In this present passage, the soul was fair and good because the groom
was fair and good. In another passage, the Logos that was the dart of the Father had
wounded the soul. In her tum, the soul became the dart of the Logos and wounded
the uninitiated souls. 59 Procopius commented on Sol 7:7: "you (the soul) have put on
the majestic beauty, i.e. the likeness of the archetype". Due to the divine imprint that
55
Louth, Origins, 56. See also, J. Danielou, Origen, trans. W. Mitchell (London: Sheed & Ward,
1955), 297ff. For an exposition on the divine image according to Origen see H. Crouzel, Theologie de
I 'image de Dieu chez Origene, Theologie 34 (Paris: Aubier, 1956).
56
Gregory, Hom. 4, 103. H. U. von Balthasar, Presence and Thought: An Essay on the Religious
Philosophy of Gregory of Nyssa, trans. M. Sebanc (San Francisco CA: Ignatius, 1995), 77 [hereafter
cited as Presence]. For an exposition of Gregory's thought on the notion of divine image see
Balthasar, 'The Defmition ofNature', in ibid, 111-119.
57
See Balthasar, Presence, 89-90 and also 113ff.
58
Gregory, Hom. 5, 150.
59
Gregory, Hom. 4, 129. The soul became God's dart.
31
she carried within, the soul was a vehicle for the groom. The uninitiated souls could
contemplate the divine groom through her. 60
But what truly made the bride stand out was the fact that she accepted the
divine call to salvation. 61 The bride was the soul that was working for her spiritual
progress. As Origen stated, though she had not reached perfection, she was reckoned
as perfect because she was moving in this direction. 62 Nilus' exegesis was suggestive
of this fact: the bride was the soul that had approached the archetypal beauty of the
groom through faith and the virtuous life. She had cleansed herself from every
bodily care and evil transgression. 63 The Song of Songs was thought to present the
soul's ethical labours in her journey to achieve union with God. Every part of the
bride's journey illustrated the soul's spiritual struggles: from sinfulness and
ignorance to knowledge and the Christian virtues. This journey was the soul's
response to the divine call. Through the incarnation the Logos had invited the soul to
union manifesting his divinity. Thus, it was the soul's turn to respond by ascending
to her groom. Unlike the bride, the uninitiated souls were neglecting Christ's call.
They remained in sinful conditions. It was the soul's spiritual struggle that illustrated
her relation to the groom. It has been argued that Origen diminished the role of the
body in his exegesis by focusing on the role of the soul. We need to see his exegesis
in the light of spiritual and ethical effort. It is through putting off sinfulness --not
necessarily the body-- that the soul was advancing spiritually. In Origen, the image
of putting off materiality was synonymous to ethical effort. This was the turning
point, where the commentators overcame any notion of elitism: through the
redemptive work of Christ on earth, every soul could become his bride. Yet, it was
only the ethically-working soul that became his bride having accepted his call
wholeheartedly. This notion was summed up by Nilus' reflection on Sol 1.4: the
groom was the Logos of God, who was incarnate for the salvation of the world. He
had invited all souls to his wedding. But only the virtuous soul accepted his nuptial
call. The other souls did not conceive the majesty of the groom's call. They were
60
Procopius of Gaza, Fragment a in Cantica Canticorum, PG 87, 1760 A. It needs to be noticed that,
for Origen, soul had been called neighbour ( rrArwloV) with respect to her nearness to the groom. She
was called beautiful and neighbour only when she approached near the Logos. Before that, she was
called "blackened" and "tanned" by the sun. See Origen, Hom. 2.4.289.
61
Theodoret, Exp/. 2.850. Nilus, Com. 27.19.82.
62
Origen, Com. 2.5.136: "[the] soul that has indeed been set in the path of progress, but she has not
yet attained the summit of perfection. She is called beautiful because she is advancing" [all
translations by Lawson unless otherwise stated].
63
Cf. Nilus, Com. 10. 8.32. Origen, Com. 3.14. 240.
32
remaining unconvinced of its importance. Thus, it was granted only to her, through
her ethical efforts, to enter into spiritual heights and learn the divine mysteries --i.e.
divine providence and the mystery of the incarnation--. 64
Was the individual soul a solitary unity advancing spiritually in inner
loneliness --like the Plotinian soul--?65 Was she detached from the maidens? The
Patristic exegetes left no place for a solitary ascension of the soul to spiritual heights.
The fact that Origen could interchange between the union of Logos and soul, and
Christ and Church illustrates his thought that the soul always remained part of the
Christian community in her ascension to the divine. 66 The Church constitutes the
unity of the faithful -spiritually advanced or not- as the body of Christ. 67 The soul
was always a member of this body in her spiritual ascension. 68 Thus, there was a
strong bond between the bride and the other members of the Church.
Gregory of Nyssa reinforced the notion of union between bride and the
community in his Life of Moses. In his exegesis, Moses --like the Solomonean bride- stood as an allegory for the soul: both Moses and the bride were advancing in their
union to God. For Gregory, it was not accidental that Moses lived isolated in Midian
(or Mount Sinai) for some time. Yet, he eventually returned to his people. 69 The time
of isolation was the time of spiritual progress. Yet, this progress did not detach
Moses from the community. In his return, Moses was communicating to Israel the
experience of his spiritual union with God. For Gregory, there was a strong bond
between the perfect soul and the uninitiated ones. This bond had acquired the
64
Nilus, Com. 5.1.15. Origen, Com. 1.5.86.
Plotinus, Enneads. 6.9.11. K. Corrigan, 'Some Notes towards a Study of the 'Solitarity' and the
'Dark' in Plotinus, Proclus, Gregory of Nyssa and Pseudo-Dionysius ', SP 30 (1997), 151-157.
66
Louth, Origins, 53: "Origen is talking about the life of the baptised Christian within the Church;
Plato and Plotinus about the search for the ultimate truth by an intellectual elite, either in the company
of other like-minded souls, or as 'the alone to the Alone"'. King, The Spirit, 14.
67
Origen, Com. 1.1.59: "[but] the Church, you must observe, is the whole assembly of the saints". See
Balthasar, Presence, 134: "the point of departure of religious 'metaphysics' is necessarily of an
individual nature: it is an analysis of desire and the aspirations of the soul. Whatever there was of a
social nature in the mysteries of the pagans was merely the expression of a gregarious instinct whose
aim it was to assure the individual salvation of the members of the group. The theological fact, by way
of contrast, is radically social. For if the exterior fact and the interior fact constitute one solitary
history, the social character of the exterior fact (the Church) demonstrates thereby the social character,
as well, of the interior fact (the Mystical Body)".
68
Origen, Com. 3.13 .231.
69
Nilus, Com. 69.1.172. Gregory, Moses, 1.56 [edition in CS 1].
65
33
character of a relationship between tutor and disciple: 70 by observing her life and her
spiritual achievements, the latter desired union with God. 71
No commentator was as suggestive as Procopius of Gaza in this matter: he
designated the soul as "1S1MaKahoc;" (teacher). In their tum, the uninitiated souls were
called '\ra91']rEU61Jrvm" (disciples). She became their teacher and guide; they were her
students; for, as the act developed, it was apparent that the bride was guiding the
maidens to seek and find the groom. 72 In her communicating with them, the bride
stirred up their love, motivating them to join her to her spiritual ascension. Even at
the times that she was only addressing the groom, the uninitiated souls could observe
her life. They were praising her beauty/perfection and, eventually, they were longing
for divine love. For Procopius of Gaza, what constituted the bond between the
spiritually advanced soul and the uninitiated souls was the fact that she was
contemplating the image of the groom on them. 73 Thus, not only did she recover the
divine image within her but she also discerned the divine image within the rest of
humanity.
In short, the Patristic commentators viewed the bride of the Song of Songs as
an allegory of the Christian soul that was advancing in spiritual perfection. She was
depicted in terms of perfection even though it was noted that she had not reached
perfection yet. The fact remains that she responded to the groom's call, thus
advancing to spiritual life through ethical labouring.
3. Absence and presence in the Song of Songs.
i. The biblical background.
One of the main features of the Song of Songs is the fact that it introduced the
theme of separation and abandonment. The imagery with regard to the relationship
between bride and groom was less than ideal: the groom abandoned his bride. As
Origen noted:
[The] Bridegroom, however, is to be understood as a husband who is not always in
house, nor is He in perpetual attendance on the Bride, who stays in the house.
Rather, He frequently goes out, and she, yearning for His love, seeks Him when He
is absent; yet He Himself returns to her from time to time. It seems, therefore, that
70
Origen, Com. 2.3.117. Gregory used the analogy between Paul and the bride: Paul had exhorted the
faithful to become his imitators like he had become an imitator of Christ. The bride exhorted the
maidens addressing them with the same words as Paul. Gregory, Hom. 2, 46.
71
Nilus, Com. 5.3.16. Origen, Com. 1.5.84. Procopius ofGaza, Fragmenta, PG 87, 1756 A.
72
Procopius ofGaza, Fragmenta, PG 87, 1757 D and 1772 B.
73
Procopius of Gaza, ibid, 1760 A. Theodoret, Expl. 2.93A and 4.197 A.
34
all through this little book we must expect to find the Bridegroom sometimes being
sought as one who is away, and sometimes speaking to the Bride as being present
with her. 74
In the biblical canon, the theme of abandonment was not confined only to the
content of the Song of Songs; nor was it a characteristic of Hebrew religious
literature. Block traced the introduction of the theme in religious literature within the
Sumerian and Akkadian (Assyrian-Babylonian) religious cult. 75 It was within the
religious poems of the Near East that Block identified the origins of the notion of
being abandoned by God. Block's presentation makes it evident that the theme was
an integral part of the early religious literature of the Middle East. It had been
employed as part of myths that functioned as explanations for disasters and
misfortunes that had come upon the Assyrian and Babylonian nations. The myths
connected divine absence to distressful conditions. Thus, it was felt that distressful
conditions occurred because the local deity had abandoned its place of cultic
worship. What was the cause for divine abandonment was not always clear. The
myths referred to human sin several times. But that is far from making it the
exclusive cause of divine abandonment. Most times, the devotee was inquiring about
the inexplicable sense of abandonment. From 15 instances in ancient literature that
Block discussed, human provocation appeared 8 times. 76 When it appeared, human
sin and misdeeds had offended the local deity that departed, thus leaving the nation
subjected to natural (e.g. flood) and also political (e.g. invasion) disasters. Whenever
it did not appear, then the myth was stressing the consequences of the sudden
departure of the deity. Samuel Balentine highlighted the presence of the theme in the
Sumerian and Akkadian religious literature suggesting that:
In view of the parallel laments about the deity's aloofness which can be found in
Sumero-Akkadian psalms, it can no longer be assumed that this was a problem
74
Origen, Com. 3.13.230.
D. I. Block, 'Divine Abandonment: Ezekiel's Adaptation of an Ancient Near East Motif, in Odell
and Strong (eds.), Ezekiel, 16-17. For Block, the development ofthe theme of divine abandonment in
the prophecies of Ezekiel was influenced by the religious and political interaction of Israel with
nations that had already developed a notion of divine desolation in their religious literature. Block
highlighted the fact that Ezekiel adapted the theme appropriating it according to the monotheistic
character of the Israelite religion. Before Block, Balentine had already discussed the presence of the
theme in the Near East of antiquity indicating that the motif of divine abandonment had also addressed
the relation between the divine and the individual. SeeS. E. Balentine, 'The Historical Background',
in The Hidden God: The Hiding of the Face of God in the Old Testament, OThM (Oxford: OUP,
1983), 22-44. J. F. Kutsko, Between Heaven and Earth: Divine Presence and Absence in the Book of
Ezekiel, Biblical Judaic Studies 7 (Winona Lake IN: Eisenbrauns, 2000).
76
Block provided a list with regard to the motif including among other issues: i) the genre in which
the theme has appeared; ii) the cause (human provocation); iii) the motive (divine anger); iv) the effect
(disaster); and v) deity's altered disposition. For the list see Block, 'Divine Abandonment', 32-33.
75
35
which Israel confronted for the first time in the sixth century BC. Instead it is best to
see Israel's laments as having taken up a motif that was probably quite common in
the lament Gattungen of the Near East. 77
Block researched the way in which Israel developed the notion of divine
abandonment in its cultural and religious interaction with the nations of the Near
East. As he noted:
In tracing the history of the motif we may recognise five specific dimensions of
Yahweh's abandonment contemplated in the Old Testament: (I) Yahweh's absence
from an individual, devotee or otherwise; (2) Yahweh's absence from his people, the
nation of Israel; (3) Yahweh's absence from the land of Israel; (4) Yahweh's
absence from Jerusalem/Zion; (5) Yahweh's absence from his sanctuary. 78
Whereas Block discussed the notion of divine abandonment exclusively in terms of
God's relation with the nation of Israel and the place of cultic worship, in his Hidden
God, Balentine shed more light on the presence of the theme in the religious
literature of Israel, thus focusing on the personal relationship between God and his
devotee. Thus, he examined the various meanings that the concept communicated in
Psalms, the Wisdom literature (Ecclesiastes-Job) and also the prophets.
According to Balentine, the Old Testament transmitted the theme of divine
abandonment primarily in terms of God's "turning away his face" from the
individual. 79 In developing the theme, Hebrew religious literature paid attention to
the fact that the relationship between God and his devotee was not always
harmonious; nor was God bound to his promise to stand by the side of his devotee.
For Balentine, the theme of God's "turning away his face" was synonymous with
divine abandonment.
The most indicative examples of Hebrew literature where the theme was
introduced were the Psalms of lamentation: the devotee questioned God as to why he
77
Balentine, Hidden God, 170. The sixth century BC is of particular significance since it corresponds
to the Babylonian invasion and exile. According to Balentine and Block, Ezekiel appropriated the
notion of divine absence in order to interpret Israel's exile to Babylon.
78
Block: 'Divine Abandonment', 16-17. Block did not intend to discuss the first dimension of divine
abandonment (individuaVdevotee), since he focused on the prophetic understanding of divine
abandonment (Ezekiel). However, certain assessments could be used in order to help us understand the
~lace
that the theme had held in Middle East religions of antiquity.
9
Balentine traced this position already in the Sumerian and Akkadian literature. Balentine, Hidden
God, 24. Balentine discussed the combination of the words ,no (to hide) and C'l!) (face) as
indications of God's turning away his face. The latter term became synonymous to divine
abandonment. However, Balentine did not engage in an examination of the verb :JT31 (to abandon) in
the Old Testament. It was Block that researched on the various linguistic forms of the verb. His
examination, nevertheless, was limited to the appearance of the theme in the book of Ezekiel. See
Block, 'Divine Abandonment', 16-17 [footnotes nos. 6-7].
36
had abandoned him ("why?"); 80 or he inquired about the duration of the experience
("how long?"). 81 Alongside the inquisition, there developed another form of
lamentation psalm which included a petition that God should not abandon his
devotee ("abandon me not/hide not your face"). 82 Balentine drew his reader's
attention to the fact that the cause of divine abandonment was not always clear. The
psalmist's inquiry about the cause and also the fact that he protested about his
innocence demonstrate the inexplicable character of the experience. 83 Balentine
challenged the position that advocates the presence of sin, even when there was no
explicit reference to the latter. 84 It is true that, in the prophetic books, sin was always
the cause of abandonment. 85 However, as Balentine put it:
In the laments which feature the phrase 'hide the face' several factors work against
the theory that the suppliant perceives sin to be the cause of his dilemma ... what is
lacking in these particular psalms is not merely information about the specifics of
the transgression; it is rather information that would indicate that sin is involved at
any level at all. 86
Thus, Balentine suggested a dissociation between the theme of divine abandonment
and the concept of divine punishment. The two motifs seem inseparable only in the
prophetic books. But for the psalmist of the lamentation psalms, the cause was
hidden from him. Thus, divine abandonment was felt to be the hiding of God's face,
where God had hidden his works from man. What we need to highlight is the fact
that the Hebrew religious literature as portrayed in Psalms dealt with the cause of
abandonment as a mystery that had troubled the heart of the devotee.
Balentine also examined the consequences of divine abandonment. He
indicated that the theme of abandonment and its consequences went side by side in
the Old Testament: it is as a result of the consequences that the devotee realised that
80
Ps 21:2; 43.24; 87:15 [References to the Psalms are according to the Greek numbering which
combines the Hebrew Ps 9 & 10, and separates the Hebrew Ps 147 into two].
81
Ps 13:2. Both forms of inquiry were of Sumerian origin. See: Balentine, Hidden God, 26ff.
82
Ps 9:32; 37:22; 27:9. Balentine, ibid, 50-51.
83
See: Balentine, 'The Signinficance of the Motiffor Old Testament Theology', in ibid, 164-176.
84
Due to the fact that the psalms were thought to be models of prayer for the community, scholars
have supported the idea that any reference to specific sin would have limited the use of the psalm to a
specific ethical context. The book of Psalms maintained an ambiguity about the specific sin that had
resulted in divine abandonment so that their content could have found a broader use according to
individual needs. Fr. N<>tscher, Das Angesicht Gottes Schauen' nach Biblischer und Babylonischer
Auffassung (Auflage: WUrzburg, 1924). S. Terrien, The Elusive Presence: Towards a New Biblical
Theology (New York NY: Harper & Row, 1978). See also, Balentine, Hidden God, 52 [footnotes nos.
13 and 17].
85
For Balentine, the reason for the connection between divine abandonment and sin in the prophets
needs to be sought in the conditions of the exile, where the prophets appropriated the themes of divine
abandonment and punishment to explain Israel's Babylonian captivity. Balentine, ibid, 76.
86
Balentine, ibid, 53.
37
he was abandoned by God. This fact suggests that abandonment had consequences.
Balentine classified the consequences into three categories: i) separation between
God and man; ii) separation between God and place of cultic worship; and iii)
confinement to Sheol. 87 Here, we will briefly examine the first and the last motifs. As
it concerns the first point, divine abandonment resulted in cutting off the
communication between God and man. God has not listened to the prayers of the
individual. He has left him prey to his attacking enemies. The psalmist employed the
verbs "to hear"-"see"-"answer" in order to encompass all modes of divine activity. 88
God did not intervene in the supplication of his devotee. This separation of
communication was expressed with the vivid description of man's descent to the pit
or the grave, i.e. Sheol:
For my soul is full of troubles: and my life draws into the grave. I am counted with
them that go down into Sheol: I am as a man that has no strength, 89
[and] you have brought me into the dust of death/0
[when] you are silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit. 91
The fact that the individual was confined to Sheol demonstrates the connection
between divine absence and death. God is the source of life and everything that is
good in humanity. 92 He is the strength of one's life. 93 When the individual felt
separated from God, his strength withdrew and he reached the face of death. The
Psalms touch upon the theme of man's dependence on God. It is only when God has
looked upon his devotee that he has felt divine protection. But, when God has turned
away his face, the individual has felt abandoned and thus, he/she has reached
Sheol. 94 Divine abandonment was felt in terms of separation between man and God.
Such separation put under jeopardy also man's life. Without divine protection, the
individual felt the absence of life, i.e. Sheol, "the land of forgetfulness". 95 As a final
remark it needs to be noticed that, as Block remarked, even though God had warned
87
Balentine, ibid, 56-57.
Balentine, ibid, 57.
89
Ps 87:4.
90
Ps 2I:I6.
91
Ps 27:1.
92
IKgs 20:3.
93
Ps I 7:2; 24. I; 60:4.
94
Ps I03:28-30.
95
J. Pedersen, Israel: Its Life and Culture, vol. 2 (London: OUP, 1926), 462. For the meaning of
Sheol see, Ph. S. Johnston, Shades of Sheol: Death and Afterlife in the Old Testament (Downers
Grove IL: InterVarsity, 2002).
88
38
that he might tum his face away from the sinner, the Old Testament never affirmed
that God ever actually realised his threat. 96 It was the individual that felt his
separation from God. Yet, God never explicitly declared that he abandoned his
people. The prophetic books marked a shifting point in religious literature: divine
abandonment was part of God's plan that resulted in divine restoration. Thus, the
pessimistic tone of the Psalms was complemented with the concept of God's return.
As Balentine wrote:
With the end of the period of captivity, the prophets speak of an end to the period of
God's hiding and of the promise of future deliverance. Thus, the ultimate
consequence of God's hiding is not separation, which is the implication in the
psalms of lament, but restoration. 97
ii. Abandonment of the soul: perfection and sin.
The Song of Songs was composed in the form of a drama. Its content unfolded
through monologues, dialogues, and narrative. The drama was full of romantic words
and sensual imagery illustrating the love between bride and groom. Nevertheless, as
it was noted, their relationship was less than idyllic. The introduction of the theme of
abandonment to the drama juxtaposed times of union between the two lovers and
times of separation. The groom twice abandoned his bride. The latter felt his absence
and she sought him at the city-market. 98 Rather than presenting a romantic search for
the beloved, the compiler of the Song emphasised her distress: the bride was
wounded by the city's watchmen who removed her garment. 99 Though in Sol 3:4 the
groom dissolved her despair immediately, in Sol 5:6 he prolonged the soul's despair.
Before we move to an analysis of Byzantine exegesis on the episodes of the Song of
Songs we need to make the following observations:
i) The Song has introduced the theme of abandonment. It seems that,
originally, the Song ofSongs was a love-poem describing the sudden departure of the
beloved; thus, stressing his lover's despair. At first sight, the Song was missing the
petition or inquiry of the lamentation psalms: the bride did not address an inquiry
about his departure. This is true in terms of addressing the groom himself. But the
96
Block, 'Divine Abandonment', 17.
Balentine, Hidden God, 76.
98
Sol 3:1: "I sought him (whom my soul loveth) but I found him not"; Sol 5:6: "My beloved had
withdrawn himself, and was gone ... I sought him but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave
me no answer". For a textual analysis ofthe two episodes, see Hess, 'Lovers Joined and Separated', in
Song ofSongs, 101-108. Idem, 'Search and Union', in ibid, 160-192.
99
Sol 5:7: "The watchmen that go their rounds in the city found me; the keepers of the walls took
away my veil from me".
97
39
biblical bride had asked the watchmen: "Have you seen him whom my soul loves"?
The question, as such, did not resemble the usual questions (why? how long?) that
we encountered in Hebrew and non-Hebrew religious literature. However, behind the
lines of union and separation in the Song, rabbis and Christian commentators might
have discerned a theme quite favoured in religious poetry: divine abandonment. The
fact that, right from the beginning, the Song of Songs was valued as an authentic
religious poem -as opposed to a mere love song- could not be dissociated from the
fact that at its heart lay the theme of love and also abandonment and separation. If its
content was felt to be of one accord with the biblical canon, then its theme of divine
abandonment must have been felt to share the same notion of abandonment with the
other books of religious value.
ii) We find no explanation of the sudden departure of the groom in the first
episode. 100 The Song provided no leads about what forced the groom to depart from
his bride. In the second episode, the delay of his lover to open the door seems to
cause his departure. 101 But the groom never uttered any causes for his behaviour. It is
also true that the bride did not ponder on the matter. Undeniably, she felt his absence
without ever thinking about the cause of his departure. The fact that no causes were
mentioned might be the reason why the rabbis felt that the Song was in conformity
with the rest of religious literature. As is the case of the lamentation psalms, the Song
maintained the same obscurity about the causes of divine abandonment.
a. Origen: perfection and trials
We will now discuss the presence of the theme of divine abandonment in the
Byzantine exegesis of the Song, relating our examination to the notion of sin. We
will start with Origen, the author who set the exegetical agenda for later
commentators on the Song.
The theme of abandonment in the Song of Songs was spotted by Origen. But,
according to him, it was not only in the episodes at Sol 3: 1 and 5:6 that the motif was
introduced. Origen established his exegesis on the dialectical form of presence and
absence throughout the work. In a passage quoted earlier, Origen observed:
100
Soi3:Iff.
Sol 5:3: "I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet, how shall I defile
them"?
101
40
[The] Bridegroom, however, is to be understood as a husband who is not always in
house, nor is He in perpetual attendance on the Bride, who stays in the house. Rather,
He frequently goes out, and she, yearning for His love, seeks Him when He is absent;
yet He Himself returns to her from time to time. It seems, therefore, that all through
this little book we must expect to find the Bridegroom sometimes being sought as one
who is away, and sometimes speaking to the Bride as being present with her. 102
It was the form of the narrative that made Origen emphasise the tension between
presence and hiddenness in his exegesis. But, for Origen, the image of union and
separation needed to find an interpretation that could manifest its meaning for the
text. The opening scene -the bride's plea- had anticipated the coming of the groom.
Origen remarked that the scene was the soul's prayer to the Father asking for the
coming of the Logos. Origen presented a paradox: whereas the soul had anticipated
the coming of the groom, the latter was already present:
[While she is thus praying] the Bridegroom was present and standing by her as she
prayed ... The Bride having seen that He, for whose coming she was praying, was
already present, and that even when she spoke He offered her the things she asked. 103
Origen introduced the interchange between presence and absence as an historical
reality: the bride had already received the gifts of the groom, i.e. the Law and the
Prophets. Origen had no doubt that the Law and the Prophets had manifested God's
presence within history. And yet, the bride remained in anticipation of his coming. 104
The theme of love that was the soul's wound also led him to the direction of attesting
the divine presence within the soul. As it was argued, in fact, it was the divine image
that the soul had recovered within, that illustrated the intimacy between bride and
groom. Yet the paradox remained: the bride was anticipating the coming of the
groom. The groom's leaping off the mountains and bounding over the hills 105 and the
groom's voice were indications of his immanence. Yet, the fact that he was hiding
behind the walls and also that he communicated with his bride only through enigmas
attested his hiddenness.
This tension between divine presence and hiddenness was not unknown to the
rabbinic interpretation that was contemporary to Origen's exegesis. The Talmudic
tradition had also highlighted divine presence and absence in the light of Israel's
history. The Song of Songs was felt to demonstrate the historical ascension of Israel
from Egypt to its eschatological completion. God had manifested his presence in
102
Origen, Com. 3.13.230.
Origen, Com. 1.2.63 and Com. 3.11.210: "the Bridegroom is thus sometimes present and teaching,
and sometimes He is said to be absent; and then He is desired".
104
Origen, Com. 1.1.58-59.
105
So12:8.
103
41
Sinai where he revealed his Law to Israel. It was the time of intimacy when God
communicated his "innermost secrets" to Israel. 106 Yet, Israel felt God's
abandonment in the desert and her exile (Babylon). The night of the bride in Sol 3:1
was the period when God did not speak to Moses. It was the time of God's silence:
Rashi explains night as referring to the torment of Israel's darkness when they were
under the 'Ban' [incurred because of the sins of the Spies who turned the people
against the land. During this period, the Midrash (2: II) explains, God did not speak
with Moses] ... According to Alschich, the verse refers to the dark 'nights' of the
Egyptian and Babylonian exiles when Israel sought out their God to redeem them and
resume His love for them. [The imagery is poignant. It depicts the anguish of a
tormented, insomniac Israel -bereft of its former open, uninhibited relationship with
God- figuratively twisting and turning sleeplessly during its period of most
pronounced separation, longing after Him, and a resumption of His love]. 107
The Targum interpreted Sol 5:6 as the soul's prayer to God. However, God remained
silent forsaking her: "I called Him but He did not answer me, i.e. I prayed but He did
not respond". 108 Such a prayer stressed Israel's despair. God became intimate and
hidden within the history of Israel. This interpretation was based on the development
of the theme of divine abandonment in the prophetic circles of Israel: it was Israel's
sin that led God to abandon his people. Thus, the tension between presence and
absence was established on Israel's ethical purification: 109 Israel's actions urged
God's reaction.
However, even Hellenism seems to have developed a vague notion of union
and separation (hiddenness) that never took real form before the work of Philo and
Plotinus. As Louth remarked, Origen employed the Platonic language of a sudden
appearance of the groom. 110 Unlike Plato, Origen also taught of a sudden separation
106
Zlotowitz and Scherman, Shir Hashirim, 69-70.
ibid, 116.
108
Zlotowitz and Scherman, Shir Hashirim, !50.
109
See, Block, 'Divine Abandonment'.
110
Orig. Hom. 1.7.280. Cf. Plato, Epistula 7, 341d: "pT]tov ydp otoaj.l.&<; i>cmv roc; dAA.a j.l.a!li]j.l.ata,
a.n· i>K 1toAA.ii<; auvouaia<; ytyvoj.I.EVT]<; 1tEpi to 1tpuyj.l.a abto Kai tou au~ilv
i>~a<pvT];.
otov 0.1to
1tupd<; 1tT]oi]aavto<; i>~a<p!lev
<pro<;, i>v tfl 'l'uxfl 'YEV6j.I.Evov auto !:auto ijoT] tpE<pEt" (for a thing of this
kind cannot be expressed by words like other disciplines, but by a long familiarity, and living in
conjunction with the thing itself, a light as it were leaping from a fire will on a sudden be enkindled in
the soul, and there itself nourish itself). Idem, Respublica, 515c4. Idem, Symposium, 210.e.2: "[o<;]
ydp iiv llEXPt i>vtauea 1tpoc; td i>prottKd 1tatoayroyT]!lfl, !lEroj.I.EVo<; i><pE~l;
tE Kai bp!l&<; td KaA.u,
1tpO<; tEAO<; ijOT] tCoV t&v i>prottK&v E~at<pVT];
Kat6'JfEtat tt !lauj.l.aatOV tr)v <pUatV KaA6v, tOUto
EKEtVO, & ~roKpatE<;,
00 or) EVEKEV Kai Ot Ej.1.1tpoa!lEV 1tUVtE<; 1t6Vot l'Jaav" (whoever then is
advanced thus far in the mysteries of Love by a right and regular progress of contemplation,
approaching new to perfect intuition, suddenly he will discover, bursting into view, a beauty
astonishingly admirable; that very beauty, to the gaining a sight of which the aim of all his preceding
studies and labours had been directed) [trans. Taylor]. See also, Plotinus, Enneads, 5.3.17; 5.5.7ffand
6.7.34. Philo, Quod Deus est lmmutabilis, 93.lff: "otav ydp b !lEo<; 1tapaotocp td til<; O.toiou ao<pia<;
!!Eropi]j.l.ata Kaj.I.Utou xropi<; Kai 1t6VOU, tauta E~ai<pVT];
ob 1tpoaooKi]aavtE<; 6T]aaupov Eboatj.I.OVta<;
tEA.Eia<; EbpiaKOj.I.EV" (when God delivers to us the lore of His eternal wisdom without our toil or
107
42
between bride and groom. McGinn argued that the concept of a sudden apparition of
the divine in Plato put under question the notion of an "impersonal" auto-salvation in
classical philosophy. For McGinn, the sudden manifestation ofthe divine was a sort
of "divine interference" that resulted in the soul's awakening. 111 Like the
development of the theme of divine abandonment in the prophetic circles of late
Judaism, the Hellenic classical heritage had also introduced a sudden separation
between the human and divine that was not caused by sin. Origen's contemporary,
Plotinus, wrote about a sudden apparition and also about a sudden falling from the
vision. 112 McGinn implied a connection between Plotinus' thought and the notion of
paideia. In examining Plotinus' thought, McGinn discerned three stages in spiritual
life: i) preparation; ii) union; and iii) return. At the stage of preparation, subject and
object (i.e. soul and Intellect) were distinct. When union was achieved, soul and
Intellect were indistinguishable. The stage of return was a sort of separation where
soul and Intellect were becoming distinct again. 113 According to McGinn, for
Plotinus the stages of union and separation were repetitive and complemented each
other. The stage of separation signified the soul's return to discursive reason. As
soon as the soul had turned to the latter, then the distinction between soul and
Intellect was introduced again. The soul's return did not occur due to any sin or
incompetence. McGinn argued that, for Plotinus, the stage of preparation has been a
feature of this present life. Despite the fact that Hellenism never really developed an
idea of eschatology, it is the case that Plotinus postponed the soul's journey to the
divine after leaving the body. 114 The soul could not achieve full union with the
divine Intellect in this life. Thus, the stages of preparation, union and return have
been features of this life. In this way, Plotinus introduced an eschatological
labour we find in it suddenly and unexpectedly a treasure of perfect happiness) [trans. Colson and
Whitaker]. Idem, De Praemiis et Poenis, 37-51. For a discussion on the motif of soul's sudden union
with God in Plato and Plotinus see Louth, 'Plato', in Origins, 1-17. Also, McGinn, Foundations, 30ff
and 53ff.
111
McGinn, Foundations, 30. See also, Louth, Origins, 13. A. J. Festugiere, Contemplation et vie
contemplative seton Platon (Paris: J. Vrin, 1936).
112
Plotinus, Enneads, 6.9.11: " DEK1ti1t't(J)V OS tf]c; etac; 1tliAtV kydpac; npE'tl)v" (when one falls from
the vision, he wakes again the virtue in himself) [trans. Armstrong].
113
McGinn, Foundations, 44ff.
114
A theme that had already appeared in Plato's dialogues, especially Phaedo. Cf. D. Melling,
'Preparing the Soul for Death: the Phaedo', in Understanding Plato, OPUS (Oxford: OUP, 1987) 6474.
43
perspective in his thought: the soul was meant to surpass the stage of separation at a
future point. 115
In Philo, the theme of hiddenness was introduced in the context of
understanding the scriptures. It is in this author that the theme acquired its dialectical
form: divine presence went alongside divine absence. For Philo, it was the Logos as
divine Wisdom that has dwelled within the scriptures. Yet, this Wisdom sometimes
illuminated him by directing his intellect to divine knowledge. At other times, it
abandoned him, when the meaning of words was impenetrable and Philo would give
up his philosophical pursuits. In a lengthy passage Philo exposed his own experience:
I feel no shame in recording my own experience, a thing I know from its happening
to me a thousand times. On some occasions, after making up my mind to follow the
usual course of writing on philosophical tenets, and knowing definitely the
substance of what I was to set down, I have found my understanding incapable of
giving birth to a single idea, and have given it up without accomplishing anything,
reviling my understanding for its self-conceit, and filled with amazement at the
might of Him that is to Whom is due the opening and closing of the soul-wombs. On
the other occasions, I have approached my work empty and suddenly become full,
the ideas falling in a shower from above and being sown invisibly, so that under the
influence of the Divine possession I have been filled with corybantic frenzy and
been unconscious of anything, place, persons present, myself, words spoken, lines
written. 116
Again, it needs to be noticed that, there was no reference to sin nor, in fact, any other
cause for this hiddenness. This is not the only place in which Philo introduced the
theme of a sudden apparition. Yet, this is the only place that Philo emphasised in all
vigour the dialectical form of presence and absence.
In Origen, the theme of divine abandonment occurred in the same context as in
Philo. In the same fashion, Origen reported on his own experience while
commenting on the Song ofSongs:
God is my witness that I have often perceived the Bridegroom drawing near me and
being most intensely present with me; then suddenly he has withdrawn and I could
not find him, though I sought to do so. Then when he has appeared and I lay hold of
him, he slips away once more. And when he has so slipped away my search for him
begins anew. 117
Was it mystical experience or biblical impenetrability that Origen felt? As Louth
observed, it is difficult to distinguish between mystical experience and biblical
interpretation in Origen's thought. In Plotinus' case, the soul flew to the divine. In
Origen, such a flight could not become dissociated from the manifestation of the
See D. O'Meara: •A propos d'un temoignage sur )'experience mystique de Plotin', Mnemosyne 27
(1974), 238-244.
116
Philo, De Migratione Abrahamis, 34 [trans. Colson and Whitaker].
117
Origen, Hom. 1.7.280.
115
44
Logos within the scriptures. In other words, Plotinus had emphasised the soul's
preparation for her spiritual journey. Origen highlighted illumination that originates
from the Logos. In Plotinus, the device of sudden union was meant to introduce the
notion that the soul could achieve a union that was beyond her understanding. 118 In
Origen, the divine Logos was at the very heart of union and --what is more important
for us-- separation. Origen provided a "personalistic" interpretation of spiritual life
where the Logos was the person calling for the soul. 119 He was also the person that,
suddenly, separated from the soul. But, such "personalistic" argument had begun
with the Logos' manifestation within the scriptures, i.e. the locus of his revelation.
Origen did not separate between mystical experience and the manifestation of the
Logos in scripture. 120 In a passage, reminiscent of the Philonic account, Origen
wrote:
When she [the soul] is trying to understand something and desiring to know some
obscure and secret matters, as long as she cannot find what she is looking for, the
Word of God is surely absent from her. But when the thing she sought comes up to
meet her, and appears to her, who doubts but that the Word of God is present,
illuminating her mind and offering to her the light of knowledge? And again we
perceive He is withdrawn from us and comes again, in every matter that is either
opened or closed to our understanding. 121
There is no doubt that, as Louth put it, for Origen,
these passages have a spectrum of meaning that ranges from the sort of thing I have
mentioned [i.e. engagement with Scriptures] to something which is genuinely
mystical experience of God. 122
118
Louth, Origins, 14. According to Meredith, Plato had suggested divine incomprehensibility and
Plotinus had touched upon the theme of divine infinity. See A. Meredith, Gregory of Nyssa, Early
Church Fathers (London: Routledge, 1999), 13-14. Cf. Plato, Timaeus, 28c: "'tov jlEV oov 7tOtl]'ttlV
Kat 1ta'ttpa wuoE wu 1tano<; Ebpdv 'tE Epyov Kai Ebp6v'ta Ei<; mina<; aouvawv A.tyEtv". Plotinus,
Enneads, 5.5.6: "yEA.otov ydp /,;l]'tEiv EKEtVl]V 'ttlV ci1tA.E'tOV q>6atv 7tEpA.aj1~6v"
(it would be
absurd to seek and comprehend that boundless nature) [trans. Armstrong]. Also in Enneads, 6.9.6: "
A1']1t'tEOV 0€ Kai cimtpov ab'tov ou 't!'i> aotE~'l]np
f] 'tOU llEYE9ou<; i) 'tOU apt9jlOU, aA.A.d 't!'i>
U7tEptA.l']7t'tQl 'tfl<; ouvajlEro<;" (and it must be understood as infinite not because its size and number
cannot be measured or counted but because its power cannot be comprehended) [trans. Armstrong].
119
King, The Spirit, 15.
120
Louth, Origins, 70. Also King, The Spirit, 16: "True, Origen is describing an experience of textual
intepretation here [Origen, Hom. 1.7.279-280]. Yet, it is only an impoverished attitude towards texts
and their reading that could construe the hermeneutical process as necessarily counter- or subeffective. In Origen, allegory and mystical experience converge in a unitary symbolic language, which
that accompanies the exegete's penetration of -and
expresses the contemplatio stuporis or lK(JTat~
by!- the meaning of the text".
121
Origen, Com. 3.11.210-211. Cf. Philo, De Migratione Abraham is, 38 : "Hereby comes to pass even
the seeing of the Divine light, identical with knowledge, which opens wide the soul's eyes, and leads
it to apprehension distinct and brilliant beyond those gained by the ears". Cf. Cyril of Alexandria,
Fragmenta in Cantica Canticorum, PG. 69, 1284.
122
Louth, Origins, 71.
45
Thus, the theme of abandonment was realised in terms of the Logos' presence within
the scriptures and also, the soul's preparation to engage with the scriptures in order
to discern the manifestation of the Logos in them.
Yet, an overemphasis on the biblical foundation of Origen's mysticism could
miss the point that Origen related divine dereliction to ethical trials and tribulations.
Without referring to the presence of sin, Origen related divine abandonment to trials:
"[the] fact that emerges is that he appears to his bride all through the winter -that is
to say, in the time of tribulations and trials". 123 Origen related the time of tribulations
and trials as part of the soul's spiritual journey. Since the winter was the time of
trials, it is important to note that the presence of the groom was manifested in the
middle of the winter. For Origen, that is to say that the Logos has appeared to his
bride in a secret way at the time of tribulations. Reflecting on the episodes of the
Song, Origen distinguished between the voice of the groom and his presence. His
voice was a manifestation of his presence. Yet, it was not the same mode of
revelation as his true presence. The fact that the bride had discerned the groom's
voice in the middle of the winter provided Origen with the imagery to argue that it
was within tribulations that the Logos made his presence manifest. What kind of
tribulations did Origen have in mind? We only have leads based on his exegesis on
the Song. Origen employed the same analogy between winter and tribulation in his
Exhortatio ad Martyrium to argue that the Logos had reinforced his devotee at times
of persecutions. In his exegesis on the Song of Songs Origen connected the wintertime to the Church's tribulations and, subsequently, to the soul's trials. 124 On the
other hand, Origen wrote:
That visitation, however, whereby she is visited for a while and then left, in order
that she may be tested, and then sought again, so that her head may be upheld and
she be wholly embraced, lest she either waver in faith or be weighed down in body
by the load of her trials, is different. 125
Here, two points need to be noted: i) the passage appeared within the context of
faith: the tribulations referred to the soul's establishment on faith. Origen's reference
to bodily trials needs to be seen in the context of faith and also in the light of our
earlier observation 126 ; ii) Origen introduced the motif of divine "visitations" in his
exegesis on the Song. The term was suggestive of the temporary nature of divine
123
Origen, Com. 3.11.212.
Cf. Cyril of Alexandria, Fragmenta in Cantica, PG 69, 1284.
125
Origen, Com. 3.11.212.
126
i.e. that there is a connection between ethical trials and historical (ecclesiastical) persecutions.
124
46
presence and absence. 127 Divine manifestation was only a visitation. In other words,
it was limited in its duration. Origen concluded within the term the imagery of the
Song: the groom had visited and then abandoned the bride. Thus, Origen related the
imagery to his theological agenda: the Logos' manifestation was understood in terms
of divine visitations. As it will be discussed later, the term acquired eschatological
connotations in his work.
With regard to the first point, the absence of any reference to sin in connection
to divine abandonment needs to be examined. It was noted that the bride was an
image of perfection for Origen. Despite the fact that the soul was advancing in
spiritual life, Origen praised the soul's perfection encouraged by the praises that the
Song had addressed to her. The fact that sin was addressed only in terms of the soul's
past life was suggestive of Origen's position that sin was not immediately involved
in the soul's spiritual ascension; as opposed to his position in De Principiis, where
Origen clearly associated divine abandonment with sin. In this latter case, it was due
to sin that God had abandoned the soul to trials and tribulations. 128 However, he
associated trials and tribulations only with divine paideia which he reserved for
souls that have followed after God's commandments. Thus, in his De Principiis,
Origen had suggested that trials and tribulations were parts of God's providence for
the spiritually mature: in her ascension to the divine, the soul moved from the stage
of chastisement to perfection. At the stage of perfection, the soul remained subjected
to trials and tribulations as part of divine paideia. 129
Origen related the soul's subjection to trials to the concept of divine
"testing". 130 We need to view this position in the general context of asserting the
soul's potential backsliding. Origen did not deny that, even though the soul has
127
Origen, op. cit.: "that visitation, however, whereby she is visited for a little while and then left, in
order that she may be tested, and then sought again ... lest she either waver in faith or be weighted
down in body by the load of her trials". Origen distinguished between visitations in the soul's trials
and visitations to provide spiritual insights. The one reinforced the soul; the other led her upwards.
128
Origen, Prine. 3.1.1 2-13.
129
Lilla highlighted the accommodation of the classical ideal of instruction (paideia) by Clement.
and, ii)
Ethical perfection was a combination of i) human natural tendency to virtue (lB~rpuat);
[divine] instruction (TOt~krliaKfU-J.1C0)
See: S. R. C. Lilla, Clement of Alexandria: A Study in
Christian Platonism and Gnosticism, OxThM (London, OUP, 1971).
130
The Talmud had introduced divine dereliction by means of training/exercising God's people,
Israel. "Divrei Yedidiah interprets ... when you recognise God's greatness testify that I realise that the
cause of suffering is not due to inability on His part to rescue me, or because He has decided to cast
me off, never return to me. I am fully aware that my travail is because, I am sick by virtue of His love
for me: His chastisements are chastisements of love, designed to awake me and bring me to
repentance". Zlotowitz and Scherman, Shir Hashirim, 154.
47
turned from ignorance to faith, she might return to her previous ignorance. 131 In
accommodating the classic motto 'know thyself Origen emphasised the soul's tum
from ignorance to knowledge (faith). 132 But he also implied knowledge about the
soul's previous status before descending into a material body:
We should think that, having been created some time earlier, it comes for some
reason to assume a body. And, if it is believed to be thus drawn into the body for
133
some cause, then the work of knowledge is to determine what that cause may be.
It is easy to discern Origen's speculative cosmology and anthropology behind his
exegetical exposition: the soul fell from her divine contemplation to the condition of
acqumng a material body due to a primordial weakness. Otis identified this
weakness as satiety (K6poc;). 134 Yet, in De Principiis and, most importantly, his
Commentary on the Song of Songs, the term that appeared is slothfulness. 135 Origen
indicated that, through abandonment, God has tested the soul thus, exercising her
against slothfulness. Origen viewed the soul's initial satiety as her tendency to
ethical laxity. By introducing the soul's descent to the present material body, Origen
highlighted the soul's tendency to laxity, meaning that it is by this descent God has
tested the soul and enabled her to work against such laxity. Divine abandonmentas a device- has instructed the soul against slothfulness, not so much in terms of
returning to laxity as in terms of exercising her spiritual vigilance.
Due to the theological bond between his Commentary on the Song of Songs
and his Exhortation to Martyrdom, and also given the fact that Origen composed
both works at times of religious persecution, it seems that Origen understood this
"return" in terms ofthe soul's return to idolatry. 136 Thus, it is not discernible whether
Origen had addressed a "mystical" return of the soul to inner slothfulness -with
regard to the soul's turning away from divine contemplation- or her religious turning
from faith to idolatry. 137 It seems that, for Origen, the two positions went side by
side. What we need to keep in mind is the fact that, for Origen, sin always remained
131
Origen, Com. 2.5.138.
Diogenes Laertius, Vitae Philosophorum, 1.40. Clemens, Stromata, l.l4.60.3. Origen, Com.
2.5.128.
133
Origen, Com. 2.5.135. Cf. Origen, Prine. 2.9.2.
134
B. Otis, 'The Cappadocian Thought as a Coherent System', DOP 12 (1958), 102.
135
Origen, Prine. 1.6.2.
136
It is difficult to distinguish between the notion of the soul's progress in faith and her ethical
P:rogress. In Origen the one motif presupposed the other.
37
Origen, Com. 2.3.117: "after she (i.e.the soul) has turned to God and come to faith, undoubtedly
experiences conflicts of thoughts and assaults of evil spirits, which strive to call her back to the
attractions of her former life and the errors ofunbelief'.
132
48
a possibility. In her ascension to the divine, the soul was exercised against a future
lapsing. However, the presence of trials and tribulations was an indication that the
soul had approached perfection. Paideia was not a matter of chastising her sin any
more: divine abandonment was a spiritual device through which Origen illustrated
the soul's ascension to perfection through divine instruction.
It was commented that, whereas Louth pointed to Origen's positive exegetical
positions, Otis highlighted the negative aspects of Origenist thought. This is due to
the implications of introducing the soul's potential backsliding: Louth treated the
Commentary on the Song of Songs as the soul's 'spiritual journey' to the divine. He
noted that the stage of divine abandonment was only a temporary device that was
meant to be overcome by the final union with God. 138 On the opposite side, Otis
illustrated Origenist exegesis as the soul's 'return' to the divine. Thus, the
introduction of the soul's primordial lapse by Otis diminished Origen's optimism
that Louth supported. Otis seems to have ignored the notion of divine instruction as
part of the classical ethical system employed by Clement and inherited by Origen,
presenting the complementarity between nature and paideia.
Louth supported the idea that, for Origen, the end of spiritual life was divine
contemplation. This contemplation passed through times of darkness. Origen's point
was that knowledge of the divine seems to surpass human conception. Thus, the
theme of abandonment was another way for Origen to argue the relationship between
the majesty of divine nature and the soul's limited perceptive capacity. However,
Origen did not address God as totally unknowable: his union with the soul will be
complete. 139 But when?
To answer the question we need to take into account one last aspect of
Origenist exegesis on the Song. This is the notion of time which Cheek has aptly
called as Heilsgeschichte in Origen. Cheek argued that what lays behind Origenist
exegesis on the Song of Songs is the Christian message of an eschatological
completion. 140 The interplay between divine presence and absence needs to be seen
in terms of God's leading human history to its completion, towards an eschaton.
138
Louth, Origins, 71-72.
Louth, op. cit.
14
Cheek illustrated the Jewish foundation of the theme. Thus, Origen was not a mere adherent of
classical Hellenic philosophy. He was also an exegete that was moving within the theological context
that the Old Testament had already outlined. See J. E. Cheek, Eschatology and Redemption in the
Theology of Origen: Israelite-Jewish and Greek-Hellenistic Ideas in Origen 's Interpretation of
Redemption (PhD Thesis: Drew University, 1962).
139
°
49
Origen introduced the progressive revelation of Christ to the soul: the bride was
introduced progressively to the fragrance of wine, then the sweetness, and then the
taste of it. In the same fashion, the perfect soul was introduced to spiritual mysteries
through various stages. Origen left the completion of the soul's initiation to divine
mysteries open. He only implied the Eucharistic completion "on the festal day in the
heavenly places, when the great feast is set". 141 As in the rabbinic interpretation, the
love between bride and groom was understood to remain unconsummated. For
Origen, the soul was granted insights into the divine mysteries. Yet, Origen
maintained an open horizon with regard to the time when the enigmas and the veils
would disappear and the soul would contemplate God face to face. His position
suggested an eschatological dimension that illustrated the progressive, yet
unconsummated, revelation from God. The theme of abandonment addressed the
presence of God within history through theophanies and revelations. The incarnation
meant a new era for the soul where she discerned God's intervention for her
redemption. The incarnation also illustrated the true divine presence. After the
incarnation the soul realised that the theophanies and prophecies of old were but
types of his presence. Yet, notwithstanding the centrality of the incarnation to
Origen, Christ's incarnation was another stage of divine revelation that would lead to
the final union between God and man:
The redemptive work of God has been fulfilled in the incarnation and man is already
redeemed. But the plan waits to be consummated in the future at the end of time;
man does not yet fully participate in the blessings of redemption. The redemptive
blessings, however, can be participated in by anticipation through the relationship
which the believer establishes with the Incarnate Word; through his sharin~
in the
gifts of the Spirit; through his participation in the community of the Church. 1 2
In sum, in his exegesis, Origen introduced elements of his cosmology and
anthropology. Thus, the presence of sin was only implied in terms of the soul's
potential fall. In any case, divine abandonment was not discussed in terms of sin and
chastisement, but as part of divine paideia. Origen mastered his exegesis in such a
way that brought forth a positive attitude towards the soul's spiritual ascension. In
141
Origen, Com. 2.11.167. Origen distinguished between various levels of revelation with regard to
the Logos' presence; the Logos' fragrance and his presence. Origen referred to the latter (i.e.
presence) in the future tense, thus indicating its anticipation by the soul. See also Origen, Com. 1.4. 78.
Origen gave an eschatological twist to his argument. He referred to the union between the soul and
Christ. According to Origen, the Logos has taken over the soul's physical and spiritual functions:
"What, do you think, will they do when the Word of God takes possession oftheir hearing, their sight,
their touch, and their taste as well, and offers excellences from Himself that match each single sense
according to its nature and capacity"?
142
Cheek, Eschatology, 120.
50
contrast to Otis' view, the theme of divine abandonment in Origen addressed the
dynamic presence of God within history. It also highlighted the eschatological
horizon of the union between God and the soul, always emphasising divine paideia
as God's intervention to lead the soul to ethical perfection.
b. Gregory of Nyssa: the intellectual abandonment
In his exegesis, Gregory ofNyssa acknowledged his indebtedness to Origen. 143
Gregorian interpretation incorporated the main elements of Origenist exegesis with
regard to the value of the Song and the identification of the characters. Gregory also
exploited the Origenist notion of God's progressive manifestation in the Old
Testament that reached its climax with the incamation. 144 Overall, Gregory worked
on the Origenist understanding of the Song as a depiction of the soul's progressive
introduction to the divine mysteries. However, where Origen only implied a direct
manifestation of the Logos to the soul, always mediated by his manifestation in the
scriptures, Gregory explicitly taught the direct presence of the Logos within the soul
that transcended his manifestation within the scriptures. Gregory established his
exegesis on a mystical experience between the soul and God, where the soul has
searched for knowledge of what God is within his nature. But this is not to say that
Gregory was an intellectualist. For the soul's moral life played an important role in
his interpretation. Not only had the soul ascended to knowledge of the divine
mysteries, but she also advanced in her moral life. Danielou and Meredith have
highlighted Gregory's moral teaching to be of equal value with his idea of divine
gnosis. 145 Meredith commented that in Gregory's works of exegetical maturity,
the moral, the contemplative and the ascetic life are deeply related to each other. In
his earlier writings he seems to have thought of the relation as only one-way, that is,
of virtue as the gateway to gnosis; but in his more mature writings the movement is
two way. 146
143
Gregory, Hom. Prologus, 13. For the details of this work see, J. B. Cahill, 'The Date and Setting of
Gregory ofNyssa's Commentary on the Song of Songs', JThS 32 (1981), 447-460. Also, J. Munitiz,
'The Church at Prayer: Ecclesiological Aspects of St. Gregory of Nyssa's In Cantica Canticorum',
EsChR, vol. 3, no. 4 (Autumn 1971 ), 385-395. J. Danielou, 'Chronologie des reuvres de Gregoire de
Nysse', SP 7 (1966), 159-169. M. Canevet, 'Exegese et theologie dans les traites spirituels de
Gregoire de Nysse', in M. Harl (ed.), Ecriture et culture phi/osophique dans Ia pensee de Gregoire de
Nysse (Leiden: Brill, 1971), 144-168. A. Meredith, 'The Homilies on the Song of Songs', in The
Cappadocians (Crestwood NY: SVS, 2000), 78-89.
144
Gregory, Hom. 5, 140ff.
145
Meredith, 'Contemplation and Virtue', in The Cappadocians, 59-62.
146
Meredith, ibid, 61 and 69. In Meredith's own words, "as was already clear from the Homilies on
the Beatitudes Gregory was becoming increasingly convinced that Christian excellence was ethical
rather than mystical".
51
Gregory's position was that the more the soul advanced morally, the more she was
introduced to the divine mysteries. 147 The introduction of the soul to the divine
mysteries meant that the soul had realised the presence of the image of the groom
within her. In fact, Gregory followed two directions that lead to the same position:
due to her participation in the divine image the soul was able to participate in the
virtues. And it was because of her virtuous life that she had recovered the divine
image within. 148 The two positions were equally balanced in Gregory's exegesis.
It is commonplace that, in Gregory's Homilies on the Song, the theme of
divine abandonment had addressed divine transcendence. Indeed, the two works of
Gregory's spiritual and exegetical maturity, i.e., De Vita Moisis and In Canticum,
give evidence to Gregory's progressive attachment to a more apophatic language
with regard to spiritual life: at the summit of spiritual life is knowledge of the divine
being. But, as Balthasar put it, such knowledge could only conceive the existence
(ovrw~
(Eiv01) of the divine being
ov), without disclosing what the divine is in its
nature. 149 In the De Vita Moisis, Gregory addressed the progressive ascension of
Moses from "light" (cpw~)
150
to "darkness" (yv6cpo~)
15
and unknowability. 152 In In
Canticum, Gregory observed the fact that the bride was suddenly abandoned by the
groom. 153 It is acknowledged that Gregory argued theological positions according to
the text that he was interpreting. Thus, in the former work, Moses ascended to
various conditions. In the latter work, the bride did not ascend; she found and
suddenly lost. 154 Yet, Gregory brought together the notions of ascension and
abandonment since he indicated that both biblical images have addressed divine
incomprehensibility: the soul realised that it is impossible to grasp fully the divine
147
Balas illustrated the close relationship between Gregory's anthropology, ethical thought and
mystical theology. The soul was meant to participate in the divine attributes. Virtue was an attribute of
God. Thus, "the consummation of virtuous life is said to consist in the 'participation in God"'. See D.
Balas, 'Participation and Spiritual Life', in Maouuia ecoO: Man's Participation in God's Perfections
according to Saint Gregory of Nyssa, Studia Anselmiana 55 (Rome: Pontificium Institutum S.
Anselmi, 1966), 152-157.
148
For a discussion on the notion of participation see Balas, Mcrouala ecoo. Also, M. E. Keenan, 'De
Professione Christiana and De Perfectione: A Study of the Ascetical Doctrine of Saint Gregory of
Nyssa', DOP 5 (1950), 167-207. Also, G. B. Ladner, 'The Philosophical Anthropology of Saint
Gregory ofNyssa', DOP 12 (1958), 59-94.
149
Balthasar, 'The Philosophy of Becoming and Desire', in Presence, 27-l 08.
150
Gregory, Moses, 2.19. Cf. Ex 3:2ff.
151
Gregory, ibid, 2.162. Cf. Ex 20:21.
152
Gregory, ibid, 2.233. Cf. Ex 33:18-23.
153
Gregory, Hom. 6, 181. Cf. Sol3:1- 4.
154
For instance, compare Ex 33:18-23 to Sol3:4.
52
being as it is in its nature. 155 It lies beyond the limits of this thesis to argue the
sources and discuss the exegetical technicalities of Gregory's position with regard to
the divine incomprehensibility/infinity. What needs to be noted is the fact that
Gregory seems to be the first Christian thinker who associated incomprehensibility
with divine infinity: God knows no limits since there is no other quality in his
essence to limit him. 156 From this ontological observation, Gregory moved to the
idea that divine infinity implied that spiritual life was an unceasing quest. Since God
was infinite, the soul's ascension was a ceaseless quest.
At this point, we shall make three observations with regard to Gregory's
position on the theme of divine abandonment. We will deal with i) the relationship
between abandonment and ascension in the In Canticum and De Vita Moisis; ii) the
notion of abandonment as a state of perfection; and iii) the connection between
abandonment, trials and sin.
i) The motif of divine abandonment was peculiar to Gregory's In Canticum.
We need to remember that, in his De Vita, Gregory introduced the theme of
ascension, but not abandonment. In this latter work, Gregory held the same position
as In Canticum that divine being lies beyond the soul's intellectual (discursive) and
intelligible comprehension. Moses' desire to reach the summit of divine knowledge
had remained unfulfilled: God was surrounded by darkness. 157 It is through the latter
motif that
Gregory
has
introduced
155
divine
incomprehensibility.
Gregory
Gregory, Moses, 2.236: "IlatoEUEtat ydp otd t&v dpru1€vmv on to E>Etov Katd tl)v l:autou
q>uow Mptotov, ob~:vl.
n~:ptEy6Jl&vo
n€pan" (Moses is instructed from what has been said, that
the Divine is of itself infinite, circumscribed by no limit) [trans. Meredith]. Gregory, Hom. 12, 370:
"EloE to Mpun6v tE Kat UnEpiypantov tOU aya1tffiJlEVOlJ KliA.A.oc; l;v naon tTl liiot6tT]tl t&v
(she saw the infinite and uncircumscribed beauty of the
airovmv Kpdttov ad ~:bptoK6Jl&v"
beloved, which is always found anew in the eternity of the ages).
156
For a thorough discussion on the matter in the light of the Song see: M. Laird, Gregmy of Nyssa
and the Grasp of Faith: Union, Knowledge and Divine Presence, Oxford Early Christian Studies
(Oxford: OUP, 2004). Also, J. Danielou, 'La Tenebre ou de !'amour', in Platonisme, 175-307. M.
Laird, 'Gregory of Nyssa and the Mysticism of Darkness: A Reconsideration', JR 79, no. 4 (Oct.
1999), 592-616. Danielou's introduction in Gregoire de Nysse, Vie de Moise, J. Danielou (ed.), SCI
(Paris: Cerf, 1955), xiv. Also, A.K. Geljon, 'Divine Infinity in Gregory of Nyssa and Philo of
Alexandria', VgCh 59 (2005), 152-177. A. Meredith, 'Gregory ofNyssa', in The Cappadocians, 62ff.
K. Ware, 'God Hidden and Revealed: The Apophatic Way and the Essence-Energies Distinction',
EsChR, vol. 7, no.2 (1975), 125-136. V. Lossky, 'Darkness and Light in Knowledge of God', trans. E.
Every, EsChQ 8 (1969), 460-471. M. Laird, 'Apophasis and Logophasis in Gregory Nyssa's
Commentarius in Canticum Canticorum', SP 37 (2001), 126-132.
157
Gregory, Moses, 2.162-164: "Tote J.!Ev ydp tv q>roti, vuv lit tv yv6q>tp to E>Etov opiitat ... "OtE
oov JlEi~mv
l;y{v~:to
Katd tl)v yv&otv b Mmuof]c;. t6tE OJlOAoyd tov E>~:ov
tv yv6q>cp iodv,
tout€on t6tE yv&vat on tKEiv6 l:on tTl q>uo~:t
to E>dov 6 nlioT]c:; yvro~:c;
tE Kat KataAl'J'VEffic;
tonv avrot~:p"
(then the Deity was seen in the light, now is it seen in the cloud ... it is only when
Moses has increased in knowledge that he confesses that he beheld God in the cloud, that is, that he
knows that the Divine is by nature something above all knowledge and comprehension) [trans.
Meredith]. Cf. 2 Sm. 22:10.
53
communicated this position without referring to the theme of abandonment or the
image of the bride of the biblical Song. This latter interaction was also peculiar to his
In Canticum. For, in this latter work, Gregory brought into play the image of Moses
which he related to the biblical bride. 158 The introduction of the theme of Moses'
progressive ascension from light to darkness helped Gregory develop his position on
divine incomprehensibility in the In Canticum. However, the main device through
which Gregory supported divine incomprehensibility in this latter work is the theme
of divine abandonment. Danielou aptly observed that Gregory altered his exegesis
according to the text on which he was working. It is the fact that biblical narratives
present diverging imageries that urged Gregory to follow diverging interpretations.
In the De Vita, God had communicated with Moses and yet he denied Moses access
to his divine nature. The imagery was that of ascension, communication and denial
(darkness). In the Song of Songs, the groom had suddenly abandoned the bride. The
Song illustrated the similes of communication, separation (darkness) and re-union.
Laird indicated a shift in Gregory's exegesis in his In Canticum: according to Laird,
the In Canticum illustrates a more optimistic position in Gregory with regard to the
summit of spiritual life. If, in his De Vita, Gregory had argued in terms of darkness
and incomprehensibility, in the In Canticum, Gregory shifted to the language of
union and light. 159 It is true that the motif of abandonment was part of the narrative.
158
Gregory, Hom. 6. 181. For Meredith, though the two accounts of the De Vita and In Canticum
shared common themes with regard to spiritual progress, they also had dissimilarities that need to be
taken into account. See Meredith, The Cappadocians, 84. According to Meredith, Gregorian exegesis
on the Song saw yv6cpof) to be at the summit of spiritual ascension, as opposed to aK6roc; of the De Vita.
Also, Gregory has expounded his exegesis on the Song by alluding to Ex 20:21; in the Vita Moisis, he
has highlighted the theological importance of Ex 33:20-23. For Meredith, exegesis on the Song
addressed divine incomprehensibility; whereas the Vita Moisis focused on divine infinity. However, in
both works Gregory interlinked yv6<pof) and aK6roc; without significantly differentiating between the
two terms. The yv6cpoc; is the dark cloud in which God dwells.
159
See Laird, 'Gregory of Nyssa and the Mysticism of Darkness'. Laird acknowledges that it was
Meredith that supported this balance between light and darkness in Gregory. See Meredith, 'Gregory
of Nyssa', in The Cappadocians, 52-101. For Meredith, the theme of darkness was never really
integrated into his commentary on the Song. Meredith, ibid, 84. Laird argued against the idea that
Gregory was a mystic of"darkness". According to him, Gregory introduced the theme of darkness and
discursive separation to the same degree at which he also introduced the motif of union in light.
According to Laird, it was in his In Canticum that Gregory presented his most elegant balance
between "darkness mysticism" and "light" spirituality. In doing so, Laird moderated the significance
of Puech and Danielou's position that Gregory was a mystic of darkness par excellence. For instance,
Crouzel had argued that, "Origen and Gregory of Nyssa have often been contrasted by attributing to
the former a mysticism of light and to the latter a mysticism of darkness". In Crouzel's thought,
Gregory and Origen provided different exegetical and theological insights due to Origen's refutation
of the Montanists and Gregory's defence against Eunonius. However, Crouzel had concluded that
"behind the different forms of expressions, it is by no means certain that the experience of the one was
all that different from the experience of the other". Crouzel, Origen, 121. See also Danielou,
54
Yet, the theme of abandonment needs to be seen in connection to the notion of
union. Rather than dealing with utter separation of 'discursive' and 'intelligent'
thought
(~Javo-O)
from the divine reality, Gregory highlighted the notion of
separation and re-union. Any overemphasis to the exegetical similarities between the
De Vita and In Canticum would do an injustice to the fact that the motif of love being the main element of the Song- communicated the notion of union between God
and the soul. Thus, the theme of abandonment needs to direct us to the motif of reunion between bride and groom.
ii) Despite the fact that Plotinus and Philo had both touched upon the idea of
divine infinity, 160 it is only Gregory who argued the notion of divine abandonment as
the summit of knowledge about God. It needs to be noticed that Origen, in his
Commentary on John, had also addressed the theme of separation with regard to the
soul's perception of the divine. However, it is acknowledged that Origen never
supported divine infinity. 161 What Origen indicated is the fact that the Logos
remained with the intellect 162 for as long as the latter was capable of holding him;
but, he would soon depart. Origenist exegesis depended on Jn 2:11 and 4:40 and
lacked the Gregorian overtones of the soul's seeking of and ascending to "knowing
God in unknowing", since Origen denied divine infinity. 163
Platonisme, 190-199. Idem, 'Mystique de Ia tenebre chez Gregoire de Nysse', in DSp 2.2, 1872-1886.
H.C. Puech, 'La Tenebre mystique chez le Pseudo-Denys I' Areopagite et dans Ia tradition patristique',
in En Quete de Ia gnose: La gnose et les temps et autres essais, vol. 1, Bibliotheque des sciences
humaines (Paris: Gallimard, 1978), 119-141. For a thorough analysis of the imagery of union in the In
Canticum see: Laird, 'Fountain of Presence, Breasts of Wine: The Flow of Knowledge in the In
Canticum Canticorum', in Grasp ofFaith, 13 1-153.
160
See: Geljon, 'Divine Infinity in Gregory of Nyssa and Philo of Alexandria'. Geljon has criticised
MUhlenberg's position that Gregory was the first thinker to introduce the theme of divine infintity. He
shared sides with Guyot -while remaining critical of him- so that "starting points" of the notion of
divine infinity originated in Philo. See E. MUhlenberg, Die Unendlichkeit Gottes bei Gregor von
Nyssa: Gregors Kritik am Gottesbegriff der Klassischen Metaphysik, Forschungen zur Kirchen und
Dogmengeschichte 16 (G~tinge:
Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1966). H. Guyot, L 'Infinite divine
depuis Phi/on /e juifjusque' aPlot in (Paris: AI can 1906).
161
Origen, Commentariis in Evange/ium Joannis, 13.52.347 [pg 224 in SC 222]. Origen scholars have
indicated that Origen maintained the Platonic argument that the unlimited --hence undefined-equalled to the the non-being. It was the latter that lacked any kind of form and definition. See
Meredith, Gregory of Nyssa, 13 and 66: Gregory turned the argument to his own favour arguing that
what defines a limit is the presence of an opposite quality (e.g. light and darkness). For the reason that
God did not accommodate opposite qualities (e.g. good-evil) in him, the divine was undefined and
unlimited. Gregory ofNyssa, Contra Eunomium, 1.168 [edition in GNO 1]. See Otis, 'Cappadocian
Thought'.
162
Allegorised in the similes ofthe Canaanites and the Samaritans of the gospel.
163
Despite the fact that both Gregory and Origen referred to the soul's limitation to grasp the divine,
their respective positions had commenced on differing anthropologies and theologies. Origen
attributed such limitation to human weakness due to the fall. Gregory rendered incomprehensibility to
divine nature as such. See Laird, 'Mysticism of Darkness', 593 [footnote no. 3].
55
However, it is in another point that Origen and Gregory came close in their
exegesis. Origen and Gregory envisaged separation from the divine as an experience
that took place at a spiritually mature level. For Origen, at the summit of spiritual
development, the soul had experienced trials that Origen associated with divine
separation. Origen's argument held more ethical overtones than that of Gregory of
Nyssa. In his tum, the Cappadocian exegete maintained a more sophisticated
argument
than
Origen's:
he
did
not
refer
to
trials,
but
to
divine
incomprehensibility. 164 Yet, for both authors, we need to notice that the theme of
abandonment was introduced after the soul's initial ascension. It is the biblical
narrative that urged the two exegetes to introduce the theme of separation and reunion. However, they both established their thought on theological and
anthropological suppositions. For Origen and Gregory, the Song of Songs drew its
theological value from the fact that its content was of one accord with divine
revelation. Thus, the motif was incorporated in their exegeses as a theme introduced
in the biblical narrative. Origen indicated that divine paideia found its ultimate
expression at the summit of spiritual life where the soul remained subjected to trials.
Origen argued the above position in his other works, such as De Oratione,
Exhortatio ad Martyrium and Homi/ice in Numeros. Gregory dismissed this Origenist
line of interpretation in his De Vita and In Canticum. Yet, he maintained the notion
of divine paideia. Only this time, paideia did not instruct the soul about her fall
(Origen), but about the true nature of the divine. Thus, the fact remains that both
exegetes attested that the soul experienced abandonment -in different levels-- in her
pursuit for the divine groom.
It is apparent that Origen and Gregory referred to different kinds of
experiences connected to the theme of abandonment. For Origen, it was an
experience in ethical terms where the soul was subjected to trials. Yet we need to
remember that Origen also associated the experience with the hiding of the groom
from the intellect. For Origen, the soul remained puzzled about the meaning of the
scriptures. For Gregory, the experience revealed the incomprehensibility of the
divine nature. We could not overlook this fundamental difference between the two
exegetes. Yet, we need not exaggerate their exegetical divergence. Like Origen,
Gregory also presented the experience of abandonment as a distressful condition.
164
See the overall presentation in Gregory, Hom. 6, 173-199 and 12, 340-370.
56
Balthasar highlighted the importance of the soul's frustration and despair in his
Presence et Pensee. 165 Laird smoothed over any Origenist overtones by indicating
that for Gregory, the soul did not really reach despair since she was not deprived of
the divine presence altogether. Even though she did not fully grasp the divine, her
desire was fulfilled through the presence ofthe divine within her (divine image). We
could not agree more with Laird's observation. Yet, the fact remains that both
Origen and Gregory attested that, at the stage of spiritual maturity, an experience has
taken place that took the soul by surprise and momentarily caused distress to her.
Both exegetes derived this position from the imagery presented in the Song. The
imagery of separation is followed after the simile of union.
Mosshammer has researched on Gregory's intellectual development from his
De Beatitudinibus to his In Canticum. 166 His article is an excellent presentation of
the way that Gregory's thought developed throughout the years. However,
Mosshammer did not discuss the fact that Gregory advanced his thought further in
distinction to the Origenist tradition. This fact becomes more apparent when we take
into consideration Gregory's exegesis on the third beatitude, 167 and compare it to his
interpretation on Sol 3: 1. In both cases Gregory presented the idea of distress that
165
Balthasar, Presence, 104. Balthasar construed Gregory's thought with regard to the Cappadocian's
insights on the structure of"time" and "being". Cf. Gregory, Hom. 12, 369: "tp6nov nvd nA.iJuuEtat
KUt tpUlJ.'i~Ea
tfl lVEA1tU'i~
'tOU 1t000llJ.lEVOll lt~:A.f)
'tE KUi avun6A.uuutov 'tOU KUAOU tl'lv
imtOuJ.tiav voJ.tiuuuu" (in a way, the soul is hurt and wounded in despair by thinking that the longing
for the desired is imperfect and the good cannot be enjoyed). Laird and Bahis dismissed a
psychological overemphasis on such sadness that could argue that the soul remains clueless about the
divine. Ably, they indicated that, according to Gregory, it was the very pursuit that turned to the soul's
spiritual satisfaction. Laird, Grasp of Faith, 88-89 and especially pg. 96 [footnote no. 179] where
Laird has criticised Balthasar's position. Williams had reached the same conclusion with Laird. SeeR.
Williams, 'Makrina's Deathbed Revisited: Gregory of Nyssa on Mind and Passion', in L. R. Wickham
et. al (eds.)., Christian Faith and Greek Philosophy in Late Antiquity: Essays in Tribute to George
Christopher Stead (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1993), 242. For Laird, the issue is not whether soul experiences
a sort of frustration, but whether she is presented with a 'consolation prize'. Williams has focused on
158. Cf. Gregory, Hom. 12,
the relation between soul's life and natural passions. Balas, Maouaia e~o,
369: "7tEptatpdtat 'tO tile; AU1tT]<; etptutpov Otd 'tOU J.lUOEtV O'tl 'tO ad 7tpOK61ttEtV tv tcp ~T]'tELV
KUt to J.lT]Iit1tO'tE tf)<; av6oou 1tUUEU0Ut toih6 l;unv i"J llA.T]Ol't<; tou 7t000llJ.lEVOll an6A.auut<; tf)<;
mivtotE nA.T]pot>J.lEVT]<; l:ntOUJ.ltU<; f:ttpav tmOuJ.tiav tou l>nEpKEtJ.ltvou y~:vfiuT]<;"
(she removes the
garment of sorrow when learning that, to progress always in pursuit and never to cease ascending, this
is the true pleasure of the desired; the desire that is fulfilled becomes the beginning of another desire
of what lies above). K. Rombs, 'Gregory of Nyssa's Doctrine of Epektasis: Some Logical
Implications', SP 37 (2001), 288-293
166
A. A. Mosshammer, 'Gregory's Intellectual Development: A Comparison of the Homilies on the
Beatitudes with the Homilies on the Song ofSongs', in H. R. Drobner and A. Viciano (eds.), Gregory
ofNyssa: Homilies on the Beatitudes, VgCh 52 (Leiden: Brill, 2000), 359-387.
167
Mt 5:5: "blessed are the sorrowful, for they shall be comforted". Gregory, Beat. 3.98.24ff
[reference to number ofhiomily, and page in GNO 7.2].
57
has taken place at the soul's spiritual ascension. 168 For Gregory, the beatitudes were
a spiritual ladder of ascensions. The beatitudes were addressed to spiritually mature
souls that were advancing in spiritual life. Gregory commented on the fact that, in
the beatitudes, mourning was part of the third beatitude: mourning was close to the
peak of spiritual ascension. 169 According to Gregory, in an Origenist fashion, at the
summit of spiritual life, the soul meditated on her nature, her previous condition (i.e.
before the fall) and the fact that she had rediscovered a treasure that she possessed
but lost due to her fall. 170 Gregory defined sorrow as "the loss of something the heart
was set upon", i.e. a deprivation. 171 His exegesis echoed the Origenist Homilies on
the Song: the soul needed to meditate on her nature, in order to advance to further
spiritual hights. Most significantly, Gregory seems to have accommodated the
classical image of the Platonic cave in the Republic: 172 the soul that had looked upon
light descended to the shadowy world. 173 Origen had explicitly engaged the role of
trials as paideia in this instance; a fact that Gregory continued to overlook. Gregory
focused on the contrast between the soul's previous status and her current condition.
Grief was the product of the soul's spiritual progress. The more she realised her loss
of divine heights, the more she grieved about this loss. Gregory emphasised the fact
that the soul possessed this Good before the fall. 174
In
the
In
Canticum,
grief
appears
m
connection
with
divine
incomprehensibility. Gregory had presented the idea of divine transcendence in his
earlier work De Beatitudinibus. He also related transcendence to grief in this
168
For a discussion of Gregorian exegesis on Mt 5:4 see, Fr. Vinet, 'Gregoire de Nysse, De
Beatitudinibus: Oratio III, "Bienheureux les affliges, parce qu'ils seront consoles" ', in Drobner and
Viciano (eds.), Homilies on the Beatitudes, 139-147.
169
Again, Gregory was following the scriptural narrative that presented Christ as addressing the
beatitudes from a high place (hill). Cf. Mt. 5: I. Gregory, Beat. 2.89.31 and also 3.98.24.
170
Gregory, Beat. 3.104.1.
171
Gregory, Beat. 3.102.16: "7tEV90~
EOtl OKU9pro7tl) oui9Et~
tile; 'IUXfJ~.
E7ti OtEpi]oEt tVO~
t&v
Kata9ul!irov ouvtotai!Evr)" [trans. Hall].
172
Plato, Respub/ica, 516e. For the use of Plato's cave in Gregory see A. Meredith, 'Plato's "Cave"
(Republic vii 514a-517e) in Origen, Plotinus, and Gregory of Nyssa', SP 27 (1993), 49-61.
173
Gregory, Beat. 3.103.17: "b oE tfi lmoA.a6oEt toll i:~ro
c:prot~
ouvEt9OI!V~.
e~
E1tlPia~
ttvoc;
Kat<iKA.Etotoc; yEVlltat, obx Ol!oi~
ill!q>OtEprov fJ t&v 7tap6vtrov Ka9<i7ttEtat oul!c:popd, b !!EV ydp
dor~
ou eotEPlltat, ~apdv
7tOtEitat toll q>rotoc; tl)v ~l!iav"
(the other is used to the pleasure of
the light outside and has been shut in by some hostile act. The present circumstances affect them quite
differently: the one who knows what he has been deprived oftakes the loss of light very hard).
174
Gregory, Beat. 3.105.10: "To6tou I!Evtot toll b7tEpaiov~
1tnoav ouval!tV KataA.ll7tttKl)v, ev
I!Etoui~
7tOtE TJI!EV oi dv9pro7tot" (Yet, this which transcends all power of understanding is
something we human beings once enjoyed as participants). Gregory has referred to the imprint of the
divine image in the soul.
58
instance. 175 It was not divine incomprehensibility that caused the soul's grief, but the
idea that she had fallen from her previous blessed status. Thus, Gregory employed a
semi-Origenist line of reasoning. However, in his In Canticum, Gregory refined his
thought by highlighting the close relation between grief and divine transcendence.
From a sort of anthropologically-connected perception of grief which bears more
psychological overtones, Gregory moved to a theological conception that
emphasised grief as intimately connected to divine knowledge. 176 What we need to
conclude is that, despite this shifting in his exegetical position, Gregory maintained
the idea of an "event" within spiritual life that, in its own terms, saddened the soul
without involving the notion of sin or trials. In his De Beatitudinibus, Gregory
illustrated a clear distinction between past, present and future:
The one who has been able to look upon the truly Good and thereafter considered
the poverty of human nature, will surely hold his soul to be unfortunate, regarding it
as a sorrow that his present life is deprived of that Good. Therefore the saying does
not seem to me to bless the pain, but rather the knowledge of the good, since what is
being sought is not present in life. 177
iii) Finally, the lack of any reference to sin as cause of abandonment remained
among the main features of Gregorian exegeses on the Song. Origen had only
implied the presence of sin in his work and only with regard to her paideia. Thus, the
soul was not chastised by the experience. She was instructed to look at her origin and
realise her immanent weakness. Thus, even if Origen had referred to trials -in
connection to divine abandonment- it was not sin that had caused the presence of
trials.
Gregory maintained this distinction between the expenence of divine
abandonment and the presence of sin: it was not the latter that had caused divine
abandonment. It is more likely that Gregory refrained from associating the two
events because of the biblical narrative. For, as it was observed, the narrative
Gregory, Beat. 3.105.5: ""Oocp o& t~
yvrom;~
fll,t&v U\jiTJMtt:pov dvat to ityaeov tfl qniot:t
'tOOOU'tql ~aA.ov
'tO 1tEVlo~
l;v abtoi~
E7t'V(J)~,
on 'tOtoU't6V !;on Kai 'tOOOU'tOV
to ityallov, ou otE~Uyv
wrxavo~EV,
(o~
~TJOE
tt'Jv yv&otv abtou xropEiv 06vao9at" (the more
we believe the Good to be by nature higher than our knowledge, the more we intensify our sorrow,
that the Good from which we find ourselves separated is such and so great that we cannot even attain
the knowedge of it).
176
The De Beatitudinibus features more homiletical elements through which Gregory attempted to
move his audience. The In Canticum provides more evidence of Gregory's mature theology on divine
infinity as part ofhis refutation ofEunomian Arianism and Apollinarianism.
177
Gregory, Beat. 3.104.1: "b to itA.TJl&~
ayaeov KattoEiv ioxua~.
E7tEtta tt)v 7ttroxdav t~
av9pro7tiVTJ~
cp6ot:r~
Katvoi)~.
l;v ou~cp
tt)v 'l'uxt'Jv 7tavro~
s~Et,
tcp ~t'J dvat l;v tcp ityaecp
l:Kdvcp -rov 1tap6vta ~iov,
ntveo~
7to6~:v.
ObKouv ou tt'Jv A.67tTJV ~m
ooKEi ~aKpiEtv
b
A6yo~.
itA.A.d tt)v dOTJOlV tOU ityaeou, fl to t~
AU7tTJ~
1talo~
E7tOU~aiV,
otd 'tO ~t'J 7tllpEtVIlt tcp
~iql
'tO ~TJtOUEV".
175
7tO'EU~V,
59
provided no explicit hints of misdeeds that had caused the departure of the groom.
Unlike Origen, Gregory overlooked the presence of sin altogether: the soul ascended
to the divine unhindered. We agree with Otis that it was due to diverging
anthropologies that Origen and Gregory presented different approaches to sin. As
Otis observed, Origen was occupied with the idea of the soul's potential lapsing, and
her "return" to the divine. 178 To this position, Otis juxtaposed Gregory's optimism:
Gregory highlighted the soul's "pursuit" of divine knowledge instead. 179 This might
be so. However, the reason why Gregory overlooked the presence of sin is not
merely because he refined Origenism. As Meredith and Keenan have shown,
Gregory illustrated the theological tension of Patristic literature to argue spiritual life
in terms of the efficacy of the redemptive work of Christ. 180 Thus, that the soul
ascended unhindered was not due to her knowledge of her own weakness, as Origen
might have put it. 181 It was due to the incarnation and the passion. 182 Thus, Gregory
viewed sin and human weakness as utterly overcome by means of the incarnation.
178
For Otis, Origen was holding a Platonic understanding about the soul's changeability as a negative
attribute: changeability meant moral mutability that urged the soul to move from good to evil. Otis,
'Cappadocian Thought', 101 ff. On the opposite side, through his notion of epektasis as the unceasing
quest for the divine, Gregory shifted the terms arguing that changeability was the quality that enabled
the soul to pursue her unceasing quest to know God.
179
Gregory, Hom. 12, 366: "otd touto mivtotE tote; €~-tnpoaOEv
lmEKtvo~-VT]
ou 7tllUEtat Kilt ano
wu tv ci> tattv t~oual
Kilt npoc; to tv06tEpov daou~-tVT]
tv ci> ounro l:'ytv~o"
(for this reason,
she [the soul] does not cease always to stretch ahead, and leaving behind the place she is, she moves
even deeper where she has not yet been).
180
Athanasius might have been Gregory's source at this point. Cf. A. Meredith, The Cappadocians, 69
and 87. See also, Keenan, 'De Professione Christiana' for Gregory's Christocentrism. As will be
discussed in the 3'd part; indeed, in his Vita Antonii, Athanasius had envisaged the spiritual life in the
light of the incarnation: Athanasius' Antony was victorious over passions due to Christ's victory over
sin. For Meredith, Gregory's Christocentric argument was part of the Cappadocian's reaction to
Appolinarian human minimalism in Christology. See Meredith, 'Plato's "Cave" (Republic vii 514a517e) in Origen, Plotinus, and Gregory ofNyssa'.
181
Gregory, Hom. 6, 174: "[O]td tf]c; t&v €~-tnpoaOEv
tnEKc:ia~ro;
tv A.l'JOU ytvo~-r
t&v
npotT]VUa~-vr"
(stretching out, forgetting of what is behind). Cf. Phil 3.12. The term epektasis
became a technical term only after Danielou's monumental work on Gregory of Nyssa. Danielou
emphasised that epektasis connotes the soul's ceaseless pursuit for the divine due to divine infinity.
See J. Danielou, 'L'Epektase', in Platonisme, 291-307. Idem, From Glory to Glory: Texts from
Gregory of Nyssa's Mystical Writings, trans. Herbert Musurillo (Crestwood NY: SVS, 1979), 56-71.
M. Canevet, 'Le Perception de Ia presence de Dieu: A propos d'une expression de Ia Xle homelie sur
le Cantique des Cantiques', in J. Fontaine and Ch. Kannengiesser (eds.), Epektasis: Melanges
patristiques offerts au cardinal Jean Danielou (Paris: Beauchesne, 1972), 443-454.
182
Gregory, Hom. 2, 51 :"[y]i;yovE ~-t€v
f] iJ.vOpronivT] cp6atc; tou iJ.A.T]Otvou cprotoc; iJ.nEtK6va~-l
n6ppro
t&v CJKO'tEtv&v XllPilK'tl'jprov tfl toU iJ.pXE'tU7t01) Kc:iA.A.ouc; b~-to6l]
atiA.Pouall, b M 7tEpa~-oc;
'tOV
cpA.oycOOT] KUUOffiVIl ot' iJ.nc:itT]c; tmPill..rov ... EiJOuc; otd tf]c; 7tllpllKof]c; iJ.7tO~T]pc:vl;
... otd tf]c; KllUCJEffic;
~-tA.Ilv
tnoiT]CJEV" (human nature became an image of the true light, shining forth the archetypal beauty
far from dark features; the temptation cast upon it the flaming heat through deception... he
immediately dried it up ... he blackened it through burning heat). In this passage, Christ's redemptive
work is realised in the efficacy of baptism. The soul had lost her divine image through the fall. But
baptism restored this divine image within the soul.
60
But this is not to say that Gregory believed that the soul was assaulted by trials
any more. He illustrated such trials in terms of hindrance:
[The soul] should look into herself and walk on the divine way with every safety,
leaping across and overcoming all the hindrances that appear on her way from
temptations. 183
We need to note that in this present passage from In Canticum, Gregory maintained a
good deal ofOrigenist thought: 184 the soul had meditated on her nature, and thus, she
overcame what might obstruct her way to the divine. It is important to highlight the
fact that Gregory referred to temptations that seem to continue afflicting the soul.
Indeed, Gregory did not deny that the soul remained subjected to assaults from evil
spirits and pride:
So, if someone establishes his soul to have tranquility in waveless silence, [the soul]
shall not be disturbed by the evil spirits, or arrogant in pride, or foamy from the
waves of anger, or shaken by any other passion and wandering in the winds that stir
up the various waves ofpassions. 185
What Gregory implied is that, at the summit of the spiritual life, the soul was not
unassaulted by trials and temptations: the soul reached the stage of apatheia. The
term indicates that the soul remained undisturbed from temptations assaulting her. As
Danielou has observed, temptations are coterminous with this present life. 186 As long
as the soul had remained in this life, she remained subjected to trials and temptations.
Comparing Origen with Gregory of Nyssa, Otis ably observed that "Gregory, of
course, refers to temptation en route, but for him this is never a temptation to relapse
once the final "shadow" has been entered". 187 We need to view Otis' observation in
terms of Gregory's eschatological direction. The soul remained afflicted by
Gregory, Hom. 3, 80: "[1t]po<; f:autl)v ~A.tm:v
Kai l>t' iiacpaA.da<; miaT]<; 1tpO<; tOV eEtov OpOjlOV
mivta td i:K m:tpaajlrov nvrov f:yytv6jlEVa 1tpO<; tov l>p6jlOV Ejl1t6l>ta l>taA.A.ojlEVTJV Kat
U1tE~aivou".
Cf. Gregory, Beat. 1.85.lff: "'0 ydp 1tp0<; tautov, Kai 111'1 td 1tEpi autov ~AE1t(J)V,
obK liv ~:bA.6yro<;
~:i<;
to totoutov f:jlmaot mi6o<;" (one who looks into himself and not at what is
around him could not readily fall into such a condition). Gregory has used the same expression to
show that the soul that has looked into herself could not be assailed by pride. At this instance,
Gregory has exemplified that "looking into herself' means meditating on her humble origin. However,
the overall homiletical overtones of the De Beatitudinibus suggest that Gregory has been carried away
in addressing his audience rather than pondering on spiritual mysteries. Pride in the latter work seems
not to have sprung from spiritual ascensions but earthly-possessions.
184
Gregory, Hom. 2, 58-59. The soul's past sinfulness was related to her pride.
185
Gregory, Hom. 3, 81: "d toivuv outro tt<; tl)v tautou 'l'uxl)v Kataatl'JaEtEV, ffi<; abtl'Jv tE
yaA.itVTJV EX.EtV tv iiK6jlOVt tfl flaux.i~
jlTJOEV 1tapaKtVOUIJ.EVTJV l:K t&v 1tVEUiJ.O.trov tTJ<; 1tOVT]pia<;
llTttE ot' um:pT]q>avia<; oioaivouaav jll'jtE tot<; tou 6UjlOU KUjlaatv l;~aq>piouv
llTttE Kat' dUo tt
1tO.Oo<; KA.uorvt~OiJEVT
Kat 1tEptq>Epo1J.EVTJV 1tavti ilvtjl(p tiP td 1tOtKiA.a K6jlata t&v 7taOT]jlO.trov
183
tm:iy~ae
l:y~ipovn".
186
187
J. Danielou, 'La Lutte contre les Tentations', in Platonisme, 87-92.
Otis, 'Cappadocian Thought', 116 [footnote no. 52].
61
temptations. However, the grace brought by the incarnation "secured" the soul from
lapsing. The soul continued to labour ethically until the time of her rest to come. 188
To this end, Gregory introduced the notion of interchanging periods between
rest and trials, which seems to have developed independently of Origen. In fact,
Gregory followed the language of the Song introducing the interaction between
"winter" and "spring". Whereas the latter connoted spiritual rest -the time that
virtues had shone forth- the former period was synonymous with trials and
temptations: "this present time lies between the two seasons of the winter dejection
and ofthe summer communion ofthe fruits". 189 Gregory presented the soul's current
condition as balancing between the cultivation of virtues and the expectation oftrials.
He made the distinction between "early figs" (6Auv9oi) and "mature figs" (yAuKtoc; Kai
n:AEiou Kaprro0).
190
That is to say that, Gregory distinguished between the initial fruits
of virtue and the mature works of virtue. This distinction was meant to introduce the
position that this life is conducted with the interaction of the winter of trials and the
spring of virtue. Thus, Gregory maintained the Origenist tension between resting and
labouring. Regardless of the soul's spiritual ascension to the divine, the present life
was expected to be conducted in labour and rest. Gregory alluded to Mt 13:39 to
bring forth the scriptural foundation of his argument:
For this reason, on the one hand, it expressly announces the provision of evils, and
on the other hand, it does not present perfectly the fruits of virtue. But, she [i.e. the
soul] will deposit them in proper time, when the summer shall come. You know
188
Modem research discusses Gregory's eschatology in terms of his universalism and also his position
of epektasis. For instance see: A. A. Mosshammer, 'Historical Time and the Apokatastasis according
to Gregory of Nyssa', SP 27 (1993), 70-93. Also, M. Ludlow, Universal Salvation: Eschatology in the
Thought ofGregory of Nyssa and Karl Rahner, OThM (Oxford: OUP, 2000). Thus, modem research
overlooks the fact that an aspect of Gregory's eschatology was that the soul was expecting her
liberation from trials. If the idea of epektasis and the unknowing knowledge of God had, somehow,
limited the importance of eschatology for Gregory, the fact that in both De Beatutitinibus and In
Canticum Gregory illustrated a firm distinction between "here" and "there" or "now" and "then",
gives evidence that, in his thought, Gregory incorporated a genuine Christian anticipation of the
eschaton as the point in history that would bring something new to the soul. M. Alexandre,
'Perspectives eschatologiques dans les homelies sur les Beatitudes de Gregoire de Nysse', in Drobner
and Viciano (eds.), Homilies on the Beatitudes, 257-291.
189
Gregory, Hom. 5, 155: "[OJ M Katpoc; outoc; 1J.E96pt6c; l:crtt t&v ouo Katp&v, tfjc; tE X,Et!J.Eptvfjc;
Katfl<pdac; Kat tfjc; EV tcp Of:pEt tiDV Kap7tiDV IJ.EtOUOtac;".
190
Gregory, Hom. op. cit.: "to tolvuv npo tou yA.uKt:oc; tE Kal. tEA.Eiou Kapnou uno tfjc; auKilc; l:v
Kapn&v EtOEt 7tpoPaH61J.EVOV oA.uveoc; A.t:yEtat, 07tEP Kal. abto !J.eV EOcOOt!J.OV ecre' OtE toic;
pouA.oiJ.f:Votc; l:crtiv. ot IJ.TtV l:KEiv6 l:crttv b Kapn6c;, liHd tou Kapnou npooi!J.toV yivEtat" (so that,
which appears before the sweet and mature fruit from the fig tree in the form of a fruit, is called an
early fig, and it is edible for those that desire it; it is not the mature fruit, but it is the beginning of the
mature fruit).
62
about the meaning of the summer from the voice of the Lord which says that: "the
harvest is the consummation of the age". 191
Gregory presented this life as conducted in tension between labouring (winter) and
resting (spring), until the Second Coming that signaled the soul's harvesting the
fruits of her virtue (summer). Thus, Gregory maintained a clear eschatological
perspective.
In arguing thus, Gregory showed the need for moral and ethical struggle.
Gregory exhorted to ethical vigilance and also presented us with the idea that
spiritual life is not an intellectual exercise. Moral life was standing at the same level
with the soul's grasping God through faith.
Finally, we need to look more closely at the expression
meq6pto~.
Gregory did
not find refuge in the notion of abandonment in order to argue that this life was
balanced between two conditions. Unlike his contemporaries Macarius and Evagrius,
Gregory developed a spirituality that derived from his distinct anthropology. This
life is
J1&86pto~
(being a boundary); for the human being is a J1&86ptov being a
boundary between heaven and earth, the intelligible and tangible, anticipation and
fulfilment. 192 In Ladner's word,
[the] temporal rhythm is one of life and death, of wakefulness and sleep, of tension
and relaxation, of continuous renewal until time be consumed and consummated in
eternity. What Gregory says about reformation and time, resurrection and eternity,
stands on the border line between the philosophical-physiological and the mysticalascetical aspects of his anthropology. 19
Gregory developed an anthropology in which he implanted the notion of mediation
at the centre: in all his aspects, man is a medium between two conditions. This
position shows that Gregory provided a uniform understanding of man: before the
191
Gregory, Hom. op. cit.: "otd tot.ltO to J.1EV 1tapqlX,llKEVat td KaKd otappflOllV €00'Y'Y€AH;Etat, touc;
OE Kap1tOUc; tf)c; itpEtf)c; OU1tffi t€f...droc; 1tpoodKVUOtv. af...Ad toutauc; J.1EV EV tcp Ka9f1KOV'tt Katpcp
taJ.LtEUOEtat, 6tav l:votfl to Of:poc; otoac; oE 1tlivtroc; to otd tol> Of:pouc; OllAOUJ.1€VOV l:K tf)c; tou
KUptOU q>rovf)c;, i'J tOUt6 QlllOtv ()n '0 9EptOJ.10c; OUVtEAEta tOU al.rov6c; l:ottv".
192
Gregory, Hom. II' 334: "t] av9pro1ttVll ljiUX.tl Olio q>UO€ffiV ouoa IJ.€96ptoc;, rov t] J.1EV aomJ.1at6c;
l:ott Kat voEpd Kat I'LKT)patoc; t] BE l:tf:pa oroJ.LattKtl Kat uA.ri:Jo11c; Kat liA.oyoc;" (the human soul is
being a boundary between two natures, the one bodiless and intelligible and uncompounded, the other
bodiless and material and irrational). Cf. Gregory of Nyssa, De Opificio Hominis, PG 44, 125-256.
For the Christocentric dimension of Gregory's pc061~
see Balthasar, Presence, 146-147. L.
Thunberg, 'The Human as Microcosm', in B. McGinn and J. Leclercq (eds.), Christian Sprituality:
Origins to the Twelfth Century, World Spirituality 16 (New York NY: Crossroad, 1985), 295-297. E.
Corsini, 'L'Harmonie du monde et l'homme microcosme dans Ie De Hominis Opificio', in Fontaine
and Kannengiesser (eds.), Epektasis: Melanges patristiques o.fferts au cardinal Jean Danielou, 455462. Cf. Nemesius of Emessa, De Natura Hominis, M. Morani (ed.), Bibliotheca Scriptorum
Graecorum et Romanorum Tevbneriana (Leipzig: B. G. Teubner, 1987), 1,45 [pg. 5].
193
Ladner, 'The Philosophical Anthropology', 59-94 [the above citation on pg. 86].
63
fall -mediating between intelligible and tangible; in this present life -mediating
between labour and rest; and in the future life -mediating between anticipation and
fulfilment. What Gregory achieved was a theological synthesis that maintained more
positive elements about humanity than Origenist thought. Gregory gave his spiritual
teaching a remarkable balance in arguing divine presence and absence without
referring to sin, even as a potential foe. And again, the notion of absence due to
divine incomprehensibility introduced the notion that man was meant to exist in a
state of mediating between extreme conditions uniting them and illustrating their
dialectical form.
c. Theodoret of Cyrrhus: the ethical development
Theodoret and Nilus formed their exegesis on the Song in a milieu that was
already familiar with the work on the biblical text of the great masters, Origen and
Gregory. Both authors were mentioned by name in Theodoret's work. 194 Despite the
fact that Nilus did not refer to any exegete prior to his age, the critical text of
Rosenbaum and Guerard's analysis of Nilus' commentary establishes the exegetical
indebtedness of Nilus to Origen and Gregory. 195 It is important to demonstrate here
the familiarity of the two exegetes with the work of Origen and Gregory in order to
show their similarities with -and points of departure from- Origenist and Gregorian
thought.
It needs to be noticed that, alongside the exegetical ambience of late antiquity,
the two later exegetes were also familiar with the development of monastic thought
across the Byzantine Empire. In what follows, we will demonstrate Theodoret and
Nilus' ascetical connections. In doing so, we will suggest that the two exegetes of
late antiquity have departed from Origenist and Gregorian exegesis as they have
enriched their understanding of divine abandonment with ascetical ideals.
Origen had lived in the age of the last martyrs. Asceticism was primitive in its
structures. Gregory of Nyssa knew Evagrius personally due to the strong affiliation
between the young Evagrius and Gregory's brother Basil and his friend, Gregory of
Nazianzus. 196 However, as Keenan observed, at that time, Gregory was only familiar
194
Theodoret, Expl. Prrefatio, 32B. Theodoret did not refer to their exegetical work, as such. He
related that both authors had supported the spiritual value of the Song.
195
See the introduction by Guerard in Nil d' Ancyre, Commentaire sur le Cantique des Cantiques, vol.
I, M.G. Guerard (ed.), SC 403 (1994), 23.
196
Basil had appointed Evagrius as lector. Bousset supported that Evagrius also received the monastic
64
with the ascetical system of two members of his family, i.e. Basil and Makrina. 197
The two had supported a coenobitic system of ascetical withdrawal from the world. It
is established that Gregory's thought had an impact on young Evagrius. 198 What is of
importance for us is that Gregory was interacting with a sort of premature ascetical
spirituality.
This was not the same for Theodoret and Nilus who lived at a time when
Evagrius had presented his unique synthesis on the ascetical life and the presence of
the desert fathers was becoming more and more significant for the life of the Church.
We take as a point of reference the development of Evagrian thought in the desert
from the 4th to the 6th century A.D. 199
By the time Theodoret became bishop of Cyrrhus, Syria had become a thriving
place for asceticism.2° 0 His Historia Re/igiosa has provided the necessary historical
evidence to establish the strong affiliation between the bishop of Cyrrhus and the
ascetical communities in Syria. However, Urbainczyk has maintained that Theodoret
composed this latter work for political reasons; in defence of Antiochean
theology/spirituality -as opposed to Alexandrian theology/spirituality. 201 But such an
argument overlooks the fact that the life of Theodoret had been marked by the
presence of anchorites from an early age. 202 Primarily, it dismisses Theodoret's
habit from Basil. However, Bamberger doubted this position. See Bamberger's introduction in
Evagrius Ponticus, The Praktikos and Chapters on Prayer, trans. J. E. Bamberger, CS 4 (1981),
xxxvi-xxxvii [footnote no. 55]. Gregory of Nazianzus ordained Evagrius as a deacon shortly after
A.D. 379 (Basil's death). Evagrius participated in the general council in Constantinople (A.D. 381),
where Gregory of Nyssa opened the proceedings. Gregory himself dedicated a letter to Evagrius on
the occasion of the latter's ordination. Gregory of Nyssa, De Deitate adversus Evagrium, GNO 9
(1967), 331-341.
197
Keenan, 'De Professione Christiana', 169-172.
198
Jaeger addressed Gregory's influence on Evagrius. See W. Jaeger, Two Rediscovered Works of
Ancient Christian Literature: Gregory of Nyssa and Macarius, Harvard Institute for Classical Studies
(Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1954), 208ff. Evagrius, The Praktikos, xxxviii-xxxix.
199
The first date coincides with the beginning ofEvagrius' literary activity in the Egyptian desert. The
latter date signifies the outburst of the Origenist-Evagrian controversy in the desert ascetical
communities that reached its peak with the condemnation of Origenism-Evagrianism in A.D. 553 (2"d
council in Constantinople).
200
For the history and character of monasticism in Syria see A. VMbus, History of Asceticism in the
Syrian Orient: A Contribution to the History of Culture in the Near East, vols. 1-2, CSCO 184&197
(1958-1960). Ph. Escolan, Monachisme et eglise: Le monachisme syrien du JVe au Vlle siecle,
Theologie Historique 109 (Paris: Beuchesne, 1999).
201
Th. Urbainczyk, Theodoret ofCyrrhus: The Bishop and the Holy Man (Ann Arbor MI: University
of Michigan Press, 2002).
202
Urbainczyk maintained the idea that any personal connection between Theodoret and the ascetics
was introduced deliberately into the work in order to establish Theodoret's ecclesiastical status. See
Urbainczyk, Theodoret ofCyrrhus. Theodoret related that he was the fruit of a monk's prayers since
his mother could not conceive. See Theodoret of Cyrrhus, A History of the Monks of Syria, trans. R.
M. Rice, CS 88 (1985), Macedonius. For the bond ofTheodoret with the Syrian ascetics from an early
age see the introduction in CS 88, pg xi-xiii.
65
admiration for ascetical examples -since he, himself, was a monk at "Nicerte near
Apameia"- and overlooks the fact that Theodoret composed his work at a time when
ascetical biographies had become an established genre (e.g. Athanasius and
Palladius).2°3 Rice observed that, even as a bishop, Theodoret maintained his
monastic ideals -for a short time, he had the chance to return to his monastery in
A.D. 449. 204 That is not to say that ecclesiastical politics might not have been a
strong drive for Theodoret to compose his Historia Re/igiosa. 205 But, we need to
acknowledge a deeper intimacy between the bishop of Cyrrhus and the Syrian
ascetics. 206 According to Canivet, Theodoret has reflected on such ideals in his
Historia Religiosa?07 However, we agree with Urbainczyk about the content of the
work. Theodoret's Historia Religiosa was not composed as a work including
ascetical teachings. Unlike the Apophthegmata Patrum and even the Historia
Lausiaca, Theodoret has focused on the extrodinary character of the lives of the
Syriac ascetics, as opposed to their spiritual teachings. Was Thedoret directly
influenced by ascetical ideals when he was composing his Explanatio in Canticum
Canticorum?
In the Prcefatio of his commentary, Theodoret provided information about the
circumstances under which he undertook his exegetical attempt on the Song? 08 his
addressee209 had requested Theodoret for such a commentary. Theodoret had
indicated that, in composing his work, his main concern was with contemporary
objections about the spiritual value of the work.2 10 Yet, his addressee was not a
monastic. In fact, Theodoret provided no hints that the work was read by monastics.
203
Theodoret ofCyrrhus, A History, xii. Cf. Theodoret ofCyrrhus, Epistulae 80 and 81 [in SC 98, pp.
188-198]
204
Theodoret, A History, xiii. Cf. Theodoret of Cyrrhus, Epistula 119 [in SC Ill, pg. 76-82].
205
For Pasztori-Kupan, the In Canticum and Historia Religiosa belonged to the same period of
Theodoret's theological career. See I. Pasztori-Kupan, Theodore/ of Cyrrhus, Early Church Fathers
(London: Routledge, 2006), 18.
206
No modem monograph has discussed Theodoret's spiritual thought in his In Canticum. Cf. P.
Canivet, 'La Spiritualite de Theodoret dans l'Histoire Philothee', in Theodoret de Cyr, Histoire des
moines de Syrie: Histoire Philothee, P. Canivet (ed.), SC 234 (1977), 44- 51.
207
For Syrian monastic ideals see P. Canivet, Le Monachisme syrien selon Theodoret de Cyr,
Theologie Historique 42 (Paris: Beauchense, 1977). According to VMbus the translation of the
Evagrian corpus into Syrian might have occurred as early as the middle of the 5th century. See, A.
VMbus, 'The Role of Evagrius', in History of Asceticism in the Syrian Orient: A Contribution to the
History ofCulture in the Near East, vol. 3, CSCO 81 (1988), 142-150.
208
For Quasten, the commentary on the Song was the earliest exegetical attempt of Theodoret. J.
Quasten, Patro/ogy: The Golden Age of Patristic Literature, vol. 3 (Utrecht: Spectrum, 1960), 540.
209
The subscription of the work was addresses to "E>wqnA.Eatlitcp emmc6ncp 'lc.olivvn". According to
Quasten it was John ofGermanicia. Quasten, ibid, 540.
210
Theodoret, Exp/. Prrefatio, 29A. For the historical context and related scepticism with regard to the
exact circumstances that led to his commentary see Elliott, Christology, 35.
66
It remains to discuss whether Theodoret was reading the Song as a work of value for
ascetics.
Theodoret presented a unique synthesis in his exegesis. It was observed that
Origen and Gregory had illustrated two differing traditions: Origen referred to the
presence of trials in the Song of Songs as linked to the notion of divine abandonment.
Gregory had only discussed an intellectual understanding of the episode where the
soul had been introduced to the notion of divine incomprehensibility. It was in the
work of Theodoret that the two notions of ethical and intellectual exercise finally
came together.
Theodoret related the incident to the tradition of the lamentation psalms. He
indicated that the episode in Sol3:1 echoed Ps 12:2. In the latter, the theme of God's
"turning away his face" had been introduced. 211 In discerning the inter-biblical
connection between the Song and the lamentation Psalms, Theodoret highlighted the
biblical foundation of the experience. The episode in Sol 3: 1 was in conformity with
the biblical imagery in the Psalms. Theodoret dealt with an episode that had
occurred in other places in the biblical canon. By implying this position, Theodoret
suggested that his exegesis was in conformity with the scriptural evidence. He also
indicated that it was the biblical imagery that had provided evidence about the
exegetical position that he needed to follow. Gregory had introduced divine infinity
in his early works. Yet it was only when he composed exegeses on the Song and
Exodus that he fully exploited the motif of divine abandonment. However, for
Gregory, the motif of abandonment was a theological device for Christian
anthropology. As in the case of Gregory, the motif of abandonment appeared only
once in Theodoret's work, i.e. in his present commentary. There is no indication that
Theodoret had incorporated the notion of divine abandonment within a broader
anthropological context -as opposed to his seniors Macarius and Evagrius.
Theodoret's initial silence about the cause of the experience -at least in his
opening lines- indicated his dependence on the biblical narrative, as opposed to a
systematic exposition of Christian anthropology:
211
This is not the only biblical allusion by Theodoret. He has also brought into play the case of Paul
(2 Cor 12:7-9) and Elijah (IKgs 19:4).
67
Many times while exercising the souls of the faithful, the God of all permits them to
encounter manifold trials, sometimes giving the petitioners relief, sometimes delaying
this gift, devising benefit from all quarters for his followers. 212
Despite the fact that Theodoret introduced the motif of divine paideia
ra1~Euwv
(yu!Jva~w-
), he did not discern a specific cause that would refer directly to the soul.
For Theodoret, the groom has departed to exercise his beloved. However, Theodoret
did not provide an analysis of that which needed to be exercised within the soul.
If we are to take into account Pasztori-Kupan's observation that Theodoret's
exegetical works belong to the same period between Ephesus (A.D. 431) and
Chalcedon (A. D. 451 ), then it seems that, in his In Canticum, Theodoret departed
from his own exegetical line of reasoning. In his Qucestiones ad Octateuchum,
Theodoret had indicated that God permitted trials to occur in order to exercise the
soul's self-determination
(aurE~omv).
This is a line of reasoning that Theodoret had
presented in various other places in his exegetical work? 13 It was self-determination
that was the subject of divine paideia. In his In Canticum, Theodoret did not bring
into play the motif of self-determination. Before we continue, we need to make some
observations about Theodoret's exegesis.
i) Theodoret viewed the episode of Sol 3: 1 as related to divine abandonment. In
Gregory, the bride's abandonment had taken the form of divine hiddenness, as
opposed to separation-forsakenness. Gregory identified divine presence with the
soul's desire, i.e. the wound of God within the soul. Thus, Gregory presented a
dialectic between presence and hiddenness: God was hiding; yet he was present
within the soul through her desire. Theodoret followed another exegetical route: God
truly abandoned the soul: "abandoning him (i.e. Elijahi 14 for a while ... he appears to
him"? 15 Reflecting on the same episode, Gregory had used the verb Kara.J..eilcw while
Theodoret, Exp/. 2.113A: "fUjlV~O)
1tOAAUKt<; b t&v ol..rov 8Eo<; t&v EUOI:~&v
td<; ljiUXdc:;,
1tEtpaOjlOt<; 1tOtKil..ot<; ounropd 1tEpt1tt1ttEtV, Kat 1tOtS jlSV lmaHayl'lv attOUjll::Vot<; oioroot, 1tOtS OS
c'lva~O.H:t
tl'lv Mmv, 1tavx69~:
i.O<pl::I..Etav toi<; 9taomtat<; !lllxavmjlEVo<;".
213
Cf. Theodoret of Cyrrhus, Qurestiones in Deuteronomium, 37 [PG 80, 440A]: "ob ~taE
os t&v
c'lv9pm1trov tl'lv yvffi!lllV, c'll..l..d ttP abt~:ouicp
1tapaxroplft" ([God] does not force human choice, but
makes way for self-determination). Theodoret, Psa/. PG 80, 1716.41: "ttP abt~:ouicp
1tapaxrop&v,
Kat td<; jltV l:nt~ou.d<;
lll'l Kroi..Urov" ([God] makes way for self-determination without preventing
hostilities). Idem, Interpretatio in Ezechie/is Prophetiam, 21.17 [PG 81, 10 13 B]: "ttP abtE~ouicp
t&v
c'lv9pm1tffiV 1tapaxrop&v, Kai ttP tp61tcp tOUtro oiKa<; t&v c'ljlaptlljlUtrov 1tpatt6jlEVO<;" ([God) gives
way to human self-determination, and in this way he lays judgement upon misdeeds).
214
Theodoret, Exp/. 2.113C: "Katal..mi.ov abtov 1tPO<; bl..iyov ... i::nupaivEtat abtW'. Having
introducing the case of Paul, Theodoret alluded to 1Kgs 19:4 (Elijah).
215
Theodoret was familiar with the Platonic motif of a "sudden" appearance. The context, however, in
which he used the motif was different in that he placed the term within a Christo logical context. Due
212
68
negating divine abandonment: "My beloved has departed, not abandoning the soul
that follows him, but attracting her to him".Z 16 Theodoret moved to the affirmative:
"abandoning him for a while to be exercised". 217
ii) This is not to say that God has forsaken the soul. Following Origenist
exegesis, Theodoret related divine abandonment to the presence of trials. It is in trials
that the soul comes to realise divine abandonment. However, Theodoret has
developed this Origenist notion: divine abandonment does not refer to divine
forsakenness. The motif took on the means of God's postponing his intervention:
God delays intervening in the soul's trials. 218 Theodoret constantly reminded his
reader of this position in his exegetical works. Despite the fact that God could have
prevented trials, he gave his permission for them. This assertion played a single role
in his work: to refute the Gnostic attack that God was the author of evil
deeds/misfortunes. In relating trials to divine permission, Theodoret distinguished
between giving consent to and causing trials. God did not cause trials. Yet he gave
his consent: "the God of all permits them to encounter manifold trials". 219 Theodoret
had composed a work on divine providence (De Providentia) arguing that God was
the author only of good deeds.Z 20 In his exegesis, the· term "auyxropEi" was
Theodoret's device to distinguish between divine providence and misfortunes. Thus,
he discerned that a divine plan had been at work. 221 The human individual was meant
to the incarnation, the soul was suddenly cleansed from her idolatry. Whereas, in Plato, Philo -and
Origen to some extent- the adverb had addressed the encounter between God and soul, in Theodoret,
the adverb referred to the advent of the Logos in his flesh. It was due to this latter fact that the soul
was cleansed from her previous idolatry. Cf. Theodoret, Exp/. 1.69C.
216
Cf. Gregory, Hom. 12, 353: " 1 Aot:.qn06~
jlOU 1tapl1A.8Ev, ob KataA.mffiv tl'lv !:1tojltvTJv abt4J
\jiU;(llV and 1tp0~
tUUtOV !:cpEAK6j.1VO~"
217
Theodoret, Exp/. 2.113C.
218
Cf. Theodoret of Cyrrhus, Epistu/ae, 93 [in SC 98, pg 244]: "' P~otv
jlEV ydp Jiv tcp t&v oA.rov
6Ecp VEUCJUt Kai A.uaat td CJKU8pom6.: an· av~unt:
Kai t&v 1tOAEj.10UjlEV(l)V tl'IV avopEiav
lmtoEKvu~
Kai bjliv acpojld~ sl~
fficpf:A.Etav 1tap£xrov" (it is easy for the God of all to nod and
dissolve the sorrow; but he postpones, manifesting the courage of the afflicted and providing a cause
of edification for us).
219
Theodoret, Exp/. 2.113A. Cf. Theodoret of Cyrrhus, Historia Re/igiosa, 31.17: " 'AA.A.d Kai
t1UjlVO0~
tOU ewu, KUl tfl jlUKpo8Ujliq. YUjlV/;Oto~.
Kai ounrpvt~
oexsoeat til~
MtKia~
td~
1tpo~A.6
b1.oir~
otf:jlstvsv aya1t&v" (and with God's assistance, exercising his long-suffering
allowing to accept the afflictions of injustice, he remained in the same love). Cf. Procopius of Gaza,
Fragmenta, PG 87, 17730: "Muv11 crol trrtABn crapK6~.
Kar<'.t cruvxwpEmv tiJ~V
yivwcrKE ro ToloOmv
tmcru1Jj30IVEIV crOI· Tva ri TIP~
t~J
ay61Tll1TClai Kan:lOA~
yiVETal, ~- tvOIUl~
TOI~
lTEIPOJ~.
Kai ouxi 01<'.1 TO ~dvm rrp6v01av trri rr6vTa OI~Koucrav"
(when bodily distress might come upon you, know that this happens
to you according to my consent. So that your love for me might become apparent to everyone, not
giving in to temptations, and not because there is no providence extending over everything).
220
Theodoret, De Providentia, PG 83, 556-773.
221
Note also the presence of Til~ cpuyfl~
T~v
oiKovoiJiav in the text. Theodoret, Expl. 2.113C.
69
to profit from the experience: "devising benefit from all quarters for his
followers". 222
iii) Theodoret had developed the motif of divine consent within a
Christological context. The fact that --unlike the Apophthegmata Patrum and the
Lausiac History-- Theodoret did not mention this motif in his Historia Religiosa,
indicates that the latter work was not composed as a book including "ascetical"
teachings.
223
In his Christo logical works, like Cyril, Theodoret had highlighted the
fact that Christ's divinity permitted his humanity to experience natural human
passions.2
24
That is, it is only through divine intervention that humanity was
subjected -or not- to natural human passions, such as thirst. Due to the fact that the
date of exegetical composition on the Song remains debatable, it is not clear whether
Theodoret had introduced the notion of divine permission into an anthropological
context which he later on applied to his Christology or vice versa. 225 Origen had
already introduced the notion of divine consent with regard to trials. 226 In the Lausiac
Histor/ 27 and the Spiritual Homilies of Macarius,228 we encounter a developed
notion of divine consent with regard to trials
(napx.rolm~-cuyTt)
It seems
that, from an anthropological context, the notion was adapted in order to be exploited
in the Christological debates of late antiquity. 229
222
Theodoret, Expl. 2.113A: "navmx68Ev (mptA.Etav to'i<; 8taorotat<; lll'JXUVWjlEVo<;". Cf. Theodoret,
EpP. PG 82, 449: "[reflecting on 2 Cor. 12:7] tOutou ydp o1) xuptv, cplloi, tf]<; E!lf]<; b AEo7t6tll<;
7tp0j.11180UjlEVO<; rocpEA.Eia<;, tOU<; 7tUVtOOU7tOU<; jlot CIUVEKA.t'JprooE 1tEtpaOjlOU<;" (for this reason, he
says, the Lord devising for my benefit, he chose the lot for me of various temptations).
223
Theodoret did not related divine paideia to trials or self-determination in his Historia Religiosa. In
this latter work, divine paideia meant learning of the scriptures.
224
Theodoret ofCyrrhus, De Incarnatione Domini, PG 75, 1457C. Cf. Cyril, De Sancta Trinitate, PG
75, 1033B-C.
225
There is not much evidence in Theodoret's work in this matter. Scholars tend to support one
position or the other according to their disposition towards Theodoret's Christology. For scholars
supporting that Theodoret had always maintained an Orthodox theology, his Commentary on the Song
of Songs belonged to an early stage of his career as an exegete (e.g. Guinot). For those scholars that
hold that Theodoret was tamed in Chalcedon, the book was one of his latest compositions where he
had the chance to present his Chalcedonean Orthodoxy for fear of being deposed from his office (e.g.
Richard and Bardy). Cf. J. N. Guinot, 'La Christo Iogie de Tbeodoret de Cyr', 256-272. Elliott,
Christology, 34-35. Pasztori-Kupan has suggested of a middle solution placing the composition during
the "cold war years" between Ephesus (A.D. 431) and Chalcedon (A.D. 451 ). Pasztori-Kupan,
Theodoret ofCyrrhus, 18.
226
Origen, Fragmenta in Lucam (in catenis), 192 [number of fragments in GCS 49].
227
Palladius, Laus. 47 [reference to vita].
228
Theodoret would have known Macari us as part of the Egyptian desert tradition. It is only in recent
years that scholars established the Syriac ambience of the Macarian spiritual corpus. For a review of
the literature see: M. Plested, The Macarian Legacy: The Place of Macarius-Symeon in the Eastern
Christian Tradition, OxThM (Oxford: OUP, 2004).
229
In his Historia Religiosa, Theodoret did not refer to any technical ascetical terms such as:
temptations, pride and listlessness. Voobus supported the peculiar character of Syrian asceticism
70
The next step that Theodoret took was to introduce the scriptural images of
Paul and Elijah?30 Theodoret did not seem to distinguish between the two scriptural
figures and their causes of abandonment: both figures had undergone abandonment.
Theodoret maintained his line of reasoning: God did not intervene to deliver his
devotee from his afflictions. Paul had prayed to be spared from his experience. But
God did not remove the "thorn in the flesh"; "and Paul pleads, but he is not
granted". 231 Elijah "is looking for the defender"?32 However, "he [i.e. God] abandons
him for a while to be exercised through fear". 233 Theodoret did not discern any
variations between the motif of abandonment as it had appeared in Ps 12:2 and its
occurrence in 2 Cor. 12:7-9 and 1Kgs 19:4; at least not explicitly.
However, one could discern such a distinction when taking into account the
way in which Theodoret introduced the aftermath of the experience. Paul was
granted understanding about the nature of divine grace: "for [Paul], having being
taught what he did not know, he accepts with pleasure not to be granted what he had
asked for". 234 The ascetical literature had already related the figure of Paul to a
precautionary level of abandonment: God prevented the presence of pride in Paul. 235
Theodoret had followed such an understanding of Paul's experience in his exegetical
work on Paul's epistles. 236 However, in his In Canticum, he shifted his position: Paul
was taught about the role of weakness. It is through weakness -in terms of trials- that
God reinforced the soul. The Pauline passage implies a precautionary action on
God's behalf. But Theodoret did not elaborate on this matter. Yet, in citing 2 Cor.
12:7, he supported this point. Thus, Paul was taught about divine pedagogy in terms
of God's acting in a precautionary way, highlighting the presence of human
weakness.
which, according to him, Macarius expressed in his spiritual corpus. Theodoret's editors of the
Historia Re/igiosa for the CS series, alongside Cavinet, commented on ascetical ideals that Theodoret
introduced in his Historia. Yet, in his ascetical biographies, there was no reference to what made
Syrian asceticism distinct from Egyptian asceticism. Either Theodoret composed his work at an early
stage, before developing his vocabulary in his exegetical works; or, he idealised the image of the
Syrian ascetics to such an extent that they carried nothing of what defines asceticism in technical
terms (pride-temptations). This latter position was supported by Urbainczyk. See Urbainczyk,
Theodoret ofCyrrhus.
Theodoret, Exp/. 2.113B.
231
Op. cit.: "Kat 1tapaKaA.d nauA.o~
Kat ou tUYXUVEt".
232
Op. cit.: "~tyd
o€ tOV E1tLKOupov".
233
Op. cit: "KataA.mrov autov 1tpO~
bA.iyov l;yyuJ.LvaoOf]vat tcp cp6f}cp".
234
Op. cit: "otaK6J.LEVO~
0 fryv6Et, J.LE9' ftov]~
tO J.Lt'! A.aPdv a UtllKE OEXEtat".
235
Palladius, Laus. 47.
236
Theodoret, EpP. PG 82,449: "to cpp6V11J.LU xaA.tv&v" ([God] curbs arrogance).
230
71
As it was mentioned, without pointing out that he was shifting his line of
reasoning, Theodoret brought into play Elijah's case:
[God] appears to him and as though ignorant asks the reason for the flight, not to
mock him but to bring out the plan behind the flight, and to teach him, as one with a
human nature and the victim of its passions, to make allowances. 237
Theodoret emphasised that God did not chastise Elijah. It is easy to discern in the last
lines the notion that the experience of abandonment involved a sort of knowledge
(gnosis) with regard to human nature. Indeed, in the case of Paul, Theodoret implied
that such knowledge was communicated through the experience. Also, Theodoret
introduced the notion of instruction in vigorOUS terms: "W<;
lJ:'(VOWV
7tUV9UVEtUt,
otod<n(COV, 7tUtOEucov". But what was the content of such an instruction?
[God] appears to him and as though ignorant asks the reason for the flight, not to
mock him but to bring out the plan behind the flight, and to teach him, as one with a
human nature and the victim of its passions, to make allowances. 238
When comparing between his exegetical work In Canticum, and his Quaestiones in
Libras Regnorum239 with regard to 1 Kgs 19:5, it becomes evident that Theodoret
knew of an anthropological position that could have brought his exegesis closer to
the ascetical argument. What stands at the core of his exegesis is the notion of gnosis
ofhuman weakness. In the latter work, Elijah's experience was identical to Paul:
In order not to be puffed up by arrogance due to the wonder-working, grace granted that
cowardice would be introduced to his nature, so that he might know his own
weakness. 240
Theodoret introduced a precautionary level at which the soul had felt divine paideia.
What is of interest is the last sentence: "he might know his own weakness". Origen
had already argued that, through the experience, the soul gained knowledge of her
Theodoret, Expl. 2.113C: "lmt<palvEtat aut<{>, Kat roc; a:yvo&v 1tUV6UVEtat tf!<; <puyilc; tl'JV ai.tiav,
OUK imtro9a~v
aut<{>, ai.J..d Otoa<JK(l)V til<; qmrilc; tl'lv OtKOVOJ.liav, Kat 1tUtOEUffiV Elvat
OUYYVcOJ.lOVU, av6pro1tEiav <pUotV 1tEptKEtJ.1EVOV, Kai i.l1tO troV tUUtll<; 1ta6&v 1t0AEJ.10UJ.1EVOV" (trans.
Hill on pg. 69].
238
It needs to be noted that the grammatical expressions that Theodoret used had also appeared in
Theodoret's work within a Christological context. The expression referred to Christ who put on
humanity. The explication "u1to t&v ta6tT]<; 1ta6&v 1tOAEJ.lOUJ.1EVov" was a device to argue the
consubstantiality of Christ's humanity with the rest of the human race. Cf. Theodoret, Expl. 3.141A.
Theodoret did not explicitly see Elijah as a type of Christ. However, it could not be coincidental that
this is the first time that Theodoret appropriated the expression "ilv!lpro?tEiav <p6otv 1tEptKEtJ.1EVov"
outside of an explicit Christological context. Cf. Theodoret ofCyrrhus, Eranistes, 90 [pg 60 in FOTC
I 06]. Ibid, 205 [pg 196]: "b 1tOtT]tl'J<; i:Katl';pav ouvaotEiav Katal..ooat 9EA.l'Joac; tl'Jv b1to to6trov
1tOAEJ.lOUJ.1EV1'JV avi';A.~E
<p6otv" (desiring to destroy both powers [i.e. death and the devil], the creator
assumed nature that was afflicted by them).
239
Cf. Theodoret, EpP. PG 82, 449.
240
Theodoret of Cyrrhus, Quaestiones in Libros iii Regnorum, 59 [PG 80, 733A]: ""Iva ydp J.ll'J tf!<;
aauJ.latoupyiac; to J.lEYE!loc; i:1tapn to <pp6VTJJ.1a, evol';oroKEv fJ :x.apt<; <p6oEt tl'lv I>Etl..iav doM!;ao!lat,
tVa emyvcp tllV OtKEtaV ao!li';VEtaV".
237
72
origin. Theodoret indicated that it was human weakness that was the content of such
gnosis. It is important to mention, in advance, Hausherr's observation that, for
Evagrius, gnosis of human weakness remained at the summit of spiritual life and it is
the highest fruit of divine abandonment. Macarius had made the same point.
It is certain that Theodoret did not mean his reader to discern such a technical
observation in his In Canticum. 241 Theodoret was still addressing natural passions
such as "cowardice". What needs to be concluded at this point is the fact that,
apparently, Theodoret introduced the notion of divine abandonment as a precaution
related to the scriptural image of Paul. He only implied the presence of pride within
the soul. There is no evidence that Theodoret was aware of Paphnutius' discourse in
the Lausiac History. In advance, we will note that: i) Theodoret was missing a clear
distinction between events with regard to divine consent and will; and, ii) he did not
refer to pride explicitly. These are the two points that Paphnutius had argued.
Theodoret did not associate divine abandonment with chastisement. In this matter, he
followed Origen and Gregory. But this is due more to the fact that he followed the
biblical narrative than to a firm anthropological theory as in Gregory's case. The fact
remains that, at the summit of spiritual perfection, Theodoret discerned a distressful
condition that caught the soul by surprise.
Theodoret provided another context in which he discussed the motif of divine
abandonment. This time his exegesis came closer to the Gregorian interpretation. The
experience of abandonment was related to trials. Yet its aftermath was felt at an
intellectual
level:
the
soul
was
introduced
to
the
notion
of
divine
incomprehensibility. 242 Theodoret followed Gregory in arguing the distinction
between uncreated God and creation (intelligible-material). 243 The soul had left
behind all material and intelligible reality in order to conceive that God was
241
Theodoret was following the biblical narrative where God had fed Elijah in the desert, redeeming
his hunger. Cf. I Kgs 19:5-8. In this sense, the term "natural passions" was an allusion to I Kgs 19:5-6
and addressed natural passions --distinct from the Evagrian!Macarian content of the word passions
that described the inner motions of the soul.
242
Theodoret, Exp/. 2.116A-D.
243
Theodoret, op. cit.: ". Em;l. lit KO.l. tOt<; ayiot<; ayytA.ot<; UKO.'tUA1'J1ttO<; b VU!lcpio<; n'tv obuio.v
!:;on... 11118£ tOinot<; O.U'tOV Elvo.t KO.'tO.Al11t'tOV, K'ttO'tOt<; ouut 'tOV UK'ttU'tOV ... ro<; ~po.xu
l>td !l6VOV
'tO K'ttO'tOV vcp KO.l. O.U'ttlV 'ttlV ayyEAIKtlV cpootv l>t~V,
tva. 'tOV UK'ttUtOV Elipro 'tOV lxy0.1tll't6V !lOU,
io<; t>bt>pyt'tllV 11ou, nio'tEt 116vn KO.'ttox.ov o.b't6v" (For the groom is incomprehensible in his nature
to the holy angels ... for he is not conceivable to them (angels), the uncreated to the created ... only
through the created nous, shortly, having passed beyond the angelic nature to find the uncreated, my
beloved, I conceive him only through faith as my benefactor).
73
incomprehensible.Z44 Unlike Gregory, Theodoret did not introduce the notion of
divine infinity. Despite the fact that God was beyond comprehension, he indicated
that it is within the life of the Church that the soul has been united to God. Thus,
Theodoret did not argue about the soul's ceaseless quest for the divine. He exploited
the Gregorian notion of the incarnation and the presence of the divine image within
the soul to argue --in more vigorous terms than Gregory-- that the soul was truly
united to God.
In Sol 5:2 the bride had claimed that her heart was vigilant. 245 However, she
did not hurry to open the door to her groom.Z46 Analysing this episode, Theodoret
was carried away by the text: on the one hand, he indicated that the soul was
vigilant. 247 On the other hand, he thought that the soul fell into a state of slothfulness
(6Kvo~).
248
Apparently, this discrepancy was due to Theodoret's intention to remain
loyal to the biblical text.
Unlike Gregory, who had remained coherent in his exegesis on the biblical
episode in Sol 5:3, Theodoret shifted his interpretation. He placed the theme of
desire and eros at the core of his argument. 249 But, most importantly, he also
introduced the notion of slothfulness (6Kvo~).Z
50
The theme of slothfulness appeared
Note the use of trfar&t povn in Theodoret's text and compare it to Laird's argument with regard to
the importance of faith: part ofthe divine is graspable by means offaith. Theodoret, Expl. 2.116C. Cf.
Gregory, Hom. 3, 87: "otd jl6Vflc; 7ttO't£(J)c; dotKi~£V
l;v l;mnn A.f:y£t odv tt'lv 7t(lVta vouv
b7t~:p&xouav
qn)otv" (it is proper to introduce into herself the nature that lays beyond every perception
through faith alone). See Laird, The Grasp of Faith, 104.
245
Sol 5:2: "'Eyro KaO~:uor,
Kai tJ Kapoia jlOU ilypu1tvd" (I am sleeping, but my heart is vigilant).
246
Sol 5:3: "' E~diuO<ljfV
'tOY X,tt&vd jlOU, 7t&c; EVOUO(J)jlat abt6v; EVtiJIUjlflV wuc; 7t6ouc; jlOU, 7t&c;
jloA.uv& abwuc;;" (I have put off my garment, how could I put it on? I have washed my feet, how
could I defile them?).
247
U7tVOV ob
Theodoret, Expl. 3.149B: "Kutd ouivotav l;ypi'(yopa, Kai 'tOV tile; p~OUjltac;
KataO&xollat, wu vujlcpiou tt'lv 1tapouoiav 7tpOOjl&vouoa" (I am vigilant in my mind, and I have not
accepted the sleep of listlessness, anticipating the presence ofthe groom).
248
Theodoret, Expl. 3.152B: "luoaoK6jl£0a l;vt~:ue,
ooflv tiKt£t I3MI311v, Kai ooov l>mcpf:~t
1t6vov
toic; x.projlf:votc; b 6Kvoc;" (from that, we are taught what great is the blame and what great is the toil
slothfulness brings to him who succeeds to it).
249
I>Kdvatc; taic; 7tpocpdo£ot XPllOUjlEVfl, l>tf:proc; abtt'lv
Theodoret, op. cit.:. "Kal l>mtot'l ilv~:!}dA.to
0 VUjlcptoc; Ot£-y£ipEt" (the groom Stirs Up her desire alternatively; because, she has postponed [opening
by] using such excuses). Theodoret, Expl., 3.153A: "0£pjlaiv£t ot abtilc; Kat 7tUpo£6£t tov sprota"
(he heats up and inflames her eros). The presence of eros and desire {rr69oc;) are indications of
Theodoret's exegetical debt to Origen and Gregory of Nyssa. The fact that divine abandonment was
related to desire for the divine, however, shows that Theodoret was primarily working on the position
of the latter exegete.
250
He 12:1. Cf. Gregory, Beat. 3.98.24.
244
74
at the opening and closing lines of his exegesis. 251 Despite his assertion that the soul
was vigilant, Theodoret indicated that the soul fell into slothfulness. Thus, through
the experience of abandonment, God corrected the soul's slothfulness. This time, the
cause of abandonment seems to be clear: the soul's lack of zeal. However, Theodoret
was cautious not to introduce a reading that would have suggested the soul's
chastisement. By placing desire at the heart of the episode, Theodoret commented
that, through abandonment, the groom had intended to stir up the soul's desire. Thus,
Theodoret shifted his focus from the soul to God: God was working on many levels
to attract the soul.
The introduction of slothfulness was an exegetical device rather than anything
else (e.g. Evagrian acedia): Theodoret did not introduce the term in a coherent
anthropology that had discussed slothfulness as a foe for spiritual perfection. The
latter position was part of the argument in the ascetical literature. For instance,
Macarius and Evagrius had defined slothfulness as a sort of spiritual laxity? 52
Evagrius had favoured the term acedia that introduced the notion of spiritual laxity at
the summit of spiritual progress. Through trials, God exercised the soul, urging her to
spiritual warfare. Most importantly, Evagrius had connected acedia to demonic
presence. 253 In Macarius and Evagrius, acedia was introduced within a certain
anthropological context that defined spiritual life as the warfare between laxity and
spiritual effort. Theodoret did not reflect on such a position. He was aware of the
term acedia, but only as part of the biblical vocabulary. 254 He did not use it in his
Historia Religiosa? 55 Theodoret did not integrate the notion of spiritual laxity in his
spirituality. The only instance where the term clearly appeared in an anthropological
context was in his Eranistes: he indicated that
251
oKv~
refers to the natural bond
Theodoret, Expl. 3.153C: "t\oaK6~€1l
toivuv f:K t&v dp1~tvro,
7tlivta oKvov lmolltollat, Kai
tiP vu~cpi
Kpouovtt 7tapautiKa uvoiy€tv" (so, we are taught, from what has been said, to put away
slothfulness, and open immediately when the groom knocks).
252
Macarius had related oKvO!;"as a cause of ethical lapsing from perfection. Cf. Macarius, Hom. 15.16
[all reference in PTS 4]. Evagrius had linked it to acedia. Evagrius, De Vitiis quae Opposita sunt
Virtutibus, 4 [PG 79, 1144]. See G. Bunge, Akedia: La doctrine spirituelle d'Evagre le Pontique sur
I 'acedie, Spiritualite Orientale 52 (Begrolles-en-Mauges: Abbaye de Bellefontaine, 1991 ).
253
Bunge, Akedia.
254
Cf. Is 61:3. Ps 60:3. Ps 101:1.
255
The theme of acedia had appeared in his other works. Theodoret had used it in its classical form.
Thus, it had taken the meaning of "hesitating" or "postponing" a task, and being "slothful". In its
latter meaning, the motif had not appeared in a spiritual-anthropological context addressing the soul's
spiritual struggles. For Theodoret, slothfulness was a natural passion, as opposed to Evagrius'
slothfulness that was related to the work of the demon of acedia. Whenever the motif had carried the
meaning of being slothful, it was due to Theodoret's following the biblical text. Cf. Theodoret, EpP.
PG 82, 189. Cf. Ro 12:11. Theodoretus, Intepretatio in Psalmos, PG 80, 1325; 1676 and also 1829.
75
between soul and the present life that God implanted into the soul. 256 All the above
evidence suffices to suggest that the presence of the term slothfulness was accidental
in his work. It appeared due to Theodoret's discerning this motif in the bride's
hesitation to listen to the groom's calling zealously. Theodoret did not insist any
further on this matter. We need to remember that, despite the fact that Theodoret had
introduced the soul's slothfulness
(6Kvo~),
the experience of abandonment remained
unlinked to sin and chastisement. Theodoret introduced a semi-Gregorian argument
by shifting his exegetical interest immediately to the training of desire.
d. Nilus of Ancyra: the ascetical features
It has been suggested by Guerard that, according to internal and external
evidence, Nil us of Ancyra was the author of the Commentary on the Song of Songs,
and also, of other ascetical writings (e.g. Ascetical Discourse). 257 According to
Guerard, Nilus was an ascetic himself. 258 So, why did Nilus compose his only
commentary on the Song of Songs? Evidence from his writings supports the fact that
Nil us knew the exegetical Evagrian corpus. 259 The very fact that Nil us composed a
work on the Song raises the question about the degree to which Nilus envisaged his
work as completing Evagrian exegesis on the trinity of wisdom literature:
Ecclesiastes, Proverbs and Song of Songs. 260 Guerard opted for the position that
Evagrius was, most likely, his inspiration.Z61 However, her position overlooks the
256
Cf. Theodoret, Eranistes, 245 [pg 243 in FOTC 106]. In this instance, Theodoret addressed
Christ's shrinking back in Gethsemane.
257
Cf. Guerard's introduction in Nil D' Ancyre, Commentaire sur le Cantique, 25. For a list of his
writings see ibid, 100.
258
For the problem of the identity ofNilus see ibid, 16-25.
259
Ibid, 42.
260
Ibid, 43. Evagrius had followed the Origenist position about the trinity of wisdom literature that
had brought the soul from practical to natural contemplation, and then, divine contemplation.
Evagrius, Prov. 22.20 (247). Cf. Origen, Com. Prologus.3.41. Indeed, Evagrius composed
commentaries on Ecclesiastes and Proverbs -and even on Job (surviving in Niceta's catena). It seems
that death stopped him from composing a work on the Song of Songs. Macari us also had appreciated
the content of the Song for the ascetic soul. He alluded to the Song with regard to spiritual perfection.
See Macarius, Typs. 3.2 [edition in TU 72] --citing Sol 2: 10; 3.3 --citing Sol 2:6; and 7.5- citing Sol
2:5). The fact that Macarius was the only ascetical author of late antiquity to make extensive use of
the Song ofSongs needs to be viewed in connection to VMbus' observation that the imagery of Christ
as the "Bridegroom" was peculiar to Syrian theology from an early stage. Of course, his observation
presupposed a Syriac ambience for the composition of the Macarian corpus. See Vt}obus, 'The Fifty
Spiritual Homilies', in History of Asceticism, 3155. Idem, On the Historical Importance of the Legacy
of Pseudo-Macarius: New Observations about its Syriac Provenance, Estonian Theological Society in
Exile 23 (Stockholm: Etse, 1972).
261
Nil, Commentaire sur le Cantique, 43.
76
presence of Didymos' exegetical influence on Nilus. 262 Origen's trinity of wisdom
literature had also appeared in the exegesis of the Alexandrian scholar. Unlike
Evagrius, Didymos had interpreted the three books of wisdom literature, including
the Song of Songs. 263 It is certain that Nilus was influenced by a broader Origenist
appreciation of the wisdom literature that was common in Didymos and Evagrius.
Thus, it is difficult to know for certain if Nil us completed the Evagrian or Didymian
trilogy on the wisdom literature. However, if we turn to internal evidence in his In
Canticum, then it becomes apparent that Nilus incorporated Evagrian anthropology
and spirituality in his work. Hence, whatever the cause of his motivation, in his
commentary, among other traditions, Nilus reflected on Evagrian ascetical positions
with regard to Christian spirituality and asceticism. 264
Nilus of Ancyra presented a remarkable coherency when interpreting the
episodes in Sol 3: 1 and Sol 5:2 which was due to his anthropological perspective.
Both times, he departed from the biblical narrative. Part of his coherency is the fact
that he discerned the motif of slothfulness (pa9u1Jia) behind the biblical episodes. As
it will be illustrated, unlike the biblical text and his exegetical predecessors (Origen,
Gregory, Theodoret), Nilus located the cause of divine abandonment within the soul.
Commenting on Sol 3:2-3, Nilus indicated that the episode occurred while the
soul was on her way to perfection, following after the groom. 265 What lies behind his
exegesis is an Evagrian anthropology that, unlike Gregory and Theodoret, had
stressed the soul's role in spiritual life. It is remarkable that, in the two latter
exegetes, the soul was advancing in spiritual life without any hindrance. Even
Theodoret's pride was only a potential foe that was prevented by divine paideia.
Nilus employed a different stand: the soul was not secured in her spiritual journey.
Nilus brought together divine abandonment and spiritual laxity:
When you seek, is not possible to find the desired-one in comfort (for ascesis for
goods fights listlessness) ... [the soul] I thought it was light and easy to acquire the
262
Ibid, 41-42. According to Guerard, Nilus employed Didymos' Christology and also his biblical
exegesis.
263
Didymos was the only known author, after Origen, that completed a commentary on each book of
the wisdom literature. For a fragment in his Commentary on the Song see J. Meursius, Eusebii,
Polychronii, Psel/i in Canticum Canticorum Expositiones Graece (Lugduni: Batauorum, 1617).
264
Nilus was influenced from the liturgical tradition of the early Church (Cyril of Jerusalem and John
Chrysostom), the Christological and exegetical positions of Athanasius and Didymos the blind, and
the pagan philosophy and culture of classical and late antiquity. See Guerard, 'La Culture de
I' Auteur', in Nil, Commentaire sur /e Cantique, 38-4 7.
265
Nil us, Com. 32.1.1 00.
77
virtue and be similar to the wisdom, and I was looking for it without effort,
carelessly and lightly, resting on the bodily (matters) like a bed. 266
Spiritual perfection required the soul's active participation. We need to view this
exegetical line within the context of arguing the need for spiritual efforts in the
ascetical tradition. Characteristically, Nilus did not refer to praxis but, ascesis, a
stronger indication of the soul's efforts which connotes ethical purification. 267 As
Guerard noted, Nilus accommodated the Evagrian notion of praxis as the means by
which the soul cleansed her concupiscence
(tmeu~oia)
and "purified the passionate
part ofthe soul''. 268 Ascesis was the only means to virtue. Nilus envisaged virtues as
the basis on which the soul was established in order to advance spiritually. The above
observations would suffice to indicate that Nilus introduced divine abandonment as
means of correction, but not chastisement. Yet, Nilus brought into play the notion of
the soul's satiety
(K6po~).
In her spiritual journey, the soul was not secure. This was
due to the possibility of being fed up, overlooking spiritual efforts. This position
placed Nilus within an Evagrian anthropological milieu. Nilus did not think of satiety
as a cosmological principle that caused the soul's original fall from divine
contemplation. He dismissed Evagrian speculation and only maintained the
anthropological implications ofEvagrian thought. 269 Nilus pinpointed the presence of
Kop~withn
the acquisition of virtues:
Many, when they reach their pursuit, either because of becoming fed up with it after
some time or, because of turning away their disposition to something else, they
stand aloof and becoming neglectful, after a little while, they fall from the perfect
state. 270
266
Nil us, Com. 32.3 .1 00: "ouK EOTI IJET<i avarrauotwc; (JlroOvra rov rroeouiJEvov EUPEiv (aoK(JoEI yap rwv Ka/\wv
PQOTWVI'J TTOAtiJIOV) ... EVOIJIOO KoOcpov Eival Kai EUXEptc; TO KT(Joauem r(Jv apEr(Jv Kai r(Jv UO<piav oiKEIWUOU801 KOi
E((JTOUV OU IJETO TTOVOU, aM' OvEIIJEVW<; KOi PQ8UIJW<;, Kai TOi<; OWIJOTIKOi<;
we; KhiVO ETTOVOTTOUOIJEVI'J".
Nil us, Com. 48.6.140. V. Messana, 'npa~1c;
and 0twpia chez Nil d' Ancyre', SP 18/2, 235-241.
Nil, Commentaire sur /e Cantique, 80.
269
We need to note that the term "Evagrian thought" indicates an anthropology that dealt with
spiritual life from the soul's point of view and incorporated a firm notion of the soul's potential
backsliding. It refers to a broad tradition of late antiquity that needs not be identified only with the
work of Evagrius. For instance, Macarius had also maintained the same notion of the soul's potential
lapse even at a mature spiritual level. Thus, the term "Evagrian" is meant to juxtapose the idea of
backsliding to the notion of unhindered spiritual ascension in Athanasian and Cappadocian thought.
270
Nilus, Com. 32.16.102: "oi 1.1tv yap rroMoi, orav q>Sauwmv trri r6 urrou6a(61JEvov, f) K6pov Aaj36vrtc; auroO
267
268
r(i> xp6vq~
f) TTEpi fTEpa r(Jv rrpo8UIJiOV arroKAivavrEc; a<piOTOVTOI Kai IJIKpOV OIJEA(JoavrEc; EKTTimoumv rf)c; apiOTI'J<;
f~Ewc;".
78
Despite the fact that Nilus did not attribute satiety to the biblical bride, nevertheless,
his position that the soul became neglectfut2 71 needs to be viewed in close connection
to the presence of satiety. The soul fell into laxity; she was idle. Thus, divine
abandonment healed her laxity and stirred up her desire for the divine. Nilus was the
first commentator to connect divine abandonment with a negative attribute within the
soul. Theodoret had introduced abandonment as a precaution. Nilus also brought into
play the notion of abandonment as chastising, i.e. healing the soul's negative
properties.
This latter position becomes more apparent from what follows. Even though
the soul felt the urgency to correct her perception of spiritual effort (laxity-ascesis)
and, despite the fact that she was working on the virtues, the groom remained hidden.
Nilus was of one mind with Macarius and Evagrius that, in fact, the acquisition of
virtue hides a parasite, i.e., pride:
Having left the bed to conduct my pursuit through deeds, but even this did not lead
me to find it. Though it is proper to hide the toil when working on the virtues, I (i.e.
the soul) was manifesting it (i.e. effort) making it public in the squares and the
market places hunting after the praise of men. 272
Nilus attributed the soul's desire to manifest her spiritual toil to her being puffed up.
Pride originated by her virtues. The word pride occurred several times in his work
either in the form K&vo6~ia
or rp1Ao6~ia.Z
73
The parallel between Nilus' In
Canticum 274 and Evagrius' De Octo Spiritibus Malitiai 75 is striking. 276
271
272
Nilus, Com. 32.2-3.100
Nilus, Com. 32.6.1 00-101: "KmaAmoOoa TI'\V KAivr]V ETTi T6l5' [pywv TTOII'\000901 TI'\V <IiTI101V, aM' oul5t TOUTO
IJE TTpO<; TI'\V EUpEOIV wl5IiV110EV. l5tov yap tpya<oiJEVi1V TO T~<;
tl5111JOOiEUov tv nAmEiai<; Kai
apET~<;
KPUljJOI TOV TTOVOV, ETTiliEIKTniloa TOOTov
tv ayopaic;, TOV Twv av9ptimwv fna1vov 911PWIJEvr]''.
273
Nilus, Com. 12.18.36; 12.20.36; 29.4.90; 32.7.101; 38.4120.
274
Nilus, Com. 12.18-19.36: "KaAwc; 6 npo<pi'\TI1<; TI'\v KEvo~ia
6.TTooEOIJOV EinEv TETPUTTI11JEvov ("6 ouvaywv
yap", qli10i, "lou<; IJI09ou<; ouv(JyayEV Ei<; 6.TTOOEOIJOV TETpUTTi11JEVOV"), 6.TTOOEOIJOV IJEV TI'\V npa~IV,
oKonov T~<;
156~<;
OTT(JV lit TOV
EiP11Kwc;" (correctly, the prophet called pride a bag full of holes, 'for he that gathers',
he says, 'gathers his reward to a bag full of holes', the bag is the praxis and he called hole the
disposition of glory). Cf. Hg 1:6. Guerard noticed the role of this biblical passage in Nilus' In
Canticum and his other ascetical works. See, Nil D' Ancyre, Commentaire sur le Cantique, 25.
275
Kat
Evagrius, De Octo, 15 [PG 79, 11600]: "BaM.vttov tEtPllJltvov oi.> qmA.dttEt to ~A.19Ev,
JCEvoli~a
c'm6A.A.u<n Jlt09oti<; itpt:t&v" (A pouch full of holes does not keep what was put in it, and
pride loses the reward of the virtues).
276
Rosenbaum highlighted the parallel text of Evagrius. See, Nilus von Ancyra, Kommentar zum
Hohelied, H. U. Rosenbaum (ed.), PTS 57 (2004), 36-37 (in the critical apparatus). The Greek
manuscript tradition attributed the De Octo Spiritibus to Nilus of Ancyra. It is an indication of the
uniformity between his work and Evagrian ascetical thought. See VMbus, History of Asceticism,
31146.
79
Evagrius had indicated that the proud soul asked for human praise at public
places (rrhmEim). 277 Nilus applied this image to the biblical bride? 78 In doing this,
Nilus had followed the biblical narrative. However, the fact that Nilus was the only
commentator to link the bride's appearance at public places to pride was a strong
indication that he also had Evagrius' afore-mentioned passage in his mind.
In his Narratio, Nilus had defined pride as "counting on one's self". As in the
case of Macarius and Evagrius, Nilus had emphasised that the soul dismissed the
need for divine assistance, thinking that spiritual progress was her own
achievement. 279 In the In Canticum, Nil us indicated that pride had sprung from the
soul's spiritual advancement: the soul that realised the presence of virtues within her
became puffed up. 280
Nilus discerned a deeper reason that led the soul to pride. He implied that the
soul's disposition was corrupted. The reason that she desired to acquire the virtues
was not related to her desire for the divine. She was looking for human appraisal.
Nilus' position was reminiscent of Paphnutius' discourse in the Historia Lausiaca.
As will be discussed later, Paphnutius had distinguished between disposition
(rrp68wu;;) and praxis
(rpa~1c;).
A virtuous action is taking place. However, the
disposition, i.e. the cause that leads to this action, might be corrupted. Nilus is of one
mind with Paphnutius: the bride (i.e. the soul) was working on the virtues. Yet, her
disposition was corrupted since what she was really after was public praise.
Nilus' thought on divine abandonment shared common themes with Evagrian
thought: divine abandonment was part of divine paideia devised to "chastise" the
soul from her negative attributes of pride and laxity. The term "abandonment" might
not have appeared in his commentary. Yet, he has communicated the ascetical
message for spiritual effort and vigilance against pride and laxity.
Nilus' exegesis on Sol 5:4 followed the same line of reasoning. Divine
abandonment was introduced as a form of chastising the soul's negative attributes.
277
Evagrius, De Octo, 16 [PG 79, ll61A]: "'Ev 7tA.a't&lat<; 7tpoo&ux.&oeut ou~A.&Et
K&voli~u"
(pride instructs us to pray in public places). Cf. Mt 6:5. Evagrius had paraphrased the Matthean
passage. Nil us followed Evagrius in relating public places to displaying virtue and being prideful. He
found the imagery ofSol3:2 as appropriate to apply this Evagrian connection to his biblical exegesis.
278
Niius, Com. 32.6.100-101.
279
Nilus of Ancyra, Narratio, 3.15: "r6v auvEpy6v r6v KaAwv a9ETo0aa 9E6v Kai taurn rwv Karop9w1J6Twv
tmypacpouaa rr;v ~UVOIJ"
(disregarding God, the colleague in good, she claims credit of the power of
what is achieved for herself).
280
Nilus, Com. 29.4.90.
80
The only difference is that, here, Nilus was explicit about the connection between
abandonment and chastisement: 281
[The soul) suffers because she did not obey to the word zealously to be shown that
the one who is most precious to God, being after comforts and resting, is despised
and receives the experience of punishment. For, 'he [i.e. God] has sent', it is said,
'the hand that chastises the disobedient'. 282
It seems that Nilus had addressed his commentary to ascetics. For, he was at pains to
exhort to spiritual vigilance and highlight the importance of ethical effort. In his
exegesis, the bride was never secure in her ascension to the divine. Nilus did not
present the episodes of the Song in the Gregorian notion of the aKoAouBia of the text.
Morover, his exegesis was not coherent, mixing up the bride as an ascetical figure
and already acquainted with the groom. Nilus made his way through the commentary
by introducing elements of ethical edification wherever he felt it more appropriate.
281
282
Cf. Nilus, Com. 81.3-4.198-199.
Nilus, Com. 57.1-2.158: "m1crXEI trrti 1.~
rrpo9li1JW<; ur~Koc£
14l 'A6y4>, iva i5EIXSO
on 6 rro.\UTiiJio<; 9t4l
OVEGIV i51WKWV KOi CvOTTEIDWKW<; KOTOqlpoVEiTOI Kai TIIJWpiac; TTEipav AOIJI3QvEI. CrrrtOTEIAEV yap, qli")OiV, T~V
nali5tuouaav muc; <'m£19Eic; xEipa". Rozenbaum indicated the common reference to the "hand that
chastises" in Nilus and Apponius. In the latter's commentary on the Song, the "hand" was related to
the soul's chastisement through "losing her goods, through the famine, through the abandonment to
the enemies (uastitatem hostilem), through the privation of his proximity, through the imprisonment
due to slander, through the torments of various maladies (uariorum infirmitatum tormenta)".
Apponius' commentary had come close to Eastern ascetical thought on divine abandonment. Cf.
Apponius, Commentaire sur le Cantique des Cantiques, vol. 2 (books IV-VIII), B. de Vregille and L.
Neyrand (eds. ), SC 421 ( 1997), 8.15.
81
PART2
1. The Groom abandoned on the cross.
In his Christology in the Song of Songs, Elliott put under scrutiny the role that
commentaries on the Song of Songs played for the formation of the Christological
doctrine of the early Church. 1 That is to say that Elliott maintained that -at least
from A.D. 381 (1 51 Constantinople) to A.D. 451 (Chalcedon}- the commentators
dealt with the Song of Songs as a vehicle to exemplify their Christological positions
by exploiting the Song imagery. According to Elliott, Chalcedon signified the
shifting of interest from imagery to more precise Christological formulas that the
Song of Songs was felt to lack. Eventually, according to Elliott, the Song fell out of
exegetical sight and its theological value faded away.
This part will look at Christ's abandonment on the cross. We will begin by
discussing the role that the experience of abandonment of the biblical bride might
have played in the formation of a theological position with respect to Christ's
abandonment on the cross in late antiquity. Then we will move to illustrate more
thoroughly the ways that Byzantine theology developed to provide an interpretation
of what actually happened on the cross. In doing so, the purpose of this second part is
to show whether there are implicit or explicit connections between the experience of
abandonment by the Christian devotee and Christ.
i. The Byzantine sources.
Before we move on to our main discussion we need to make some observations
with regard to: i) the nature of the Byzantine sources; ii) their historical context; and
iii) the context within which they have discussed Christ's abandonment on the cross.
First of all, we have to ask whether the Byzantine commentaries on the Song
provided any material that could shed light on Christ's abandonment on the cross.
The answer is negative. The commentaries of late antiquity on the Song of Songs did
not put side by side the experience of the biblical bride and that of Christ on the
cross. In fact, Byzantine commentators did not see the bride's abandonment as
1
Elliott, The Song of Songs and Christology in the Early Church (381-451).
82
resembling Christ's "loud cry" (cpwv~
2
IJEV<l"-'1) on the cross. Theodoret, who provided
the most scriptural cross-references in the biblical episode, did not draw any links
between Mt 27:46 and Sol 3: 1. In advance, we need to note that, whenever Patristic
literature provided a discussion about Christ's abandonment, this was never in terms
of the experience of the biblical bride.
In the first part, we examined the main exegetical lines that the four main
exegetes followed in interpreting divine abandonment in the light of the biblical
episodes in the Song. Our discussion covered Elliott's suggested span because
Gregory of Nyssa was present at the council in Constantinople (A.D. 381) and
Theodoret of Cyrrhus was active at the period during the council in Ephesus (A.D.
431) and -more interestingly- he was part of the congregation at Chalcedon (A.D.
451).
According to Elliott's hypothesis, it was only after Chalcedon that Byzantine
theology dismissed the imagery of the Song of Songs as insufficient to address late
antique scepticism about Christ's identity. Prior to Chalcedon, Byzantine theology
had depicted the union between humanity and divinity in Christ in terms of an
arsenal of imagery that depended on the Song of Songs. However, this position seems
to be susceptible to criticism. For, when focusing on details -such as the motif of
union and separation in the Song - it becomes evident that Byzantine Christology
never depended on the Song of Songs to exemplify the mystery of Christ. At least in
the light of the episode in Sol 3:1, what the Song was felt to provide was imagery
depicting the motif of "union" and "separation" between God and his devotee. In the
case of Gregory and Theodoret, this depiction was addressed in concrete terms: i.e.
the presence of biblical figures such as Moses (Gregory), David, Paul and Elijah
(Theodoret). Humanity was addressed in concrete terms of individuals, as opposed to
a more abstract reference to "humanity" that might have implied Christ's humanity.
Thus, in the core of their argument was the Christian devotee, such as Moses and
Paul.
The Patristic biblical commentators did not involve a discussion about the
experience of Christ on the cross in their exegesis on the Song. If it is the case that
their main concern was the exemplification of the mystery of the incarnation, then it
2
Cf. Mt 27:46 and 27:50. Mk 15:34 and 15:37. Lk 23:46. In the Gospels, the Evangelists used the
same expression to indicate Christ's cry in dereliction and also, his last breath, i.e. q>wvr'J IJEVOAil (loud
cry). Thus, they implied the close connection between the loud cry in dereliction and the dying Christ.
83
is paradoxical that they did not involve a discussion on the abandonment on the
cross. This is especially true for exegetes such as Gregory and Theodoret. In the
years before composing his In Canticum, Gregory had addressed the Apollinarian
scepticism about Christ's humanity. In his Antirrheticus, the episode on the cross had
drawn Gregory's attention in order to show Apollinarian Christological -and
Trinitarian- inconsistencies. Scholars have shown that, in his In Canticum, Gregory
refuted Eunomian Trinitarian theology and also Apollinarian anthropological
minimalism. However, in Homily 6 and 12 of the In Canticum, Gregory developed
his thought on divine infinity only as part of his refutation of Eunomian
existentialism. There is no evidence that Gregory ever linked together the biblical
bride to the suffering Christ and the Apollinarian refutation. 3 It seems that Gregory
never treated Christ as Bridegroom and bride. Christ was the Bridegroom that
abandoned the Christian soul; he was never the bride that was abandoned by God.
Elliott and Guinot suggested that, in his commentary, Theodoret deliberated on
the Christological turmoil of his era (the Nestorian controversy). 4 In this case, it is
pointless to say that Theodoret missed the chance to discuss the motif of
abandonment in a Christological context --he had done so in his other exegetical
works. Cyril had already provided the important information that Christ's
abandonment on the cross was part of Nestorius' argument in the latter's distinction
between the Logos and the Son of Mary. 5 Indeed, in his Nestoriana, Loofs included
3
For Rosse and Balthasar, this position never really changed before the presence of the Rhineland
mystics in the West. The latter were the first to employ the image of the abandoned bride as linked to
the ascetical experience of abandonment and the suffering Christ on the cross. See G. Rosse, The Cry
of Jesus on the Cross: A Biblical and Theological Study, trans. S. W. Arndt (New York NY: Paulist,
1987), 73 and especially 97 [footnote 12]. See also, Delumeau, Sin and Fear:The Emergence of a
Western Guilt Culture 13th-18th Centuries, trans. E. Nicholson (New York NY: St. Martin's, 1990),
73. Balthasar, Mysterium Paschale: The Mystery of Easter, trans. A. Nichols (Edinburgh: T&T Clark,
1990), 75ff.
4
See Elliott, Christology. Also Guinot, 'La Christologie'.
5
In ACO 1.1.2/49: "IIEpi tou u\.ou 'At:yrov· Outoc; b A.Eyrov: Od; !.lOU, Oct !.lOU, 'iva ti l.lE
i>"(KU'tEAl1tEc;; outoc; b tPllll.lEPOV 'tEAEU'tTtV U7tO!lEivac;" ([Nestorius] says about the son: he is the one
that says " my God my God why have you abandoned me"? He is the one that underwent the threeday burial). In what followed, Nestorius addressed humanity as a concrete active-subject alongside the
divine Logos. Cyril had accused the Nestorian party of dividing Christ into two active-subjects in the
same way that Paul ofSamosata had divided them in the past. See ACO, 1.1.1/101 and 110, and also
1.1.4/36. Nestorius rejected such an accusation. See Nestorius, The Bazaar of Heraclides, trans. G.R.
Driver and L. Hodgson (Oxford: Clarendon, 1925), 1.1 [book and part]. Loofs and Bethune-Baker
tried to establish a reconsideration of Nestorius' Christological thought. However, as Bathrellos
indicated -borrowing from McGuckin- the evidence did not suffice to restore Nestorius as a merelymisunderstood theologian. See F. Loofs, Nestorius and his Place in the History of Christian Doctrine
(Cambridge: CUP, 1914). J. F. Bethune-Baker, Nestorius and his Teaching: A Fresh Examination of
the Evidence (Cambridge: CUP, 1908). J. McGuckin, Saint Cyril of Alexandria, the Christological
Controversy: Its History, Theology, and Texts (Leiden: Brill, 1994). D. Bathrellos, The Byzantine
84
three passages where Nestorius had addressed Christ's abandonment on the cross. 6
Abramowski and Goodman provided two further citations. 7 The fact that Guinot and
Pasztori-Cupan maintained Theodoret's orthodoxy with regard to his Christology is
not sufficient to remove the paradox that, in a work reflecting the Christological
controversies of
5th -century
Byzantium, Theodoret did not address the motif of
abandonment with regard to Christ's experience on the cross. 8 If we accept the
position of Richard and Bardy about the "tamed" exegete that felt the urgency to
provide proof of his Chalcedonian orthodoxy, then Theodoret missed an important
chance to show that he did not believe that the suffering subject on the cross was
distinct from the Logos -as he was accused by the Cyrillian party. 9 Cyril had already
provided an exegetical exemplar of interpreting Sol 3: 1 from a Christological
position. 10 For, Cyril had treated Sol 3:1 within a christological/historical framework
indicating that the bride's "bed" was Christ's tomb and the bride's "night" was the
time when the Myrrh-bearing women approached to venerate the dead Christ,
unaware of the resurrection. 11 Theodoret must have been aware of this exegetical
position which he deliberately avoided turning to Origenist ethical discourse and
Gregorian spirituality. 12 If we accept the hypothesis of an early composition for the
Christ: Person, Nature and Will in the Christo/ogy of Saint Maximus the Confessor , Oxford Early
Christian Studies (Oxford: OUP, 2004), 16-24.
6
F. Loofs, Nestoriana: Die Fragments des Nestorius (Halle A. S: Niemeyer, 1905), 219; 260 and 360.
For the overall Antiochean Christology see Grillmeier, Christ.
7
In fact, Mt 27:46 appears three times in this collection. However, one is a translation of Loofs
German text. L. Abramowski and A. E. Goodman (ed.), A Nestorian Collection of Christo/ogica/
Texts, vol. 2, Cambridge Oriental Publications 19 (Cambridge: CUP, 1972), 43; 68 and 118 [the latter
was also included in Loofs, Nestoriana, 219].
8
Pasztori-Kupan, Theodore! ofCyrrhus. Also Guinot, 'La Christo Iogie'.
9
Elliott, Christo/ogy, 34. According to Guinot, the commentary on the biblical Song was composed
before the outbreak of the Nestorian controversy (A.D. 428-431). For, Pasztori-Kupan, it was
composd during the "cold war years" between Ephesus (A.D. 431) and Chalcedon (A.D. 451 ). On the
opposite side, Richard and Bardy discerned in the Commentary the theological adventures of a radical
Antiochene -during the 420s- who was tamed at the years close to Chalcedon. What triggered such
diversity of positions was the lack of reference to the humanity of Christ in concrete terms, and also
the illustration of the divine Logos as the only active-subject in the commentary. Guinot and PasztoriKupan maintained an orthodox Theodoret that remained such throughout his theological career but
was quite misunderstood. For Ricard and Grillmeier, Theodoret shifted from an Antiochean
Christological language to Cyrilian thought. For Theodoret's reception at Chalcedon see ACO
2.l/69ff.
10
Cyril of Alexandria, Fragmenta in Cantica Canticorum, PG, 69, 1285C.
11
The Cyrilian fragments on the Song show that Cyril had diverged from the Origenist and Gregorian
tradition by discussing the Song from a more historical point of view -always in the light of the
incarnation.
12
In fact, a close associate of Epiphanius of Salamis, Philo of Carpasus, was the first to interpret the
Song of Songs from a christological/historical point of view. See: Philo of Carpasus, Enarratio in
Canticum Canticorum, PG 40, 28-153. His purpose was to show the new reality of the Christian
history, thus diminishing the value of the Synagogue.
85
commentary, then it is plausible that Theodoret's work was prior to the
Christological debates of 51h-century Byzantium. Pasztori-Kupan's suggestion of a
composition earlier than Chalcedon but later than Ephesus (A.D. 431) increases the
paradoxical position that Theodoret did not relate Sol3:1 and Mt 27:46 to each other.
As it was mentioned, if the date of composition was later than A.D. 451 (Chalcedon),
then Theodoret lost the chance to defend his orthodoxy.
However, this paradox could be solved if we asserted that the Song of Songs
was treated on its own terms, as opposed to becoming a vehicle of Christological
deliberation. The commentators addressed the Christo logical scepticism of their era,
but not exclusively. They did not employ the biblical Song to resolve such
scepticism. It seems that, after Origen, the exegetical agenda was directed to the
spiritual value of the Song of Songs at an ethical level. Even Gregory's refutation of
Eunomius was incorporated into his scheme of exhorting to ethical perfection.
Despite the Christological debates that the commentators found themselves involved
in, the Song was expressing an exhortation to ethical advancement for the Christian
devotee. It was an arsenal from which the exegetes drew images to this end, as
opposed to highlighting such images as addressing the problem of Christ's identity.
Yet another factor needs to be taken into consideration: even when Byzantine
theology entered into a discussion of Christ's abandonment on the cross, such a
discussion was never conducted in the light of the experience of the biblical bride.
This is true for a span that covers Elliott's historical horizon, i.e. from Origen's time
(c. A.D. 254) until the CEcumenical Council at Chalcedon and, in fact, even beyond
that (e.g. Maximus-John Damascene). 13 This is another indication of the limited
interest that the Song aroused as a source for Christological deliberation in late
antiquity.
In his excellent introduction to the motif of Christ's loud cry on the cross,
Rosse noted that, "the cry of Jesus on the cross did not enjoy any particular attention
during the patristic era nor in the successive periods of Carolingian and Scholastic
John Damascene belon~d
to the Byzantine era during the outbreak of iconoclasm (A.D. 731) and
the Arabic incursion (7 -81h centuries). This era witnessed the progressive diminution of any
exegetical interest and the uprising of the need for polemical works alongside handbooks that would
define the faith in terriories (such as the Persian Empire) since Christianity could no longer count on
Imperial protection in her fight to establish herself amongst other religions. See, Louth, John
Damascene: Tradition and Originality in Byzantine Theology, Oxford Early Christian Studies
(Oxford: OUP, 2002). Idem, Greek East and Latin West: The Church A.D. 681-1071, The Church in
History, vol. 3 (Cresswood NY: SVS, 2007)
13
86
theology". 14 Rosse did not discuss any particular reasons for this. To the absence of
any real interest in Christ's abandonment on the cross, for instance, we could
juxtapose the Patristic theological interest in the Gethsemanean prayer. 15 Any real
theological concern about Christ's abandonment appeared only in terms of polemics
during the time of the great Trinitarian and Christo logical controversies -and even in
this case, it was only part of the broader argument. For instance, Lethe!, in his
influential work on Maxim us, examined the importance of the Gethsemanean prayer
for the development of monothelite/dyothelite lines of reasoning during the
ih
century. 16 In the dyoenergist florilegia presented at Laterano (A.D. 649), Christ's
abandonment on the cross played only a subordinate role. 17 And even before that, at
the time of the Arian controversies, biblical verses such as Pr 8:22 were of central
importance, as opposed to Mt 27:46. 18 Little did the Patristic authors write about Mt
27:46 in their polemics. Benoit observed: "from the beginning, Christian exegetes
have given a great deal of attention to these words and several suggestions have been
put forward to explain this desertion by God". 19 Benoit exaggerated the real attention
that the verse attracted in late antiquity. One further element that argues against
Benoit's exaggeration is the fact that: i) there was not even a single homiletical work
that discussed Christ's abandonment on the cross exclusively; and ii) commentaries
on the Passion Narratives included a disproportionate interpretation of the loud cry
in comparison to their discussion of other elements in the narrative. For instance, a
prolific commentator of the stature of John Chrysostom, who interpreted the Passion
Narrative in Matthew, spent only a couple of lines to the loud cry. 20 The same is true
14
Rosse, Cry ofJesus, 73.
For the homiletical works and available commentaries on the prayer see Geerard, CPG 5/130.
16
F. M. Lethe!, Theo/ogie de /'agonie du Christ: La /iberte humaine du Fils de Dieu et son
importance soterio/ogique mises en /umiere par Saint Maxime /e Confesseur, Theologie Historique 52
(Paris: Beauchesne, 1979). Idem, Maxime /e Confesseur: L 'Agonie du Christ, Les Peres dans Ia foi 64
(Paris: Migne, 1996). Idem, 'La Priere de Jesus a Gesthemani dans Ia controverse monothelite', in
Felix Heinzer and Christoph Sch6nbom (eds.), Maximus Confessor: Actes du symposium sur Maximus
/e Confesseur, Fribourg, 2-5 Septembre 1980, Paradosis 27 (Fribourg: Editions Universitaires
Fribourg Suisse, 1982). Bathrellos, Byzantine Christ, 140-147.
17
See the "Tenth Act" in AC0 2 2.1/288-368 (dyothelite florilegium) and 370-390 (monothelite
florilegium).
18
Bathrellos examined the importance that the Gethsemanean prayer had attracted prior to the
monothelite controversies, during the Arian debates. Bathrellos, Byzantine Christ, 141: "it seems that
the Gethsemane prayer first came to the fore of doctrinal disputes in the fourth century".
19
P. Benoit, The Passion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, trans. B. Weatherhead (New York NY:
Herder & Herder, 1969), 194.
20
John Chrysostom, In Matthreum, PG 57, 776. Chrysostom devoted more than 50 lines to the solar
eclipse in Mt. 27:45, and only 12 lines to Mt 27:46. In two contemporary commentaries on Matthew
and Mark, being actually compilations of Byzantine works, Simonetti (Matthew) provided four entries
15
87
about Cyril of Alexandria. 21
Overall, the Patristic theological production where the motif of Christ's
abandonment appeared could be divided into three groups:
i) scriptural
commentaries; ii) homilies; and iii) polemical writings.
The first group refers to Byzantine scriptural Commentaries. 22 Such
commentaries discussed and analysed the scriptural text verse by verse. In this case,
the commentaries treated Christ's abandonment only as part ofthe biblical narrative,
i.e. -to put it more precisely- the Passion Narratives. Comments on Christ's
abandonment on the cross were included in exegetical works on Matthew and Psalms
(e.g. Ps 21 :1). Rarely, comments appeared in commentaries on other canonical books
such as the book of Isaiah and Paul's epistles (e.g. Hebrews).
The second group contains Homilies that were not part of major exegetical
works on the scriptures (i.e. Commentaries). This group includes occasional homilies
whose content was connected to major feasts ofthe Church (e.g. Holy Saturday), the
New Testament readings during the Holy Service, or other occasions. The Homilies
of this period treated the abandonment of Christ on the cross only briefly without
exclusively focusing on it.
The majority of works that preserve the most material about the Patristic
theological deliberation on Christ's cry on the cross belong to the third group of
theological literature of late antiquity: i.e. polemical works. Such works refuted
contemporary Trinitarian and Christological positions.
ii. The historical context.
Early Christian literature (Apostolic Fathers) never directed its attention to
Christ's "loud cry" (q>wvn ,.a:yai\n) on the cross. Historically, the first time that the
episode attracted some -insignificant-attention was in Irenreus and appeared in a
polemical context. The bishop of Lyon (c. A.D. 130-c. 200) provided the first
historical witness that Gnostic circles tried to interpret Christ's loud cry on the cross.
(Hilary of Poitiers, Origen, Jerome, and Chrysostom) for the divine abandonment of Christ while he
cited nineteen patristic witnesses for the prayer in the Mount of Olives. Oden and Hall (Mark)
provided three entries (Augustine was quoted twice and Ambrose once) for Mt 27:46, and nineteen for
the prayer in agony. This is an indication ofthe lack of interpretations by Byzantine commentators. M.
Simonetti (ed.), Matthew 14-28, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (Illinois IL: lnterVarsity,
2002), 253-259 and 292-295. T. C. Oden and C. A. Hall (eds.), Mark, Ancient Christian Commentary
on Scripture (Illinois IL: InterVarsity, 1998), 208-214 and 232-234.
21
Cyril of Alexandria, Commentarii in Matthreum (in catenis), PG 72, 312.
22
Cf. Neil, 'Christian Tranformation', 326-329.
88
Despite the fact that Irreneus provided only the Gnostic witness without refuting it, it
is evident that, historically, the first attempt to reflect on Christ's experience on the
cross was related to conflicting traditions about the identity of Christ: according to
some groups of Gnostics, as a lower aeon in the gnostic hierarchy of beings, Christ
was truly abandoned by the Pleroma or Wisdom. 23
The next person to refer to the event was Origen, in the 3rd-century. In his
Contra Celsus, Origen addressed his interlocutor's despising mockery of the
Christian claim of Christ's divinity. According to Origen, Celsus wanted to impose
the position that the loud cry on the cross was a mere human cry without any
implications about Christ's divine status. 24
After the time of Origen, it was only during the fourth century that the loud cry
came to the fore again. Its presence occurred in a polemical context. Arianism
introduced a sophisticated scepticism about the place of the Logos in the hierarchy of
beings. Part of the Arian argument also included Christ's cry in dereliction which the
Arians interpreted in terms of his separation from the Father. 25 According to the
adherents of Arianism, he that was abandoned on the cross could not have existed coeternally with the Father. 26 The experience of abandonment introduced the separation
23
Irenaeus, Adversus Haereses, l.l.7.11and 1.1.16.22. Cf. Epiphanius, Pan. 31.25.6 [GCS 11423].
Origen, Contra Celsum, 3.32.
25
Mt 27:46 was not Arius' proof text in questioning the Logos' natural divinity. There is no evidence
that Arius addressed it at all. It seems that it was Arius' supporters that made it part of their argument.
In any case, it was Pr 8:22 that was the most important point of exegetical tension between the Arian
and the Nicene party. According to McGuckin, Pr 8:22 "was elevated as his supreme proof text" by
Arius. J. A. McGuckin, The Westminster Handbook to Patristic Thought (Westminster: John Knox,
2004), 29. Bromiley indicated that in the Arian thought, "in the New Testament the most important
passages are Mk 10:18 and 13:32, Jn 17:3; 5:19 and 14:28. These call God alone Good, speak ofthe
knowledge of the only true God, say that the Son can do nothing of himself, describe the Father as
greater than the Son, and refer to the Son's ignorance regarding the last day. In the Old Testament, Pr
8:22 provided the Arians with their strongest support". G. W. Bromiley, Historical Theology: An
Introduction (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1978), 85. For Gregg and Groh, it was Phil 5-11 that was
constantly and consistently refuted in Athanasius' Contra Arianos. According to them, Arius
depended on the scriptural depiction of Christ's "derived" or "received" power and his ignorance. For
a thorough discussion of Arianism with respect to its biblical dependence see R. C. Gregg and D. E.
Groh, Early Arianism: A View of Salvation (London: SCM, 1981). R. P. C. Hanson, The Search for
the Christian Doctrine of God: The Arian Controversy 318-381 (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1988). R.
Williams, Arius: Heresy and Tradition (London: SCM, 200 l ).
26
Athanasius, Arian. PG 26, 380: "·Eott of: Kat tOlltO nap' abt&v A.q6jl€VOV" n&c; ouvatat b
A6yo<; loto<; dvat tou llatpo<;, ou dvw obK ~v b llatl'Jp not€, ot' ou td mivta 1t0t€\. roc; UIJ.d<;
<ppovdt€, 0 f:nl. IJ.EV tOU otaupou A.f;yrov: E>EE IJ.OU, E>€E IJ.OU, iva ti IJ.€ f:yKatEAl1t€<;; ... E\. ~V Katd
tt)v Ujl€tEpav ouivotav iiiotroc; bmipx.rov b Y\6<; npo<; tOV E>€0V, out' c'iv kyKat€A.d1t€tO b
ouvumipx_rov" (it is this that they also say: how is it possible that the Logos belongs to the Father,
without whom the Father never existed, through whom he creates everything, like you think, the one
who said on the cross: my God, my God, why have you abandoned me... if the Son was not,
according to your thought, existing with the Father in all eternity, then he would never have been
abandoned he that co-exists). Hanson questioned the degree to which his opponents copied Arius'
own words. It seems that Athanasius cited the Arian position but not Arius himself. See Hanson,
24
89
between God and the suffering subject (i.e. the Logos).Z 7
In their turn, the exponents of Appolinarianism defended the Logos' natural
divinity against the Arian existential diminution. In stressing the divinity of Christ,
Apollinarius questioned the integrity of his humanity, indicating that the Logos took
the place of nous in the incarnation. There is no evidence in Lietzmann's edition that
Apollinarius exploited Mt 27:43 in the light of his peculiar minimalistic
anthropology.Z 8 In the surviving fragments from Apollinarius' works, Appolinarius
exploited the verse in an Athanasian fashion -defending against the Arians- arguing
that the loud cry expressed separation and belonged to the humanity of the Logos.Z 9
Gregory of Nyssa included Mt 27:46 in his defence against Apollinarius. 30 Yet,
Gregory did not address Apollinarian theology on Mt 27:46 as such. Gregory used
the verse within a broader discussion of refuting the extreme Apollinarian position
that Christ was a "heavenly man", indicating the problematic elements m
Apollinarius' suggested discontinuity between Christ's humanity and the rest of
mankind. 31
'Arius' Own Words', in Christian Doctrine, 6-18. Kopecek, Stead and Williams criticised this
position indicating the authenticity of such passages in Athanasius' work. For the literature on this
matter see Hanson, Christian Doctrine, 11 (footnotes no. 33 and 34). For Arius' theology see also, J.
Behr, 'Arius', in The Nicene Faith, Formation of Christian Theology, vol. 2/2 (Crestwood NY: SVS,
2004), 130-149.
27
Epiph. Pan. 69.19.5 [GCS 3/168]:"[quoting from Arius] Kat n<i.A.tv f:v tcp otaupcp, q>TJoiv, EA.EyEv:
8d j.lOU, 8Et j.lOU tva ti j.lE EyKatA.1~;
Kat bp~.
Q>TJOiV, ro~
E1tllitEtal ~O'fl9Eia;"
(and again on
the cross, he says, he [Christ] said: my God, my God why have you abandoned me? and do you see,
he says, how he is in need of assistance).
28
H. Lietzmann (ed.), Apo/linarius von Laodicea und Seine Schule (Verlag: Georg Olms, 1970). See
Bathrellos, 'Apollinarianism', in Byzantine Christ, 10-16. Cf. Theodoret of Cyrrhus, His toria
Ecclesiastica, 5.9.12 [in GCS 19/292]:"o0TE cnpuxov, oOTE livouv 11 errEMl Triv Tile; aapK6c; oiKovoi.Jiav
rrapai>EX61.JEVOI, o'Aov 1St EiMTEc; TE'AEIOV I.JEV rrp6 aiwvwv OVTO 0E6V 116yov, TEAEIOV 1St avepwrrov trr•
taxerrwv Twv rii.JEpWv IS1a Tr'Jv rii.JETtpav awTI']piav yEV61.JEvov" (not soulless nor without nous nor imperfect,
do we accept the economy of the flesh, but we know that the whole is, on the one hand, perfect Word
of God before all ages; on the other hand, he became perfect man in the latter days for our salvation).
29
E. MUhlenberg (ed.), Psa/menkommentare aus der Kateneniiberlieferung, vol. 1, PTS 15 (1975), 28
IPs. 37:22] and 53 [Ps. 42:2] [hereafter Fragmenta in Psalmos followed by number offragrent].
0
Gregory, Apol. 3.1/168.
31
Grillmeier, 'The Heavenly Man', in Christ, 330-333. Behr, 'Antirrheticus against Apollinarius', in
Nicene Faith, 212, 451-458. For Grillmeier the idea of a 'heavenly humanity' was a misunderstanding
of Apollinarian Christology by his contemporaries. Before Grillmeier, Harnack had argued that
Apollinarius' Christology was not different from his opponents. The 'heavenly man' did not signify a
flesh that had come from heaven. The incarnation introduced a historical analogy between Christ and
the condition of the Logos in his divine status. A. Harnack, History of Dogma, vol. 4, trans. E. B.
Speirs and J. Millar, Theological Translation Library (London: Williams & Norgate, 1898), 149-163.
For Behr, Gregory objected to the discontinuity between Christ's humanity and our humanity.
Apollinarius was approaching human mutability from a Platonic (negative) point of view. For
Gregory, "change", as expressed in Christ's humanity, was the basis of Christian asceticism and
spirituality. Olson missed this latter point in his attempt to argue the continuity between Athanasius
and Apollinarius. According to him, Apollinarius was only working on an Athanasian line of
90
Nestorius, in the fifth century, refuted such an Apollinarian discontinuity at the
expense of sharply distinguishing between two active subjects: the Son of Mary who
suffered on the cross and the divine Logos who worked miracles on earth. 32 As it was
noted, part of the Nestorian argument was the loud cry on the cross. However, this
episode played only a secondary role in the formulation of his "dividing"
Christology. The main opponent of Nestorius, Cyril of Alexandria, included a more
thorough discussion on the loud cry as part of his polemics against the Nestorian
party. In his exegetical works prior to the Nestorian outbreak, Cyril had only treated
Mt 27:46 as part of the Passion Narrative. 33
In the years following after Ephesus (A.D. 431) and the era around the
controversial council in Chalcedon (A.D. 451 ), monophysitism tried to establish
itself as Cyril's successor in Christology: it attacked Nestorianism and also
threatened the ecclesiastical and imperial unity. 34 The years after Chalcedon (5th_7th
centuries) progressively encouraged the appearance of monothelitism: a ramification
of imperial attempts to safeguard the political unity of Byzantium through
encouragmg an ecclesiastical unity. 35 It was mentioned that the prayer in
Gethsemane played an important role in the development of post-Chalcedonian
monothelite theology. Any discussion of the loud cry on the cross was only a part of
reasoning that the Cappadocians never really realised (Harnack's position). For Olson, the
Cappadocian refutation of Apollinarianism resulted in a consequent refutation of"Athanasianism". R.
E. Olson, The Story of Christian Theology: Twenty Centuries of Tradition and Reform (Downers
Grove IL: InterVarsity, 1999), 188-190. According to Behr, Apollinarius was more careless in his
Christology than Olson had observed. See also, P. Gavrilyuk, 'Arianism Opposed: The Word's
Divinity is not Diminished by Involvement in Suffering', in The Suffering of the Impassible God: The
Dialectics of Patristic Thought, Oxford Early Christian Studies (Oxford: OUP, 2004), 101-134.
32
In ACO 1.1.2/49. Gavrilyuk showed how close Nestorius brought himself to the Arian notion of
divine transcendence in his attempt to safeguard the notion of divine impassibility. See Gavrilyuk,
'The Similarity between the Function of Divine Impassibility in Arianism and Nestorianism', in
Suffering, 141-144.
33
McGuckin has presented the fullest account of the Nestorian controversy so far, putting under
scrutiny the modem "romantic" restoration of Nestorius. McGuckin questioned the depiction of Cyril
as a stubborn, intransigent and inferiorly-educated theologian. McGuckin, Saint Cyril. For Wessel,
Cyril was far different from the modem depiction of a bishop that was not learned in the classic
letters. S. Wessel, Cyril ofAlexandria and the Nestorian Controversy: The Making of a Saint and of a
Heretic, Oxford Early Christian Studies (Oxford: OUP, 2004). Bathrellos, 'Nestorianism', in
Byzantine Christ, 16-24. Grillmeier traced this modem approach to reassess Nestorius' theological
position in the work of J. Gamier. See Grillmeier's, 'The Nestorius' Question in Modem Study', in
Christ, 559-568.
34
For the years from Ephesus (A.D. 431) to Chalcedon (A.D. 451) see Grillmeier, 'From Ephesus to
Chalcedon', in Christ, 488-539, and 'The Council ofChalcedon', in ibid, 543-554. For the reception
of and reaction to Chalcedon see Grillmeier, Christ in Christian Tradition: From the Council of
Chalcedon (451) to Gregory the Great (590-604), vol. 2.1-2, trans. J. Cawte and P. Allen (London:
Mowbray, 1987-1995). Also, J. Meyendorff, Imperial Unity and Christian Divisions: The Church
A.D. 450-680, Church History 2 (Crestwood NY: SVS, 1989).
35
Cf. Meyendorff, Imperial Unity.
91
the broader argument concerning the number and operation of Christ's energies.
Characteristically, the main exponent of Chalcedonian theology, Maximus the
Confessor, addressed the number of wills and energies in Christ without ever
introducing the loud cry on the cross. The only witness about any discussion on Mt
27:46 during this era was limited to the jlorilegia promoting the dyothelite theology.
The mono-energist jlorilegium presented in 2"d Constantinople (A.D. 680) did not
include any patristic uses
(xp~aw;)
on the loud cry on the cross. It is only the dyo-
energist florilegia that included such patristic uses --primarily drawn from the time of
the Arian controversies-- on the scriptural episode. 36 However, even in this case, the
patristic preference for exegesis on the Gethsemanean prayer was significantly larger
than patristic interpretation on the loud cry.
2. The nature of divine abandonment.
i. Byzantine exegesis: separation or prayer?
The main feature of modem scholarship on the loud cry on the cross is
exegetical diversity. Based on the textual analysis of the episode in the Synoptics,
three possible assertions are brought to the fore: 37 i) the loud cry was an intentional
interpolation added at a later stage either by the evangelist or copyists. 38 According
to Rosse, even those defending the authenticity of the cry are divided with regard to
the content of the loud cry on the cross. Whereas some support Christ's true
separation from the Father, 39 others discern the obedient prayer of the Son to the
Father. 40 In most cases, it is the identification of the loud cry with Ps 21:1 that has
become the stumbling point: did Christ appropriate the psalm in its literal meaning or
In AC0 2 , 1184-90 and 258-336. Ibid, 2.11288-368 (dyothelite-dyoenergist florilegia) and 370-390
(monothelite florilegium).
37
Rosse, Cry of Jesus, 39cf. For the textual analysis of the Passion Narrative with regard to Christ's
loud cry see D. P. Senior, The Passion Narrative according to Matthew: A Redactional Study,
Bibliotheca Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium 39 (Leuven: Leuven University Press,
1975). R. E. Brown, The Death of the Messiah: From Gethsemane to the Grave; A Commentary on
the Passion Narratives in the Four Gospels, vols. 1-2, Anchor Bible Reference Library (New York
NY: Doubleday, 1994). L. Morris, The Gospel according to Matthew, (Grand Rapids MI: W. B.
Eerdmans, 1992).
38
Branscomb distinguished Mark's pen: the loud cry was an articulate addition by Mark in
introducing a flavour of the Old Testament to the scene. B. H. Branscomb, The Gospel of Mark,
Moffat New Testament Commentary (London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1937), 297. C. S. Keener, A
Commentary on the Gospel ofMatthew (Grand Rapids MI: W. B. Eerdmans, 1999), 682-3.
39
Brown, 'Jesus' Death Cry', in Messiah, vol. 2, 1043-1069. Also, M. B. Carra de Vaux Saint Cyr,
'L' Abandon du Christ en croix', in H. Bouesse et al. (eds.), Prob/emes actuels de Christologie, Textes
et etudes theologiques (Paris: Desclee de Brouwer, 1965), 295-316.
40
J. P. Heil, The Death and Resurrection of Jesus: A Narrative Critical Reading of Matthew 26-28
(Minneapolis MN: Fortress, 1991), 83. Keener, Matthew, 682-3.
36
92
is it the case that he used the psalm as an allusion to the faithful suffering servant of
the Old Testament?
Byzantine analysis of the loud cry was formed in a long process that never
raised questions about the authenticity of the words: Christ did cry out what appears
to be the opening verse of Ps 21: 1. With the exception of Theodore of Mopsuestia,41
there was no doubt about the identification of Mt 27:46 with Ps 21:1. Exegetes such
as John Chrysostom and Theodoret of Cyrrhus explicitly highlighted this connection.
Alexandrian exegetes (e.g. Cyril) overlooked the connection by focusing on the
actual event of abandonment, stressing that the cry belonged to Christ. It is a paradox
that, in their exegetical works on the Psalms, Athanasius, Didymos, Theophilus and
Cyril of Alexandria highlighted the link between Mt 27:46 and Ps 21:1; however, in
their polemical works, they totally overlooked this point.
The main issue in Patristic thought was the content of the cry; that is to say, the
degree to which the loud cry on the cross expressed dereliction or not. Due to the
proclaimed divine character of Christ, from the time of Origen onwards, it was felt
that the cry belonged to Christ but only in a refined way (oiKt:iwmc;). Through a long
process of theological development, Byzantine theology tried to appropriate the
presence of natural expressions in Christ without introducing the notion of natural
corruption. Abandonment was not the only motif that theology of late antiquity felt
the urgency to refine in Christ's case. This experience was grouped together with
other natural expressions -such as thirst, hunger, labour, rest, ignorance and fear.
Didymos the Blind was the first exponent in a process that created a technical
anthropological understanding of such passions as natural expressions of his
humanity. In this way, Patristic thought sought to maintain Christ's ethical purity and
safeguard the reality of his incarnation. However, it was only after the
th -century
that Byzantine theology addressed such natural expressions in technical terms
(blameless passions). 42
41
In his exegetical work, Theodore of Mopsuestia dismissed the Christo logical value of Ps. 21 :2
which he found inappropriate to be rendered to Christ due to the centrality of sin in the psalm. See
Theodoret, Psalm. PG 80, 1009.
42
Irenaeus was the first to introduce the presence of such natural passions in his defence of the reality
of the incarnation against the Gnostics. lrenaeus, Adversus Haereses, 3.33.8ff. Didymos employed the
medical terminology of his time to distinguish between degrees that a passion is expressed (na9oc:;npom19Eia, passio-propassio). Didymos introduced a more technical means of defending the reality of
natural passions. Didymos, In Psalmos 20-21, 43.20 [Ps. 21.21] [reference to fragments in PTA 7].
Didymos, FrPs, 716 [Ps. 68:17] [references to fragments in PTS 15-16]. D. Brakke, Demons and the
93
a. Origen: patristic foundations
In his pioneering doctoral thesis L 'Abandon du Christ par son Pere durant sa
passion d' apres Ia tradition patristique et les docteurs du Xllle siecle, Jouassard
examined the motif of Christ's abandonment in the patristic era. 43 He noted the
diversity of patristic positions and classified Patristic thought in two groups: i)
realism; and ii) typology. According to Jouassard, this polarisation of patristic
interpretations originated in Origen. 44 Indeed, Origen was the first Christian author to
address the motif of Christ's abandonment on the cross. 45 According to Jouassard,
Origen followed two diverging directions in his interpretation on Mt 27:46: 46
"realism on the one hand, metaphorical system on the other". 47 Jouassard's thesis and
subsequent articles were influential for patristic studies on this matter. Most of the
scholars addressing the loud cry on the cross have maintained this polarization
between realism and metaphor. 48
It seems that Jouassard was following the current continental theology of the
first half of the 201h century with regard to Origenist studies. Origenist scholarship
reached its peak with Danielou's highlighting the presence of three exegetical
Making of the Monk: Spiritual Combat in Early Christianity (Cambridge MA: Harvard University
Press, 2006), 54. Cf. Grillmeier, Christ, 363. Maximus the Confessor appropriated the Aristotelian
analysis of Nemesius of Emesa concerning natural passions by introducing the distinction between
and those actions that "are not up to us" (ouK tcp' ~IJiv).
Nemesius
"actions" that are "up to us" (tcp' ~IJiv)
also appropriated the Stoic classification of fear and shrinking back into various ethical levels. Cf.
Aristotle, Ethics, 3.1109b-1119b. Nemesius, Natur. 19 [pg. 80 in Morati's edition], 21 [pg. 20], 29-34
[pg. 93-104] and 39-40 [pg. 112-117]. Maximus, QnD. 66 [PG 90, 837]. Maximus, Thai. 42 [PG 90,
405]. Damascene, ExpF. 38-42 [pp 94-99], 64 [pp 162-163] and 67 [pp 165-166]. See W. F. R.
Hardie, Aristotle's Ethical Theory (Oxford: Clarendon, 1980), 152-181.
43
G. Jouassard, L 'Abandon du Christ par son Pere durant sa passion d' apres Ia tradition patristique
et les docteurs du Xllle siec/e (PhD Thesis: Institut catholique de Lyon, 1923). Unfortunately, his
thesis which was submitted at the Catholic Institute in Lyon has never been published. Jouassard
produced a couple of articles extracted from his thesis which are the only source available about his
work. Notwithstanding the excellent InterLibrary Loan service (ILL) in Durham University, and
despite my many efforts, it has been impossible to obtain a copy of this thesis. Even the Bibliotheque
Nationale de France was unable to provide any help in this matter. Thus, this section entirely depends
-with due caution- on Jouassard's articles: G. Jouassard, 'L'Abandon du Christ en croix dans Ia
tradition grecque des 1v• et v• siecles', RSR 26 (1925), 609-633. Idem, 'L'Abandon du Christ en croix
dans Ia tradition grecque, RSPhTh 14 (1925), 633ff.
44
Jouassard, 'L' Abandon du Christ en croix dans Ia tradition grecque des 1v• et v• siecles', 609
[hereafter 'L' Abandon'].
45
Cf. Irenaeus, Adversus Haereses, I. I. 7.11; 1.1.16.22.
46
Jouassard, 'L' Abandon', 609. Rosse, Cry ofJesus, 73cf.
47
Jouassard, 'L' Abandon', 609.
48
Rosse, Cry of Jesus, 73: "[Origen] finds himself at the beginning of two currents of interpretation
that persist until the Middle Ages". The same idea resounded in Carra de Vaux Saint Cyr,
'L' Abandon', 305-306. Cf. Balthasar, Mysterium, 125 (footnote no. 70).
94
currents in Origenist exegesis: i) literalism; ii) typology; and iii) allegory. 49 In his
thesis, Jouassard drew the distinction between literalism and typology.
Indeed, in his Selecta in Psalmos, 50 Origen treated Ps 21:1 in a "typological"
manner: Origen identified Mt 27:46 with Ps 21: 1:
[Ps 21 : 1] this is the voice of Christ our Lord when he was hanging on the cross, and
in another way it is a type of our own passion. For, we were abandoned and forsaken
before ... he appropriated our folly and malediction. 51
Christ's utterance was the cry of the humankind that Christ "accommodated" for
himself. Being a type of the suffering humanity (16 ~IJtTEpov
m]Bcx; Turroi),
he became the
mouth of his humanity: it was the human race that was abandoned by God due to the
fall. Rosse put under question the degree to which Christ was personally involved in
the passion. According to Rosse, "Christ as the representative of humanity expresses
a reality that does not regard him directly but concerns his body, of which he is the
head". 52 Rosse was following Jouassard's position that, for Origen, Christ suffered as
the head of his body without being personally involved in the suffering. Christ gave
voice to the pain of the human race through his loud cry by "accommodating"
(oiKEIOUIJEvo<;)
a "passion"
(rrAI")IJIJEAt<;)
that did not involve him personally. At the end of
the day, it is the human race that was abandoned by God, not Christ.
To this position,
Jouassard juxtaposed the
Alexandrian's
exegetical
intepretation in his Commentarii in Matthceum. In this latter work, Origen elaborated
an "alternative" exegesis: Origen highlighted Christ's personal involvement in his
suffering. The subject of abandonment was Christ.
Certain people, in an outward display of piety for Jesus, because they are unable to
explain how Christ could be forsaken by God, believe that this saying from the cross
is true only as an expression of his humility. We, however, who know that he who
was "in the form of God" descended from the greatness of his stature and emptied
himself, "taking the form of a servant" according to the will of the one who sent
him, understand that he was indeed forsaken by the Father inasmuch as he who was
the form of the invisible God and the image of the Father "took the form of a
servant". He was forsaken for people so that he might shoulder so great a work and
come "even to death" and "the death of the cross", a work which seems most
49
For a review of the literature on this subject see P. Martens, 'Origen the Allegorist and the
Typology/AllegoryDistinction' ,URL:www.pitts.emory.edu/hmpec/secdocs/Martens Origen SBL 04.
ru!f (last accessed 05/03/08). For Martens, the definition of typology as non-literal interpretation is
misleading. Martens indicated that Danielou applied to Origen a distinction that had been already
circulating in continental exegetical circles. Cf. G. Zimmermann, Die Hermeneutischen Prinzipien
Tertul/ians {Wllrzburg: K. Triltsch, 1937). Cf. Origen, Prine. 6. Iff.
50
It is still quite debatable if this is an authentic work of Origen.
51
Origen, Se/ecta in Psa/mos, PG 12, 1253A [Ps. 21:1]: "AutTJ f'J <pOlvl) tou Kupiou Xptotou, til>
otaupi!> 7tpOOTJAffill&vou, Kai aA.A.Ol<; OE tU7tot to f'JilttEpov 7td.Oo<;. . H!!Et<; ydp li!!EV ol.
E"(KUtUA.EA.ElllllEVOl Kai 7tUpEOlPU!!&VOl 7tp6tEpov ... iixmEp tl)v acppoouVTJV f'Jil&V Kai to 1tATJilllEAE<;
olKElOUI!EVO<;".
52
Rosse, Cry ofJesus, 73.
95
shameful to most people. It was the height of his abandonment when they crucified
him with thieves and when "those who passed by blasphemed and wagged their
heads". The chief priests and scribes said, "He saved others but cannot save
himself'. At that time "even the thieves reviled him" on the cross. Clearly then you
will be able to understand the saying "Why have you forsaken me"? when you
compare the glory Christ had in the presence of the Father with the contempt he
sustained on the cross, for his throne was "like the sun in the presence of God and
like the moon established forever; and he was his faithful witness in heaven".
Afterwards, he also added with regard to those reasons for which he said "why have
you forsaken me". 53
The reality of the experience was unquestionable; Christ was indeed abandoned.
Origen opened his exegesis with an attack on a "pious" attitude that overruled
Christ's abandonment in real terms: according to it, the loud cry was an expression of
his humility. In vigorous terms, Origen denied such piety maintaining the reality of
the experience. For Origen, Christ was the subject of abandonment. Origen defined
the meaning of abandonment: Origen pointed out the dramatic character of the
incarnation: i.e. the Logos' kenosis. It was the Logos' kenosis that explained Christ's
voice in dereliction. At the core of his argument, Origen placed a term that was
meant to play the most important role in Christian theology. From Athanasius to
Cyril of Alexandria, and --in modem theology-- from the German kenotists of the
19th century (Gottfried Thomasius) to the theology of Sergius Bulgakov and von
Balthasar, and from the ascetical ideal of the Rhineland mystics in the West to the
modem kenotic spirituality of Sophronius Sakharov in the East, the notion of kenosis
became the main terminus technicus to exemplify the mystery of the incarnation.
According to Origen, having left the majesty of the Fatherly bosom, the Logos
became the subject of mockery and contempt. Origen has compared the current status
of the suffering Christ to his divine glory. His abandonment is a sort of poverty with
regard to his glory: being "in the form of God", he was scorned and reviled "in the
form of a servant". The term kenosis did not occur here as such. However, Origen
alluded to Phil 2:6-7. 54 Origen juxtaposed "the form of God" with that "of a servant"
to highlight the notion of the Logos' poverty. If, in his In Psalmos, Origen had
emphasised the notion of "separation", in his In Matthceum, the motif of
53
Origen, Commentarii in Matthr.eum, 135 [in Simonetti, Matthew, 294].
It is the locus classicus where kenosis appeared in the New Testament. St. Evans, 'The SelfEmptying of God', inS. Davis et al. (eds.), The Incarnation: An Interdisciplinary Symposium on the
Incarnation of the Son of God (Oxford: OUP, 2002), 246-272. L. Richard, Christ: The Self-Emptying
of God (New York NY: Paulist, 1997). R. B. Strimple, 'Philippians 2:5-11 in Recent Studies: Some
Exegetical Conclusions', Westminster Theological Journal 41 (1978), 247-268. P. D. Feinberg, 'The
Kenosis and Christology: An Exegetical-Theological Analysis of Phil 2:6-11 ', Trinity Journal 1
(1980), 21-46.
54
96
abandonment took the form of "poverty": it was a condition that the Logos
underwent in the process of the incarnation. For Jouassard, exegetical "realism"
highlighted the motif of accommodation (oiKEiwmc;); whereas, the "metaphorical
system" featured Christ's self-emptying (Ktvwmc;).
But this theological juxtaposition between "realism" and "typology" is
problematic: it suggests that the notion of accommodation denied Christ's real
involvement in the passion. More or less, Jouassard suggested that the Origenist
accommodation was a vague exegetical formula that bears no real meaning. It related
Christ to the suffering humankind without truly addressing the true sense in which
Christ underwent abandonment: if he was not abandoned, how did he complain
without pretending? How did he approach the suffering humanity if he did not
suffer? Jouassard and Rosse's position suggested that Christ suffered as a
representative of the human race. Such a position has implications for soteriology:
Origen's soteriology was endangered by his typology. Salvation depended on a true
personal involvement of Christ in human suffering.
In Fragments surviving under Origen's name, the author indicated that:
And I (i.e. the Logos) am asking for your help; as if he is without assistance by the
Father, but he is not really without assistance even if he says; My God, my God,
why have you abandoned me? 55
The presence of the condition "as if' could justify modem scepticism about the
degree to which Origen believed that the experience of abandonment was truly
authentic. However, Origen rejected an ontological separation between Christ and
Father. It was Christ's soul that became the bearer of human transgressions:
Christ says, my soul is filled with troubles, for he bears our sins in his soul and, he is
filled with troubles ... For, if he carries our sins and suffers for us, he properly says
56
that he is filled with troubles.
There is no doubt that Origen pushed the identification of Christ with human
suffering to its extremes: through his soul, Christ made human suffering his own.
Origen denied a separation between Logos and God. The presence of a "human soul"
in Christ enabled Origen to maintain the full accommodation of human suffering by
55
Origen, Fragmenta in Psa/mos 1-150, Ps 87.5 [edition in J. B. Pitra (ed.), Ana/ecta Sacra Spici/egio
So/esmensi Parata, vols. 2-3 (Venice: St. Lazarus Monastery, 1966)]: "Kat tile; oflc; otoJ.tat ~ol"]OEiac;.
:..Qc; i:t~o]Ol"'<;
J.lEV, oi.J J.ltlV i:tA.l"]Oro<; i:t~ol'JO<;,
io<; i:tm) 'tOU Ilatpoc;, £l. Kat Elm:v: '0 8Eo<;, 0
8€6<; J.lOU, tva ti £yKattA.uttc; J.lE;".
56
Origen, ibid, Ps 87.3: "btA.i]oOll KaKrov ft 'I'UXil J.lOU, b Xptoto<; A.EyEt, tdc; i:tJ.laptiac; ftJ.lroV q>tpmv
i;v tft \j/UXTI ai.Jtou, Kat 1tATJPll<; rov [KaKrov] ... Ei ai.Jto<; td<; i:tJ.lap-riac; ftJ.lroV E~UCJ'ta,
Kat 1tEpi
ftJ.lrov oouvnmt, EiK6tmc; KaK&v £vE1tA.i]o011. <Plloiv".
97
Christ, without endangering his ethical purity and also his divine relationship with
the Father. For Origen, it was Christ's soul that truly suffered on the cross. The
Logos remained united to the Father. And through his human soul, he participated in
human sufferings. Thus, Origen did not question the authenticity of Christ's personal
involvement in human suffering.
What Jouassard called "realism" was a theological device that asserted the
condescension of the Logos to human maledictions through his human soul. The
"metaphorical system" maintained Christ's ethical purity and his ontological status
as divine. In both cases, it is the soul that was the subject of human suffering.
Unlike what Jouassard suggested, Origen envisaged the notion of kenosis as
poverty only in terms of the Logos' identification with human suffering at a real
level. Otherwise, even the "realism" of the Logos' kenosis would have been
endangered by Christ's accommodation of human passions, understood as an action
in pretence. But for Origen, the accommodation was not a mechanism that kept the
Logos personally uninvolved in human suffering: 57 "(Christ prays) not in pretence
for Satan, not by accommodating the will of the world, but in his own person, he
economically prays with a cry". 58 Origen seemed to have juxtaposed accommodation
to personal involvement. However, even in his Commentary on the Song of Songs,
Origen had defined the incarnation as the condescension of the Logos to the natural
limitations of the soul. Thus, it is impossible to separate between the economy of the
incarnation and the accommodation of human conditions. What Origen denied was
not accommodation as a genuine reality in Christ, but an understanding of his
experience in a "metaphorical" sense that would remove the notion of Christ's
personal involvement in human suffering. Weinandy illustrated that it was Origen's
constant concern to illustrate God's personal involvement in suffering. 59 Thus, the
notion of accommodation did not remove the ideal of divine involvement. It refined
the over-humanisation of the Logos that might have endangered his divine state. 60
Origen provided a genuine understanding of the loud cry on the cross. He
57
For Weinandy, love is the divine feature that transcends divine impassibility and illustrates an
authentic way in which God becomes a co-sufferer with the humankind. See Weinandy, 'Origen and
the Suffering of God', SP 36 (2001), 456-460. Idem, Does God Suffer? (Edinburgh: T&T Clark,
2000).
58
Origen, ibid, Ps 68.14: "[o]UK l;v U7t0Kpiost E7tt to os/..slioat tOV LUtavav, ou to tOU K60J.lOU
oixstouJ.lsvoc; 6ti..TJJ.lU, an· !:~ oiKsiou npoocimou Xptotoc; oiKoVOJ!tK&c; !:Kouoiroc; npoosux_stat
J.lStd Kpauyftc;" ·
59
Weinandy, 'Origen and the Suffering of God'.
60
Cf. Origen, Contra Ce/sum, 3.32.10.
98
defined it in terms of separation and poverty. It was separation with respect to
Christ's humanity (i.e. soul), and poverty according to Christ's divinity. Origen tried
to illustrate the condescension of the Logos to human suffering avoiding applying the
motif of abandonment as separation to the relationship between the Logos and his
Father. In employing the language of accommodation, Origen showed the
authenticity of Christ's identification with human suffering. Arguing Christ's
experience in terms of kenosis, Origen maintained the divine state of Christ without
endangering the reality of his experience.
b. Athanasius of Alexandria: against the Arians
After the time of Origen, the partisans of Arianism posed the question that
Origen had not answered: what was the theological implication of abandonment with
regard to the being of the Logos? Origen had denied a separation between the Father
and his Logos. The Arians exploited a literal understanding of the loud cry in their
attempt to support their questioning of the divine state of the Logos. The Arians
applied the "narrowest" and most literal exegesis for the word abandonment in Mt
27:46. Thus, Jouassard has remarked: "the Arians sought to profit from the scene of
the anguish to deny that a being thus overpowered by suffering is really the power of
God". 61 It was remarked earlier that Mt 27:46 was only one amongst the various
biblical verses that the Arians used in their dispute on the divine state of the Logos.
Athanasius provided the necessary information about the way that the Arians
included the loud cry as part of their theological argument.
Athanasian refutation of the Arian interpretation of Mt 27:46 was not
systematic. 62 Still, there was an inner logic to his argument that enables us to discern
the pattern of his thought. In advance, it needs to be noticed that though Athanasius
did not deny that abandonment was experienced by the Logos in his humanity, he
never demonstrated the mechanism in which Christ's humanity could ever have been
abandoned. That is to say, Athanasius introduced an exegetical obscurity about the
precise subject of abandonment and the way in which abandonment took place.
Athanasius' interest in Mt 27:46 occurred only as a response to his Arian
interlocutors. Though he never put aside his defence of the divinity of the Logos, his
61
Jouassard, 'L' Abandon', 610.
Jouassard, ibid, 612. For an introduction to Athanasian thought see T. G. Weinandy, Athanasius: A
Theological Introduction, Great Theologians Series (Aldershot: Ashgate, 2007)
62
99
exegesis corresponded in many ways with the Arian line of reasoning, highlighting
the logical absurdities and inconcistencies of their argument. Athanasius was more
interested in bringing to light such inconsistencies. He did not intend to provide a
psychological discussion of what happened on the cross. That is to say that
Athanasius did not engage in a creative discussion concerning the experience of
abandonment qua experience.
Athanasius addressed questions imposed by his Arian interlocutors who
refuted the natural divinity of the Logos: 63
How is it possible that the Logos is essential to the Father without whom the Father
was never, and through whom he makes all things, as you believe, who said upon
the cross, 'my God, my God why have you abandoned me?' ... If the Son was,
according to your thought, from all eternity to the Father as his Logos, he would not
have been ignorant of the day, but he knew; nor would he that co-exists from
64
everlasting be abandoned.
According to Athanasius' witness, the Arians were taking the loud cry on the cross at
face value. How was it possible that the Logos was abandoned by his Father? Did the
Logos ever exist separated from his Father, even for a moment? According to Mt
27:46, he did. The Arians defined abandonment as separation: the Logos was
abandoned -i.e. separated- by the Father. The logic behind the Arian question
involved the notion of divine mutability: if the Logos was God and always existed
united to the Father, then the separation on the cross introduced a change to his
everlasting relationship to the Father. 65 But according to the Arians, only an exalted
creature could have been subject to such a change. The Arian passage cited by
Athanasius is indicative of the Arian position: if there was a time that the Logos was
separated from the Father, then it was not illogical to argue that the Logos was not
divine in his nature.
Gavrilyuk examined the Arian position in terms of the notion of divine
immutability and impassibility. In order to compromise between divine impassibility
and the soteriological need for a "divine" involvement in human suffering, Arius
63
Most lines in the Athanasian corpus addressing the loud cry on the cross are found in his Orationes
tres Contra Arianos, and especially in his third oration where Athanasius had extensively refuted
Arian interpretation on scriptural passages.
64
Athanasius, Arian. PG 26, 380: "TI&~
ouvann b A6yo~
iotoc; Elvat tou Tiatp6c;, ou dvsu obK ~v
b Tiatl'Jp 1tOtE, lit' 00 td 1tliVtll 1t0tel, roc; O)lel<; cppovdte, b lmi )lEV tOU otaupou A.&yrov: 8~:&
)lOU, 8~:&
)lOU, Yva ti )l& tyKattA.t7tE<;; ... Ei. f)v Katd tl'lv b)!Et&pav l>tavotav ior~
tmapx.rov b
Ytoc; 1tpO<; tOV 8~:ov,
out' c'iv 'flyv61']0E 1tepi tf]c; f])l&pac;, a.n· tyivroOJCEV roc; A6yoc;, out' c'iv
tyKa~:A.dno
b ouvu7tapx.rov".
65
G. D. Dragas, Athanasiana: Essays in the Theology of Saint Athanas ius vol. I (London: 1980), 51:
"Arius' starting point is theo-monistic and results in a tension between the transcendent absolute being
of God and the transient and contingent being of the creatures, which are seen as opposites".
maintained a suffering subject that was not "mere man" (soteriology), but was not
fully divine (impassibility) either. According to Gavrilyuk, divine impassibility and
immutability provided a coherent background for the Arian argument. 66
To answer these objections, Athanasius employed a threefold device: i)
scriptural quotations manifesting the divinity of the Logos; ii) scriptural witnesses
that the Father did not abandon his Son; and iii) scriptural witnesses indicating
transgressions as part of human nature.
Athanasius juxtaposed the biblical depiction of Christ encouragmg and
exhorting his disciples to put off cowardice before death with the image of Christ
shinking back at Gethsemane. 67 Also, he brought to the fore Christ's assertion that the
power to lay down his own soul lay was his. 68 Athanasius intended to show the
absurdity of supporting the idea that Christ encouraged his disciples against
cowardice while he shrank back before death. Thus, Athanasius juxtaposed the motif
of life with that of death. 69 For Athanasius, it was illogical that Christ was recipient of
both attributes (i.e. cowardice and courage) at the same time. 70
Athanasius pointed out that the Logos was never actually abandoned by the
Father on the cross:
Lo, when he utters 'why have you abandoned me?' the Father showed that as
always he was in him then. The earth, knowing its talking master, immediately was
trembling, and the veil was tom apart, the sun was hiding, and the stones were
crackinf, and the graves, as I said, opened, and the dead that were in them were
raised. 7
The natural and supernatural phenomena related by the evangelists manifested his
divine power remaining united with the Father. For Athanasius, Christ maintained his
unbreakable relationship with the Father on the cross. Athanasius agreed with his
interlocutor that, if he was abandoned by the Father, qua Logos, he could not have
been God in his nature: 72 "so, it is not possible that he was abandoned by the Father,
the Lord who is in him in all eternity, and before he spoke and after he left this cry
66
Gavrilyuk, Suffering of God.
Athanasius, Arian. PG 26, 436.
68
Athanasius, ibid, 437.
69
Athanasius, ibid, 436.
7
Cyril developed this Athanas ian line of reasoning by illustrating the absurdity of maintaining that
the source of life was afraid of death. Cf. Cyril of Alexandria, ComLk (in eaten is), PG 72, 920A.
71
Athanasius, Arian. PG 26, 441 :" ioou ydp A.tyov~
abtou, "Iva ti JlE £yKatA.nE~;
£oEiKvuEv o
ad Kai t6tE l]v EV abtQ>. 'H ydp yf], yt VWOKOUaa tOV A.aA.ouvta ~E01t6T]V,
Eb8u~
Ilat1)p, (o~
etpEJlE, Kat tO Kata1tttaOJla £ox_i/;EtO, 0 t'JA.6~
tE EKptl1ttEto, Kai ai nttpat otEppi]yvuvto, Kat td
JlEV JlVT]Jlda, ro~
npodnov, t)voiyEto, oi oE £v abto~
VEKpoi t)yEipovto".
72
Jouassard, 'L' Abandon', 611.
67
°
101
(i.e. Mt 27:46)."
73
But unlike the Arians, Athanasius maintained the immutability of
the Logos. This position could expose Athanasius to the accusation that he taught an
action in pretence on the cross. For, if it was not the Logos that was abandoned on
the cross, then the loud cry would have no meaning.
There is no indication that Athanasius actually faced such scepticism. 74
However, from his overall argument, it is apparent that Athanasius knew the
weakness of such a position which he tried to argue. He provided a positive and a
negative answer with respect to the suffering subject: "it was the Logos crying out
what belongs to the soul";
75
"it was not the Logos qua the Logos". 76 The subject of
abandonment was the humanity of the Logos. In this case, the soul ( lj.luxr'l) represented
the whole of the human race. 77 The Athanasian position depended on the Origenist
refinement of Christ's suffering in the "form of the servant". The patriarch of
Alexandria, however, did not define abandonment as the Logo's "poverty". For the
latter, abandonment was a matter of "separation" that actually highlighted the
distinction between oikonomia and theologia. 78
73
Athanasius,Arian. PG 26, 440: ""09EV oulii; i:yK!l't(lAEhtEo9at liuvatat 7t!lpd 'tOU Tia'tpO<; b
Kupto<; b i:v ai>'tcp &v lld, Kal. 7tpo 'tou d1tdv, Kal. ihE 'taU't'lV f]<piEt •l'lv <provi]v".
74
The question in the De Sancia Trinitate was articulated in order to introduce his position.
Athanasius, Trin. PG 28,1261D: "Tic; i]v b A.tyrov: "9E£ J.LOU 9E£ J.LOU, iva'ti J.LE i:yKa't£A.t7tE<;;" (who
was the one that says: my God, my God why have you abandoned me?). In the West, Ambrose
established a more anthropological notion of abandonment explicitly connecting Christ's experience
to contemporary humanity. For Ambrose, Christ shared with the rest of the human race the same
'feeling' of being abandoned during perilous times. His position antedated the eastern ascetical motif
of abandonment in terms of feeling left alone in trials. Thus, Ambrose brought Christ closer to human
experience without involving the notion of sin. For Origen and Athanasius, abandonment was linked
to the state offallen humanity. See Ambrose, De Fide 2, 7.7-37 [PL 16, 594)]. Isaac of Syria was the
Easterner that exploited the notion of feeling alone and abandoned even from friends during trials. See
Isaac of Nineveh, The Second Part: Chapters IV-XLI, trans. Sebastian Brock, CSC 225 ( 1995), 8.21.
75
Athanasius, Trin. PG 28, l264A: "i\v 61\6yoc, <pwvwv ro rr'jc; ljJUXi\c; 'i1S1a".
76
Athanasius, Arian. PG 26, 440: "ouK ~v 61\6yoc,, ~ l\6yoc,".
77
Grillmeier focused on the notion of soul as a theological and anthropological factor in Byzantine
Christology. With respect to Athanasius, Grillmeier tried to examine whether the soul was the
physical subject of suffering at an anthropological level, or a theological factor that united the material
(body) to the divine (Logos). See Grillmeier, Christ, 308cf. However, his analysis on Athanasian
Christology within this context had had many pit-falls that were highlighted by various scholarly
works. See Anatolios' criticism of Grillmeier with respect to the notion of the Logos' moving the
body as an instrument. K. Anatolios, Athanasius: The Coherence of his Thought (London: Routledge,
1998). For a more thorough discussion on the subject with regard to Grillmeier's position see G. D.
Dragas, 'The Soul of Christ', in St. Athanas ius: Contra Appo/inarem, Church and Theology 5
(Athens: Parisianos, 1985), 289-399 [especially pg. 344-356].
78
For Grillmeier, the Athanasian refinement was meant to safeguard the divinity from personal
involvement in the passion: the humanity became a sort of shield for the divinity. However, Dragas
and most recently Gavrilyuk have critiqued such a reading of Athanasius and the Nicene faith in
general. See Dragas, 'The Soul of Christ', 346ft': "(Quoting from Grillmeier) [Athanasius] had to find
the subject of all suffering in the manhood of Christ, so as to put it as a protective shield before an
inviolable Godhead". Also Gavrilyuk, 'Arianism Opposed', in Suffering, 132.
102
Athanasius appropriated the notion that the Logos gave voice to the sufferings
of human kind. For Jouassard, in Origen, this position was diminishing the personal
involvement of Christ in the passion. But, according to the same scholar, when
Athanasius was dealing with the same line of reasoning, this diminution of the
Logos' involvement in the passion was removed: the Logos made his own the reality
of the suffering human race. Christ accommodated such human nature that was able
to experience the same passions (i.e. natural passions), with the rest of the human
race. 79 When Christ was shrinking back and complaining that he was abandoned by
God, "through this he was making known that, though he is God impassible, he has
taken passible flesh; with his works he shows himself to be the Logos of God that
then has become man". 80 That led Athanasius to distinguish between natural
operations that belonged to the Logos qua Logos, and actions/passions that belonged
to the oikonomia of the union
(tvwcrE~
oiKovo!Jia)
between human and divine in
Christ. 81
For these (passions) are not the nature of the Logos qua Logos; for the Logos was in
the flesh that was suffering those (passions) ... and these were not sgoken before the
incarnation; but when the Logos became flesh, and he became man. 2
Athanasius' position was part of the process in patristic thought that argued the
compatibility between natural passions and ethical purity. To achieve that,
Athanasius distinguished between the status of the Logos before and after his
incarnation.
In the same way that he trampled down death through his death, and all the human
(afflictions), in this way he subdued our shrinking back through the assumed
shrinking back. 83
Soteriology was Athanasius' crux: the Logos saved humanity by assuming human
limitations. In doing so, Athanasius overturned the Arian argument that a saviour
who was involved in human suffering would have endangered the divine
impassibility. Athanasius brought his thought to a climax, swapping the
79
Jouassard, 'L' Abandon', 612.
Athanasius, Arian. PG 26, 43 7:" . E K jlEV ydp t&v tOtoUtOJV i;yvropt~f:V'
Ott, eso<; ffiv t'maOl'l<;.
oapKa 1ta8l')tllV 1:/.a~sv
EK o€ t&v 1\pyrov todKVUf:V i;autov A6yov 6vta toll ewu, Kat uotspov
Y£V6jl£VOV av8pOJ1tOV".
81
Jouassard, ibid, 610.
82
Athanasius, ibid, 437:" 'AH' obK ~v
iota cpuost tou A6you tauta, fl A6yo<; ~v:
tv M tfl
totaura 1taoxouon oapKi ~v b A6yo<; ... Kai ydp obK dpl')tat taura 1tp6 tl;<; oapK6<;: i:J.'),.f,: ots b
A6yo<; odpl; i:yEV£!0, Kai. yf.yovsv av8pro1to<;".
83
Athanas ius, ibid, 444:". Q<; ydp tOV eavatov eavatcp Katl'Jpyl')O£, Kat i:J.v8pro1tivro<; 1tUVta td
i:J.v8pro1ttVa, OUtOJ tfl VOjlt~ETI
Of:tA~
ttiV tjjl&V O£tAiav acpnps'ito".
80
103
soteriological factors: "In the same way that, having become in our body he imitated
our (condition), in the same way having taken him, we participate in his
immortality". 84 The Greek text presents a syntactic symmetry containing two dyads
of one participle and a verb each:
yEv61J~-Ir'cao
and 6E~OIJvor-
1 EraA
1 1XJvo
1 Ev.
The Logos
became a co-sufferer with humanity, and humanity was freed from its weakness and
participated in Christ's divinity. It was in his Vita Antonii that Athanasius
exemplified the outcome of the incarnation through a vivid use of imagery.
However, Athanasius did not address the true subject and object of
abandonment and most significantly the mechanism through which abandonment
occured: if Christ's humanity was abandoned, then Athanasius did not explain
whether it was abandoned by the Logos (i.e. the divine element in Christ) or the
Father. This question has troubled modem scholarly research on Athanasian thought
for the reason that it is related to the notion of Christ's death. If abandonment is
defined as separation, then did Athanasius support a separation between humanity
and divinity in death? Such a position would have highlighted the separation between
the Logos and the human element in Christ leaving unaddressed the role of the Father
in the Passion. Grillmeier suggested of a separation between body and soul, doubting
that the soul was a valid anthropological element in Athanasius. In this case, it is not
the Father that abandons. The notion of separation is limited within the relationship
between the Logos' and his humanity. Athanasius never really provided an answer.
The question remained open and became the backdoor for the appearance of
Nestorianism.
For Dragas, Athanasius' hesitation to answer the question concerning
separation in death was due to the fact that Athanasius never saw himself involved
with an analysis of the ontological mechanism that caused Christ's passion and death.
It seems that Athanasius only indicated that it was the Logos that suffered, without
making Christ's soul the subject of suffering. His position emphasised the
involvement of the Logos in suffering, including the motif of abandonment. 85
Athanasius worked out the soteriological reasons that led to his abandonment. In
doing this, he was cautious to meet his adversaries' scepticism about the nature of the
84
Athanasius, op. cit.:"'Qc; ydp abtoc;, yEV6f.1£voc; tv t(\> tuu'ov oroj.tatt, td f]j.trov E!ltllt'Joato, outroc;
fJ!lEic;, oE~UjlVt
abtov, tf]c; 1tap' €Kdvou j.1EtaA.a!lf3dvojlEV il9avacriac;".
85
Dragas, 'Christ's Soul', 350.
104
person that underwent abandonment. Athanasius' intention was to secure the divine
state of the Logos, not to engage in a discussion of the inner mechanism that resulted
in the loud cry.
His Arian interlocutors forced Athanasius to imply that the Logos was
abandoned by the Father, but in a refined manner. Athanasius avoided such a trap but
did not avoid introducing theological obscurity about the exact nature of Christ's
abandonment on the cross. For Athanasius, abandonment meant separation. Origen
had already dissociated abandonment from separation at the level of the oikonomia,
understanding it in terms of the fall and its consequences. The Logos took on the
consequences of the fall without changing his relation to the Father. Thus, Origen
had introduced the notion of abandonment in terms of the Logos humility in mockery
and contempt. The more elaborate Arian argument addressing the ontological
condition of the Logos, left no space for Athanasius to tum to the Origenist ethical
discussion. Instead, Athanasius met the Arian scepticism on their own territory,
introducing the distinction between oikonomia and theologia: that is to say that
Athanasius distinguished between the being of the Logos qua the Logos, and the
being of the Logos in his incamational status. 86
c. Gregory Nazianzen: typology or realism?
According to Jouassard, the Athanasian synthesis that brought together
Origen's "realism" and "metaphorical system" was lost in the years following his
theological legacy. In fact, Jouassard pointed to Gregory the Theologian as the
representative of this disturbance. For Jouassard, Gregory offered an allegorical
interpretation that endangered Christ's personal involvement in abandonment. 87
The only place that Gregory discussed Mt 27:46 was in the so-called De Filio
of anti-Arian content. Like Athanasius, Gregory corresponded with his interlocutors'
86
Athanas ius introduced another exegetical line that presented Christ as the "fish-hook". This position
was known since the time of Origen. It became a favourite for the two Cappadocian Gregories,
whereas in the West Augustine altered it to the "mouse-trap". Athanasius, Homilia de Passione et
Cruce Domini, PG 28,228. See J. Riviere, 'Le Marche avec Ie demon chez Ies Peres anterieurs a Saint
Augustine', RSR 8 (1928), 257-270. Also D. F. Winslow, The Dynamics of Salvation: A Study in
Gregory of Nazianzus, Patristic Monograph Series 7 (Cambridge MA: Philadelphia Patristic
Foundation, 1979), 107. In Athanas ius, this interpretation appeared only in homiletic works and
highlighted the fact that every event in the life of Christ contributed to the defeat of death and the
devil.
87
Jouassard, 'L' Abandon', 612-613.
105
positions. It has been suggested -not without scepticism- that, for this work, Gregory
actually corresponded to an Arian catena of scriptural witnesses, refuting them verse
by verse. 88
In Mt 27:46 Gregory recognised the opening lines ofPs 21. With regard to the
subject that experienced abandonment, Jouassard maintained that Gregory only
appropriated the Origenist metaphorical system: Christ gave voice to the suffering of
the human race. 89 According to Jouassard, such a position diminished the Athanasian
achievement of showing the personal involvement of the Logos in the passion.
He is not forsaken either by the Father or by his own Godhead, as it seems to some,
as if it is afraid of the passion, and for this reason it closes up to the sufferer. Who
forced him to be born on earth in the first place or ascend on the cross? In himself,
as I said, he is the type for us. For we were abandoned and disregarded before; and
now we are assumed and saved through the suffering of the impassible. 90
Gregory followed the Athanasian position that distinguished between actions
attributed to the Logos qua God and qua man. 91 For Gregory, lowly names (e.g.
slave) and actions, such as subordination and submission, belonged to the incarnate
condition of the Logos. It is true that Gregory stressed the reality of Christ's
humanity in vigorous terms: 92 it was his humanity that was abandoned on the cross.
Like Athanasius, Gregory did not develop an understanding of the inner mechanism
in which Christ's humanity was abandoned. Athanasius dismissed the separation
between the Logos and his Father, and Gregory followed suit. But Gregory also
dismissed the position that the Logos' divinity abandoned his humanity. Thus,
notwithstanding his vigorous language, Gregory maintained the singleness of the
suffering subject.
88
T. A. Kopecek, A History of Neo-Arianism, vol. 2, Patristic Monograph Series 8 (Cambridge MA:
Philadelphia Patristic Foundation, 1979), 502. Norris followed this argument though he questioned the
order that Gregory followed when discussing the various scriptural verses: "The ordering is probably
his (Gregory), the substance their (Eunomians)". F. W. Norris (ed.), Faith Gives Fullness to
Reasoning: The Five Theological Orations of Gregory Nazianzen, VgCh 13 (Leiden: E. J. Brill,
1991), 55 and 159.
89
Cf. J. A. McGuckin, Saint Gregory ofNazianzus: An Intellectual Biography (Crestwood NY: SVS,
2001), 299: "[Gregory] argues that they (Mt 27:46) do not indicate anything of the mind of Christ
considered either as God or as the man-God. They speak out, at the great moment of his act of
salvation for the world, the entire plight of the human race alienated from the divinity".
90
Nazianzene, Fil. 5 [PG 36, 109B]:''ob ydp abtoc; i;yKataA.tAwttat, fJ bno tou natp6c;, fJ uno ti'Jc;
!;autou llE6tT)toc;, 0 OOKEl noiv, roc; c'iv QJO~UjlEVTS
to milloc;. KUi Old tOU'tO OUOtEAAOjlEVTJS U1t0
too naoxovtoc;. tic; ydp fJ y~:vT)Ilf]at
Ktitro tl)v apxl'Jv, fJ l:ni tov otaupov av~:A.et
flvtiyKaaEv;
!;v !;aut£P of:, 07tEp dnov, tU7tOl to fljlEtEpOV. flllEtS ydp ~jlEV
oi. !;yKUtUAEAEljljlEVOl KUi
7tUpEropUjlEVot 7tp6tEpoV, dta VUV 7tpOOElAT)jljlEVot KUi OEOWOjlEVOl tOlS tOU U7tUilouc; 1tUIJEOtV".
91
Winslow, Salvation, 104.
92
According to Winslow, Gregory adopted a firmly and coherent unitive Christology only after
confronting the Apollinarian positions. Winslow, ibid, 94.
106
That Gregory maintained the accommodation of the human passions by the
Logos was taken by Jouassard as an indication of his typological interpretation:
Christ was "called" sin and malediction, but his existence was never identified with
the presence of sin. He was also called "abandoned" but, in reality, no real separation
took place. 93 Christ only gave voice to the suffering of human kind without ever
experiencing the passion (i.e. separation from the Father) of human race. Jouassard
remarked on the sharp distinction between the condition of Christ on the cross and
the condition of humankind: "he is not forsaken ... by his own Godhead which closes
up, afraid of suffering, and abandons the sufferer". 94 For Norris, Gregory introduced a
unitive Christo logy highlighting the singleness of the suffering subject: "now we are
saved by the suffering of the impassible". 95 Norris also suggested that Christ's
humanity did not play the role of a shield for his divinity. 96 What Jouassard viewed
as typology was Gregory's way to argue the need for full divine and also human
involvement in the passion:
He honors obedience for this reason in practise and from his suffering he gains
experience. For the disposition is not enough, as it is not enough in our case us,
unless we give it practical effect. The deed is proof for the disposition. Probably it is
not less to believe that he tastes our obedience and counts [or pays] everything
97
through his passion in the art of loving mankind.
For Gregory, it was only through personal involvement in afflictions that the Logos
freed humanity from her weakness. Such an argument meets any modem scepticism
concerning his typology. Gregory was thinking of abandonment in real terms without
deliberating on the mechanism in which it took place. At the end of the day, Gregory
defended the natural divinity of the Logos in the light of soteriological
presuppositions. This was the reason why Gregory employed a Christology that
prepared the ground for the Christological controversies of the
5th
century. However,
Gregory was only working on the spirit of Nicaea (A.D. 325). 98 For Gregory,
abandonment was a personal experience of Christ.
93
Nazianzene, Fil. op. cit.
Nazianzene, Fil op. cit.
95
Nazianzene, Fit op. cit. Norris, Faith, 50 and 163ff.
% Norris, ibid, 50: "Humanity is not inserted into the equation so that divinity will be kept from full
involvement".
97
Nazianzene, Fit. 6 [PG 36,l09C]:"[Ii]td "COUto EP'Y((l 'tl!~
'tTtV i.>1taKoi]v, Kat 1tetpiitat 'tUl~
tK
"COU 1tU9dv. ob ydp tKUVOV f] lit6.9eo~
fixmsp obi)€ i'J!!tV, d !!Tt Kat litd t&V 1tPU'Y!!Ut<OV
xropi]aUt!!eV. Epyov ydp t'm61ie~
litasro~.
ob xdpov ()€ taro~
KO.KetVO tmoA.a~dv
O'tt lioKt!!Uset
tt'lv i'JI!ettpav ll1taKoijv, Kat 1t6.V'ta l!etpd to~
!:autoi.l 1t6.8sat ttxvn q>tA.av8pro1i~"
98
For Gregory's Christology see Grillmeier, Christ, 368-370. Norris, Faith, 47-59. Winslow,
Salvation, 73-119.
94
107
d. Gregory of Nyssa: the polemicist.
Basil of Cresarea: the ascetic
Gregory of Nyssa was not an exception m his treatment of the motif of
abandonment in Christology. He only directed his attention to the episode when
confronted with the Apollinarian position of a minimalist anthropology. However,
Gregory did not directly correspond to Apollinarian exegesis on Mt 27:46. Gregory
refuted Apollinarius'
Ar6&t(~
without specifically addressing Apollinarian exegesis
onMt27:46.
The only witnesses of Apollinarian exegesis on Mt 27:46 are found in
fragments from exegetical catenas. 99 There is no indication -based on Lietzmann's
edition- that Apollinarius used Mt 27:46 extensively within the context of his unitive
Christology. For Behr, modem scholarship has appreciated Apollinarian Christology
in the light of Apollinarius' defence of the Nicene faith and also his rejection of a
divisive Christology that presented a loose union between the Godhead and a man
(e.g. Diodore ofTarsus). 100
In his exegesis, Apollinarius followed the basic patristic direction of his era: it
was not the Logos that was abandoned on the cross. 101 Apollinarius' intention was to
prevent an Arian understanding of the episode where the Logos was abandoned by
the Father. In his defense, Apollinarius negated that the Logos was abandoned in
99
See MUhlenberg (ed.), Psa/menkommentare, PTS 15 (1975), 3-118.
See Olson, 'Apollinarius's "God-in-a-Body" Heresy', in Christian Theology, 207-208. Indeed,
Apollinarius has refuted the divisive Christo logy of Diodore of Tarsus. See Behr, Nicene Faith, 212,
392. Cf. Gregory, Apol. 185 [1200] [all references in GNO 3.1]: "DAA.A.' fl~-tu<;
!pllCH ouo np6arona
A.tysw, tOV llsov Kat tOV napd tou llsou 7tpOCJA'l(jllltvta avllpronov" ([quoting from Apollinarius] but
we say, he says, of two persons, the God and the man assumed by God). Apollinarius understood
person in terms of nature as the life-giving principle and the point of union in Christ. Thus, for him,
the formula of two natures or two persons introduced two principles of union and also two life-giving
sources. Harnack and Grillmeier noticed the Stoic understanding of the soul as the principle of life and
motion permeating the whole human being in Apollinarius. Alongside his Nicene conviction,
Apollinarius understood -in Stoic terms- that there was only one life-giving principle in Christ, the
Logos. Otherwise, the union between God and flesh would have been loose. For the notion of nature
(rpuJf~)
and person ("p6aw"ov) in Apollinarius see Grillmeier, 'Mia Physis' and 'The Concept of
'Person", in Christ, 333-340. For the philosophical anthropological principles behind Apollinarius'
thought which should not be exaggerated as his only theological drive see Harnack, History of
Dogma, 149-163. Also, H. A. Wolfson, 'Philosophical Implications of Arianism and
Apollinarianism', DOP 12 (1958), 5-28.
101
Apollinarius, FrPs. 28 [Ps. 37.22-23] [reference to fragments in PTS 15]: "to "Iva ti i::yKattA.st7tt<;
!!E; onou 0£ to Mli i::yKataA.st1tTI<; 1-lf:, Kai to Mli t'lnoatft<; an' 1:~-tou,
ro<; i::n' autou ys totlto
t'louvatov" (the 'why have you abandoned me; or the 'do not abandon me" and 'do not stand aloof
from me' it is impossible to be by such one).
100
108
these terms. 102 Overall, Apollinarius followed the Athanasian line of reasoning
indicating natural phenomena as the testament about the unity between the Logos and
his Father on the cross. 103 In stressing this union, Apollinarius employed a
"typological" interpretation that excluded the personal involvement of the Logos.
Thus, Apollinarius avoided the Athanasian and Gregorian distinctions between
Christ's actions qua Logos and qua man. Apollinarius dismissed concrete
anthropological terms in Christology. 104 Athanasius and Gregory had implied that
abandonment could refer to a "Logos-man" scheme. 105 Apollinarius rendered the
notion of separation between the Logos and the Father as invalid. He wrote:
This [divine glory] is said to have changed into humility, when he came to the
passion suffering what was for the sake of men and being abandoned by them for
whom he was suffering 106
For Apollinarius, abandonment did not imply a disturbance of the relationship
between the Logos and his Father. Christ was abandoned in terms of the people that
disregarded him and crucified him. However, Apollinarian Christology was not as
innocent as it appeared. 107
In his Antirrheticus adversus Apollinarium, Gregory attacked the above
102
Apollinarius, FrPs. op. cit.: "Oi.J yap djlt, <pTJOlv, 116voc;. btd b 1tati]p 1.10u jlEt' EjlOU i;anv" (For
I am not alone, he says, because my Father is with me).
103
Apollinarius, FrPs. 53 [Ps. 42.2]: "DE1ti Of: tou Kupiou 1tavtd.&c; to "Iva tl i;yKat€A.t7ttc; 111:
A.sy~:ta,
6tav Kai to Kat' ai.Jtov oi.JK d~tov
i;yKatA.~:hvroc
oto Kal. taxc'ia f] tile; oi.Jpaviou
PoTJ9clac; E1t<pav~:
1tcpl. t({> 1tfioxovtt arojlatt ot' EKEtvo 1tcpi fJiliic;" (It is not said for the Lord the
'why have you abandoned me', when what is according to him is not rendered to be worthy of
abandonment; therefore, it is immediate the manifestation of the heavenly assistance for him who
suffered through this body for us).
104
Apollinarius' debate with Diodore of Tarsus is a factor that needs to be taken into consideration
when assessing his Christology. His argument was shaped according to the position of his interlocutor
even if this fact brough his positions close to the Arian diminution of Christ's humanity. Apollinarius
knew that his Christo logy was different from that of the Arians in the sense that, in his model, the
Logos was the life-giving principle as fully divine.
105
I have used this expression with due caution. Athanasian and Gregorian interpretation were
different in many respects from the later development of Antiochene Christology that resulted in
Nestorianism. Their purpose was not to exemplify the relation between the human and divine in
Christ, but rather to safeguard the fact that Christ, as fully divine, trully assumed human limitations.
106
<pTJotV, f]viKa de; to
Apollinarius, FrPs. 148 (Ps. 87.16b]: "taUtTJV de; taJtEivromv jlctaP~:A.f9i
1ta9dv i;A.l'JA.u9c oooxrov td lmtp av9pc01t(l)V Kai lm' ai.Jt&v lmtp
S1taox~:v
EyKataA.l1t6jlEVOc;".
107
For Apollinarius, it was the body that accepted the passion. Christ's humanity was called the
"passive part" of the Logos. The passion belonged to Christ's humanity only to the degree that there
was a presence of the human element in the "commingling" of divinity and humanity --what
Grillmeier called the compositum 'Christ'. Indeed, Gregory accused Apollinarius that he made Christ
another substance (neither God nor man) that was the result of mingling divinity and the lower
functions of humanity. See Grillmeier, Christ, 329. Despite Harnack's attempt to exaggerate the
Apollinarian Christological achievement --remarked by Grillmeier--, nevertheless, he presented a fair
exposition of Apollinarian Christology. Harnack, History of Dogma, 149-163. Behr, 'A "Nicene
Opponent: Apollinarius of Laodicea"', in Nicene Faith, 212, 3 79-40 l.
rov
109
Apollinarian line of reasoning. Behind the Apollinarian argument Gregory discerned
the theory of a "middle-being" -as Grillmeier designated it- that suffered on the
cross. 108
Who cried out being abandoned by God, if the divinity of the Father and the Son is
one? And from whom does abandonment occur which (i.e. abandonment) he cried
out on the cross? 109
Gregory believed that abandonment meant separation; hence his inquiry about the
subject of the abandonment. Gregory presented a "pro-Nestorian" position
concerning the human reality in Christ. 110 Gregory argued that, it was absurd indeed- to believe that such separation belonged to the relationship between the
Logos and the Father:
If it is the Godhead that is the suffering, the faithful have claim that the Son is of one
essence with the Father -he says the one who suffers, my God my God why have
you abandoned me?- how is it, when it is one, that the Godhead is divided during
the passion and the one abandons, and the other is left? 111
It was the Nicene notion of the Logos' consubstantiality with the Father that
informed Gregory's interpretation. Gregory was well aware of the Arian scepticism
concerning the divine state of the Son. For Gregory, Apollinarius hesitated to
acknowledge a suffering humanity in Christ. That led to the absurdity of a passible
God. In case Apollinarius insisted that the suffering belonged to the Logos, then
Apollinarius could jeopardise the natural union between Father and Son
(Arianism). 112 In any case, Gregory rejected the unflexible unitive Apollinarian
Christology. The passion belonged to the Logos but only in his incamational state.
What Gregory really objected to was the Apollinarian notion of Christ as a
"heavenly man". 113 Gregory did not intend to argue Christ's humanity as a second
active subject in Christ. 114 According to Behr's observation, Gregory's intention was
108
Grillmeier, Christ, 332.Gregory, Apol. 133 [1128].
Gregory, ibid, 168 [1176]: "tic; b eyKataA.EA.etq>9at 1tapd tou 9wu ~oi]ac;,
d Ilia 9E6trtc; 1tatpoc;
Kat ui.ou; Kai 1tapd tivoc; 11 eyKataA.wvtc; yivEtat, flv e1ti tcp otaupcp i><;Eq>rovrtoEv;".
11
° For a thorough discussion of Gregory's objections to Apollinarian Christology see Berh,
'Contemplating the Eternal Christ', in Nicene Faith, 2.2/451-458.
111
Gregory, Apol. 168 [1176]: "Ei ydp to 1taoxov 11 9E6trtc;. l!tuc; ot dvat 9E6trttoc; tcp 1tatpt tov
ui.ov oi. EtlO~ouvc;
ouvti9Evtat -<prtoi ot b mioxrov on
0Et I!OU, 9Et !!OU, iva ti I!E
kyKattA.t1tEc;;-, 1t&c; l!ia ouoa 11 9E6trtc; EV tcp mi9Et I!EPL~ta
Kat t] !!EV KataA.Ei1tEl, t] OE
KataA.Et1tEtat".
112
Gregory, Apol. 137 [1133].
113
B. E. Daley, "Heavenly Man' and 'Eternal Christ': Apollinarius and Gregory of Nyssa on the
Personal Identity ofthe Savior', Journal of Early Christian Studies 10, no. 4 (2002), 469-488.
114
Historically, such a position was never addressed until the outbreak of the Nestorian controversy.
109
110
to expose the Apollinarian discontinuity between Christ's humanity and the human
race. It is certain that -unlike Grillemeier's comment- Gregory had full knowledge
of what Apollinarius truly meant by the "heavenly man". In fact, Gregory elaborated
a rhetorical manreuvre to ridicule it, 115 discerning Apollinarius' hesitation to attribute
natural passions to Christ's humanity. For Gregory, such passions testified to the
reality of the incarnation, indicating the full degree to which the Logos assumed real
humanity. 116 Attributing such passions to a "middle-being" endangered the reality of
the incarnation.
Even though Gregory exposed the Apollinarian illogicality, he did not provide
an analysis of the mechanism of abandonment. Gregory followed the Athanasian line
of reasoning: the Father did not abandon the Logos. For Gregory, the loud cry was an
indication of separation. Yet, Gregory did not define the subject of this separation.
He believed that: i) the Logos qua Logos was not abandoned by the Father; 117 ii) the
Logos remained united with his humanity and the body. The Logos was the lifegiving principle that ensured the union between body and soul. 118 Thus, the Logos
But, the problem of how one referred to a full divinity and humanity in Christ without introducing two
active subjects remained unsolved even beyond the time of Chalcedon and the neo-Chalcedonian
model of Christ in the 6th-century. Bathrellos' introduction to the theology of Maximus is a good
historical survey of the problem providing a valid review of the bibliography on this matter.
Bathrellos, Byzantine Christ. Also Grillmeier's contribution is monumental: Grillmeier, Christ in
Christian Tradition. S. Coakley, 'What does Chalcedon Solve and what does it not? Some Reflections
on the Status and Meaning of the Chalcedonian Definition', in S. Daviset et al. (eds.), The
Incarnation: An Interdisciplinary Symposium on the Incarnation of the Son of God (Oxford: OUP,
2002), 143-163. I. R. Torrance, Christo/ogy after Chalcedon: Severus of Antioch and Sergius the
Monophysite (Norwich: Canterbury Press, 1988). R. C. Chesnut, Three Monophysite Christologies:
Severus of Antioch, Philoxenus of Mabbug, and Jacob of Sarug, Oxford Theological Monographs
(Oxford: OUP, 1976). P. T. R. Gray, 'Leontius of Jerusalem's Case for a 'Synthetic' Union in Christ',
SP 18 (1985), 151-154. N. Madden, 'Composite Hypostasis in Maximus the Confessor', SP 26
(1993), 175-197. B. E. Daley, "A Richer Union': Leontius of Byzantium and the Relationship of
Human and Divine in Christ', SP 24 (1993), 239-265.
115
Cf. Gregory, Apo/. 148 [1148].
116
For Gregory, natural passions were not necessary for the being of the Logos but only in the sense
that he followed the natural accordance. Gregory, Apo/. 231 [ 1265-1268].
117
Gregory, Apo/. 137 [1133).
118
otd JlSV til~
Gregory, Apo/. 153 [ 1156]: " ili..Ad KUi rep OWJlU'tl KUi rfi \jfUX.fi EUUtOV E1tlJpicra~
\jfUX.il~
ilvol")'El t<P "-ncrrfi tOV 7tapdoEtOOV, otd M tOU OWJlUt~
tOtfJcrt til~
q>9opa~
tt)v EVEP"YElUV"
(but dividing himself in the body and the soul, with the soul he opens Paradise to the thief, and with
the body he stops the action of corruption). In his On Soul and the Resurrurection (De Anima et
Resurrrectione), Gregory had shown that it was the soul that remained the connecting link between
itself and the material elements from which the body is composed. However, at this instance, Gregory
shifted his position. It was not by means of the soul that corruption was prevented, but thanks to the
presence of the Logos in the body. For a discussion over Gregory's anthropology with respect to the
connection between the soul and the soul's life in the body see Williams, 'Gregory of Nyssa on Mind
and Passion', 227-247. G. S. Stead, 'Individual Personality in Origen and Gregory of Nyssa', in U.
Bianchi and H. Crouzel (eds.), Arche e Telos: L' Anthropologia di Origene e di Gregorio di Nissa,
Studia Patristica Mediolanensia 12 (Milan: Univ. Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, 1981), 170-191. Stead
111
never abandoned his humanity or the body. Grillmeier was right to observe the
diminution of the anthropological role of the soul in Cappadocian thought. The only
separation that Gregory did not deny -he did not assert it either- was the Platonic
separation between body and soul during death. If this is the case, then, it remains a
mystery why Christ cried out "My God, my God" during this separation since there
was no true separation between humanity and divinity.
Even more laconic than his junior brother was Basil. Basil discussed the motif
m an unexpected context: asceticism. In his work Regulae Morales, Basil had
addressed eighty principles for Christian asceticism. 119 The sixty fifth Rule reads
thus: "that we need to pray for what is suitable even at the time of death". 120 Basil
provided the necessary scriptural backup for his principle, citing Mt 27:46, Lk 23:46
and Ac 7:58-59. Basil did not comment on the verses. For Basil, the loud cry in Mt
27:46 was a faithful prayer: in fact, Mt 27:46 was a recantation ofPs. 21:1. Christ
gave his loud cry according to the type of lamentation psalms in the Old Testament.
Out of the context of theological polemics, Basil showed the value of the loud cry for
the ascetic soul: it was a faithful prayer. Basil reflected on a patristic position that
illustrated Christ as an example of life for the faithful. Such a position found its
fullest expression in John Damascene's notion of"(moypa1JIJ6c;". 121
e. Didymos the blind: the technical foundations
According to Jouassard's examination, Didymos presented a "typological"
understanding of the loud cry on the cross: Christ cried out as an intercessor that
indicated the presence of a personal element that guaranteed the union between soul and body at the
resurrection.
119
According to Fedwick, the work belonged to the period A.D. 363-378 when Basil composed most
of his Homilies. See P. J. Fedwick, 'A Chronology of the Life and Works of Basil of Caeasarea', in
Basil of Caesarea: Christian, Humanist, Ascetic, vol. 1 (Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Medieval
Studies, 1981 ), 3-19.
120
Basil of Cresarea, Regulae Morales, 65 [PG 31, 804C]: " "Ott od Kat tv ai.rtfl cfl !>~6ocp
7tpocJE(YXE06at 'td 7tplmovca".
121
The origin of the term was scriptural: 1Pe 2:21. Origen developed the motif in the context of the
ethical appropriation ofChrist's example. Origen, Excerpta in Psa/mos, PG 17, 109 [Ps. 16:4]. SeeR.
A. Layton, 'Propatheia: Origen and Didymos on the Origin of the Passions', VgCh 54, no. 3 (2000),
269: "Origen turns Jesus agony into both a didactic opportunity and an indication of Jesus' full
participation in human nature". Interestingly, with the exception of John Chrysostom, the motif was
favoured by the Alexandrians. Athanasius, De Virginitate, 3.20 [if it is Athanasius' work). Didymos,
In Psa/mos 29-34, 160.8 [Ps. 31:2 in PTA 8]. Cyril, ComJn, PG 74, 92C. Cf. Maximus, Thai. 65 [PG
90, 770]. Damascene, ExpF. 68.
112
appropriated the passion of others in his person. 122 For Jouassard, Didymos depicted
Christ primarily in terms of his ethical purity: "In such purity of being", Christ did
not experience true abandonment. The latter motif was associated with sinfulness. 123
Indeed, Didymos followed Origen in his interpretation: Christ maintained his
ethical purity. However, Didymos introduced the fullness of Christ's humanity, and
also his closeness to humankind. Jouassard overlooked the fact that Didymos was
defending the existence of a rational soul in Christ against the Apollinarians. For
Grillemeier, Didymos returned to the Origenist position of highlighting Christ's soul
as an anthropological factor. If Didymos had accommodated only a "typological"
interpretation, then his exegesis would not have been different than that of
Apollinarius. In his defence against Apollinarianism, Didymos was the first author
that developed a technical vocabulary in order to shed light on the nature of natural
passions. 124 That is to say that Didymos was the first to discuss the accommodation
ofhuman conditions without endangering Christ's ethical purity.
The Alexandrian scholar employed the Origenist ethical distinction between
passion and pro-passion (m18~-rpoEia).
125
Grillmeier commented on the neo-
Platonic anthropology of Didymos with regard to this matter. 126 However, Layton
demonstrated the Stoic origins of Didymos' theory. For Layton, Origen had already
introduced the motif in his ethical thought. 127 Thus, Didymos found it in Origen, and
further exemplified the way in which the scriptures presented human passions in
Christ
~such
as shrinking back from fear. His intention was to dissociate natural
passions from sin. 128 Despite the fact that Didymos' thought did not lead
122
Cf. Didymos, In Psa/mos 20-21,25,17 [Ps. 21.1 in PTA 7]. Indeed, for Didymos, Christ uttered the
loud cry as the head of the suffering body. But, this is not to say that Didymos believed in a "docetic"
-i.e. relative- accommodation of human sufferings -as Jouassard suggested.
123
Jouassard, "L'Abandon ", 615.
124
Grillmeier, 'The Alexandrian Development of a Christo logical Psychology', in Christ, 361-367.
125
Didymos, Ecc/ 7-8:8,221.21 [Eccl 7:20 in PTA 16]. Didymos, In Psa/mos 20-21,43.16 [Ps 21:21
in PTA 7]. It is not quite clear how this distinction could work in real psychological terms for
Didymos. It seems that according to Didymos, the latter term (i.e. rrpom18Eia) defines the condition
when a passion is only a thought. At that time the soul has not given her consent to the execution of
the passion. When the soul has reached the condition of m18oc; then the soul has consented to the
execution of a passion and the latter has taken place.
126
Grillmeier, Christ, 363.
127
Layton, 'Propatheia', 262-282.
128
Didymos, Ecc/ 11-12, 337.24 [Eccl 11:10 in PTA 9).
113
anywhere, 129 Layton ackowledged that Didymos put into fore the fact that Christ
shared limitations and sufferings with the rest of humankind in a genuine way. 130
Unlike what Jouassard has suggested, Didymos appropriated Ps 21:1 for Christ:
i.e. David's offspring "that was born according to the flesh".
131
Didymos introduced
a distinction peculiar to his interpretation: Christ was abandoned according to the
"logoi
of transgressions"
(rrapamw1Jara).
132
(Myo1
rrapamw!Jarwv),
not
the
"transgressions"
According to Didymos' thought, this distinction exemplified the
reason that caused abandonment: the Alexandrian scholar related the multifaceted
logoi as connoting the results that transgressions caused on humankind. Christ
experienced the results, not the transgressions as such. In introducing such a
distinction, Didymos i) affirmed the reality of Christ's abandonment; ii) emphasised
Christ's closeness to human sufferings; and iii) he maintained the unique identity and
ethical purity ofthe suffering subject. 133 However, his theory could only make sense
in the context of the Athanasian distinction between the actions of the Logos before
and after the incarnation.
In his De Trinitate,
134
Didymos reinforced the motif of a co-suffering Christ.
This time he discussed the reason that Christ was abandoned. Didymos followed
Gregory ofNazianzus' dictum: "quod non est assumptum non est sanatum".m In his
sufferings, Christ experienced the weakness of the human nature according to the
natural "accordance" (aKoA.ou9ia.). 136 Thus, Didymos introduced the link between
abandonment and natural accordance. Having separated abandonment from sin, for
129
For Layton, Didymos shifted his argument from the Stoic and Origenist notion of propassio as
addressing the external stimuli to the concept of passio in tenns of human deliberation and assent.
Though he introduced the involvement of human disposition and deliberation into the argument,
Didymos did not demonstrate the exact line that distinguishes between passio and propassio, or the
way in which the notion of human disposition was not linked to sin. See Layton, 'Propatheia', 2281282. Cf. Didymos, In Psalmos 20-21,25.6-8 [Ps 21.2 in PTA 7]; abandonment was caused by the lost
of one's initiatial disposition. However, Didymos did not indicate how this notion included Christ's
case.
130
As Layton put it, "Didymos needed to show that the psychic event gave sure proof of human
rational functions in the Incarnation". Layton, 'Propatheia', 276.
131
Didymos, FrPs. 175 [Ps. 21:1].
132
Didymos, FrPs. 176 [Ps. 21 :2a ].
133
Grillmeier has observed that Didymos has maintained the Alexandrian identification of the
suffering subject primarily as the Logos, however, introducing a coherent psychological basis in his
analysis that shows a creative integration of"Aiexandrian" and "Antiochene" Christologies.
134
Didymos, Trin. PG 39, 904A.
135
"What is not assumed is not saved".
136
Didymos, Trin. PG 39, 901B.
114
Didymos, Chist assumed on himself the results of sin. Such results defined what the
humanity is. 137
That he (Christ) condescended in everything, being in poverty in the form of the
servant, and refashioning according to the word himself without change into the
common (nature) and keeping the natural accordance of the incarnation, without
destroying the reality of the character (incarnation). 138
Didymos accommodated the Irenaean defence of showing Christ's true incarnation as
manifested through passions that were according to the human nature that he
assumed.
How would we know that, according to what is written, he lifted our weaknesses on
the holy cross, so that through it he offered a better condition to men, if before that,
in the way that he knows, he did not assume them on him and show them? 139
Overall, Didymos seems to support that Christ "felt" or "experienced"
abandonment, without ever experiencing it in terms of separation. Didymos did not
discuss the actual subject that abandoned Christ on the cross. Was it the Father? 140
The Alexandrian exegete exploited the Athanasian distinction between experiencing
abandonment qua humanity, and also the Origenist notion of Christ's soul as the link
between the humanity and divinity. 141 Didymos defended the natural character of
abandonment against the Apollinarian application of a typological reading. He
argued the continuity between Christ's suffering and the humankind, further
expressing the patristic scepticism concering abandonment: what lies at the core of
divine abandonment is sin. Abandonment was the result of the fall. Didymos
137
For Layton, according to Didymos, "propatheia is a proof of nature, not a quality which produces
moral defect or virtue". Layton, 'Propatheia', 273. Didymos connected the event on the cross to
Christ's shrinking back in Gethsemane. See Didymos, In Psa/mos 20-21, 43.20 [Ps 21: 21 in PTA 7].
138
Didymos, Trin. PG 39, 901B: "(JJ,J,.' ott KilVtllu6u ouyKtl~d
d~
rrcivtll, Klli rrtroxeurov tfi tou
oouA.ou !!Op<pfl, Kill !Etl1AUOi~
t<P A.6ycp l>llUtOV iltpE1ro~
d~
tO KOtVOV, Kill 1tUOilV tf]~
tvllv6prom'Joero<; UKoA.ou6illV qmA.cittrov, Kilt lll]OEV toU Xllp!lKtf]po<; tf]<; UA1']9dll<; Uq>lVi~rov".
For
Didymos, poverty did not define abandonment, as it was the case with Origen. However, Didymos
brought into play the motif of kenosis to show the continuity between Christ's suffering and human
experience.
139
Didymos, Trin. PG 39,904A:"Wi'><; ydp c'iv t7tA.f]poq>opl'J6f]1!EV, ott td<; ao9evdl~
i"Jil&v, Klltd to
'YE'YPilll!!EVOV, d<; tOV tilltoV UVTJV£YKE otaupov, root£ otd toUtOU KpdttOVIl 7tllp!lOXEtV to~
av9prorrot<; Klltciotaotv, d lli't 1tp6tepov llUtd<;, KUO' OV oloE tp6rrov, d<; l>llUtOV UVEAil~
tE Kilt
EOt~V".
140
Didymos. In Psa/mos 20-21. 25.6-9 [Ps 21:2 in PTA 7]: God abandons an individual when the
latter has abandoned his own disposition.
141
For Didymos' Christology see Grillmeier, Christ, 361-367. Also A. Gesche, La Christo/ogie du
commentaire sur les Psaumes decouverte Toura, Universitas Catholica Loveniensis Dissertiones 7
(Gembloux: J. Duculot, 1962), 71-90. Guerard, 'Didyme d'Alexandrie', in Nil, Commentaire sur /e
Cantique des Cantiques, 41-42. P. C. Bouteneff, 'Placing the Christology of Didymus the Blind', SP
37 (2001), 389-395. J. Lebon, 'S. Athanase a-t-il employe l'expression KUptl6~
6.v8prorro<;?', Revue
d'histoire ecc/esiastique 31 (1935), 307-329.
a
115
distinguished between cause and result. He also indicated the various ethical levels in
which human passions function. Didymos' intention was to show the natural
character that passions acquired after the fall without discussing the mechanism of
abandonemnt. Abandonment initially resulted due to sin (i.e. the fall). In this present
life, it has become an integral part of human nature without introducing sin, as such,
since now it is a "result" of the initial corruption that sin brough to human nature.
Didymos denied the bond between sin and abandonment. As a result of the initial
corruption of human nature, abandonment could occur without necessarily resulting
from sin that has been acted by the subject. In discussing abandonment in terms of
natural passions, Didymos removed the question concerning divine theodicy:
abandonment was part of human nature; it was not caused by an active sin.
However, the subject that abandoned (e.g. Father?) and the true object that was
abandoned on the cross (e.g. humanity?) remained uncertain in his thought. What
Didymos achieved was to provide the necessary thought and vocabulary that would
lead to the clear distinction of later Patristic literature (i.e. Maximus-Damascene)
between "natural properties" and "sinful passions".
f. Epiphanios of Salamis: the anti-Arian/Apollinarian rigorist.
On the other side of the Mediterranean, a contemporary of Didymos,
Epiphanios of Salamis, tried to provide insights into divine abandonment with regard
to the subject of the experience. Like Didymos, the Cypriot bishop was preoccupied
with opposing Arianism and Apollinarianism.
In his defence against the Arians, Epiphanios was following Athanasius and the
Nicene theology. 142 Indeed, Epiphanios dismissed any separation between Father and
Son:
When was a son abandoned by the father, when was not the Son in the Father and
the Father in the Son? The Son was on earth, and the Logos, the God, was walking,
but he was touching upon the heavens ... he was inside Mary and became man, and
he was filling the cosmos with his power. How is it possible that he and such a one
was desperately saying according to his divinity "Eli Eli"? 143
142
Epiphanius, Pan. 69.19.5 [GCS 3/168] and 69.63.1 [GCS 3/211-212].
Epiphanius, Pan. 69.63.6 (GCS 3/212]: "1t6'tE ydp EYKU'tEA.dq>lllJ uio~
i11to 7tU'p6~.
1t6'tE os oi.lx, b
uio~
i>v -rep 1ta-rpi Kat b 1ta-rt')p i>v uicp; !>1ti yfJ~
J.Ltv ydp o uio~
Kai [o] leo~
A.6yo~
Pel'JK~:t,
oi.lpavou os fl7t-re-ro ... Kai i>v Mapi~
E'tunav~:
Kai dv9pom~
l>ytvew, i:tA.A.d -rfl ouvdJ.1Et ai.lwu
143
116
The Nicene line of reasoning was arguing the natural unity between Father and Son.
Epiphanios pointed out the unity of the active/suffering subject with his Father by
highlighting two conditions of Christ's being: i) Christ in his unity with the Father;
and ii) Christ in his incarnate condition. Like Athanasius, Epiphanios distinguished
between the two conditions of Christ's being (theologia-oikonomia). For Epiphanios,
it was Christ's humanity that was abandoned by God, since the passion was rendered
to the incarnate condition of Christ. At the level of the theologia, the relationship
between the Father and the Son remained undisturbed by the passion.
Ps 15: 10 was Epiphanios' proof text that Christ's soul was not abandoned in
Hades: the unity between soul and divinity remained unbroken. 144 The resurrection
gave evidence to this unity: because of her unity with the divinity, the soul was not
taken over by death. 145 But, if abandonment signified separation, who was separated
by whom? Epiphanius excluded the separation between Father and Son, and also
divinity and soul. He was left with the option that the body was separated by the soul:
His incarnation ... seeing that the divinity together with the soul was already moving
to leave behind the holy body, utters this at the person ofthe dominical man, i.e. his
incarnation. 146
On the cross, Christ experienced death. Before dying, the body felt the departure of
the soul. Epiphanius was following the classical definition of death as separation
between body and soul:
If it is impossible that he was left because of the divinity how could it be uttered
from the person of the divinity: "My God, my God, why have you abandoned me"?
But this word was shown [to be] from the person of his incarnation according to
human passions ... so what was in the tomb was the body, and the soul departed
!mJ...t']pou td OUJ.11tclV'tU. nroc; OUV b 'tOlOUtoc; KUl 'tT]AtKOUtoc; KUtd 'ttlV Ull'tOU 8E6tT]'tU OtKtp&c;
EAE'YEV "f1J... (, f1Ai. "".
144
Epiphanius, Pan. 69.64.4-5 [GCS 3/213]: ""oi.JK l:a~tc;
tt'lv 'I'U:X.iJv flOU de; "AtoT]v, oi.JO€ ocba~:t;
'tOY oat6v CJOU ioEiv otaq>Oopav". OU'tE ydp KUtU t1tEV b liytoc; 8E0c; J...6yoc; 'ttlV \jfUXtlY OU'tE
l:yKatEA.Eiq>OTJ t) 'I'UXtl ai.Jwu tv "A ton" ('for you will not leave my soul in Hades; neither will you
suffer your holy one to see corruption'. Neither had the holy divine Logos left alone the soul, nor was
his soul abandoned in Hades).
145
Epiphanius, Pan. 69.64.4-5 [GCS 3/213]. Epiphanios viewed the soul as bait for death: death
approached the soul, but he suddenly found the divinity hiding behind the soul.
146
Epiphanius, Pan. 69.64.2 [GCS 3/213]:"t) ydp abtou l:vavepronT]atc; ... bp&aa i]oTJ tt'lv 8E6tT]ta
auv tfl 'I'UXTI KtvouJltVTJV tnt to Kataf...Et\jfat to liytov a&Jla ano npoaronou abtou too KuptaKou
avepronou, 'tOUttatt tile; abtou l;vaveproni]aEroc; 1tpoE~UA".
For the notion of the "dominical man"
in the Arian controversies, Grillmeier's contribution remains irreplaceable. Grillmeier pointed to the
Marcellan origin of the term and its subsequent use by the Nicene party. See Grillmeier, Christ, 287ff.
According to Griilmeier, the term referred to the glorified state of Christ's humanity without
introducing a distinct active subject.
117
together with the divine Logos. 147
Epiphanius was careful enough to maintain the unity between the humanity and
divinity even in death. The indication that it was the "dominical man" that cried out
Mt 27:46 was a theological device to secure the unity between body and divinity. The
body was still part of the incarnation. Thus, it was not left in the tomb alone: it
remained the body of the incarnation. For Epiphanios, "neither was the incarnate
presence abandoned during the passion". 148 Gregory of Nyssa had indicated that it
was the presence of the Godhead that prevented the corruption of the body.
Epiphanios followed suit. For Epiphanius, it was not the Godhead that abandoned the
body, as the Apollinarians might have suggested. Origen and Didymos highlighted
the presence of the soul in Christ. Epiphanios diminished the role of the soul in
Christ: it was the Logos that secured the unity between the humanity and divinity. It
was only the soul that was separated from the body: the Logos remained united with
the soul and the body. In Epiphanios' thought, Christ became a co-sufferer with the
human race. His suffering was a "proof' -to borrow from Layton- for the reality of
his human nature. Epiphanios highlighted abandonment as the separation between
body and soul in rigorous terms, emphasising that Christ assumed natural passions. 149
g. Cyril of Alexandria: the Nestorian outbreak.
In the years following the outbreak of the Arian controversy, theological
deliberation on the "loud cry" had taken on the form of refusing the application of
such experience to Christ qua God by the Nicene party. In most cases, the rigorous
presentation of a "concrete" human element was devised in order to remove any
suspicions concerning divine passibility. But, it was noticed that, the theological
obscurity of the Nicene faith inevitably brought to the fore the Nestorian
understanding of humanity as a distinct active subject in the incarnation.
In his exegesis, Nestorius was unwilling to attribute the loud cry to the Logos
147
Epiphanius, Pan. 69.66.1ff[GCS 3/214]. Also in 69.63.4 [GCS 3/212]and 69.66.3-4 [GCS 3/214]:
"d Of; illiuvatov ftv KataoxsOf]vat Old ttlV 9s6tTJta, n&c; apa tK 7tpOOW1tOU tf]c; ai:Jtou 9s6tTJtoc;
flouvato I:>TJ9f]vat to "Os{; JlOU, Os{; llOU, tva tl kyKattA.t7ttc; lle;" b.AA.' outoc; EK 7tpOOW1tOU tf]c; ai:Jtou
l;vav9pronilosroc; b.v9pro7t01ta9&c; EOeiKVUtO b A6yoc; ... o&lla I){; apa to EV tcp llVilllatl, [Kat] 11 lj!UXt'l
0{; ouvanf]A.Os tcp Oscp A6y<p".
148
Epiphanius, Pan. 69.42.4 [GCS 3/190]. According to Rosse, for Epiphanios, the divinity
abandoned the humanity Rosse, Cry ofJesus, 76.
149
Epiphanios, Anchoratus, 33.4ff [GCS 1/42]. Epiphanius, Pan. 2.3.2ff [GCS 1/230].
118
qua God. It was the son of Mary that was abandoned on the cross. Nestorius provided
a literal understanding of abandonment in terms of separation which he viewed in the
relation between Logos-man. According to McGuckin and Gavrilyuk, Nestorius had
two theological drives: i) a reaction to Apollinarian human minimalism and, ii) the
maintenance of divine impassibility. 150 Unfortunately, Nestorius' thought has only
been preserved in fragments edited by Abramovski, and also in extracts from his
works that were included in the Acts of Ephesus (A.D. 431). Nestorius was unwilling
either to attribute abandonment to the Logos or diminish the reality of the
abandonment. In arguing divine impassibility and also the authenticity of the
experience, Nestorius applied abandonment to the relationship between human and
divine in Christ. Who was abandoned on the cross was the man, i.e. a collaborator in
the divinity (9Eiac;
aU9Evriac; ouvEpy6c;).
151
Nestorius asked: "if he was crucified due to
weakness, who was weak, you heretic? The Logos the God"? 152 According to
Nestorius, it was the man with whom the Logos was united (auvaq>Eia) that
experienced weakness, natural passions, and was abandoned on the cross. 153 After the
outbreak of the controversy, the Nestorian party was accusing the Cyrillian party of
confusing the natures and ascribing passibility to the divine nature. 154
In ACO 1.1.6/11: "dKOtJCJOV OE Kat btl. tOU eavlirou, d £ott 1tOtS KEliJ.VO~
b 0E6~.
'iva na6TJtOV
tOV 6EOV doayliyroiJ.EV. l:xepoi, <pTJOiV, OvtE~
KUtTJAAU'YTJIJ.EV t&t 6E&t otd tOU eavlirou tOU uiou
abtou. OUK ElnE otd toU eavlitou tOU 6EOU A.6you" (listen also that in death, if it is that God was
lying [at the tomb], so that we infer that God is passible. Though we were enemies, it says, we were
econciled to God through the death of his Son. He did not say through the death of Logos the God).
Cf. McGuckin, Saint Cyril, 130. Gavrilyuk, Suffering, 141. Grillmeier, Christ, 451. In late antiquity,
the problem of divine impassibility was linked to the early accusations of patripassianism (e.g.
Noetius). Gavriluyk has criticised Harnack's position that the problem ofpatripassianism was never a
real issue for Christian theology. Especially during the Arian controversy, patripassianism was
rejected in the face of Sabellius. Any strict unitive Christology and Trinitarian theology that argued
the "personal" involvement of the Logos qua God in the passion was suspicious of introducing the
participation of the Father in the passion. This fact reflects in the Arian diminution of the ontological
status of the Logos. On the other hand, any diminution of the involvement of the Logos in the passion
was putting under question the manner in which salvation was brought upon the human race by a
divine agent. If the participation ofthe Logos was relative, then, it was an open question how a man
transformed the human passions. Gregory of Nyssa provided the most insightful discussion on this
matter in his Contra Apollinarium, and also Gregory Nazianzen in his Ad Cledonium. Gavrilyuk has
presented the most coherent analysis of the subject addressing the span from the Arian controversies
to the Nestorian outbreak. Gavrilyuk, 'Patripassian Controversy Resolved: The Son, not the Father
Suffered in the Incarnation', in Suffering, 91-100. It is characteristic that even in the Arian
controversies one party was accusing the other party of either patripassianism or the heresy of Paul of
Samosata who had introduced two distinct active subjects in Christ.
151
In ACO 1.1.2/49.
152
In ACO 1,1.6/12. Nestorius provided a chain of syllogisms to show Cyril's absurdity in introducing
weakness and death as qualities attributed to the Logos. For Nestorius, Cyril had subjected the divine
to passibility.
153
In ACO 1,1.6.12.
154
Abramowski (ed.), Nestorian Collection, 43, 68, 84 and 118.
150
119
It is clear that Cyril of Alexandria gained an interest in the motif of
abandonment only as part of his defence -or attack, in many cases- against
Nestorius. 155 In the early stages of his exegetical career -i.e. prior to A.D. 428- Cyril
had shown no interest in the significance of the loud cry on the cross. It is indicative
of this, that in his extensive commentary In Matthceum, he had overlooked the loud
cry, turning his attention to the sudden darkness and also Christ's final words. The
episode only attracted his attention in his polemical works: twice he responded to
Nestorius' scepticism quoting directly from the latter (Adversus Nestorium). Cyril's
intention was to fully expose the weakness ofNestorian divisive Christology. 156
So far, it has been indicated that, prior to the Nestorian outbreak, Patristic
literature left an obscure possibility that abandonment as separation could apply to
the relationship between the Godhead and manhood. Nestorius seems to have drawn
this conclusion: abandonment could apply to the relation between God and man. 157
The Nicene faith had shown that the only option open was to apply separation
between the Logos and the Son of Mary. Cyril felt that Nestorius had explored such
an option by breaking the unity between the Godhead and manhood. Cyril acquired
another theological position: the loud cry, qua action, belonged to the Logos
incarnate; i.e. the Logos in his humanity. 158 In order to avoid the Scylla and
Charybdis of either acknowledging divine passibility 159 or Apollinarian minimalism,
Cyril denied the definition of the loud cry as a desperate cry in abandonment. For
155
Cyril's twelve anathemas attached to his third letter to Nestorius became a stumbling block for any
true communication between him and the Antiochene party. See Cyril's works Apologia xii
Capitulorum contra Orientales, PG 76, 316-385 --against Andrew of Samosata's refutation of the
anathemas--, Apologia xii Anathematismorum contra Theodoretum, PG 76, 385-452 --facing
Theodoret's refutation-- and Exp/anatio xii Capitulorum, PG 76, 293-312. It was only after the
Formulary of Reunion (A.D. 433) -drafted by Theodoret of Cyrrhus- that the significance of Cyril's
anathemas was put a-side. See Fr. Young, 'The Twelve Anathemas', in From Nicaea to Chalcedon: A
Guide to the Literature and its Background (London: SCM, 1983), 220-229. Grillmeier, Christ, 491.
156
In ACO 1.1.6/47: "o M onaxupt~61evc;
lltl oe'iv abtov civ9pomov voe'ia9at \jltA.6v, aA.A.d Beov
Kat civ9pO:l1tOV, il7tOVEilEt llEV tOV ilKUVBtvov atecpavov Kat td Etepa t&v 1taB&v iotK&c; avBpcimrot
Kat avd llEpoc;, 7tpOOKUVetV OE blloA.oye'i auv tftt Be6tl]tt toutov" (he claims this that it is not
possible to think of him as mere man, but God and man, and he attributed the thorny glow and the rest
of the passions exclusively to man, in one part, and he confesses to worship him together with the
Godhead).
157
Meyendorff observed that Nestorianism was inevitable due to the obscure Christological
suggestions in the Nicene Creed. According to Grillmeier, Nestorius depended on the Nicene faith
when he introduced Christ as the active/suffering subject. In employing the term, he did not provide
an ontological understanding of the word as long as the term was felt to maintain the unity of the two
natures. J. Meyendorff, Christ in the Eastern Christian Thought (Washington D. C: Corpus, 1969), 316.
158
Cyril, Nest. PG 76, 96Dff.
159
Cyril, Ad Reginas, 1.1.5/34
120
Cyril, it was always the Logos incarnate that was hanging on the cross. Any
reference to abandonment as separation could lead to the Arian diminishing of his
divine state. 160 The loud cry was a supplication while the Logos was about to face
death at a human level in his incarnational state. 161 Thus, he faced the fear that was
natural to the soul when death was ante portas. 162 Cyril depended on the Origenist
tradition by showing the paradigmatic and also salvific character of the loud cry.
Christ prayed in the name of fallen humankind. 163 In doing so, Christ provided an
example for the faithful. 164
According to Jouassard, Cyril employed Origenist typology for a difficult
matter. For Jouassard, his "typological" understanding diminished the involvement of
the Logos in human sufferings. Christ's actions were in pretence. 165
Patristic literature sought to avoid the problems of either separating the Logos
from the Father, or the Godhead from the manhood. As it was mentioned, Gregory
had already shown the importance of maintaining the Logos as the element of unity
in Christ in order to explain the resurrection, and also the incorruptibility of Christ's
body. Had Cyril argued thus, he would have been accused of identifying the Logos
only with the soul. That would bring him one step closer to Apollinarianism for his
opponents.
Basil had introduced the motif of the loud cry as a faithful prayer. John
Chrysostom fully exploited this position. Cyril returned to this line of reasoning. For
Cyril, the loud cry was not in despair. It expressed the reality of the passion: Christ's
soul was shrinking back before death. What triggered the faithful prayer on the cross
was the prospect of approaching death. 166 For Cyril, Christ experienced fear at an
economical level. Already, Didymos had developed an ethical understanding of fear
as a natural passion that it was not immediately associated with sin. For Cyril, the
divinity permitted the humanity to experience her natural shrinking back before
°Cyril, Chr. PG 75, 13288 and also in ACO 1.1.4114.
16
Cyril used the linguistic fonns: "Eux6~vO<;
in ACO 1.1.4114; "tK6uowrro0vrO<;" in 1.1.5/35;
"KaAoOvrcx;" in 1.1.5/35; "tK rapfloi~
aval3oQv" in Cyril, Chr. PG 75, 1325C.
162
Cyril, Thes. 24 (PG 75, 389].
163
Cyril, Ad Reginas, 1.1.5/34.
164
Cyril, Chr. PG 75, 1321C. Idem, ComLk. PG 72, 921C. Idem, ComJn. PG 74, 92C.
165
Jouassard, 'L' Abandon', 609fT and 617.
166
Cf. Athanas ius, Fragment a Varia, PG 26, 1241 C: "cptpEI 6t Kai r~v rapaxr'JV rf)c; oapK~
trri r4J eaverr({J
rrpom6vrl" (he carries the trembling of the flesh when accepting death).
161
121
death. Cyril's presupposition was soteriological: Christ assumed fear to heal it. 167
Cyril fully appropriated the Gregorian notion of a transformation from within
Christ's humanity: 168 Christ's humanity maintained its distinct character (weaknesslimitations). But it was also transformed due to its union with the divine Logos
(deification): 169
Had he not shrunk back, (human) nature would have not be freed from shrinking
back; if he was not sorrowful, it would never have been spared from sorrow; had he
not been distressed, (human nature) would never have been delivered from these.
And you can apply this reasoning to any of the human conditions, for you will find
that, in Christ, the passions were moved not to take control of him, as is the case for
been moved, they were subdued by the power of the Logos dwelling
us, but havin~
in the flesh. 17
In the incarnation, the Logos assumed human limitations that he called his own. 171
Whatever belonged to his humanity, it belonged to the Logos according to his
kenosis -a term that Cyril understood in its Origenist meaning of voluntary
poverty. 172 Kenosis meant that the Logos subjected himself to the natural limitations
of his humanity voluntarily in order to affirm the authenticity of the latter and restore
it. 173 His loud cry was another expression of this assumption of human limitations in
kenosis. 174 The notion of voluntary poverty continued to veil the mystery of the
incamation. 175 Indeed, in his Thesaurus, Cyril discussed Mt 27:46 alongside the
167
Cyril, ComJn. PG 94, 880. Cyril refuted Appolinarianism by indicating that such shrinking back
before death belonged to the rational soul. In fact, Cyril related this shrinking back to thoughts. Cyril
appropriated an Evagrian distinction between motions related to the irrational and the rational parts of
the soul. The irrational is disturbed by evil passions. The rational is affected by thoughts commencing
from memory and anticipations. For instance, Evagrius had related anger to memory and unfulfilled
anticipations. See Evagrius, Pract. 4 and also 10.
168
Nazianzene, Epistula ci ad Cledonium. PG 37,181C: ''To ydp llnp6oA.11ntov, ll9spdnsurov" (That
which is not assumed is not healed). Cf. Athanasius, Fragmenta Varia, PG 26, 1240A: "Ei yap 1.u') aurt'><;
WIJOiwro np6c; 6v9pt.imouc;, ouK ~uvaro
oi av8pwno1 61JOio0cr9m np6c; 0E6v" (if was not after the likeness of
men, men would not be able to be after the likeness of God). Cyril, ComJn. PG 74, 890. Cyril
reproduced verbatim the Gregorian motto: "6 ydp j.ll) npooEiA.llntat, oi.Jot OEorootat" (what was not
assumed was not saved). Cf. Nazianzene, Carmina Dogmatica, 11,35 [PG 37, 468A].
169
Cyril, ComLk, PG 72, 921 C and 9248-C.
17
Cyril, Thes. 24 [PG 75, 397C]. Cf. Athanasius, In illud: Nunc Anima mea turbata est, PG 26,
12410.
171
In ACO 1.1.4/14.
172
In ACO 1.1.5/35ff. Cyril, Chr. PG 75, 13280. Idem, Thes. 24 [PG 75, 397].
173
Cyril, Thes. 24 and also ACO 1.1.6/121.
174
Idem, ComLk. PG 72, 9200: "Oi.J ydp lost tov Ka9tyjlEVov de; KEVrootv, Kal. tote; til<;
llv9pron6tlltO<; l>!i3~1K6ta
jlEtpOtc;, n;apatts'io9at lioKs'iv td av9promva" (it was not proper to think
that he who descended to kenosis and entered the limits of humanity quit the human conditions).
175
Unlike modem thought, Cyril had little to say about kenosis. The term was coined to express the
mystery of the incarnation as utterly inexpressible. Modem thought has moved in the opposite
direction: kenotic theology became the basic tool of thought to exemplifY the incarnation. It has been
felt that the Logos' self-poverty revealed something about the character of the divine nature: the
Godhead is capable of poverty and alienation from its own nature qua the divinity. Hence, the
°
122
prayer in Gethsemane. In doing so, Cyril illustrated the interaction between affirming
Christ's real humanity, and the restoration of humankind. The assumption of human
limitations was not a passive condition but a rather dynamic motion of the Logos
who made human weakness his own. 176 Cyril inquired about the purpose of the
incarnation if the Logos did not assume true humanity alongside all its natural
limitations. 177 That Christ shrank back before death was a result of natural
accordance: naturally, the soul desires life over death. 178 On the cross, as in
Gethsemane, the miraculous natural phenomena, and also the fact that Christ
committed his spirit to his Father, manifested that he was not a mere man; he was
always the Logos incarnate that preserved human weakness in order to overcome it.
h. Theodoret of Cyrrhus: the sober exegete.
Unlike most of the authors discussed so far, Theodoret presented a genuine
interest in the loud cry. This interest was manifested in his exegetical works. 179 Like
generation of the Son and the procession of the Spirit -defined in tenns of the kenosis of the Father-is the "estrangement" of the Father from the other two divine persons. This kenosis is eternal and also
resulted in the creation of the world and the incarnation. It is true that patristic thought introduced the
notion of otherness in God, but this was only in tenns of the incarnation. The application of this
notion of otherness in the life of the Trinity has only limited the awe before the mystery of the
incarnation. If the divine nature is kenotic, then the incarnation was only part of what it is a "natural"
process within the Godhead. For instance, in the episode on the cross, Bulgakov saw the estrangement
of the Logos from the Spirit. This estrangement was founded in the notion of the eternal generation
and procession --respectively-- in the Trinity. Balthasar followed the same notion of kenosis which he,
too, related to divine estrangement. However, he was more cautious than Bulgakov to keep an
apophatic attitude to this kenosis. Balthasar did not intend to exemplify the 'Hegelian' relationship
between the immanent and economic Trinity, but to show the continuity between Christ's limitations
and our limitations. See S. Bulgakov, Du Verbe Incarne. Idem, The Comforter. N. Gorodetzky,
'Doctrinal Writings on the Kenosis', in The Humiliated Christ in Modern Russian Thought (London:
SPCK, 1938), 127-174. P. Gavrilyuk, "The Kenotic Theology of Sergius Bulgakov", SJT 58, no.3
(2005), 251-269. N. Sakharov, 'S. Bulgakov on kenosis', in The Theology ofArchimandrite Sophrony,
119-126. Evans, 'The Self-Emptying of God', 246-272. Richard, Christ: The Self-Emptying of God
Balthasar provided a constructive criticism of Gennan kenotisism and Bulgakov's theology. See
Balthasar, Theodrama: Theological Dramatic Theory, vol. IV, trans. Graham Harrison (San Francisco
CA: Ignatius, 1994), 319. Idem, Mysterium, 32. A. Baker, 'The Kenosis Problem in von Balthasar's
Reading
of
Bulgakov',
URL:
http://www.geocities.com/sbulgakovsociety/ABakerBulgakovBalthasar.doc (last accessed 05/03/08). A. Scola, Hans Urs Von Balthasar: A Theological
Style, trans. J.T and A.C.T., Retrieval & Renewal (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1995). G. F. O'Hanlon,
The Immutability of God in the Theology of Hans Urs Von Balthasar (Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 1990). B. Blankenhorn, 'Balthasar's Method of Divine Naming', Nova et Vetera,
vol. I no. 2 (2003), 245-268. P. Casarella, 'The Descent, Divine Self-Enrichement, and the
Universality of Salvation', URL: http://communio-icr.com/articles/PDF/PCasarella.pdf (last accessed
05/03/08).
176
McGuckin, Saint Cyril, 183cf..
177
ln ACO 1.1.1/39 and also 1.1.5119.
178
Cyril, Thes. 24 [PG 75, 397].
179
ln a polemical context, Theodore reserved his comments on the loud cry only when refuting Cyril's
123
Cyril -though independently-, Theodoret realised the dead end that the motif of
abandonment as separation had led Christology. Thus, he turned to the notion of Mt
27:46 as a faithful prayer. Already, Basil, John Chrysostom and Cyril had followed
this exegetical stand. For Theodoret, Mt 27:46 was Christ's prayer in his humanity
(av9pwrrivwc;). The loud cry manifested the "reason of the economy" (6 Myoc; r~c;
oiKOVO(.Iiac;). Christ prayed by addressing the Father who actually listened to his cry:
the prayer illustrated the union between the Father and Son. 180 What Theodoret meant
by the "reason of the economy" was the fact that, though Christ was always aware of
his union with the Father, he prayed to illustrate this union. Thus, it was a prayer in
union, not separation. Arguing thus, Theodoret met the Arian scepticism about the
unity between the Logos and the Father. 181
The fact that Theodoret addressed the active subject as 'Christ' could be an
indication that his Christological allegiance was with the Antiocheans. According to
Grillmeier, Nestorius had favoured the term "Christ" over "Logos" without strictly
identifying it with the Logos. He understood it as the end-result ofthe union between
God and man. Theodoret did not use the term in this sense. The anti-Arian context in
which he employed the term, and the fact that he did not follow the Athanasian
distinction between groups of actions was an indication of Theodoret' s willingness to
maintain a single active subject.
He says that he is abandoned, without any sins being committed by him, but death
holds onto him, since he has been given power over the sinful. So he calls
abandonment not the separation from the united divinity, as some have claimed, but
the occurring assent to the passion. 182
Theodoret dismissed the notion of separation. The indication concerning the claims
of "some" individuals could point to several theological groups: Arians,
Apollinarians, Nicenes -due to their obscure Christology- and even Nestorians. Cyril
did not hold such a position (i.e. separation). For Theodoret, abandonment defined
twelve anathemas. Cf. Cyril, Apologia contra Theodoretum , PG 76, 409B.
180
Theodoret, Comls. 15.347 [reference in Mtlhle (ed.), Theodoret von Kyros: Kommentar zu Jesaia].
181
Idem,ibid. 15.360: "Kal oi.> OJ.ltlCpUVel talna 'tOU J.lOV'}eU~
tl'lv 6e6'tTJ'tU: oflA.~
ydp tfl~
otKOVJ.la~
b Myo~"
(and these do not diminish the divinity of the Only-begotten, for the reason of
the economy is manifest).
182
Theodoret, Psal. PG 80, 1009: " DEyKataA.eA.dcp6at 15£ A.tyEt, ~
lJ.Lapti~
J.lEV oi.>OeJln~
i.>n'
ai.>tou ygvoJ.LET~
wu 15£ 6av0:tou KepatTJ6o~.
o~
Katd trov ftJ.laptTJK6trov tl'lv €~oulav
EOEOeJC'tO. 'EyKU'tUAel\jllV tolvuv JCUAei. oi.> 'tOV ·fl~
t}VfiJ.lET~
6e'tTJO~
xroptOJ.lOV, &~
'tlVe~
i.>netA.l'Jcpaotv, iiUd 'tllV yeyEVTJJ.lEVTJV toU na6ou~
OU)'XWpT)OtV".
124
divine "consent" (auyxrop11cn v). The divinity assents so that Christ was subject to
death: "The divinity was present even when the form of the servant suffered, and it
allowed it to suffer". 183 For Rosse,
the sense that Theodoret gives to the abandonment of Christ comes close to the
sense that philological analysis attributes to the verb itself (in Hebrew and in Greek),
a sense that P. Foresi summarizes in these terms: 'to leave someone entirely in a
precarious situation'. The Father abstains from intervening in a situation of suffering
provoked by men. 184
In his Explanatio in Canticum, Theodoret had addressed the soul's abandonment in
terms of divine assent to trials. In his Christo logy, Theodoret followed the same line
of reasoning. Cyril had touched upon this theme, but only briefly. The notion of
divine assent provided a coherent background for Theodoret's Christology and
anthropology. Thus, Theodoret implied the continuity between Christ's humanity and
the human race. It is not clear what Theodoret's source was. Already, the Macarian
Spiritual Homilies and also the "Evagrian" Lausiac History had illustrated the link
between divine assent and distressful conditions. Despite the fact that Origen had
already made such a comment, it was not until Evagrius and Macarius that the notion
of abandonment was firmly established in terms of divine assent to trials.
Thus, it is in Theodoret that we could discern the beginning of a link between
Christ's suffering and the experience of abandonment by the devotee. What was
common between Christ's humanity and humankind was not an experience of
separation from God; but the fact of divine assent to trials. In both cases (exegesis
and Christology), Theodoret excluded the notion of sin. Theodoret returned to the
Origenist notion of ethical trials as testing -well spotted by Layton-. Christ
experienced trials (i.e. passion/death) to show his faith, on the same way that
humanity had been tried. Already Gregory of Nazianzus had argued the importance
of human obedience in terms of Christ's obedience to the Father. The notion of
assent shows the continuity between Christ and humankind. 185
183
Idem, Psal. PG 80,1 009:"Tiapflv ydp t] 6£6tll<; Kai 7taoxouan tfl tou oo6A.ou J.!Opq>fl, Kai
OUV£XWPllO£ 1ta6£lv".
184
Rosse, Cry ofJesus, 77.
185
Nazianzene, Fil. 5-6 [PG 36, 108-112]. Cf. Didymos, Trin. PG 39,913-916.
125
i. John Damascene: defining the tradition.
Exegetes of the era of late antiquity who discussed the abandonment of Christ
on the cross came to an end with John Damascene. His own exegesis extended from
his theological epitome Expositio Fidei, 186 to his polemical work De duabus
voluntatibus, 187 Contra Nestorianos/ 88 and his In Epistulas Pau/i. 189 However, his
interest in the loud cry was only momentary. The years from Chalcedon (A.D. 451)
to 2"d Constantinople (A.D. 680-681) directed theological attention to the manner in
which the union between the human and divine was achieved. After Chalcedon, the
politics of pursuing an ecclesiastical union under the imperial auspices focused on
issues that affirmed the union between the human and divine. Maximus the
Confessor -an important source for John- had defended the presence of natural
human capacities in Christ. Maximus' greatest contribution was the fact that
-while
revisiting the earlier Athanasian distinction between actions attributed to the divinity
and the humanity- he concluded that the scriptural accounts demonstrated the
presence of the humanity qua humanity, and the humanity qua deified humanity in
Christ. Thus, Maximus avoided the sharp Athanasian distinction by indicating the
need to manifest the fact that the humanity of Christ remained within its ontological
constitution and maintained its natural accordance: it kept its distinct ontological
character, and also it was enriched and transformed.
According to Louth's exposition of the Damascene's thought, John found
himself in a totally different political and theological ambience from the other
authors so far treated. John developed his thought under the Muslim caliphate,
defending --or better defining- the orthodox faith against other religions (e.g. Islam)
and Christian heresies that the imperial authority had had the power to suppress in
Byzantium. Thus, John's writings corresponded to different needs in theology that
rose together with the iconoclast controversy (c. 730), the shrinking of the Byzantine
territory in East and West, and the expansion of the Arab world. However, despite his
political subjection to the Caliph, John's theological allegiance lay within
Byzantium.
186
Damascene, ExpF. 68 [all references in PTS 12].
Idem, Volunt. 28.57ff[all references in PTS 22].
188
Idem, Nest. 26.1 [references in PTS 22].
189
Idem, Commentarii in Epistulas Pauli, PG 95, 824.
187
126
John treated Mt 27:46 as a prayer. He discussed it under the title "On the
Prayer of the Lord" in his Expositio Fidei, 190 blending together his sources. It is clear
-pace Louth- that John employed an Evagrian definition of prayer as the ascent of
the intellect to the divine. 191 By using this definition, John illustrated the unity
between the human nous and the Logos (anti-Apollinarianism). 192 He also introduced
several examples of such prayers in Christ's life. 193 His last example concerned Mt
27:46. Having identified the loud cry as prayer, John followed the established antiArian argument concerning the unity between Father and Son. He also extended such
unity to the relationship between divinity and humanity in Christ.
Neither is the Father his God, only if we divide what is seen from what is meant by
the subtle imaginings of the nous, as it is so in our case, nor was he abandoned by
his own divinity. But we were abandoned and forsaken. So he prayed thus
accommodating our person. 194
Joussard raised scepticism with regard to the above extract. It is not surprising, since
Jouassard understood accommodation as a 'typological' device. For John, Christ
accommodated abandonment only in a 'relative' way. 195 The presence of "uro~Eal
(to play role/pretend) could justify Jouassard's argument. However, John used it by
means of 'putting on' . 196
190
Damascene, ExpF. 68 [pg 167-168]: "nEpi rflc; roO Kupiou rrpooEUxflc;".
Cf. Evagrius, Orat. 35: "Ilpooeuxl'] l:ottv avapaot<; vou np6<; 8e6v". Louth, Damascene, 176.
192
Damascene, ExpF. 68 [pg 167]: "b iiyto<; abtou vou<; ina~
Kall' !Jn6otaotv t<p llecp A6ycp
flvrojltvo<;" (his holy nous was once [and for all] united with the Logos the God hypostatically).
193
Cf. Jn II :41 and Mt 26:39.
194
Damascene, ExpF. 68: "oute ydp eeo<; abtou b 1tUtl']p. d llTJ 'YE otatpelltvto<; ioxva'i<; tOU VOU
<pavtaoiat<; tou bprojltvou l:K tou vooujltvou, tlioootto jJ.Eil' flll&v, o6te KateA.ei<pllll bno t~<;
OtKEtU<; lle6tnto<;. an· f'J!ld<; ftj.l.EV oi. E'YKUtUAEAEtjljlEVOt KUl 1tUperopUjlEVOt. "QotE tO f'JjJ.EtEpov
oiKEtoUj.l.EVO<; np6oronov tauta npou~at".
I have consulted Schafrs translation in the The Nicene
and Post-Nicene Fathers series [vol. 9, 802].
195
Damascene, Exp.F. 69: "Xpl) dotvat, io<; ouo oiKetrooet<;: Ilia <puotKl) Kai o!Jmroon<;. Kai Ilia
1tpOOOl1ttK1) KUl OX,EttKT]. <l>uotKl) j.l.SV oov Kat obotroon<;. Kall' ftv otd <ptA.aveproniav b KUpto<; ti]v
tE (jiOOtV f'Jjl&V Kat td (jiUotKd nlivta avtA.ape (jiUOEt Kat aA.nlei~
'YEV6jJ.EVO<; civllprono<; Kat t&v
(jiUOtK&v l;v ndp~
'YEV6j.l.EVO<;: 1tpoOOl1ttK1) at, OtE tt<; to 1-:ttpou U1tOOUEtat 1tp6oronov otd OX,EotV,
olKt6v <pll!lt t1 ayannv. Kat avt' abtou wu<; bnep abtou notdtat A.6you<; ll111i€v abtcp
npooi]Kovta<;. Kall' ftv ti]v te Katapav Kai tl)v l:yKatliA.wvtv flll&v Kai td totauta o!JK 6vta
(jiUOtKU OOK abto<; tauta &v tl 'YEV6jJ.EVO<; CpKEtffioato, and tO f'Jj.l.Etepov avaoEX,6jlEVO<; 1tp600l1tOV
Kai jJ.Eil' flll&v moo6jlevo<;" (we need to know that there are two accommodations: one natural and
essential, and one prosopic and relative. Natural and essential according to which through his love for
mankind the lord assumed our nature and all that is natural becoming in nature and reality man and
experiencing what is natural. It is prosopic, when he puts on him the person of the other in
relationship, I mean pity and love; and for it (i.e. the person), he makes the words (his own) though
they are not proper for him, through which (he assumed) the curse and our abandonment and all these
that are not natural he did not accommodate them being himself or becoming like that, but receiving
our person and taking our part).
196
Both meanings (i.e. 'to put on' and 'to pretend') originated from the classical tragedies where the
actors were putting on them their vestement and mask to assume another 'personality'. Thus, they
pretended to be another person. In the modem Greek use, the verb only signifies a pretentious action.
191
127
Before John, Maximus had distinguished between natural (q>umK~)
(OXETIK~)
197
and relative
accommodation (oiKEiwmc;). 198 The first defined natural properties that
constitute humanity and were essential to its being; such as hunger and thirst. 199 For
Maximus, such passions resulted from the fall. However, they were an essential part
of human existence after the fall. They were the results of the fall "according to
punishment" (Myo1 ElTITI!Jiac;). The relative accommodation includes what humanity
197
For Coakley, the relative accommodation of human weakness did not detach Christ from his
experience. It highlighted the paradox that the divine Logos experienced weakness. S. Coakley, 'What
does Chalcedon Solve and what does it not? Some Reflections on the Status and Meaning of the
Chalcedonian Defmition', 143-163.
198
The term accommodation or oikeiosis {oiKEiwmc;) was of Stoic origin. Clement was the first to
appropriate the term for Christian ethics. For Clement, it defined the assimilation of human nature to
passions due to ethical corruption, or the ascent of the soul from passions to apatheia. Thus, it defined
either estrangement or return to one's own nature. Clement, Paedagogus, 2.10.11 0. Idem, Stromata,
4.23.148. However, it was also an alternative term for the "likeness" to God -apparently borrowing
from the classical meaning of oikeiosis in terms of friendship and familiarity--. Clement, Stromata,
5.4.23. In its Stoic sense, the term had addressed self-awareness of the individual with regard to what
constituted its nature (i.e. being). For the Stoics, accommodation of one's nature was more of a
cognitive process through which the individual was becoming self-aware of its being. This notion
entailed the concept of taking actions that were proper to one's being. The individual evaluates things
that stand outside it and takes proper actions for or against them. Thus, the self was the principle of
evaluating matters. The notion of oikeiosis, in the sense that it developed self-awareness, was also
related to self-preservation. As the individual is developing self-awareness of its being it deliberates
on things profitable for its own nature and things unprofitable. Thus, for the Stoics, choice was an
existential function of the self. Discussing a passage in Cicero, De Finibus 3, 20-23, EngbergPedersen noted that the notion of oikeiosis was not a teleological one where nature had set objectives
that the self needed to follow. It was the self that perceived its own objectives qua nature. T. EngbergPedersen, The Stoic Theory of Oikeiosis: Moral Development and Social Interaction in Early Stoic
Philosophy, Studies in Hellenistic Civilization II (Aarhus: Aarhus University Press, 1990). R. W.
Sharples, Stoics, Epicureans and Sceptics: An Introduction to Hellenistic Philosophy (London:
Routledge, 1999). Athanasius was the frrst to incorporate this motif into his Christology taking its
meaning at face value: the Logos has made space {oiKtw-w) for the human element in him. Athanasius,
Fragmenta Varia, PG 26, 1245A and 1325A. Didymos, however, was the first to relate oikeiosis to
kenosis in the light of human natural passions (blameless passions/MuiPA.TJtU 1tU6TJ) highlighting the
notion of "making way" for that condition which Christ was not qua God. Didymos, FrPs. 716 [Ps
68:17-19]. Cf. Cyril, Epistulce Pascalces, PG 77, 868,53. An important element of the Stoic theory of
oikeiosis was expressed by Cicero when discussing self-awareness. For Cicero, nature embedded
animated species with self-awareness that lead them to their conceiving what self-preservation meant
for their being: it is within human nature to avoid whatever might bring destruction to its being.
Maximus fully exploited this notion in his attempt to show that human nature desires life rather than
death as a natural capacity embedded into humanity by God. See Maximus, Opusc. 1, [PG 91, 12C];
3, [PG 91, 48A]; 7, [PG 91, 77C]. Maximus, Disputatio cum Pyrrho, PG 91, 297A. Bathrellos, The
Byzantine Christ, 123-124. Beyond any doubt, Maximus was working on the patristic origins of the
term as opposed to a direct reading from the Stoics. Cf. John Chrysostom, In illud Pater si possibile
est transeat, PG 51,38. Theophilus of Alexandria, Sermo in jluxu sanguinis laborantem, in AC0 2
1.288.
199
Maximus, Opusc. 19, PG 91, 221B: "n'I ooamp cpuo1Ka ruvxavEI IJETO r~c;
cpuoEwc;" (whatever it is
natural according to the nature).
128
has put on due to the fall, though these were not an essential part of its being: 200 i.e.
the results of sin "according to dishonour" (Mye1 6TIIJiac;). 201 However, after the fall,
they became part of humanity. The motif of abandonment belonged to the latter
group. Maximus intended to show the way that Christ accommodated the results of
the fall and also the results of sin without endangering his ethical purity. 202 As it was
observed, Didymos designated the latter as 'Mye1 rrapamw!Jarwv'. It cannot be
accidental that Maximus deliberately employed the multifaceted motif of 'Mye1' in
this sense to address the results of sin in order to dissociate the cause from the results
(sin-passions). 203
John appropriated this Maximian distinction by introducing the difference
accommodation?04 For
between "essential" (eumw611c;) and "prosopic" (rpeowmK~)
Maximus, the former accommodation included properties that constitute humanity
qua humanity without which the latter would have been a docetic appearance. The
reason that John substituted Maximus' relative accommodation for the prosopic is
because it expressed better Maximus' spirit: Logos accommodated the results of sin
in his economical kenosis. 205 Hence, John emphasised the hypostatic union between
200
Maxim us, Opusc. op. cit.: "ou~·
£iva1 AtyETOI ~ICl
T~V
aln'oO KUpiw~
tariv,
apxaiav rrap6f3aarv, oiov ~ OyvOIO, ~ tyKOTAEilj~,
0 IJ~TE
~IJWV
KOHl cpuarv w~
~ rapKO~,
<JUOTOTIKOV, Ei Kai ~IJWV
(it is not his
mainly, what it is not for us constitutive [i.e. fundamental] of nature, even though it is said to be ours
for the ancient transgression, such as ignorance, the abandonment, the disobedience and the
insubordination).
201
Maximus, Opusc. 20, PG 91, 237A.
202
Maximus distinguished between ignorance, which was not part of human nature even though it had
appeared to humanity after the fall, and the capacity of desire which, according to Maximus, was an
essential property of humanity. Maximus, Opusc. 19, PG 91, 217-224. The distinction between what
was natural in order to be human and what was only accommodated for soteriological reasons was the
mean line of reasoning for the Maximian party in order to secure the presence of human natural
capacities in Christ against the monothelite diminutions. See Bathrellos, Byzantine Christ. A. Louth,
Maximus the Confessor, Early Church Fathers (London: Routledge, 1999). M. Tt>ronen, Union and
Distinction in the Thought of St. Maximus the Confessor, Early Christian Studies (Oxford: OUP,
2007).
203
In his ascetical writings, Maximus had distinguished between the passions that worked from within
human nature and the passions that had had an external cause (i.e. sin). Christ accommodated the first
and only the results of the second without ever being subjected to this external cause (i.e. sin). Cf.
Maximus, Thai. 51 [PG 90, 484). Maximus, LibAs, 35 [PG 90, 940-941]. Maximus was working on
the Gregorian motto that Christ restored whatever he had assumed.
204
I have deliberately avoided translating the rrpoawmKt/ as "personal" in order to avoid a modern
personalistic reading of the term. For John, the term highlighted the reality of the incarnation,
presenting the incarnation as the economy of the Logos.
205
Maximus, Opusc. 9, PG 91, l20A: "ouK fKTI<Jic; ~v. ~ tcp' ~IJiV,
6Ma KEVW(JI~
urrtp ~IJWV
TOO apKw9tvr~
Myou To r69~"
(the passion was not a punishment, as it is for us, but it was the kenosis of the Logos
for our sake).
129
TO OvUTTOTOKTOV"
the Logos and his humanity (prosopic). For John, the humanity was 'humanity' to the
degree that it maintained its natural properties within the hypostatic union. Some
features, such as abandonment, were accommodated within the salvific scope of the
incarnation.
John turned to the Origenist notion of the paradigmatic nature of Christ's
passion. It was not "cowardice" (IJ1Kpo4Juxia) that caused Christ's despair as he was
crushed under the weight of the appointed task. 206 Through the loud cry, the Son
manifested his obedience to the Father by providing an example to the human race:
"He suffered in our nature to strengthen it against the passions and teach us to look at
God during temptations and call upon him for assistance". 207 Christ assumed human
weakness and showed the way to strengthen humanity against such weakness. For
John, the assumption of human weakness was understood in terms of the restoration
of the human race. But such restoration was not superficial: Christ defeated natural
limitations in his flesh. Rather than indicating Christ at the level of an exemplar, John
emphasised the active character that restoration means for the devotee. What Christ
taught was not to merely imitate him by praying, but "look at God ... and call upon
him for assistance". This was John's exhortation to action.
206
Damascene, Nest. 26.1 [pg272]. Cf. Maximus, Disputatio cum Pyrrho, PG 91, 297D.
Damascene, Nest. op. cit: "{nttJ.!Etvs tfl i'J.lst€p~
qn'Jcmt, iva v~:uproan
tautllV Katd t&v na9&v
Kat otM~U
i'JJ.lii<; !;v tot<; 1t€lpaOJ.!Ol<; npo<; 9EOV ~AE1t€lV
Kat abtov 1tp0<; E1tlKOtlpiav KaA.Eiv".
207
130
PART3
1. Origenist ascetical themes
Origen was not a "mystic" in the modem meaning of the term. 1 Despite the fact
that he had introduced the foundations for a Christian mysticism, in his Commentary
on the Song of Songs, Origen did not address the direct mystical and ecstatic
enrapture of the soul at a cognitive or supra-cognitive level. 2 Origen remained an
exegete who emphasised the presence of the Logos in the Christian scriptures and the
sacramental life of the Church.
Here, we will expand our research to include Origen's more ethically-oriented
works, such as Exhortatio ad Martyrium and De Oratione, his exegetical
masterpieces Commentarii in Evangelium Joannis and Homilice in Numeros, and also
his notorious De Principiis.
It was observed that, in the Song of Songs, Origen did not safeguard the soul
from trials. But Origen did not overlook the presence oftrials in the soul's spiritual
journey. In fact, he presented ethical trials as a spiritual norm. In his Exhortatio and
De Oratione, Origen provided scriptural witnesses (i.e. Job 7:1, Is 28:10 and Ro 5:35) for such trials, 3 identifying trials with this present life: "[T]hat the whole of human
life upon earth is a time of temptations we learn from Job in the following words: Is
not the life of men upon earth a time oftemptations"?4 For Origen, temptations were
the warfare of the soul with passions and desires. In a lengthy passage that is worth
citing Origen wrote:
For whether the wrestling is afainst the flesh that lusts and wars against the spirit5 or
against the life of all flesh (which is synonymous with the body which the
intelligence, otherwise called the heart, inhabits) and such is the wrestling of those
1
For a fresh look to the difficulty to describe any Patristic author as "mystic" in the light of the
modem approach to religious mysticism, see the 'Afterword' in the second edition of A. Louth, The
Origins of the Christian Mystical Tradition: From Plato to Denys (Oxford: OUP, 2nd ed., 2007), 200214.
2
The only work that Origen provided On Prayer interpreted the dominical prayer. Cf. Mt 6:9-13. It
was the work of Evagrius of Pontus De Oratione that commenced the Christian shifting from biblical
exegesis (i.e. dominical prayer) to a more independent discourse that discussed prayer within the
context of human purification, ethical warfare and passions. For instance, compare the content of
Origen, De Oratione, P. Koetschau (ed.), GCS 3 (1899), 297-403; Gregory of Nyssa, De Oratione
Dominica, GNO 7.2 (1992), 5-74; Maximus, Expositio Orationis Dominicce, PG 90, 872-909 to that
ofEvagrius, De Oratione, PG 79, 1165-1200.
3
Origen, Martyr. I [all references indicate chapter divisions in the edition of Origen, An Exhortation
to Martyrdom, Prayer and Selected Works, R. A. Greer (ed.), Classics of Western Spirituality
(London: SPCK, 1979)].
4
Origen, Orat. 29.2 [translations by Greer unless otherwise stated]. Cf. Jn 7: I.
5
Eph 6:12. Ga 5:17.
6
Lvl7:11.
131
who are tempted with temptations which are "common to man"; or whether, as with
athletes who have made progress and are more perfect, no longer wrestling against
flesh and blood or tested by temptations that are common to man, which they have
now trodden under foot, our struggling is against principalities, and against the
powers, and against the rulers of the darkness of this world, and against spiritual
wickedness, 7 in either case we are not released from temptation. 8
The presence of temptations was applied to both the immature and also more perfect
members of the Church. Origen illustrated the various forms that trials could acquire:
fleshly passions, and also warfare against the demonic powers. Origen took Mt 7:14
at face value highlighting the "hard path" of Christian life. 9 Yet, for Origen, the "hard
path" was understood in connection to the "body of death", i.e. sin. 10 According to
him, it was sin that made this life a "hard path". This hardness was a predicate for the
path, not a "natural" quality. Origen emphasised that, in the Gospel, the path was
designated as
"rE8AIIJIJEvrl",
not "8,\i~oua.
1
What Origen argued was the fact that it
was sin that made the path to be hard; the path --as such-- was not hard. In doing so,
Origen highlighted the presence of sin as a spiritual factor. 12 Spiritual growth was
hard only for this soul that had not put off sinfulness. In emphasising the ethical
importance of sin, Origen was rejecting the Gnostic notion of an evil or inadequate
Creator. For Origen, it was sin that caused evils.
In his De Oratione, Origen introduced the presence of demons which he linked
to the presence of temptations. The Alexandrian author had not maintained a unified
theory concerning demons and their ethical role: in his De Principiis, he denied the
fact that demons were responsible for the human passions. The latter resulted from
the excessive and immoderate operation ofthe body. 13 But, in his exegetical work In
Numeros, Origen associated every individual sin with an appropriate demon.
7
Eph 6:12.
Origen, Orat. 29.2. [trans. Lay].
9
Kai. q>Uot~
Em:at Kai. OUVKTJt~.
Cf. Clement of Alexandria, Stromata, 4.22.138: "tt OE ouiOEt~
ob o€1 OE ilpOEVta~
Jl€'tU't€0ftvat, ilAA.d ~aoiv-r
ilq>tKEOOat ot o€1, otd 7tUOTJ~
-rft~
O't€Vi\~
ot~:A.06na
ooou: -rouw yap !>on -ro l>huoOftvat b1to -rou 1ta-rp6~.
-ro dl;tov y~:vtoOa
-rnv ouvaJ.nv
-rft~
xapt-ro~
1tapd wu Owu A.a~dv
Kai. ilKroA.6-~
ilvaopaJldv" (the disposition is nature and
practise. There is no necessity for removing those who are raised on high, but there is necessity for
those who are walking to reach the requisite goal, by passing over the whole of the narrow way. For
this is to be drawn by the Father, to become worthy of receiving the power of grace from God, so as to
run without hindrance) [trans. in The Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 2, pg. 895].
10
Origen, In Jeremiam, 20.7.20 [pg 280 in SC 238].
11
Origen put Mt. 7: 14 and II :30 side by side: the narrow gate and hard path, and the light yoke of
Christ. Though the path was hard indeed, it was light when compared to the sinful life. But also, the
hard way was like a light yoke when the faithful was taking into consideration the prices with which
he would be rewarded. Origen, Martyr. 31-32. Cf. Clement of Alexandria, Stromata, 2.20.126.
12
Origen, Commentariis in Evangelium Joannis, 6.19.105ff [pg 208 in SC 157].
13
Origen, Prine. 3.2.2ff.
8
132
According to this latter work, sin could not have been committed without the
presence of the demons. 14 Their presence introduced a sort of "darkness" that lurked
within the soul.
Even in this case, and despite the undeniable fact that Origen set the
foundations for the later development of a Christian demonology, in his own work,
the presence of demons was primarily associated with idolatry in terms of ignorance.
Demons were not 'personified' human passions. They were entities that desired to
lead the soul to idolatry. Idolatry was the outcome of ignorance, i.e., the
abandonment of divine knowledge. What caused God's wrath in the biblical
narratives was Israel's ignorance concerning the Godhead. This ignorance led Israel
to idolatry. At an ethical level, Origen maintained the role of demons as agents of
deception that led the soul to ignorance (i.e. sin) and idolatry. 15 In Origen, demonic
presence was related to the presence of the pagan idols. 16
The above observations shed more light on Origen's concept of divine
abandonment. In his work on the Song ofSongs, Origen denied the presence of sin as
a spiritual factor that had caused divine abandonment. Divine abandonment was
understood in terms of divine pedagogy and providence. In his ethical works, Origen
presented an argument based on the concept of cause and effect: though God had
appointed a ministering angel to each individual, God withdrew his angel from the
person that fell "backwards to more material things". 17 Consequently, the absence of
the ministering angel led to the presence of the adversary power: "[The worse power]
having found an opportunity to attack by reason of his indifference, will be at hand to
prompt him to such and such sin, seeing that he has offered himself in readiness for
sin". 18 The introduction of the "worse power" was a result of human sin. It is not
clear what Origen meant by the "worse power". There is no doubt that the
"ministering angel" meant the divine closeness. It seems that Origen referred to the
"worse power" to indicate the closeness of sin. According to Jay, Origen possibly
alluded to L. 11:24-26. Thus, for Jay, the term signified the demonic presence. But, it
is more likely that Origen merely established the notion of sin in more concrete
terms, without necessarily introducing demonic presence. Jay remarked that, for
14
Origen, 27Nm. 8 [to Greer (ed.), An Exhortation to Martyrdom].
Origen, 27Nm. 8.
16
Origen, 27Nm. 3.
17
Origen, Orat. 6.4.
180.
.
ngen, 0 rat. op. elf.
15
133
Origen, sin lied within, whereas the demonic presence "incites and urges us, striving
to extend sin over a larger field". 19
What we need to take into consideration is Origen's distinction between divine
presence and the presence of sin: divine proximity meant the soul's spiritual rest,
whereas divine absence signalled the presence of sin. Origen anticipated
Macarius/Symeon' position by indicating that there could be no mingling between
the kingdom of God and the kingdom of sin in the soul:
[W]e must understand this about the kingdom of God, that, just as there is no
fellowship between righteous and unrighteous, nor communion of light and darkness,
nor concord of Christ with Belial, 20 so the kingdom of sin cannot co-exist with the
kingdom of God. If, then, we wish God to reign in us, let not sin in any way reign in
our mortal body. 21
Origen established his thought in the Pauline vocabulary: Paul had ruled out the coexistence of grace and sin in the soul. However, Origen understood this co-existence
in terms of faith and idolatry. Thus, it would be superfluous to apply to Origen the
later ascetical reading concerning the distinction between grace and sin.
Nevertheless, Origen set the foundations for this later development.
For Origen, unlike the bride of the Song, the soul was not secure at any stage of
spiritual life. Origen referred to ethical backsliding which could affect even the most
perfect. 22
Has anyone ever thought that men were outside the scope of temptations whose tale
he knows, having himself completed it? And what occasion is there upon which a
man is confident as not having to struggle that he may not commit sin? 23
The picture that Origen drew in this passage was quite different than the image of the
'joyful" soul of the Commentary on the Song of Songs. In his biblical exegesis,
Origen was stirring up spiritual desire for union with the divine: it was eros that was
the main motif of this latter work. In his De Oratione, Origen addressed his patron
Ambrose to instruct him in ethical labouring. Thus, he tried to elucidate the spiritual
profits that Ambrose could reap from prayer and ethical efforts. The dominical
prayer had set a model for prayer. The motif of temptations was an integral part of
the dominical prayer. Thus, the two diverging images of the joyful soul and the evertempted devotee were employed within different theological frameworks. The two
images were not meant to be juxtaposed: the ethical application of the Gospel to the
19
Cf. E. G. Jay (ed.), Origen 's Treatise on Prayer (London: SPCK, 1954), 58-59.
2 Cor. 6:14-15.
21
Origen, Oral. 25.3 [trans. Jay].
22
Origen, Martyr. 18. Cf. Is 14:12.
23
Origen, Orat. 29.5 [trans Jay].
20
134
life of the devotee led the soul to ethical perfection. Overall, Origen pointed to
ethical perfection without dismissing the fact that this fulfillment was only a promise
that was yet to come.
Indeed, in his In Numeros, Origen alternated between the image of perfection
and the ideal of spiritual warfare: rest and effort, joy and trials. For Origen, the above
terms had a dialectical character. And also, the divine presence and absence was of a
dialectical nature. Thus, Origen introduced the notion of ethical efforts and spiritual
rest. 24 According to Origen, the book of Exodus was an allegory for the soul's
ascension to the divine. Its context elucidated the various "stations" (OTa9jJoi) 25 that
were reflections of the stages during the soul's spiritual journey. 26 Israel had travelled
through resting places, but she also struggled to make her way across the desert. 27
Bringing this analogy to the ethical life of the soul, Origen presented the paradox that
the soul was pursued by Pharaoh (i.e. sin) even thought the Lord had delivered her
(i.e. baptism). 28 In order to address this paradox, Origen introduced the theme of
alternating periods of ethical efforts and spiritual rest. After the time of Israel's
rescue from Pharaoh's armies, Origen discerned a pattern between resting and
distressing periods for Israel. At an ethical level, the soul was meant to experience
periods of spiritual rest and ethical trials. Behind this scheme, Origen indicated the
work of divine providence. According to Origen, God drew the soul closer to him
through an initial grace. Then, the soul was left to trials and temptations. This motif
of interchanging periods of effort and rest could only be explained in the light of
Origen's notion of divine pedagogy that tested the soul; for God was leaving the soul
subject to trials and temptations to purify her from the sin that was still stirring
within her.
Though Origen seems to have maintained two diverse ethical theories with
regard to the role of sin in spiritual life, his main point remained unchanged. His
ethical theory, as well as his exegesis, was informed by the eschatological orientation
of the Christian faith. Origen introduced the Pauline language of the "promised
24
Danil~ou,
Origen, 296.
Origen reckoned 42 places in which Israel stopped at while wandering in the desert: the number was
identical to the number of generations that followed from Abraham up to the incarnation. Cf. Nm
33:1ff. Mt 1:17.
26
Origen, 27Nm. 4.
27
Origen introduced this notion based on i) the etymology of the Hebrew names of the various
locations in the book of Numbers, and ii) the biblical events that took place.
28
Origen, 27Nm. op. cit.
25
135
heritage", the "future hope", and the future "rewards". 29 The spiritual scheme of
effort and rest was established on the notion of "time" as divine pedagogy. Trials and
temptations were spiritual features of this life. Complete spiritual rest signified the
soul's introduction to the kingdom of God. The dialectics between rest and toil
suggested that divine pedagogy was not related to sin. But it was linked to the notion
that union with the divine was a promise yet to come. 30 Thus, the divine pedagogy
was meant to instruct the soul to this eschatological orientation. For Cheek, Origen
has been working on the neo-testamental complementarity between the kingdom of
God and the promise to be completed. Indeed, redemption was realised through the
passion of Christ. But "the plan (for perfect restoration) waits to be consummated in
the future at the end oftime". 31
Then, for Origen, this present time was a time for testing which he envisaged
by means of divine paideia. God tested the soul through trials. Even in his biblical
commentary on the Song, Origen maintained the notion that, despite her perfection,
the soul was tested by God. Origen related such testing to the coming of "affliction"
(8hi4.1~)
for the soul. 32 We need to notice -in advance- that Origen did not distinguish
between various levels of divine paideia. For him, the most important aspect of trials
was the fact that, in any case, God was testing the soul regardless of the stage of her
spiritual progress. Characteristically, unlike the later ascetical development, Origen
treated Paul and Job's experience indistinguishably: both biblical figures were tested
by God? 3 Origen did not emphasise their perfection before trials. Nevertheless, he
highlighted their perfection during trials: 34 "to face tribulations it is not of the thinks
that are up to us. But to be displeased and give in belong to the blameworthy matters
that are up to us". 35 Paul and Job were not displeased with God. They did not turn
29
0rigen, 27Nm. 5-6. Cf. Ro 5:3-5 and 8:18.
Origen, Drat. 11.2. Origen emphasised the notion of perfection predicated by the adjective
"then" which suggested an eschatological orientation.
31
Cheek, Eschatology and Redemption, 119.
32
Origen, Se/ecta in Psalmos, PG 12, 1137 (Ps 4:2]: ""On 6E 9Ai\jlt<; b "COl<; ilylotc; ot061!EVO<;
m:tpaollo<; ilaA.ouotv xaA.d'tat, ano noA.A.&v Pll't&v Ktvo61.lE9a" (that the tribulation that is given to
the saints that fight is called temptation, we know it from many sayings). Cf. Origen, Prine. 3.4.1. In
this case, Origen maintained a more cosmological understanding of temptations, relating them to the
soul's engrossment due to sin.
33
Origen, Drat. 29.5 and 30.1-2. Idem, Fragmenta in Psa/mos 1-150, 16.7. Idem, Homiliae in Job (In
catenis), 26. Job underwent trials in terms of avoiding the presence of pride. Origen did not allude to
Paul at this instance.
34
Cf. Didymos, In Psa/mos 20-21, 25.4 [21.2 in PTA 7].
35
Origen, Selecta in Psalmos, PG 12, 1137: "To l.l€v 9A.i~Eoat
obx liv Ei11 •&v l;cp' iwtv. 'to 0€
OUOUpEO'tEl09Ut KUt i:VOt06VUt 'tffiV l;cp' f'llllV \jiEK'tffiV".
° Cf.
3
136
against God during their tribulations. In the same fashion, the bride of the Song
maintained her ethical purity; and the martyrs of the Ad Martyrium kept their faith
pure.36
For Origen, such trials did not address only the individual. Trials were viewed
within the scope of the Church's persecutions. It was observed earlier that Origen did
not dissosiate the life of the individual from the life of the Church. The presence of
the martyrs affected Origen's theological thought concerning the content of such
trials: the life of the faithful was put under to the test during the times of the
persecution of the Church. However, Origen did not discern between ethical trials
and actual persecution: both terms were interrelated and inter-dependent.
Origen also did not envisage divine abandonment in spatial terms of
separation. 37 Divine abandonment was interpreted in terms of the divine assistance.
God was always present at times of trials, observing the disposition of the devotee.
Thus, he was intervening to assist and "refresh" his devotee. It seems that Origen did
not distinguish between the righteous and the unrighteous: despite the fact that
rational creatures were estranged from God, for Origen, God was remaining in
proximity even to those "estranged" beings. 38 Addressing the life of the martyrs,
Origen highlighted the closeness of God during their trials. As soon as the martyrs
manifested their love, they heard: "the Lord is here". 39 Thus, Origen connected the
divine presence to testing and the manifestation of faith from the part of the devotee.
God was observing their life before sending his assistance. Silently, Origen was
pointing to divine providence and pedagogy.
When commenting on the fourth gospel, Origen introduced a different
theological stand. He noticed that Christ had not extended his presence in Samaria
and Cana for more than two and three days respectively. From the historical
narrative, Origen moved to the mystical meaning: the Samaritans and the Canaanites
36
Origen, Homi/iae in Job (rn catenis), 18 [PG 12, 1033]. The biblical image of Job was linked to the
martyrs.
37
Origen, Oral. 20.2.
38
In an obscure passage, Origen indicated that those beings that did not participate in God's being
maintained a spark of divine effulgence. Jay and Greer provided two diverging translations. Jay's
translation supported an ontological reading where Origen had referred to the distinction between
God's nature and the nature of the rational creatures that participated in God's existence through a
kind of divine effulgence. However, Greer's translation suggested an ethical point ofview: Origen had
argued the condition of those beings that remained estranged from God. Though the original Greek is
obscure and seems to support Jay's translation, the inclusion of the passage within an ethical discourse
where Origen did not include any cosmological speculations, seems to favour Greer's translation.
39
Origen, Martyr. 42. Origen, Oral. 20.2. Cf. Is 40: I 0 and 62: II.
137
were both allegories for the "minds" (voOc;) of the faithful souls. For Origen, Christ's
attitude could be interpreted in terms of his closeness and also separation from the
human mind. The Logos was descending to the mind. However, there seems to be an
impetus that forbade the Logos to remain united to the mind for a longer time. It
seems that, in Origen, the mind had a limited capacity in its intellectual conception of
the divine. But this was not so because of the natural incapacity of the mind. For
Origen juxtaposed the perfect mind --that he designated as the "disciples"-- to the
mind of the faithful souls ("Samaritans-Canaanites"). The Logos was united with the
former but he was departing from the latter. 40 Thus, Origen introduced the dialectic
between divine proximity and hiddenness at another level: the Logos' closeness to
the human mind. Once more, it was not sin that caused the Logos' departure. The
Logos was instructing the "Canaanites" and "Samaritans" about their ethical
imperfection.
In his work De Oratione, Origen reflected on the antinomy that Christ's claims
contained: Christ had indicated the presence of the divine Kingdom within the human
soul41 • But, he had also taught to inquire for the coming of the divine kingdom: "thy
Kingdom come". For Origen, this antinomy highlighted the various gradations of
divine wisdom that the human nous could attain to: the more the soul was ascending,
the more she was discovering the kingdom within. 42 Origen's approach to this matter
could shed light on the distinction between the "disciples" and the "Canaanites". The
latter were on their way to perfection experiencing the presence of the divine groom,
but also anticipating his future coming in the human mind.
An important point of Origen's ethical theory needs to be considered before
moving any further: i.e., the degree to which Origen envisaged Christ as an ethical
40
The condition of the "disciples" with whom the Logos was united without ever departing from
them, and the condition of the minds that were subjected to divine withdrawal, introduced the ethical
variations ofthe spiritual life. Rather than juxtaposing the two conditions, Origen saw the condition of
the disciples as the suumit of spiritual life: from the imperfect condition, the minds were advancing in
order to be fully united with the Logos. This condition was a step higher in the spiritual life. Thus,
whereas for the souls still progressing, the divine Groom was present and then absent, for the perfect
souls, he was united with them inserarably. At an advanced level of spiritual progress, the Logos was
remaining united to the mind. Origen's biblical exegesis on the Song of Songs elucidated this point
further: the Logos departed from the soul until she was introduced to another spiritual condition
(chamber); i.e. the condition of absolute union with the divine. Origen, Commentariis in Evangelium
Joannis, 13.52.347 [pg 224 in SC 222]. It needs to be noticed that Origen did not argue in terms of
mystical experiences. He clearly addressed the notion of understanding the presence of the Logos
through the scriptures. Whereas some souls failed to discern and grasp his presence behind the
scriptural passages, the disciples had gained divine illumination, and thus discerned his presence.
41
Lk 17:20-21.
42
Origen, Oral. 25.2.
138
example, i.e. a model of action. Origen was directed by the scriptures in his ethical
approach. He was also influenced by the ethical thought of Clement of Alexandria
who had highlighted the need for ethical purification. However, Origen envisaged the
image of the martyrs as ethical examples. The influence of the cult of the Christian
martyrs was witnessed by the fact that Origen composed his Exhortatio ad
Martyrium to reinforce the faith of his patron Ambrose during persecution. 43
Origen's time was saturated with the presence of the Christian martyrs. Origen's
father was a martyr. 44 Origen came close to martyrdom many times. 45 He witnessed
the persecution of the bishops of the Church in Rome, Alexandria and Antioch
during the persecution ofDecius. 46
Clement of Alexandria had discussed the value of martyrdom in his Stromata
before Origen. 47 Origen followed Clement in many aspects of his thought. For
Origen, the martyrs were examples of Christian devotion since they offered their
lives to God. Origen pointed to their faith and also perseverance during their
martyrdom. Origen placed the theme of love at the heart of his exhortation to
martyrdom: through martyrdom the martyrs were manifesting their love for God. 48
According to King's examination of the commentary on the Song ofSongs, there was
an undeniable connection between Origen's exegetical work and the presence ofthe
cult of the martyrs. Indeed, for Origen, the martyrs underwent the "winter" of trials
of the biblical bride. They followed the "hard path", and through their trials, they
were tested by God. 49 Thus, God addressed them in the same terms that he addressed
43
~atron
It is the persecution of Maximin the Thracian (A.D. 235). The book was addressed to Origen's
Ambrose and the priest Protoctetus. Crouzel, Origen, 16-17.
During the persecution of Septimius Severus in A.D. 202. Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, 6.1.1.
Photius, Bib/iotheca, 118.92b. Crouzel ruled out as fictitious the story preserved by Eusebius that
Origen exhorted his father to martyrdom when he was probably only 14 years old.
For Eusebius, Origen developed his desire (epwc;) for martyrdom due to his father death. Eusebius,
Ecclesiastical History, 6.2.3.
46
Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, 6.39.1.
47
Cf. Clement, Stromata, 4.1.1.1 ff. If we take into consideration the parallel scriptural quotations (e.g.
Ro 5:3-5, Mt 7: 14) between Origen and Clement, it seems that Origen knew the work of Clement
when he was composing his own exhortation. In fact, the two authors shared with each other the
centrality of desire {rr68oc;;) and good disposition {rrpoaiptatc;;), the confession of faith through
martyrdom {61JoAoyia), the notion of ethical purification as part of martyrdom, and also the theme of
hope {Et\rri6a) as an ideal transcending martyrdom, and perseverance (urro1Jovr')) as part of the ethical
life.
48
Origen, Martyr. 2 and also 48. Origen referred to the soul's testing by alluding to Mt 7:24-28.
49
Origen brought into play the notion of gnosis. Through their trials, the martyrs were demonstrating
the knowledge of the divine that they had acquired. In the next passage Origen addressed idolatry.
Thus, he juxtaposed between the demonstration of knowledge of the true faith from the martyrs and
the fall into idolatry for the unrighteous. Origen, Martyr. 31 and 32.
45
139
the biblical bride: "the winter has passed". 50 Origen understood this winter in terms
of the afflictions caused by the idolatrous persecutors. But according to Origen, it
was the demonic wrath that was motivating the latter. 51 Thus, Origen saw in the life
of the martyrs the application of the exegetical connection between trials, divine
pedagogy and love for the divine.
Through their trials, the martyrs became the true fellows of Christ. In Origen,
the image of Christ was addressed in terms of an ethical exemplar only through the
life of the martyrs. For Origen, the martyrs stood at the place of the Mosaic priests,
offering their lives to God: Christ was the High Priest that accepted the sacrifice of
the martyrs. The primary action of Christ as the High Priest was in offering his own
life. 52 Thus, the martyrs were following the true High Priest: imitating Christ, the
martyrs were priests and victims at the same time: the former by means of the action
of offering; the latter in terms of becoming the object of the sacrifice. 5 3 Thus, they
constituted the continuation of Christ's sacrifice. After his death on the cross, the
martyrs were the new victims, renewing his sacrifice through their martyrdom. 54
Origen's ethical theory was infused with the Eucharistic concept of Christ's sacrifice
extending to the life of the faithful. Through their trials, the martyrs became
"mystical communicants" of Christ's passion. They shared with Christ the "cup" of
Mt 20:22 which, for Origen, signified Christ's passion. 55 But also, they partook in
Christ's comfort. Origen highlighted the bond between death and resurrection:
sharing in the passion also meant sharing in Christ's triumph (i.e resurrection). Thus,
it is the image of the martyrs that has emerged as the application of Origen' s ethical
50
Sol2:10-ll.
In his biblical commentary and the Exhortatio ad Martyrium, Origen related the presence of
persecutors and demons to idolatry. The demons were afflicting the souls ofthe martyrs by imposing
the denial offaith on the minds of the confessors. The persecutors were the demon's puppets that were
trying to force the martyrs back to idolatry. For Origen, the biblical bride had passed from idolatry to
faith. The persecutors were forcing the martyrs to return to idolatry. It needs to be noticed that
idolatry, for Origen, referred to a distorted notion of the divine. Thus, in his Commentary on the Song
ofSongs, Origen related the inner stirring of thoughts to ethical trials. In the Commentary on the Song
of Songs the Exhortatium, Origen identified the demons with the gods of the gentiles. Origen, Martyr.
9 and 32.
52
He 7:27; 10:12.
53
In fact, the martyrs, as priest, were depicted by Origen as standing in front of the sacrificial altar
offering their lives. This image was an allusion to the liturgical custom of using the tombs of the
martyrs as altars for the Holy Sacrifice.
54
Origen, Commentariis in Evange/ium Joannis, 6.54.280 [pg 342 in SC 157].
55
The language that Origen employed had Eucharistic implications. The martyrs were cleansed
through Christ's sacrifice, and participated in his sacrifice through their giving up their lives.
However, Origen implied a literal understanding of the Eucharistic participation in Christ's sacrifice
by addressing the death ofthe martyrs in terms of sacrifice.
51
140
discourse concerning divine love, perseverance during trials, the following of the
"hard path" and the comforts yet to come. It was this "Eucharistic" relation between
Christ and the martyrs that highlighted martyrdom by means of "imitating" the
passion and also the glory of Christ. For Origen, imitation meant participation in the
sacrifice and glorification of Christ.
For Origen, Christ was the manifestation of the divine on earth. He was also
the author of salvation. This salvation was the result of the action of God intervening
within history. Origen overlooked the ethical aspect of Christ's life, since Christ's
life signified the change from ignorance to knowledge and from idolatry to faith.
Thus, it was the martyrs that were the ethical models of Christian life for Origen. In
an obscure passage in the Exhortatium, Origen presented Christ as an example of
humility: Christ did not avoid dying on the cross, accepting a shameful death. 56 For
Origen, Christ's kenosis meant his descent from the bosom of the Father to the world
and death. The term kenosis highlighted the contrast between the glory of the Logos
and the poverty of the passion. However, Origen did not emphasise Christ's life as an
ethical example any further. The identity and mission of Christ pointed to Christ's
role with regard to the redemptive orientation of human history. Thus, Origen
overlooked the ethical meaning of Christ's life in terms of imitating the external
types of his life. The only point that Origen brought into play was the notion of the
voluntary acceptance of poverty by Christ.
Within his ethical discourse, Origen introduced a vocabulary that highlighted
the "perseverance" ( uToj.Jv~),
"confession" (6j.JoAoyia), and also "steadfastness"
(TTpoSuj.Jia) of the martyrs who were designated as "athletes" (aeA.,rai)57 • They were
fighting
against
the
"enemy of truth"
(txep6s
T~S
0A'l9Eias),
i.e.,
the
persecutors/demons. Thus, Origen had set the language that was employed by the
desert ascetics with regard to the Christian ethical life.
Origen set the "great currents of Christian spirituality". 58 He presented two
diverging traditions that either indicated the unhindered journey of the soul to the
divine (Commentary on the Song of Songs) or anticipated the presence of trials and
56
Origen, Martyr. 37.
Origen, Martyr. I. The martyrs experienced trials and temptations, accepting tribulations and
expecting the hope that was to be manifest "yet a little while". Cf. Is 28:9 and Ro 5:3-5.
58
1 have paraphrased from I. Hausherr, 'Great Currents of Eastern Spirituality', EsChQ 2 (1937), 111121 and 175-185.
57
141
temptations throughout the spiritual journey of the soul (De Oratione, Exhortatium
ad Martyrium, and Homilice in Numeros.). However, Origen did not contrast between
the two theological stands: the former emphasised the spiritual end that the soul was
called to achieve (divine union). This stand focused on the action of God within
history, and highlighted the soul's response to the divine call. Thus, Origen shed
light on the works of God for the faithful soul. The other stand exemplified the
ethical life that the soul needed to follow in order to reach perfection. This
theological position took into account the soul's natural frailty. What united the two
theological positions was the dialectical form that divine presence and absence
acquired in Origen's thought. For him, it was divine paideia that was leading the soul
to spiritual fulfillment. Thus, in his work, Origen illustrated the various ways in
which God was intervening in the life of the soul. Origen's orientation was
eschatological: divine paideia was leading the soul to the fulfilment of her union
with the divine. God suspended redemptive time, thus preventing (from) and also
redeeming the soul of her immanent natural weakness. In any case, Origen's ethical
discourse on ethical trials and spiritual resting manifested divine presence within an
eschatological perspective as "here but not yet". 59
2. The Vita Antonii and the Letters ofAntony.
The work Vita Antonii was of significant importance for the emergence of
Christian asceticism. There had been considerable criticism about the attribution of
the work to Athanasius in the past. However, modern scholarship has established this
as Athanasian authorship. 60 Still, the question concerning the hagiographical
depiction of Antony remains open. There are good reasons to advocate the
authenticity of Antony's life. However, we also need to take into consideration that
Athanasius was working on the classical form of biographies. This genre shaped and
highlighted individual elements according to contemporary needs. 61 The work was
popular among the desert ascetical communities, and it influenced the shaping of
Christian ascetical theory.
59
Cheek, Eschatology and Redemption, 215. Cf. Turner, Eros and Allegory.
See the intoduction in Athanase, Vie d'Antoine, G. J. M. Bartelink (ed.), CS 400 (1994), 27ff. G.
Garitte, 'Histoire du texte imprime de Ia vie grecque deS. Antoine', Bulletin de /'institut historique 22
(1942-1943), 5-29. Idem, 'Le Texte et les versions anciennes de Ia vie de Saint Antoine', Studia
Anselmiana 38 (1956), 1-12.
61
Cf. D. Brakke, Athanasius and the Politics of Asceticism, Oxford Early Christian Studies (Oxford:
Clarendon, 1995).
60
142
The Letters of Antony have been subjected to scholarly scrutiny with regard to
the interlinked problems of authorship and authenticity. According to Rubenson's
review of the past scholarly work on the subject, the Antonian authorship needs to be
established due to internal and also external evidence. 62 Rubenson examined the
Origenist elements that the letters contain. He attempted to establish a firm relation
between the Vita Antonii and the Letters of Antony based on common theological
lines, and also the common depiction of Antony. Rubenson attributed the Origenist
elements of the Letters to Antony: he rejected the Athanasian indication of Antony's
illiteracy as misleading. According to Rubenson, the degree to which Athanasius'
claim should be taken at face value is limited. Athanasius illustrated Antony as an
illiterate monk who was confronting pagan philosophers and Arian adversaries
adequately. That Antony was illiterate does not exclude the fact that he might have
encountered Origenist positions in the desert that he employed and expressed in his
Letters. But what has remained unaddressed so far is the influence of Origenist
theology on Athanasius in the light of the latter's biographical composition.
Scholarly research has only examined the classical forms behind Athanasius'
narrative.
In the present chapter we will attempt to discern Origenist ethical elements in
Athanasius' biography and the Letters of Antony. In doing so, we will trace the
emergence of the monastic ideals through the transition from Origenist intellection to
ethical discourse.
The Vita Antonii witnessed the progressive emergence of the desert asceticism.
The ascetics were the new Christian martyrs in terms of devoting their lives to God.
Though Athanasius was working on the classical genre of biographies, he employed
the Origenist vocabulary that depicted Antony as the new "athlete" and "martyr"
whose witness (IJapwpia) was manifested through ethical struggles. 63 Athanasius
62
S. Rubenson, The Letters of St. Antony: Origenist Theology, Monastic Tradition and the Making of
a Saint, Bibliotheca Historico-Ecclesiastica Lundensis 24 (Lund: Lund University Press, 1990), 35.
63
Cf. Acta Justini et Septem Sodalium, 5.1: "01. 1>£ aytot J.uiptup&c;; lio~O.vt&c;
tov 6&6v, E~&A.6vtc;
l:7ti tov ouvt'J6TJ t67tov i>t&A.drooav to JlUpt6ptov €v tfl wu orotiipoc;; i111&v bJloA.yi~"
For Gregg
and Groh, Athanasius depicted Antony after the "biblical presentations of the prophets, disciples,
martyrs, and angels". Athanasius also borrowed themes from the classical era such as the depiction of
Pythagoras from Apollonius of Tyana. Gregg and Cohs, Arianism, 133. Cf. Apollonius, 1aTopiat
eavpaatat, 6.1 ff. G. Quispel, 'L'Evangile selon Thomas et les origines de l'ascese chretienne', in
Gnostic Studies II, Uitgaven van het Nederlands Historisch-Archaeologisch Istituut te Istanbul 35/2
(Leiden: Nederlands Historisch-Archaeologisch Istituut te Istanbul, 1975), 98.
143
illustrated Antony's steadfastness64 and perseverance 65 while the latter was
experiencing the fierce attacks of demons. 66 Most significantly, Athanasius
highlighted the motif of Antony's love for the divine. It is in this sense that Antony
chose spiritual struggles over the pleasures of the present life. 67 The Vita Antonii
signalled the transition from the era of the martyrs to the era of the desert ascetics.
For Athanasius, Antony was the new martyr pursuing ethical purification.
Athanasius illustrated Antony's spiritual warfare in the desert. The ascetic did
not struggle with inner passions --as the later ascetics--. His warfare was against the
devil and the demons. It was the devil that attacked Antony, stirring thoughts and
passions within him. However, Athanasius' ethical theory had a long way to go
before reaching the later development of ethical discourse: for Athanasius, the
passions were not inner dispositions of the fractured soul. The depiction of the devil
was not a concrete expression of the soul's inner disposition. The passions were
stirred from external stimuli. 68 The demons were identified with the pagan Gods
(Origen). They attacked Antony only when he intruded their habitation --i.e. tomb.
Their intention was to drag Antony away from the territory. In the beginning, they
affected his thoughts; 69 then his body. 70 Eventually, they appeared to him in bodily
forms and attacked him leaving him half-dead. 71
Athanasius devised a turning point in Antony's life that divided his biography
into two parts, i.e. before and after the event: this event is the manifestation of the
64
Athanasius, Vita, 5.1 [PG 26, 845] and 7.5 [852].
Athanas ius, Vita, 10.3 [860] and 51.2 [917].
66
Cf. Acta Justini et Septem Sodalium, 5.1 [in TLG]: "DO l7tapx.o<; 'Iouotiwp A.&yEt: 'Edv
jlUOttycolld<; il7toKeq>aA.to6flc;, 7t&7tetoat ott j.t&A.A.et<; ilvaPaivetv Et<; tov obpav6v; 'Iouotivoc; elnev:
'EA.1ti~ro
tK tftc; b7toj.tovftc; Edv b7tojlEivro: otoa M on Kat toic; bpll&<; Ptrooaotv 7tapajlEVEt to Odov
x.aptojla !lEX.Pt tft<; EK7tuprooEro<;" (The eparch said to Justin: if you are beheaded after being lashed,
are you convinced that you will be raised into heaven? Justin said: I hope to perseverance if I
persevere; I know that to those that conduct their life correctly, the holy gift remains until the
conflagration).
67
Athanasius, Vita, 9.3 [PG 26, 856] and 14.6 [865].
68
The Stoics had defined passions as the wrong judgements of the reason. Clement had indicated that
the passions were excessive motions of the irrational part of the soul that were "disobedient" to the
rational part. For Clement, the passions were irrational and connected to the functions of the body and
the senses. Cf. Clement, Stromata, 2.13.59. For the Stoic and Clement's ethical theory see Lilla,
"Ethical Theory", in Clement of Alexandria, 60-117. In Athanasius, one gets a glimpse of the later
ascetical connection between demons and the irrational motions of the soul. See R. Dodds, The
Greeks and the Irrational (London: University of California Press, 1971 ). Also, Brakke, Demons and
the Monk.
69
Athanasius, Vita, 5.2 [848].
70
Athanasius, Vita, 5.4 [848].
71
Athanasius, Vita, 8.2 [856].
65
144
divine presence in light. 72 Athanasius' account shared common themes with similar
accounts in Philo, Plotinus and also Porphyry's biography for Plotinus. The common
motif was that of a sudden appearance of light. According to Philo, the ascetic
( acrKI"JT~<;)
sought for divine wisdom. The latter would suddenly appear to him after
much pain and efforts. 73 In Philo, this appearance was in terms of light. 74 Both
Plotinus and Porphyry had related the theme of divine presence in terms of a sudden
apparition of light. 75
In the Vita, Antony was attacked by demons. In a dramatic turn of events, a ray
of light suddenly descended upon him. 76 The ascetic was relieved from his bodily
pain, while the demons fled. 77 Antony immediately identified this light with the
divine presence. The question that he addressed indicated familiarity with his
interlocutor: "where were you"?
A closer look at the incident highlights the presence of Origenist ethical
themes: though Antony suffered bodily wounds, he was remaining watchful
(YPI"JYOPWV, v~<pw).
As a response to the demonic affections through his body, he was
fasting. 78 Despite of all the afflictions, he remained firm in prayer. In his Exhortatio
ad Martyrium, Origen had asked for endurance in trials, pointing to the fact that
comfort was at hand.
But commend yourselves 'in every way as the ministers of God': through great
'endurance', saying, 'And now, what is my endurance? Is it not the Lord?'; in
'afflictions', persuaded that 'many are the afflictions of the righteous'; in
'necessities', so that we may ask for the blessedness necessary for us; in 'difficult
straits', so that by travelling steadily on the straitened and narrow path we may
arrive at life. If it is necessary, let us commend ourselves also 'in beatings,
imprisonments, tumults, labours, watching, and fasting'. For behold, the Lord is
here, and His reward is in His hand to give to each according to his works. 79
72
Athanasius, Vita, 10.1-4 [PG 26, 860]. The literal analysis ofthe scene could indicate that the divine
intervention was reminiscent of the classical deus ex machina. For Anatolios, the importance of the
scene was highlighted by Athanasius' reference to Antony's age during the incident. Anatolios,
Athanasius, 184.
73
Philo, Quod Deus est lmmutabilis, 93.
74
Unquestionably, Philo was influenced by Plato. Cf. Plato, Respublica, 515c4ff; Epistulae, 341 c5
and also Parmenides, 156d2 and Symposium, 21 Oe 1ff. However, we could not overlook the increasing
importance of light in terms of divine revelation in the later apocryphal literature of Judaism. See
McGinn, The Foundations, 14ff. According to McGinn, the destruction of the Temple urged late
Judaism to introduce the notion of a direct and unmediated experience of the divine through visions
and apparitions.
75
Porphyry, Vita Plotini, 13. Plotinus, Enneads, 5.3.17.
76
Cf. Ps 117:7. Athanasius, Vita, 6.4 [PG 26, 852].
77
For Athanasius, there was an an escalation in the demonic attacks: the attacked through thoughts;
then they afflicted Antony's body through illness. Eventually, they took visible form and thus
wounded his body severely.
78
Athanasius, Vita, 9.8 [PG 26,857].
79
Origen, Martyr. 42 [my italics].
145
Origen had borrowed his vocabulary from the Pauline exhortation to trials and
sufferings: for Origen, the way of the martyrs was that of "beatings", "tumults",
"efforts", "vigilance", and "fasting". For every affliction, Origen provided a
scriptural quotation to strengthen the martyrs-to-be. The same theological line was
also introduced by Athanasius. His martyr, i.e. Antony, persevered in trials and
sufferings by fasting and remaining vigilant. He was also reciting biblical passages
that acknowledged that the divine assistance was at hand. 80 Antony cited scriptural
passages that corresponded to the demonic attacks.
The biographical account shared common themes with the Origenist
exhortation. Athanasius' Antony expressed the Origenist motif of divine closeness
during trials. Antony experienced what Origen had promised for the devotee: Christ
manifested his closeness to his devotee in the presence of light. God drew near his
martyr, calling at him and offering his reward: "Antony, I was here". The latter
expression corresponds to Origen's "the Lord is here". Athanasius highlighted the
notion of athlesis as testing: Christ did not intervene before observing Antony's
athlesis. 81 Thus, he offered his reward to Antony.
We need to address some further observation. At this point, we need to draw
our attention to the expression "having felt the assistance" 82 in the Athanasian
account. Antony did not hesitate in identifying the apparition with the divine
presence. His words, "where were you", illustrated familiarity. The apparition
brought deliverance from his physical pain: his body was relieved from its wounds.
The two points are interrelated: it is due to the apparition that Antony identified his
interlocutor with Christ. 83 His deliverance from bodily pain informed him about the
identity of his interlocutor. The experience was not limited to an intellectual level
--in a Plotinian or Philonian fashion. We need to take into consideration the participle
"ai961JEVo~
which is a predicate to
"6vriAI14J~.
Through the language of the senses,
Athanasius argued the reality of the apparition. 84 In his work, Origen had favoured
80
PsI I7:7. IKgs I8:I5. Phil 3:I3.
The ascetic was afflicted by passions only because of the fierce attack from the devil. Athanasius
did not connect this to the presence of sin as a spiritual factor in Antony's life.
82
Athanas ius, Vita, I 0.2 [PG 26, 860]: "aio961JEvoo:; rflo:; avnAr')ljltwo:;".
83
As opposed to the presence of the adversary: in the latter case, Antony inquired about his identity:
"who are you that you talk to me like that? -I am the friend of fornication". Athanasius, Vita, 6.2 [PG
26,849].
84
In doing so, Athanasius illustrated his dependence on Origen and the latter's theological position
concerning the correspondence between bodily and spiritual senses.
81
146
the notion of spiritual sense (a'io9'lar<;); 85 Athanasius introduced the participle
aio9av61JEVO<; in his text. 86 For Athanasius, divine presence was felt at an empirical
level --as opposed to a strict intellectualism. 87 Behind these lines, Athanasius might
have been rejecting the Gnostic intellectual character of union with the divine.
Athanasius stressed the participation of the body in the divine apparition: Antony
saw the light and felt bodily relief from his wounds.
The dialogue between the ascetic and his interlocutor introduced the notion of
divine presence and absence. Antony's question pointed in the direction of divine
absence: he was left on his own. Surprisingly, and unlike biblical sources -e.g. Ps
22.2- Antony inquired first about "where" and then "why" with regard to God's
presence. 88 Athanasius introduced the antinomy that though Christ was present,
Antony felt his absence which Athanasius defined in terms of God postponing his
intervention. It was discussed that Origen had introduced the dialectical nature of
divine presence and absence: God was leaving the soul subject to trials without
intervening. Yet, he was at hand. Antony's interlocutor denied any spatial separation
between him and his ascetic: for Athanasius, Antony experienced divine hiddeness.
Athanasius could not have come closer to Origen' s theme of divine proximity and
hiddenness. Such hiddenness was understood in terms of postponing his intervention.
Unlike Origen's allusion to Is 58:9, "Lo, here am I", 89 the Athanasian "Antony,
I was here", was not a direct citation from a biblical verse. But even Origen
85
Cf. Origen, Contra Celsum, 1.48.27 and 7.39.44. Also idem, Fragmenta in Evangelium Joannis (in
catenis), 20.1 [number of fragment in GCS 10]. Idem, Fragment in Lucam (in catenis), 186.44 [pg 306
in GCS 49]. For Clement, faith began at the level of the senses and was transformed into divine
knowledge.
86
Behind the language of vision lies the classical Greek theory of optics as means to know an object.
Unlike modem notions of sight defined as the abstraction created from the image ofthe object that has
appeared in the encephalic centre through the neurones stimulated by the eye lenses, the classical
Greek theory supported empirical knowledge of objects through interchanging "fires" between subject
and object (ouvaliyt•a) that were united through a third light (i.e. the sun); the objects were conceived
epistemologically through their mutual participation in sight. SeeS. Ramfos, '0twpla', in 7Aapav f/Jw~
roO KWJJOU (Athens: Armos, 2006). 221-116. For Ramfos, the knowledge of an object is empirical
(including both mind and body) as opposed to the mere abstraction of the mind (intellectualism).
87
The body participated in the scene through the sense of sight and the relief from pain.
88
Surprisingly, instead of a Davidic inquiry or even glorification, Antony's address was that of a
modem lover that is waiting for his love: "where have you been? Why did you not ... "? Cf. Ps 9:22.
Only the second par tofthe inquiry resembled the lamentation psalms. The lack of biblical foundation
for Antony's answer advocates for the authenticity of the incident: Antony was not following any
biblical or classical example.
89
The editor has cross-referenced Is 40:10 and 60:12 due to the fact that both passages refer to the
presence of the Lord and the rewards that he brings to the soul. However, it is more likely that Origen
had in mind Is 58:9 which he had alluded to several times in his exegetical works in order to point out
147
paraphrased, as opposed to citing verbatim from Is 58:9. It might be the case that
Athanasius also paraphrased the Origenist response. Though Athanasius used the
scriptures extensively in his Vita Antonii,90 this was the only place that Athanasius
did not cite directly from the scriptures. More likely, Athanasius found this
expression of divine closeness in Origen whom he paraphrased. Both authors shared
the adverb "here" as a predicate of space to show divine closeness and also contrast it
to divine hiddeness.
Another ethical position that Athanasius shared with Origen was the aftermath
of the divine presence: after the apparition of light, Antony was not confronted by the
demons any more. The ascetic was depicted as a conqueror over the demonic powers.
The passions ceased to be stirred inside him, and the devil's fierce wrath ceased to
affect him. According to the biographical account, Antony was never approached by
the demons again. 91 For Athanasius, Antony became a God-bearing man. 92 As in the
case of the biblical bride, Antony has remained unhindered in his ascension to ethical
perfection. It seems that Athanasius was following a strand of thought that Origen
had introduced. But, this is not to say that Athanasius copied from Origen
uncritically. Most probably, Athanasius was familiar with the idea of depicting
ethical perfection as achievable in this life.
The point on which Athanasius differed from Origenist tradition was his
emphasis on the incarnation. Anatolios has examined Athanasius' ethical theory in
the context of his Christology. 93 According to Anatolios, Athanasius introduced his
ethical theory in terms of the efficacy of the incarnation. Athanasius stressed the
relationship between the human and divine within the context of synergy. This
the closeness of God at times oftrials. Cf. Origen, Oral. 10.1. Idem, Selecta in Psa/mos, PG 12, 1121
[Ps 3:2]. It was also favoured in his exegesis on the Song of Songs where he had argued God's
£:'esence being at hand. See Origen, Hom. 1.2.269.
The index of scriptural citations is quite extensive in the edition of the Vita for SC 400.
91
Even the wickedest creatures of an irrational nature (such as reptiles) had fled at the presence of
Antony. Cf. Athanasius, Vita, 12.4 [PG 26, 861]. This passage was an allusion to the previous attack
ofthe demons in the form of reptiles in Vita, 9.5 [857]. For Athanasius, not only the reptiles, but also
the demons had fled when confronting Antony. Cf. Athanasius, Vita, 13.1-2 [861-864].
92
Athanasius, Vita, 14.2 [PG 26, 864]: "[7t]pof]A.9ev b 'Avtrovwc; &cmep EK nvoc; a06tou
jlejlUOtayroyru.J£voc; Kai 9eocpopot'>jlevoc;" (Antony came forth as from a sanctuary instructed in the
divine mysteries and God-bearing).
93
Anatolios, Athanasius, 177ff. Also Rubenson, The Letters of St. Antony. Anatolios addressed
modem criticism about the meaning of synergy in Athanasius' thought, specifically in his Vita
Antonii. Anatolios supported that Athanasius viewed synergy in equal terms from both parts: God
bestowed his grace. But the ascetic needed to respond to this divine action. According to Anatolios,
the acquisition of divine grace was not only a matter of human volition but required an interaction
between God and man. Cf. Gregg and Groh, 'Claims on the Life of St. Antony', in Arianism, 133ff.
148
synergy was discernible in the act of creation and also the incarnation. 94 The divine
power became manifest in the incarnation through Christ's body. This divine power
passed to his disciples who became the recipients of his grace. For Athanasius,
Antony was such a recipient of divine power. He experienced the divine grace that
was working from within him as an outcome of the incarnation. 95 Origen had viewed
the incarnation in terms of the soul's conversion from idolatry to faith. Athanasius
corrected this view by introducing the results of the incarnation in more concrete
terms: humanity was transformed through the incarnation. Origen acquired a
distinctly eschatological position that maintained the tension between the kingdom
within and the kingdom to come. Athanasius --striving against Docetism and
Arianism-- illustrated the results of the incarnation. The recipients of divine grace
defeated death and the demons: Antony merged from the tomb without any sign of
bodily decay. 96 For Athanasius, Antony was a "receiver of God"
(9E056xo~),
97
because Christ had already defeated death and the devil in his own flesh. 98
Athanasius composed his work at a time that Gnosticism in Egypt was questioning
the role of the incarnation, diminishing the role of ethical life for the favour of
intellectualism: salvation was understood in terms of an intellectual ascension to the
divine. In his Vita Antonii, Athanasius defended the ethical value of the incarnation
and introduced his position -found already in Irenreus- concerning the participation
of both the body and the mind in deification. 99 Antony was not a "bodiless" man, but
a "God-bearing" man. In doing so, Athanasius abolished the eschatological
dimension of Origen's exegesis: Antony was already experiencing the transformation
94
It was Antony's prayer in ethical vigilance that manifested Antony's part in the interaction with
divine grace. Anatolios, Athanasius, 183ff.
95
Athanasius, Vita, 40.6ff[PG 26, 901].
96
Athanasius, Vita, 14.lff[PG 26, 864-865].
97
Gregg and Groh drew attention to the fact that, in Athanasian thought, the term implied the natural
distinction between the Logos and men. It denied the Arian position that the faithful would enjoy the
same relation with the Father that the Son was enjoying. Gregg and Groh, Arianism, 147 citing from
Athanas ius.
98
o~tc;
y~:vtaO
9~:(p
lmo vwviaKou vuv
Athanasius, Vita, 5.7 [PG 26, 849]:" '0 ydp vo~iac;
lmai~:to
Kai b aapKoc; Kal. al~toc;
Katuxfi~->voc;
lmo t'lvOpomou a6.pKa q>opouvwc;
tlVEtpE1tEtO. LUVTJP'YEt ydp b Kuptoc; abt{p, b aapKa lit' 1~nc;
q>optaac;, KUl. t{p afi~t
Oouc; ttlV
KUtd 'tOU Ota~6A.ou
viKrtV: matE t&v 6vtroc; t'lyrov~OI!EV()
EKUOtOV A.tyEtV: "ObK tyro BE, a.n· 11
xaptc; tou ewu 11 auv €~-toi"
(he who thought that he became equal to God was mocked by the
youth; and he who boasted against all flesh and blood was overthrown by a man bearing flesh. For
God was assisting him, he who took on flesh for us and gave his flesh for the victory over the devil; so
that everyone that was truly fighting could say: "yet, not I, but the grace of God within me"). Cf. I
Cor 15:10.
99
Cf. B. Otis, 'Cappadocian Thought as a Coherent System'. Also N. Russell, The Doctrine of
Deification in the Greek Patristic Thought, Oxford Early Christian Studies (Oxford, OUP, 2004).
149
of humanity that resulted from the transformation that Christ achieved through the
incarnation.
A parallel reading between the two works (Vita-Letters) indicates that Antony
held a different view than Athanasius. 100 The illustrated Origenism of the Letters
caused scholars to question their authenticity.
It was mentioned earlier that
Athanasius had stressed Antony's illiteracy. 101 Nevertheless, in the Vita, Athanasius
introduced long discourses in which Antony was exposed to Origenist theological
positions, such as the origin of demons. According to the biographical account,
Antony had sufficient knowledge to confront the pagans and the Arians. 102 The fact
that Antony was illiterate could not single out the position that, in the desert, he was
interacting with people that were well aware of Origenism -Athanasius was one of
them. In the apophthegms attributed to Antony, Rubenson discerned possible
Origenist elements that suffice to put under question Athanasius' information
concerning Antony's illiteracy. Not to mention that, in any case, Antony might have
dictated his epistles to a scribe.
Unlike the Athanasian conqueror over the passions, the Antony of the Letters
introduced the theme of sin as the cause of ethical fall. According to Antony, it was
pride that caused the original motion of the rational creatures from the uniform
condition of the minds contemplating the divine. By falling, they were differentiated
into the conditions of angels, men and demons. 103 Antony underlined the "great
wound" of the fall that humanity was incapable of healing. Sin led to ignorance of
humanity's nature as "intellectual substance". 104 Thus, it was only through the advent
of Christ that the human race was redeemed. Antony's vocabulary is similar to the
Origenist language of the De Principiis.
Antony employed the Origenist theological position of time as part of God's
pedagogy to turn humanity from sin. In this pedagogy, God was visiting his faithful
through various manifestations which Antony called 'visitations', a term peculiar to
Origenist thought:
100
For a thorough analysis of the Letters with a review of the literature concerning the authorship,
their relation to Vita Antonii and the Apophthegmata Patrum, and the Origenism of the desert
literature see Rubenson, The Letters ofSt. Anthony.
101
Athanas ius, Vita, 1.1 [PG 26, 841 ].
102
Athanas ius, Vita, 68.2ff [941 ].
103
Antony the Great, The Letters, trans. D. J. Chitty (Oxford: SLG, 1975), 6 [pg. 20 and 23]: "the
beginning of their motion is the pride which came at the first".
104
Antony, Lettrs. 2 [pg. 6-7] and 3 [pg. 9].
150
Truly, my beloved in the Lord, not at one time only did God visit His creatures; but
from the foundations of the world, whenever any have come to the Creator of all by
the law of His covenant implanted in them, God is present with each one of these in
His bounty and grace by His spirit. 105
Despite the fact that humanity had turned away from God, God manifested his
presence in various ways, through the presence of the immanent natural law, and also
the presence of biblical figures such as Moses and the prophets. The presence of the
natural law as means of divine presence was well established in the thought of
Clement of Alexandria who employed it to argue the divine presence even in the
Greek philosophers. Through it, Antony stressed the notion of divine presence in
various levels (nature-revelation). Most importantly, Antony introduced the dialectics
of presence and absence: God was present within the history of the human race in
various levels. Yet, he remained hidden. Moses, who stood for divine presence, was
incapable of healing the human wound, and thus he withdrew. 106 The same was true
of the prophets. For Antony, it was human sin that was causing this divine
withdrawal: God manifested his presence; then, he was hiding.
The incarnation meant the healing of human sin. This redemption was
understood in an Origenist fashion as the tum from ignorance to divine knowledge:
For as many as are set free by His dispensation, are called the servants of God. And
this is not yet perfection, but in its own time it is righteousness and it leads to the
adoption of sons. 107
The expression "not yet" indicated the relative temporal character of the adoption.
The advent of Christ did not mean that humanity had reached perfection. It was
Christ's disciples that moved to the condition of adoption: being servants they
became sons. But that was only through the advent of the Holy Spirit. Thus, the
incarnation played a limited role in Antony's thought: even though he had referred to
the healing of humanity, Antony maintained a firm eschatological direction in his
Letters: the righteousness that the incarnation brought was so in a relative sense, "in
its own time". Thus, as in the case of Gregory of Nyssa, Antony distinguished
between perfection in this present life, and the eschatological completion of this
perfection. 108
105
Antony, Lettrs. 2 [pg. 6].
Antony, Lettrs. 5 [pg. 14-15].
107
Antony, Lettrs. 2 [pg. 6].
108
Antony illustrated the need for synergy: the outpouring of the Holy Spirit was not perfection as
such. What was also needed was human ethical preparation. Anton. Lettrs. 2 [pg. 7].
106
151
Unlike the Vita, Antony did not deny the possibility of backsliding for the soul.
In doing so, Antony illustrated his dependence on Origenist cosmology. 109 For
Antony, the soul had moved from its original blessedness: "the beginning of their
motion is the pride which came at the first". 110 The original motion was caused by
pride. Antony defined pride as estrangement from God and the virtues. 111 Thus,
Antony exhorted:
[I] want you to know that there are many who have pursued asceticism throughout
their life, but lack of discernment killed them .... if you neglect yourselves and do not
discern your works, that you should fall into the hands of the devil, when you think
you are near to God, and that in your expectation of the light, darkness should
overtake you. 112
Antony did not introduce the Origenist notion of the soul's satiety. He shifted to a
more ethically oriented discussion that anticipated Paphnutius' ethical discourse in
the Lausiac History. Origen, however, had highlighted the presence of pride at an
ethical level. Antony argued that ethical backsliding was possible when the soul had
obtained considerable spiritual progress. 113 Clearly, the introduction of pride, and
also the reference to the Origenist origin of demons and men was meant to exhort to
ethical efforts. Through the scheme of the various grades of the fall, Origen
introduced the life of the soul within the body. The body was given to soul in order to
struggle and develop. It seems that this is the reason Antony followed this Origenist
theory: the fall of the minds to the condition of embodied humanity highlighted the
material presence and exhorted to ethical efforts. It needs to be taken into
consideration that Antony was addressing ascetics.
In his attempt to secure his disciples from pride, Antony transferred spiritual
rest for an eschatological time. Thus, he highlighted the future acquisition of the
inheritance, as Origen had referred to the future hope. According to Antony, "[w]ho
ever saw God, to rejoice with Him and retain Him with himself, so that God should
not leave him, but help him while he dwells in this heavy body"? 114 Antony denied
109
Origen, Prine. 3.1.12. For Antony, there was a triple motion that showed the subjection of the soul
to passions: the first motion was related to the natural motions of the body. In this case, the passions
were controlled by the soul. The second motion resulted from the natural abuse of natural needs such
as hunger and thirst. According to Antony, an excess in the consumption of food and drink resulted in
the passionate motion of the body. The third motion was due to the afflictions imposed on humanity
by the demons' envy. Cf. Antony, Lettrs. 1 [pg. 2-3].
110
Antony, Lettrs. 6 [pg. 23].
111
Antony, Lettrs. 6 [pg. 22-23].
112
Antony, Lettrs. op. cit.
113
Cf. Origen, Prine. 3.1.12.
114
Antony, Lettrs. 6 (pg. 20].
152
that God remained united with the soul in this present life. Thus, the Coptic ascetic
indicated the tension between divine presence and absence -expressed through the
language of visitations and separation as above. According to him, the ascetics
needed to anticipate periods of divine presence and withdrawal. The presence and
possibility of sin limited Antony's ethical insights. His intention was to exhort
ascetics to spiritual vigilance and warfare.
Athanasius composed his Vita as a hagiographical work to exalt the life and
deeds of Antony. Athanasius intended to manifest Antony's ethical integrity, and
thus set the ideal image of what a monk should be like. Chapters 5.1-14.1 in Vita
Antonii introduced Antony's ethical struggles. Thus, Athanasius highlighted his
achievements and vindicated his sanctity. His fame was based on the tribulations that
he faced victoriously. Athanasius also underlined Antony's disposition by indicating
his struggles against the demonic presence. Antony's struggles were depicted in
terms of divine pedagogy. The ascetic was the new Christian martyr who was handed
over in trials by God. Thus, the ascetic enjoyed the fruits of his virtue. 115
In his Letters, Antony addressed an altogether different audience than that of
Athanasius, and in a totally different theological framework. From the paradigmatic
nature of the biography-genre Antony's letter signified the introduction of ethical
exhortation. Interestingly, the difference between Athanasius and Antony is also the
same difference between the Origen of the Commentary on the Song ofSongs and the
Origen of the Exhortatio, mutatis mutandis. Antony was exhorting to ethical
vigilance. His vocabulary gave predominance to the notion of sin116 and also to the
future hope --in terms of the inheritance. Thus, Antony indicated that the divine
assistance was at hand. However, he also exhorted against ethical laxity. Whereas
Athanasius viewed ethical life as part of synergism, where human weakness was
overcome by the work of the incarnation, Antony directed his attention to the
eschatological direction oftime. Athanasius' Antony seems detached from the reality
that the ascetics were facing in their daily ethical struggles: for instance, Macarius of
Egypt highlighted human weakness indicating the foes that the ascetics were
confronting in their spiritual struggles. On the other hand, Antony diminished the
role of the incarnation. Thus, his teaching shared the same theological weakness with
Origen and -at a later time- Evagrius. Yet, Antony introduced 'ascetical realism' in
115
116
Cf. Origen, Homiliae in Job (in catenis), 19 [PG 12, 1032].
Cf. Origen, Prine. 3.l.l2.
153
accepting the possibility of ethical backsliding, and reinforced the meamng of
eschatology, placing the latter within the scope of salvation.
3. The ascetical tradition.
i. Causes of divine abandonment.
In the Lausiac History, Abba Paphnutius was asked by Palladius, Evagrius and
Albanius about the causes of ethical misfortunes. 117 Paphnutius was presented with
the lives of five individual ascetics that faced tribulations as part of their lives. 118
Though, at this point, Palladius did not provide any further information about the
individuals inquiring, details of their ascetical conduct were included in individual
chapters of the Lausiac History. 119 The stories of Valens, Heron, Ptolemy, Stephen
and Eucarpios shared common themes with each other: spiritual struggle, deception
by demons --proclaiming their ethical perfection--, confrontation with the ascetical
community, and repentance or perdition. Driscoll emphasised the fact that the five
monks were "very accomplished" ascetics. Paphutius was presented with the moral
fall of "accomplished" ascetics. His companions did not ask about misfortunes in
general terms; their concern was about monks that had slid even after accomplishing
spiritual progress. 120 A story from the Apophthegmata Patrum also related the story
of a mature ascetic that fell into moral corruption: Antony had lamented the moral
fall of this eminent monk -he remained anonymous- whom he called a "great pillar
of the Church". 121 Antony had already noticed the spiritual advancements of the
monk. However, he had also anticipated his moral failure. 122 Driscoll presented the
117
Palladius, Laus. 47.
Palladius, The Lausiac History, trans. R. T. Meyer, ACW 34 (1964), 47 [reference to vita].
119
See J. Driscoll, 'Evagrius and Paphnutius on the Causes for Abandonment by God', Studia
Monastica 39 (1997), 262-270. In fact, as Driscoll noticed, only three stories were preserved in the
Greek text. For the lives of Stephen and Eucarpius, Driscoll referred to Syriac translation of the
Lausiac History edited by Draguet. SeeR. Draguet, Les Formes Syriaques de Ia Matiere de/' Histoire
Lausiaque, CSCO 169-170 ( 1978).
120
Palladius, Laus. 47.5: "tt<; i1 ahta too outro ~&vtac;
av9pcimouc; l;v tfl l:pfJ.t~
touc; J.lEV
a1tat119flvat tflv cppsva touc; ot 1tEptppayfJvat aKoA.t~"
(why it was that men living in the desert
sometimes are deceived in their minds or are wrecked by lust) [trans. Meyer]. Driscoll has translated
a,m..taai(lmore fittingly as intemperance.
121
Apophth. (SysC), 8.1. Antony sent his disciples to the cell of the monk. They found him lamenting
and imploring God to be granted ten more days to repent. But death met him only five days after his
fall. The story did not clarify if his repentance was accepted by God.
122
The incident described in the Apophthegmata Patrum shown the continuity between the Antony of
the Apophthegmata and the Antony of the Letters. For it was in his Letters that Antony wrote: "[I]
want you to know that there are many who have pursued asceticism throughout their life, but lack of
discernment killed them .... if you neglect yourselves and do not discern your works, then you will fall
118
154
case of Guillaumont who questioned the authenticity of Paphnutius' discourse.
According to Guillaumont' s hypothesis, this chapter of the Lausiac History was
articulated by Palladius to present Evagrian thought on the causes of divine
abandonment. However, Antony's story concerning the fall of the "great pillar" has
illustrated that the desert fathers were concerned about the causes of moral
backsliding before Evagrius' time. Antony had not inquired about such a cause.
However, that the story was included as part of the Systematic Collection of desert
apophthegms under the title of pride indicates that the compiler of the work was
concerned about the cause that he identified with pride. 123 Thus, it is quite absurd to
deny the authenticity of a dialogue when its setting was according to the life and
experiences ofthe desert fathers. 124 More importantly, both Driscoll and Guillaumont
did not discern the similarities of Paphnutius' discourse with Nemesius' De Natura
Hominis. Their intention to argue the authenticity only in terms of the possible
Evagrian influences on Palladius made them overlook the stunning parallels between
Paphnutius -or Palladius- and Nemesius.
Paphnutius began by providing an introductory discourse on the causes of
events in general. 125 Introducing his ethical teaching, Paphnutius modified the
Origenist vocabulary that discerned between events according to the divine pleasure
(Eul>oKia) and also events according to the divine consent (ouyxwP'l01<;). 126 Paphnutius
into the hands of the devil, when you think you are near to God, and that in your expectation of the
light, darkness will overtake you". Antony, Lettrs. 6 [pg. 23].
123
The title of the chapter in which this story was included is: "nEpi roO 1.~tv
np6<; tni~E1v
no1Eiv". The
chapter contains stories that show that vanity and pride are spiritual obstacles in the spiritual life. In
one of the stories included, Abba Isaiah taught that pride was the mother of all sin. Cf. Apophth.
(SJSC), 8.6.
12
Driscoll examined Guillaumont's scepticism with regard to the authenticity of the dialogue. He
tried to meet the objections of Guillaumont that most probably Palladius had articulated the discourse
by making Paphnutius the bearer of Evagrian positions. For Driscoll, the authenticity of Paphnutius
was undeniable. See Driscoll, 'Paphnutius', 259fT. See Evagre le Pontique, Le Gnostique ou a celui
qui est devenu digne de Ia science, A. and C. Guillaumont (eds.), SC 356 (1989), 141-142 for an
extensive footnote concerning Guillaumont's argument.
125 Driscoll presented an excellent examination of Paphnutius' discourse in Driscoll, 'Evagrius and
Paphnutius on the Causes for Abandonment by God', 259-286. As far as I am aware, this is the only
extensive academic work on the subject. Driscoll treated the connection between Paphnutius'
discourse and the Evagrian ethical theory. He also provided the most coherent academic work on
Evagrius' teaching with regard to the experience of divine abandonment.
126 Origen, Fragmenta in Lucam (in catenis), 192.18 [pg 309 in GCS 49]: "t&v ydp ytVOjlEVffiV ii jlEV
Katd ~OUATJatV
yivetat, ii liE Kat' eblioKlav, ii lit Katd OtlYXIDPTJatV" (from the things that happen,
some happen according to divine pleasure, others according to consent). See also Suda, Lexicon,
r.271: "td liE ytv6jlEVa Katd tpeis tp61tOtlS yivetat: Kat' OtKOVOjltaV, Kat' EOiioKiav, Katd
aunmpTJatv" (things occur in three ways; according to economy, according to pleasure, according to
consent). Damascene, ExpF. 43 [pp 100-103]. Driscoll and Guillaumont failed to trace the Origenist
foundation of Paphnutius' discourse with regard to this twofold distinction. In focusing on the
155
dismissed the additional Origenist introduction of events according to the divine will
(Kara J3ou.A.I")mv). Indeed, Origen had distinguished between events according to God's
will (Kara J3ou.A.I")mv), his pleasure (Kara Eul)oKiav) and his consent (KaTa auyxwpl")alv).
The distinction between divine will and pleasure seems to be too obscure to
conceive. Paphnutius submerged the two concepts into one, i.e., divine pleasure. 127
In doing so, Paphnutius avoided the implication that the divine consent was different
from the divine will. In addition, for Paphnutius, though all events were subjected to
the divine agency, their outcomes were different: some events led to divine
glorification whereas others led to divine pedagogy. Thus, from the cause of events,
Paphnutius shifted to their outcomes:
Everything that happens which is in accordance with virtue and the glory of God
happens by His will. Now, on the other hand, things harmful and dangerous,
accidents and falls, these occur with God's consent. 128
According to this passage, some events led to divine glorification; these were
according to the divine pleasure. Other events resulted in ethically perilous
conditions; these occured according to divine assent. Paphnutius subjected all events
to the divine agency. Either due to divine pleasure or consent, all events in human
life originated through God's agency. The main motif behind this argument was the
established notion of divine providence: 129 according to the latter motif, ethical theory
was part of the Christian cosmology. 130 Already, Clement of Alexandria had
Evagrian elements of the discourse, they overlooked any loans from other Patristric sources by
Palladius (eg. Nemesius, Didymos). Palladius was alluding to ideas that were quite widespread in the
theological literature of late antiquity. See Driscoll, 'Evagrius and Paphnutius'. Also Guillaumont's
footnote in Evagrius, Gnost, 28.
127 Nemesius only addressed the events according to their connection to divine providence (rrp6vo1a).
For Nemesius, providence was defined as the divine will (13ol1Ailalc;). Nemesius, Natur. 42 [pg. 125].
128 Palladius, Laus. 47.5: "[ "O]oa toivuv yivEtat Katd apEtt'(v de; 06~av
ewu, tauta yivEtat
Ei>ooKiq. ewu: ooa o' au 1tUAlV E1t~fJI.la
Kat E1ttKivouva Kat 1tEptotattKd Kat EK1ttffitlKU, tauta
yivEtat Katd ewu ourxropr)otV" [trans. Meyer].
129 See Clement's criticism of the Epicureans, the Stoics and the Aristotelians. These groups were
either disregarding divine providence (Stoics-Epicureans), or they limited divine providence to the
celestial realm (Peripatetics). Lilla, Clement of Alexandria. See also Origen, Prine. 2.11.5. Idem,
Contra Celsum, 7.68ff: Origen distinguished between actions according to divine providence and
actions according to divine permission.
130 Even Plotinus had argued for the presence of divine providence though, in his system, this notion
was obscured due to the depiction of the supreme reality (r<'> "Ev-the one) as ultimately detached from
his emanations in terms of its consciousness: it appears that the Plotinian One was not conscious of
the lower material realm. However, Plotinus had not denied that the cosmos was ruled by divine
providence. In doing so, he employed the Stoic notion of the Logos as the representative of nous in
the material world. As Armstrong remarked, Plotinus argued "the moral order in our world" in terms
oftheodicy. See A. H. Armstrong, The Architecture of the Intelligible Universe in the Philosophy of
Plotinus: An Analytical and Historical Study (Cambridge: CUP, 1940), 102-105. See also, J. M. Rist,
'The One's Knowledge', in Plotinus: The Road to Reality (Cambridge: CUP, 1967), 38-52. Also, C.
156
conceived divine providence as the manifestation of God's creating, ruling and
leading power in the creation. 131 Scheffczyk remarked that, for Clement: "[t]he Logos
who is the source of the world's being also trains, instructs and redeems mankind; is
the providence which leads us to our perfection". 132 Human history was envisaged in
terms of divine pedagogy for the redemption of fallen humanity. 133 From the
cosmological concept of God as Creator, Clement had introduced the ethical notion
of God as provider and redeemer for the human race.
Nemesius of Emesa, an enigmatic figure, also included a discussion on divine
abandonment in his De Natura Hominis under the theme of divine providence. 134
Nemesius did not argue in terms of "kinds" of divine abandonment. His intention
was to illustrate that divine providence was working through a diversity of manners.
Primarily, his argument sought to find the balance between determinism/fatalism
(Stoics) and indeterminism (Epicureans) in the light of human 'free agency'
(am:~ouv).
According to Nemesius, the diversity of outcomes led one to
acknowledge the various ways of divine providence. It also indicated the fact that
divine providence corresponded to the individual disposition/needs of the recipients.
Thus, Nemesius introduced several biblical figures (e.g. Job and Paul) to highlight
this latter position. Nemesius followed Origen's De Principiis -not verbatim thoughto show that divine providence did not interfere (i.e. cancel) with human free
agency. 135 After Origen, Nemesius was the first author to discuss divine
abandonment in terms of divine providence. If Young is right about the end of the
4th -century (A.D. 395-400) as the possible composition of the De Natura, then it
seems that Palladius' source (i.e. Paphnutius or Evagrius) was well acquainted with
Nemesius' work. 136 Palladius composed his work in A.D. 419-420. This date is
Parma, Pronoia und Providentia: der Vorsehungsbegriff P/otins und Augustins, Studien zur
Problemgeschichte der antiken und mittelalterlichen Philosophie 6 (Leiden: Brill, 1977).
131
Though this was apparent in the biblical narratives, the language that Clement employed and the
fact that he related the role of God's Logos with regard to divine providence, illustrated Clement's
dependence on Philo and Plotinus' Neo-Piatonism.
132
L. Scheffczyk, Creation and Providence, trans. R. Strachan, Herder History of Dogma (London:
Bums & Oates, 1970), 76. The author referred to the lost work of Clement On Providence which
survives only in fragments.
133
See H. Koch, Pronoia und Paideusis: Studien iiber Origenes und sein Verhaltnis zum Platonismus
(Berlin: W. de Gruyter, 1932). Also: Scheffczyk, Providence, 77-80.
134
Nemesius, Natur. 43 [pg. 134].
135
Origen, Prine. 3 .1.12.
136
It is not accidental that Nemesius decided to include Apollinarius in his work, unless he wanted to
show his corrupted positions. Apollinarius drew the attention of the ecclesiastical authorities in the
360s. Nemesius indicated that Apollinarius's psychology originated from a distorted understanding of
157
posterior to Nemesius. 137 According to Guillaumont, Evagrius was Palladius' source
for the articulation of Paphnutius' discourse. However, Evagrius did not favour the
term ouvxwpflm<;, as it is the case with Palladius; 138 nor did the former discussed
divine abandonment in the theological context of divine providence. Though
Evagrius implied that all God's actions were informed by his providence for the
human individual, he did not provide an elaborate argument that was putting
abandonment and providence side by side.
For Paphnutius, divine consent was informed by a reason (Myoc;): "his consent
comes about reasonably". 139 Such affirmation was based on the grounds of Christian
reaction against the Gnostic concept that misfortunes were the result of an inadequate
or even evil creator. As a reaction to this position, according to Paphnutius, events
were the result of the interaction between divine providence and individual human
agency. In the desert tradition, Evagrius was the person that underlined the fact that
God was not the cause of evils; he was the source of goodness. 140 According to
Evagrius, it was only due to divine consent that ethical misfortunes were occurring:
"[God] is not the cause of evils, being the fount of goodness, but it is said that he
gives as consenting". 141 Paphnutius gave more emphasis to the interaction between
divine providence and human agency.
For Paphnutius, the "right conduct" (6p96c; J3ioc;) was antinomical to the
"demonic deception" (rrMv11
~01J6vw).
What Paphnutius implied was an either-or
ethical scheme: the soul had either "right conduct" of life, or she was subject to
"demonic deception". The two terms were diametrically opposite. "Demonic
deception" occured due to careless ascetical conduct: it was ethical corruption that
what the relation between the soul and nous was. The extreme Arians (Anomoians) had also presented
a distorted understanding of this distinction. If Nemesius knew the Apollinarian positions, it is
impossible that he was not aware of Arian thought on this matter. Thus, his allusion only to
Apollinarius is an indication that he was writing at a time that Christian thought attacked
systematically the Apollinarian line of reasoning. Young, 'Nemesius of Emesa', in Niccea to
Cha/cedon, 159-170.
137
See the introduction in Palladius, Lausiac History in the edition of ACW 34.
138
Evagrius related the two terms only in his Evagrius, Eccl. 4 [Ec 1:13 in SC 397].
139
Palladius, Laus. 47.6: "'H M ourxropfJot<; EK Myou yivt:tut"
14
Cf. Nemesius, Natur. 42 [pg. 130ft].
141
Evagrius, Eccl. 4 [Ec 1:13 in SC 376 ]: "[ou] yap l:onv utno<; KuK&v, 7tfl'Yll llyu9roo6vfJ<;
U7tapxrov, 1tA.1'!v d Jlll A.tyt:tut otMvut i.o<; ourxrop&v". Driscoll, 'Paphnutius', 281. Driscoll referred
to Gehin 's commentary in SC 397 in order to establish the anti-gnostic ambience of this theological
position. He observed that "such distinctions become regular topoi, particularly in monastic contexts".
See Theodoret, Qucestiones in Deuteronomium, 37 [PG 80, 440A].
°
158
caused the demonic deception. Paphnutius was highlighting human responsibility:
ethical events were connected to the conduct of life. Having argued divine
providence, Paphnutius turned to the human factor.
The soul's corruption was a result of her disposition
(rpa~1).
(rp69Em~)
and her actions
Origen had clearly suggested that human disposition was ethically
responsible for sin. In fact, for Origen, the concept was discussed in terms of human
consent: no sin was done without the consent of the individual. 142 The theme of
human disposition underlined human responsibility (human free agency). 143
For Paphnutius, even a corrupted disposition could result in spiritual progress.
For Paphnutius, the soul was capable of spiritual progress without divine assistance.
Origen and Athanasius presented spiritual assistance in terms of divine intervention
after observing the steps that the soul was undertaking without divine assistance.
Paphnutius was following this line of reasoning: the soul could achieve spiritual
progress in her own terms without divine assistance. However, this was only at initial
stages in the spiritual life. 144
According to Paphnutius, it was the human disposition that caused divine
abandonment: God was abandoning the soul in order to correct her disposition. For
Paphnutius, abandonment was not a sort of punishment: it was correction: "God
abandons them for their own good". 145 Thus, Paphnutius introduced the connection
between divine pedagogy and divine abandonment in his discourse. 146 The notion of
pedagogy was still highlighting the divine providence: there was a divine plan behind
ethical misfortunes that was leading to the soul's ethical instruction.
The form tyKaraActfllt) was not favoured in the written tradition of the
Apophthegmata Patrum and desert Fathers such as Macarius. In fact, the term
142
Origen, Prine. 3 .1.4 and more importantly 3 .1.12. Didymos exploited this Origenist position in
light of the distinction between passio and propassio. Though Didymos placed human consent at the
centre of his argument, he failed to show the exact "moment" that the individual was held responsible
for an action with regard to human consent.
143
Theodoret of Cyrrhus noticed that God could have intervened to prevent ethical corruption.
However, even though he detested sin, he permitted it due to human free agency. According to
Theodoret, God was not violating human free agency. Thus, Theodoret underlined human
responsibility with regard to sin in light of divine consent. See Theodoret, Qucestiones in
Deuteronomium, 37 [PG 80, 440A]. Idem, lnterpretatio in Ezechielis Prophetiam, 21.17 [PG 81,
10138].
144
Even though for the early ascetics spiritual progress was achieved only through divine assistance,
they did not deny the fact that the soul was capable of taking initial spiritual terms in her own terms.
However, this position was clearly distinguished from spiritual perfection.
145
Palladius, Laus. 47.6: "Owu 1tpoc; to 0\lj.lq>tpov aut&v l;yKataA.tj.t1tUVOVtoc; autouc;".
146
Cf. Didymos, In Psalmos 29-34,200.17 [Ps 33:17 in PTA 8].
159
tyKaniAEpl~
appeared only occasionally in the Apophthegmata Patrum. 147 There is no
witness for the use of "apxwfJO'I~
auyxwpfJO'I~
and
"apxwfJO'I~
tyKaTfiAclp~.
in the same genre. 148 The main motifs were that of
The term
auvxwpfJO'I~
-and its alternative form of
in Macari us- emphasised the notion of divine providence, as opposed to
the event of abandonment as such. Clearly, both terms
tyKariAEIJ~-uxwpfO'
pointed to the divine consent that was behind ethical trials. Though the term
auyxwpfJO'I~
was in use in terms of forgiveness -either from God or men- in the desert
tradition, several times it addressed divine consent -so Nemesius of Emesa. 149 The
two terms became indistinguishable as was the case in Paphnutius' discourse. For
Evagrius, -in a passage cited earlier- the two terms were in close connection: "God
is not the cause of evils, being the fount of goodness, but it is said that he gives [this]
by consenting according to the argument of abandonment". 150 Divine abandonment
was a spiritual experience taking place within the context of divine pedagogy. The
experience indicated that God was not the creator of evil: God was leaving the soul
to experience abandonment because of a cause that originated within the soul.
147
E.g. Apophth. (AnC), 20: "Kat E'yvro b ytprov ott i:yKatlA.Wj~
tou 6wu i:ytvsto autcp. Kat
i:autov EVOl1tlOV tOU 6sou JlStd oaKpurov, i:Msto 1tSpt tfJ~
"(EVOJlT~
i:yKatA.s\jSO~"
((the
elder knew that that happened because of divine abandonment. And throwing himself in front of God
with tears, he was supplicating about the occurring abandonment). Apophth. (SysC), 7.50:
Kat ouK E1tEOKE\jlat6 1.~>"
(God abandoned me and he has not visited me).
"[l:;]yKattA.mt JlE b Sso~
148
For Lampe, the earliest use in Patristic literature of "apxwflt~
in an ethical context was that of
Macarius the Great and Diadochus of Photice. Indeed, according to the Patristic Greek Lexicon, there
is no indication that the verb had acquired the meaning of divine consent before Macarius. Whereas
Lampe cited only Macarius' witness, he did not include the various forms of the verb "apaxwptw-W in
the same author. Hausherr cited only the witness ofDiadochus. I. Hausherr, Les Versions syriaque et
armenienne d'Evagre le Pontique: Leur valeur, leur relation, leur utilisation, Orientalia Christiana 69
(Rome: Pontificum Institutum Orientalium Sutdiorum, 1931 ), 111. However, before Diadochus,
Theodoret of Cyrrhus had linked the verb "apaxwptw-W to auvxwptw-W. Theodoret pinpointed human
misfortunes due to divine assertion by employing the verb "apaxwptw-W. Thus, Theodoret had clearly
given to the verb the meaning of "giving assertion" in something. Cf. Theodoret, Qua~stione
in
Deuteronomium, 37 [PG 80, 440A]. Idem, Psalm, PG 80, 1716C [Ps 104:25]. Idem, lnterpretatio in
Ezechielis Prophetiam, 21.17 [PG 81, 10 13B]. It seems that it is not clear if Theodoret first employed
the verb in a Christological context or in an ethical frame. Cf. Cyril, De Sancta Trinitate, 606.15.
Theodoret, De lncarnatione Domini, PG 79, 1457.
149
The desert tradition used the term in a variety of meanings. On some occasions, it appeared as
synonymous to forgiveness: "aunroplJa6v JlOl, u~a.
tJJlliptTJKa" (forgive me abba, I have sinned). In
others, it meant "to give consent", i.e. to give way for something to happen: "aunropTJaov autov,
u~a.
iva et..an Kat ion as" (forgive me abba, so I could come and see you). See Liddell and Scott
(eds.), Greek-English Lexicon (Oxford: Clarendon). Also, G. W. H. Lampe (ed.), A Patristic Greek
Lexicon (Oxford: Clarendon, 1961 ).
150
Evagrius, Eccl. 4 [Ec 1:13 in sc 376]: "ou yap EOtlV aito~
KaK&v, 1tTJ'Yll uya6roVTJ~
U1tlipx;rov,
1tAllV si llll AE"(Stat otMvat (o~
aunrop&v Katd tOV til~
i:yKatAs.\jSO)~
A.6yov".
pi.\jla~
160
Despite the fact that Paphnutius highlighted divine providence as the main
cause of abandonment, he provided a paragraph discussing the "causes" (a'ir1a) of
divine abandonment. As mentioned earlier, Paphnutius intended to illustrate the role
of the human individual in light of the experience of abandonment as divine
pedagogy (providence). The ascetic did not provide a clear number of causes.
Instead, he provided five biblical images that, according to Paphnutius, had all
undergone abandonment. 151 The Egyptian elder drew the following connections:
Virtue
(Job) 152
~Sin
Causes of divine abandonment
(Paul)
/I~
153
(Paralytic) 154
(Judas) 155
(Esau) 156
Paphnutius introduced three different causes of abandonment which he did not
connect to "kinds" of abandonment. 157 Abandonment was taking place: i) to illustrate
hidden virtue; ii) to prevente pride; and iii) due to sin. In the latter case, Paphnutius
included three different cases (Paralytic, Judas, and Esau). However, if we take into
account the initial discussion of Paphnutius that distinguished between events that
resulted in: i) divine glorification and ii) ethical peril, then we could include the case
of Job and Paul into one group and place the three remaining biblical figures in a
second group. As far as I am aware, Origen did not distinguish between the
experience of Paul and Job. For Origen, pride was the cause of Paul's trials; and
hidden virtue was the cause of Job's tribulations. However, in the existing evidence,
Origen maintained a unified position about the two cases unifying their experience
within the scope of divine paideia. It seems that Origen did not distinguish between
the two biblical figures since he discussed the motif of their trials in terms of divine
151
Burton-Christie commented on the use of scriptural images by ascetics to demonstrate asceticism
as the application of the scriptural word in praxis. D. Burton-Christie, The Word in the Desert:
Scripture and the Quest for Holiness in Early Christian Monasticism (Oxford: OUP, 1993).
152
Job 40:8.
153
2 Cor 12:7.
154
Jn 5:14.
155
Mt 27:5.
156
Gn 25:29.
157
Guillaumont discerned only two causes: i) for the manifestation of hidden virtue; and ii) for
avoidingpride. Evagrius, Gnost. 28 [pg 137 in SC 356].
161
testing. Taking this latter point into consideration, Paphnutius' scheme could be
refined as follows:
Divil\asure
Job
Divine consent
Paul
Paralytic
Judas
Esau
The first time in Patristic literature that biblical images (Job-Paul-blind man 158) were
identified in terms of "causes" of abandonment was in Nemesius. The distinction
between causes that lead to divine glorification or destruction originated in
Origen. 159 Arguing in terms of free-agency, Origen's intention was to show that God
was testing his devotee: it was the human disposition that was tested and was leading
to virtue or destruction. 160 Paphnutius seems to have combined Nemesius' biblical
images and the Origenist discourse on free agency. What distinguished between the
two Paphnutian groups was the presence of sin. In the case of Job and Paul, God
illustrated the hidden virtue and prevented the presence of sin (i.e. pride)
respectively. The presence of sin was limited to the second group: sin had caused
their abandonment by God. Paphnutius highlighted the presence of sin by
introducing three different biblical examples. Whereas the first group experienced
divine pedagogy, the second group was subjected to divine correction. 161 Paphnutius
did not copy Nemesius' biblical exemplars verbatim. His selection of biblical images
corresponded with the lives of the three fallen monks: Valens and Eucarpius
resembled the paralytic; they were "redeemed" (am9Epcmwcrav) from sin. 162 Heron's
158
Cf. Jn 9:1.
Origen, Prine. 3.1.12.
160
For Origen, divine providence did not overlap with human free agency. The one motif did not limit
the other. According to Origen, God provided for everyone equally. But the human individual
responded according to his/her individual disposition.
161
The inclusion of Judas introduced the possibility of perdition.
162
Palladius, Laus. 25.5. Driscoll reluctantly supported the authenticity of the stories. Driscoll,
'Paphnutius', 263. Palladius' reference to medical terms such as "il1te9epam:uoav", "olrn.ta" (similar
sound and form with "olorn.ta"), and "taj.lata" supports the stylistic dependence of Palladius on
Evagrius. It was Evagrius that had treated divine abandonment in medical terms: "J..lnA.A.ov M tl'tv
ouoiatOV yaypatVUV b tatpos; t&V \j!UX&V ot' EYKUtUAEL\j!Eros; 9EpU1tEUEt" (this difficult-to-heal
159
162
life was reminiscent of Esau; he lived an ambiguous life between corruption and
repentance. 163 Finally, Stephen remained unrepentant like Judas; 164 he was caught up
in a burning house together with his concubine. 165 Nemesius had included the case of
the blind-man of the Gospel, but Paphnutius introduced the exemplar of the paralytic.
Significantly, in the Gospel narratives, Christ exhorted the paralytic to sin no more.
In the case of the blind-man, Christ indicated that the blindness of that individual was
not caused by sin.
The position of distinguishing between causes according to the presence --or
not-- of sin was advocated by Diadochus of Photice. The bishop of Photice included
a brief discussion about the causes of divine abandonment in his century of
Kephalaia Gnostica. 166 Diadochus looked at the reason that humanity was subject to
demonic afflictions even after the coming of divine grace. It is not clear which was
Diadochus' source. Diadochus' discussion shared common themes with the
Paphnutian discourse. However, if we take into account the suggested connection
between Diadochus and Macari us, 167 then it is more likely that Diadochus actually
worked on an established motif that he might have known through the work of
Macarius. Indeed, Macarius presented a reduction on Paphnutius' original discourse
in his Spiritual Homilies. 168 Diadochus paraphrased his Macarian witness,
maintaining its basic meaning.
To put Diadochus' work and ascetical thought within context, according to des
Places' examination of the historical background, the Gnostic Century of the bishop
of Old Epirus was an anti-Messalian polemic. Though he did not deny the antiMessalian character of the work, 169 Plested argued that Diadochus presented a
gangrene, the physician of souls heals it through abandonment). Cf. Evagrius, Cogitat. 10 [PG 79,
1212]. For the life of Eucarpius see Draguet, His to ire Lausiaque, 73.
163
Palladius, Laus. 26.
164
Cf. Origen, Commentarium Series in Evangelium Mattheum, 312 [pg 245fT in GCS 38.2].
165
Draguet, Histoire Lausiaque, 72. For both Stephen and Judas death was the result of their ethical
corruption
166
Diadoque de Photice, CEuvres Spirituel/es, Ed. des Places (ed.), SC 5 (1955).
167
Plested indicated DOrr's and Places' position that Diadochus was an exponent ofEvagrian thought.
He indicated that DOrries and Desprez progressively acknowledged the importance of Macarius'
influence on Diadochus. For Plested, Diadochus was more indebted to the Macarian legacy than it had
been thought in the past. See M. Plested, 'Diadocus of Photice', in Macarian Legacy, 134. See also
the introduction of Places in Diadoque de Photice, Oeuvres Spirituel/es. F. DOrr, Diadochus von
Photike und die Messa/ianer: Ein Kampf zwischen Wahrer und Falscher mystik im Fiinften
Jahrhundert, Freiburger Theologische Studien, 47 (MUnch: Herder & Co, 1937). R DOrries, Wort und
Stunde, vol. 1 (Gottingen: 1966). V. Desprez and M. Canevet, 'Pseudo-Macaire (Symeon)', DSp 10,
20-42.
168
Macarius, Serm. 54.
169
Diadoque de Photice, CEuvres Spirituel/es, 12fT.
163
synthesis of Evagrian and Macarian elements. In fact, for Plested, Diadochus
introduced an ascetical theory within the theological framework of "reformed
Messalianism" of the Macarian corpus. 170 Diadochus was critical of his sources, i.e.
Macarius and Evagrius. Macarius had maintained a potential co-existence of grace
and sin. Diadochus introduced the theme of divine withdrawal (rrapaxwP'lOic;) -a
term peculiar to Macarian thought- to highlight the efficacy of baptism, and also
affirm the observed ethical corruption of ascetics (realism). 171 For Diadochus, there
were two "kinds" -Diadochus did not designate them as such- of divine withdrawal
(rrapaxlilP'lO'Ic;) that resulted in ethical trials: 172
Kinds (?) of divine withdrawal
Pedagogy
Aversion
For Diadochus, God was withdrawing his presence from the soul: i) to test the soul
(rme5EUTIK~);
ii) due to aversion
173
(cmoOTp<~).
At a first glance, Diadochus did not
address "causes" of divine abandonment. His vocabulary was not that of the
Paphnutian discourse. Yet, Diadochus maintained the original distinction between
events without adopting Paphnutius'
language verbatim. 174 Notwithstanding
Diadochus' twofold distinction of"kinds" of withdrawal, that he chose the Macarian
napaxcbpYJmc; over the Paphnutian
iyKarAEupt~
indicates that Diadochus was
emphasising the notion of divine providence in his discourse.
170
Plested, Macarian Legacy, 134 and 256.
Plested, 'Diadochus ofPhotice', in Macarian Legacy. 134fT.
172
The line between "kinds" and "causes" was obscure in the ascetical literature of late antiquity.
Though Diadochus seemed to introduce two different "kinds" of abandonment, with distinct ethical
characters, within context, Diadochus was actually discussing "causes" that have resulted in the
diminishing of the divine presence in the soul and the presence of the demonic powers: the one
"cause" focused on the divine action, whereas the other highlighted human accountability.
173
Diadochus, Keph. 86-87 [references according to chapters]. See Diadoque de Photice, CEuvres
Spiritue//es, 46-48. M. J. Buckley 'Discernement of Spirits', in M. Downey (ed.), The New Dictionary
of Catholic Spirituality (Collegeville MN: Liturgical, 1993), 274-281. Ed. des Places, 'Diadoque de
Photice', in DSp 3, 829. G. Bardy, 'Discernement des esprits', in DSp 3, 1253.
174
John Damascene followed Diadochus' edition of Paphnutius' discourse. As it was the case with
Paphnutius and Maximus, John Damascene included a discussion concerning the causes of divine
abandonment and a discussion concerning the distinction of ethical events. In this latter discussion, he
has freely adapted Diadochus ofPhotice. See Damascene, ExpF. 43 [pp 100-102]. Evagrius, Gnost, 28
[pg 137 in SC 356]. Cf. Diadochus, Keph. 69 and 87.
171
164
Hausherr indicated that Diadochus' vocabulary was alternating between the
motifs of
TapxwflC'~
and
tyKarAJpl~
According to Hausherr, the two terms were
synonymous in Diadochus' thought. 175 However, Hausherr did not notice the
Macarian origins of this position. 176 Indeed, whereas Paphnutius was distinguishing
ethical events according to divine pleasure and consent, Macarius substituted the
latter term with withdrawal
(rapxwl']m~).
a term peculiar to Macarius. The term
defined ethical events that were occurring due to divine consent. Diadochus followed
this Macarian edition of ethical distinction of events. Nevertheless, Diadochus
remained critical of his source. In the Macarian corpus,
connected to testing (5oKIIJaoia) or paideia. 177 EyKarAitpl~
rapxwi']OI~
was always
connoted divine aversion
due to sin. Thus, Macarius distinguished between the two terms with respect to the
presence of sin: the former term emphasised the role of God (pedagogy), whereas the
latter motif highlighted the human ethical responsibility. God withdrew from his
devotee, but abandoned the sinner. However, in Macarius, this distinction never took
a dramatic form.
Macarius was working in an anti-Messalian ambience arguing the presence of
sin within the soul in terms of human free-will. For Macarius, there was a natural
incompatibility between grace and sin -already underlined in Pauline theology and
clarified in Origen-. Thus, for Macarius, the distinction between divine withdrawal
and abandonment introduced the distinction between divine pedagogy and divine
chastisement: that is to say that, Macarius was responding to the objection that grace
seemed to be insufficient to keep the demonic powers away from the soul. Macarius
intended to show that this is so for two reasons: on the one hand, God instructed the
soul at an ethical level; on the other hand, the human individual remained responsible
for ethical corruption. Thus, Macarius wanted to show the importance of ethical
vigilance: in any case, God was abandoning his devotee. However, Macarius
distinguished between divine pedagogy and human accountability. Thus, rather than
two different "kinds" or "causes" of abandonment, the Macarian discourse
175
Hausherr, Les Versions, Ill. Cf. Diadochus, Keph. 69 and 87.
According to Hausherr, Diadochus treated the two terms as synonymous: withdrawal was
emphasising the notion of divine assertion and the theme of gnosis that resulted from spiritual
experience (mipa). However, Hausherr overlooked the Macarian origin of the term. Hausherr, Les
Versions, Ill. Hausherr drew parallel lines between Diadochus' thought and Evagrian theology,
overlooking the Macarian influence on Diadochus.
177
Usually both terms were included in a sentence that illustrates purpose (iva ... ).
176
165
pinpointed divine intervention
(rapxwi')OI~
and human ethical accountability
178 Diadochus exploited this elegant ethical distinction. Yet, by placing
( tyKma.AEilJ~)
both conditions under the same term, i.e. withdrawal, Diadochus exemplified that
both cases were actually parts of the divine pedagogy. Thus, Diadochus reinforced
Paphnutius' argument concerning ethical events as part of divine providence. 179
As it was mentioned, according to the Paphnutian distinction, the ethical events
that were according to divine pleasure led to divine glorification, and those events
according to divine consent resulted in ethical peril (tKmWTIKa). Diadochus
substituted the term tKmwrJKti with a"omporprj (aversion) which was favoured in the
Macarian corpus as highlighting human accountability. 180 It was noticed that the term
had originated in the Old Testament -God's turning away his face- and was treated
as synonymous to divine abandonment. Didymos had indicated that divine aversion
was part of the divine pedagogy: the soul that had remained sinful experienced divine
aversion in order to correct her ethical corruption. 181 For Didymos, the soul was
178
Evagrius, Prov. 120 [Pr 10:18 in SC 340]. Athanasius followed the Origenist position concerning
the pre-lapsarian condition of humanity in contemplation of the divine. For Athanasius, such
contemplation was undisturbed and nothing external could be mingled with it. However, the fall
resulted in the estrangement of the soul from her own nature. As Anatolios noticed, "the soul's turning
from God is simultaneously an estrangement from itself, a going 'outside itself which is the opposite
ofthe ecstatic vision of God". Anatolios, Athanasius, 188.
179
In placing human free agency at the centre of his ethical theory, Diadochus denied that divine
abandonment had left the soul completely separated from God. See Diadochus, 86. The grammatical
subject of the verb "to hand into" was obscured by Diadochus intentionally. Diadochus restrained
from making God the obvious subject of his sentence. It was the sentence -"KaT' cnroUTpx~v
rapxli.!P~"that was the actual subject. This fact reflects Diadochus' argument that it was human
free agency that had abandoned God in the first place: "'IJUXri 1.~ 9tAouoa EXEIV T6v 9£6v" (the soul that
does not want to have God). The negative participle 1.~ 9tAouoa pointed out the soul's free agency
(auT£~om6lO)
as the factor that decided about her ethical condition.
Kiiv 1tpootx.n JlOl b 0EO<;, otd 'tTJV ev EJ.10t
dvotav obK alo61ivoJ.1at ott npotx.~>
JlOt b 0~>6<;:
b 0€ l\ort lha3~>1rtKfi<;
Kai npoK6ntrov, obK
0.vato6rttd til<; tou 0wu npooox,il<;, f) til<; anootpocpil<;: oto vov JlEV A.tyEt on npootox,E J.10t.
'Ettpro6t OE iva 'tt 'tO 1tp6oron6v oou anootpECjiEt<; an' EJlOU; Mv 1tO'tE alo6rto6E a1tEO'tpaJ.1J.1EVOU
abtou, f) otd 1tEtpaoJ.1ou, i1 bnroool')notE tou ewu" (Me, even if God is attentive to me, due to the
foolishness that is in me, I cannot feel that God is attentive to me: for he that has advanced and
progressed is not insensitive about the divine attention, or about his aversion: so that now he says he is
attentive to me. In another place: why do you tum your face from me? You might feel that he is turned
away, either through temptation or anything [sent] of God). Didymos, In Psalmos 20-21, 20.6 [Ps 20:8
in PTA 7] and 49.7 [Ps 21:25 in PTA 7]. It is more likely that Diadochus found this term in Macarius.
In the latter, the motif appeared in the context of divine aversion due to sin. Evagrius did not use the
term within this present context. Macarius, Serm. 16.4.6.
181
Didymos, In Psalmos 29-34, 200.17 [Ps 33:17 in PTA 8]: "to anootp€'Jiat to np6oronov obK ano
t&v 1tOlOUV't(OV td KaKd A.tyEt, O.A.A.d t&v ex.6vtrov abto cpatV6J.1EVOV. bA.i'yov OE tapax6tvtE<;
&o~av
&~ro
'tOU npooO:mou 'YtVE06at: oto Kat etapax.6rtoav. alo6rtotV ~A.aj3ov
Ott bnilpKtai 'tt
abtot<; artotc;. ytyovEv ot fJ anootpocpl'J tou npooO:mou ro~>
npoc; to otE'YEtpat l>Kdvouc; touc;
7tp6tEpov abto bp&vta<; Kat JlTJ il1tEOtpaJ.1J.1€VOV ex.ovta<;, iva tuxrootv abtou. E1tt toU<; 1tOlOUVta<;
M KaKd obo' autrt fJ aitia,
1v' alo6rt6&otv on npovi~
6wo KatEotKao6rtoav, npovi~
6wu
° Cf. Origen, Fragmenta in Psa/mos, 76.1 :" 'Eyro
18
a.n·
166
corrected, but not punished by God. She was tested in order to conceive her ethical
corruption. Thus, for Diadochus, both pedagogy and aversion were parts of divine
pedagogy: through them, the soul was approaching God:
We should approach God by knowing the experience of both withdrawals according
to the proper manner of each condition. 182
Edouard des Places provided an alternative translation:
It is that we know the experience of both conditions to approach God (pour aller a
Dieu) with the disposition that fits each ofthese. 183
Whereas Places' edition emphasises the need to acquire experience of divine
withdrawal, it is more likely that Diadochus focused on the actual result of the
experience. For Diadochus, both experiences led to God even though they had
different features and intensities. 184
Thus, Paphnutius, Macarius and Diadochus did not actually distinguish
between various "kinds" of abandonment. Their intention was to show the ethical
role of sin. Whereas divine pedagogy took the form of testing in the case of Job and
Paul, the presence of sin turned the reader's attention to human ethical responsibility:
divine pedagogy corrected and redeemed human ethical corruption.
According to the bishop of Old Epirus, either because of sin or due to divine
pedagogy, the soul was subject to divine withdrawal. What underpinned his
l>v to'ic; i:tvtapo'ic; El.otv. l}ai yivEtai 'YE Kai wino btl t€A.Et X.Prtotcp" (he has said that [God] turns
away his face not from those that do evil, but from them that have it as an accident. For they are
shaken for a while and think that they are away from his face. They have conceived that there was
something disgusting in them. In this case, he turned away his face to stir up those that were
previously looking at him without him being turned away [from them], so that they could have him.
But, it is not the same cause for those that they do evil; but so that they could feel that they were
condemned to distress due to divine providence. Utterly, this becomes a benefit). Cf. Origen, Prine.
3.1.12.
182 Diadochus, Keph. 87: "I>Ei ouv ~IJac;
tiMTOc; r~v
rrtipav rwv OIJ<portpwv rapxw~ctv
Kara rov tK6crr11c;
rp6rrov rrpomtv01 rill 9t4J".
183 "II faut done que nous connaissions !'experience des deux desolations pour aller a Dieu avec les
dispositions qui conviennent a chacune d'elles". French translation in Diadoque de Photice, CEuvres
Spirituel/es, 147.
184 We need to remind the Greek text: "I>Ei ouv ~IJac;
EIMrac; r~v
rrEipav rwv OIJ<portpwv rapxw~ctv
Kara
r6v EKOOTllc; rp6rrov rrpomtva1 r4J 9t4J". Places translation left the infinitive rrpomtv01 without syntactical
dependence while the participle tiMrac; was a predicate to &i. I think that it is the infinitive rrpomtva1
that depends on the verb I>Ei. Thus, the participle EiMrac; has become a predicate of the infinitive
showing the manner in which something takes place. For Places, the soul needed to have knowledge
ofboth the experiences to approach God ('pour aller aDieu').
167
discourse was the notion of gnosis that was the outcome of divine pedagogy. 185 Thus,
Diadochus narrowed the ethical role of sin indicating that, overall, ascetical life was
subject to divine pedagogy. Diadochus employed the moderate Macarian
Messalianism critically, but he also maintained distinct Evagrian elements by means
of the connection between the motion from praktike to gnosis. For Diadochus,
spiritual life included the knowledge (gnosis) of both the divine and the demonic.
According to Diadochus, this was the only way for soul to exercise her natural free
agency. The term gnosis had been witnessed by both Evagrius and Macarius who
linked it to the multifaceted motif concerning spiritual experience (mlpa). 186
Diadochus shed more light on the theme by arguing that the experience of
withdrawal resulted in the soul's gnosis of the true nature of the divine and sin. 187
The motif of gnosis as the ultimate purpose of divine pedagogy was not peculiar to
Diadochus, but characterised an era that witnessed the conflict between and also the
mingling of Gnostic and Christian ideas. However, according to Danielou, behind
Diadochus' argument was the notion of divine pedagogy as leading the soul to
redemption. 188 Diadochus related divine gnosis to both the divine and the demonic. In
doing this, Diadochus was following Evagrius' argument. However, Diadochus
employed gnosis in an ethical context that denied an exclusively intellectual
conception of union with God. He avoided extreme intellectualism by exploiting the
Evagrian position that true gnosis of sin directed the soul to hatred of sin: "Those
combating should pursue to hate all the irrational desires, so that they shall have
185
Diadochus, Keph. 69: "cpumaiJoO Kai tyKmaAEilj.IW~
To IJtaov nEipa" (experience is the middle of
illumination and abandonment). Evagrius, Gnost. 28: "TTEipa 15t Tfi~ tyKarAEilj.IW~
fyov~"
(experience is
the progeny of abandonment). See also Hausherr, Les Versions, Ill.
186
Evagrius, Ad Eulogium, 23 [PG 79, 1124-1125]. Evagrius, Gnost. 28. Evagrius related the ethical
experience to the gnostic life. Macarius, Serm. 2.10.4 [all references in TLG]. Plested, Macarian
Legacy, 155.
187
Diadochus, Keph. 6 and 77. The asceticalliterature did not treat the knowledge of good and evil as
such. More emphasis was given to the discernment of the works of good and evil, which it was
designated as the "discernment of the spirits". However, for Diadochus, only the Gnostikos had
discerned between the works of good and evil. See Diadoche de Photice, auvres Spirituelles, 42ff.
Also Places, 'Diadoque', 829. Buckley, 'Discernement', 274-281. Bardy, 'Discernement', 1247-1254.
It also needs to be noticed that Evagrius and Diadochus shared with each other the terms gnosis and
Gnostikos -both terms had been employed by Clement: Lilla, Clement of Alexandria,ll8-226-.
Though Macarius had witnessed the former, he never referred to the latter term. The fact that
Diadochus composed a spiritual century on the life of gnostike with direct reference to both terms was
a direct witness to his Evagrian dependence.
188
Already Clement and Origen had drawn the theological lines to connect the life of gnostike to
divine pedagogy. See Danielou, Origen, 278.
168
hatred against them as their habit". 189 This hatred was not an intellectual
achievement. It resulted from the soul's experience of both the divine grace and the
bitterness of sin. For Diadochus, the soul was undergoing alternating periods of
divine presence and withdrawal as a sort of comparison between the sweetness of
grace and the bitterness of sin. 190
Paphnutius put the lives of the ascetics into perspective by indicating that their
ethical backsliding was caused by sin. For Paphnutius, this sin was understood in
terms of pride. As made clear, Origen and Antony underlined the presence of pride
as a spiritual foe. For Antony, the soul remained subject to pride which he illustrated
as part of the human nature. Indeed, the literature of early desert Christianity was
permeated with the notion of pride as the mother of sins. Paphnutius clarified that it
was pride hiding behind the ethical backsliding of the three monks. Hence, according
to Driscoll, Paphnutius introduced the connection between virtue, pride and ethical
backsliding. In Evagrian ethical theory, pride was the subtlest of passions that sprang
from virtue. Indeed, Evagrius, listed pride at the top of his list of vices. Pride was the
last passion threatening the soul's spiritual progress. But, unlike any other vice, pride
resulted from this progress. In her ethical journey, the soul was puffed up and thus
fell back to the life of vice. Paphnutius indicated that Paul avoided being puffed up
through experiencing ethical trials. Palladius' Lausiac History was meant to be read
as an ascetical discourse. The introduction of Paphnutius' discourse exhorted to
spiritual vigilance and warned against ethical laxity. Indeed, Paphnutius' discourse
189
c]ywv1~oJtu;,
Diadochus, Keph. 43 and 71: "noa~
warE Eic; f~1v
r6 rrp6c; alirac; IJO~
IJtV TO~
aMyouc; tm8U1Jiac; OUTW 15Ei IJEAETOv IJIOEiV roue;
Cf. Evagrius, Cogitat. 10 [PG 70, 1212]:
"nO.vu to f.ltCJo~
to Katd t&v 8atf.16vrov flf.ltY npo~
arotT]piaY aulJ}IiA.~:t,
Kai npo~
n)v l;pyaaiaY
"t~
apl:t~
!;anY l:nm'tliEtoY: aA.A.d "tOU"tO EK"tpEq>l:tY EY l:autoi~.
WCJ1t€p n 'YEYYT]Ila aya90Y OUK
iax6of.1€Y, troY q>tA.T]06YroY 1tYEulllitroY 8taq>9Etp6vtroY abto, Kai np6~
q>tA.iaY, Kai auYi]6EtaY nO.A.tY
"tl)Y IJfUXTtV EKKaAOUilEYffiY: and ta6tT]Y tl)Y q>tA.iav. llnAAOY liE tl'IY SuaiatOY yaypatYaY b iatpo~
troY 1Jfux&Y ot' l:yKatA.diJfcro~
6cpanE6Et: aunrop€1 yap n q>oJ}Ep6Y na6€1Y tf.la~
l.m' abt&Y
Y6Ktrop i1 f.l€6' fl!lEpaY, Kat naA.tY 11 1Jfuxl't npo~
to apxstunoY f.lto~
enaYtpsx~>
StSaaKo!lEYTJ
npo~
toY K6ptoY AtyEtv, Katd toY ~aPiB,
to, "TsA.EtoY 1-iao~
l:f.liaouY abwu~.
Ei~
l:x6pou~
l:ysYOYt6 f.lOl." Outo~
ydp "tEAI:toY lO~
f.llOEl "tOU~
EX6pou~.
b lli)"t€ Kat' l;vtpy~:aY,
f.ltl"t€ Katd
8t6.YotaY illlapt<i.YroY: 01t€p "t~
1tpiDT]~.
Kat "t~
f.l€'YiCJ"tT]~
ECJ"ttY U1ta6Ei~
"t€Kili)ptoY" (hatred
against the demons helps us to salvation, and it is proper for working on the virtues; but to breed it
inside us as a good progeny is not possible, for the pleasure-loving spirits corrupt it, and they call the
soul back to friendship and an [evil] habit. But this sort of friendship, to put it better, this difficult-toheal gangrene, the physician of souls heals through abandonment; he gives consent to suffer
something terrible by them [demons] during the night or day, and again the soul runs back to the
original hatred instructed to say to the Lord, according to David: 'I have hated them with perfect
hatred, they were counted my enemies'. This is the way that the person that sins neither in deeds nor
in thoughts hates the enemies with perfect hatred; this is the proof of the first and greatest apatheia).
Cf. Ps 138: 22.
190
Diadochus, Keph. 6 and 86 and also 30 and 76.
KTI'Joao8al".
169
introduced the motif of human frailty by indicating the presence of pride within the
ascetical soul. Paphnutius exaggerated the presence of sin in order to warn his fellow
ascetics. In an even more dramatic manner, Macarius was diminishing the efficacy of
divine grace in his sincere eagerness to awaken spiritual vigilance among his fellow
ascetics. Paphnutius' discourse was shaped within an ascetical milieu where the
shifting from the efficacy of divine grace (e.g. Vita Antonii) to the predominance of
human frailty (Macarian corpus) was at work.
In his work, Maximus the Confessor also addressed the notion of divine
abandonment. In general terms, Maximus maintained the basic structure of
Paphnutius' scheme. However, it seems more probable that Maximus had two
sources: Nemesius and Evagrius. Maximus introduced his own modifications in
shaping his ethical theory. 191 Maximus addressed the "kinds" (e'i011) of abandonment
thus:
Kinds of divine abandonment
~
Oikonomical (salvation)
Testing (virtue)
(Christ)
(Job-Joseph)
Pedagogical (pride)
(Paul)
Aversive (sin)
(Jews)
Maximus discussed divine abandonment in terms of economy (Christ), testing (Job),
pedagogy (Paul) and aversion (Jews). Overall, Maximus followed the distinction
between divine pedagogy and divine aversion. However, Maximus seems to have
followed the Evagrian and Diadochean shifting point from causes to kinds of
abandonment. 192 Whereas, Paphnutius examined the "causes" of abandonment,
Evagrius and Diadochus indicated the "kinds" of divine abandonment. However, at
least in Diadochus' case, the difference seems to be only in terms of vocabulary since
Diadochus was actually following the Paphnutian position of highlighting divine
pedagogy as corresponding to individual needs. This position was not made clear in
the apophthegmatic form of Evagrius' Gnostikos. Indeed, Maximus retained the
notion of divine providence as his focusing point. Despite the fact that Maximus
distinguished between different "kinds" of abandonment, in his closing lines, he gave
up the implicit distinction between pedagogy and aversion indicating that all the
191
192
Maximus, Charit. 4.96 [PG 90, 1072].
Cf. Evagrius, Gnost. 28. Diadochus, Keph. 86-87.
170
various forms of divine abandonment were filled with divine wisdom and led to
salvation. 193
That Maximus favoured the term abandonment over withdrawal advocates the
position that Maximus was working on Nemesius/Paphnutius and Evagrius, not
Macarius or Diadochus. 194 Maximus borrowed the main structure from Nemesius,
especially in terms of the connection between divine abandonment and biblical
exemplars. In Evagrius, he found the idea of enumerating the "kinds" of divine
abandonment. Nevertheless, Maximus modified the Nemesian/Paphnutian and
Evagrian teaching according to his needs. It seems that, from the obscure Nemesian
discourse concerning providence, Maximus drew the motif of abandonment in the
light of divine providence. The enumeration of "kinds" of abandonment was of
Evagrian origin. However, Evagrius had introduced five "kinds", whereas Maximus
reckoned only four "kinds".
That Maximus was working on Nemesius rather than Paphnutius is evident
from the inclusion of Christ's abandonment on the cross. Nemesius was the first
author of late antiquity to include Christ's abandonment among other "kinds" of
divine abandonment. 195 In doing so, Nemesius intended to show that the incarnation
was part of divine providence: through the incarnation, God brought salvation to
humanity: the incarnation was another expression of divine providence. Nemesius'
objective was not to argue the similarity or dissimilarity between Christ's
abandonment on the cross and the abandonment of his devotee. That is to say that
Nemesius did not introduce a parallel experience between Christ and the faithful
soul. Nemesius did not understand abandonment as a Christ-like experience. Once
more, we need to observe that Nemesius only showed Christ's abandonment as part
of divine providence which illustrated that, through all distinct experiences, God was
redeeming humanity. It cannot be supported that Nemesius introduced a parallel
discussion between Christ and the faithful soul: the second part of the thesis
illustrated the obscurity that surrounded the term "abandonment" when it was applied
Maxim us, Charit. 4.96 [PG 90, I 072]: "~rotiynm
6E ot 1tdVe~
tp67tot lmapxouat Kat til~
Oda~
Kat aoq>i~
llv<ijleatot".
194
For the Macarian influence on Maximus see Plested, 'Maximus the Confessor', in Macarian
Legacy, 213-254. According to Plested, Maximus knew the work of Macarius and was working on
Macarian themes either directly from him or through the ascetical medium of Mark the Monk and
Diadochus of Photice.
195
When Nemesius referred to "kinds", his intention was to show the various ways in which divine
providence was working in human affairs without necessarily introducing ·distinct forms of
experiences.
193
lya96tT)O~
171
to Christ's case. To argue the parallel introduction of Christ and the soul in Nemesius
as evidence of the Christ-like character of the ascetical abandonment implies that
Nemesius had a clear definition of the nature and the mechanism of abandonment in
Christ. But this was not the case.
What linked Maximus' discourse to Nemesius was the presence of the
participle "8mco\JoT]<;" (seeming) as a predicate of Christ's abandonment. As far as I
am aware, such a combination was not common in late antiquity. Didymos was the
only exception. 196 And even in his case, Didymos did not provide a clear definition
of what abandonment meant. For him, the main point was that those who were truly
condemned were the by-standers that mocked Christ. 197 I could not think of another
possible source for Maximus with respect to the inclusion of oikonomical
abandonment in his list that was predicated as "seeming". Nemesius, and partially
Didymos, are the only sources. 198 Didymos was the only author to distinguish
between the "seeming" abandonment of Christ and the "aversive" abandonment of
the Jews. However, it was Nemesius that offered a sort of list of various biblical
figures with regard to divine abandonment. 199
However, one could locate an obscure introduction of Christ's abandonment in
Evagrius' Gnostikos. Such an interpretation depends completely on differing
translations from the Syriac text; a fact that has casted doubts on the reliability of the
Syriac text and the actual reading of the original Greek text. 200 Evagrius referred to
the "causes" -or "kinds" according to Frankenberg- of divine abandonment without
enumerating them in his Gnostikos. 201 Here, we will present the Greek retro-version
Didymos, In Psalmos 20-21, 25.14-18 [Ps 21 :2 in PTA 7]: " eDnei toivuv etD~
196
dokeiD lie\
eDKtv~
tOlD~
oD M16~.
aDvOplimo~
ataupo\n e)lh/luqen o( swth/r,
El v a t to\ UDitOitEOElDV tOloUtD OavtltD ... EDVKat!Wlilp91j OU v
Kai eDautouD eDVKarUJA£tljltV A.tyet, eDnei KetpaA.'l\ lJ v auDtooDv" (for the Saviour has come
eDvjKUtclA~
to the cross, it seems to men that it is abandonment to be subjected to such death ... these people have
been abandoned. And it says that it is his own abandonment because he was their head).
197
It seems that, for Didymos, the Jews represented corrupted humanity.
198
Nemesius concluded that "f:yKataA.&i.1tEtai ttc; 1tpoc; Katpov Eic; ot6p9mmv aA.A.ou, iva to Kat'
abtov (JK01tOUVtES o\ aA.A.Ol 1tatoE6mvtat". Cf. Origen, Fragmenta in Psa/mos 1-150, 36:25:
"tyKarW.tllToVTal oi liiKa1o1 1rp6c; Kmp6v OKIJi~
xap1v".
199
There is no evidence in Morani's edition of the De Natura Hominis that Nemesius was familiar
with Didymos' work.
200
See D. A. Ousley, Evagrius' Theology of Prayer and the Spiritual Life (PhD Thesis: University of
Chicago, 1979), 31. Ousley observed that the works surviving only in Syriac need to be treated with
caution since it is more likely that they reflect both Evagrian teaching and also the Syriac ambience in
which they they were translated.
201
Driscoll presented an excellent analysis of the present chapter from Gnostikos, examining it within
the context of the Evagrian ascetical tradition. He indicated its place within the Evagrian thought and
also the broader genre of desert literature. Driscoll, 'Evagrius and Paphnutius on the Causes of
Abandonment'.
172
from the surviving Syriac provided by Frankenberg and the French translation of the
Syriac by Guillaumont. In both cases, it is the punctuation that alters the meaning of
the sentences. Despite the fact that many chapters of the Gnostikos have survived in
the original Greek, the chapter that discussed divine abandonment has been
transmitted only in Syriac. Frankenberg's retro-version was an attempt to restore the
Greek original of the Gnostikos.
Mvru.16vtuE To rrtVTE Tfl<; OOKIIJOaiac; Ei~l.
tKJ.uoi.Jtvouc;.
ri
~t
Kpumr; apur; ~1a
iva txnc; 6p8wa01 muc; 6i\1yoljluxouc; Kai muc; i\urrn
~OKIJaic;
arroKai\UmETOI Kai r; OIJEAOUI.JtVIl ~1a
KOTa~il<;
IJETOVtPXETOI KOi yiyvETOI OITiO <wfl<; TOi<; 0M01<;· KOi Ei r'J rrpaKTIKr'J IJETO Tij<; yYWOEW<; OUVUTTOPXEI,
TOU<; OlJTr'JV KEKTili.JEVOU<; ~IMOKE
ri ~
TOTTEIVO<ppooUVIlV. IJIOEi yap Tr'JV KOKiOV 6 OUTr'J<; rrEipav i\af3li.Jv,
mipa EKyovoc; tan OOKIIJOOiac;,
ri ~t
OOKIIJOaia, 9uy6TI1P Tij<; 6rra9Eiac;.
202
Guillaumont's French translation of the Syriac is as follows:
Souviens toi des cinq causes de Ia dereliction, 203 pour que tu puisses relever les
pusillanimes abattus par )'affliction. En effet Ia dereliction revele Ia vertu qui est
cachee. Quand celle-ci a ete negligee, elle Ia retablit par le chiitiment. Et elle devient
cause de salut pour d'autres. Et quand Ia vertu est devenue preeminente, elle
enseigne l'humilite a ceux qui l'ont en partage. En effet, il hait le mal, celui qui a
fait )'experience; or !'experience est un rejeton de Ia dereliction, et cette dereliction
est fille de l'impassibilite. 204
Driscoll observed that the surviving Syriac and its translations are obscure: "it is not
easy to know for sure exactly where in the text to place the numbers that divide what
he is speaking about". 205 For Driscoll, even though Evagrius referred to "five
causes/kinds", it is not clear which ones he had in mind. Things become further
confusing if we take into account Hausherr's translation from the Syriac, in his
remarkable work on the Syriac and Armenian manuscript tradition of the Gnostikos.
202
The text of Frankenberg was cited by Hausherr in idem, Les Versions, 110.
Though the term was witnessed in the
Frankenberg maintained the notion of testing (~oKIJOai).
manuscript tradition, Guillaumont advocated the presence of abandonment in the text, primarily in
terms of its remarkable witness by both the Syriac and also Greek manuscript tradition of the text. See
Evagrius, Le Gnostique, 135-136. In fact, in order to support his position, Guillaumont included
Maximus' use of the word abandonment in the Capita de Caritatae. Thus, he implied Maximus'
direct dependence on the Evagrian text. So did Hausherr in Idem, Les Versions, 110-111. They both
overlooked Maximus direct dependence on Nemesius.
204
Evagrius, Gnost. 28: "Remember the five causes of abandonment so that you can raise up again the
weak souls brought down by this affliction. In fact, abandonment reveals hidden virtue. When virtue
has been neglected, it re-establishes it through chastisement. And it becomes the cause of salvation for
others. When virtue has reached a high degree, it teaches humility to those who have shared in it.
Indeed, the one who has had an experience of evil, hates it; for, experience is a flower of
abandonment, and such abandonment is the child of passionlessness" [trans. Driscoll]. See Driscoll,
'Paphnutius', 277.
205
Driscoll followed the translation and punctuation of Guillaumont. See Driscoll, 'Paphnutius', 277.
His statement would have made more sense if he had in mind the text of Frankenberg and Hausherr.
Guillaumont was consistent about his punctuation. In his extensive footnote --in the Evagrius, Le
Gnostique, 28-- Guillaumont, whom Driscoll followed, clearly pointed out the five kinds of
abandonment.
203
173
But first, we need to note that, according to Frankenberg's retro-version, for
Evagrius, divine abandonment resulted in ethical chastisement and communicated a
certain quality to others. This quality was the "cause for life" (airia
~wc:;)
according
to Frankenberg. But, Hausherr and Guillaumont translated it as "cause de salut"
(cause of salvation). At this point, for reasons of convenience, we could accept that
cause of life and cause of salvation are practically synonymous. Frankenberg and
Hausherr --on the one hand--, and Guillaumont --on the other hand-- disagreed about
the syntactical dependence of the sentence "cause of salvation": for them, the phrase
depended on the sentence concerning ethical chastisement. For Guillaumont, it was
an independent sentence. Frankenberg and Hausherr intoduced one period including
the motifs of chastisement and salvation: "Kai
Kai yiyvETal airia ~wc:;
grace
~ OIJEAOUIJEVI"J ~16
Kar~iI"Jc:;
IJETaVEPXETal
mlc:; aMo1c:;" (Frankenberg); 206 "Ia [vertu] bralante est restaun!e
a la condanmation [qui l'atteint], et devient cause de salut pour les autres"
(Hausherr). 207 Guillaumont separated the two sentences: "quand celle-ci a ete
negligee, elle Ia retablit par le cha.timent. Et elle devient cause de salut pour
d'autres". If we follow Guillaumont's punctuation/08 then according to him, Evagrius
included the following "causes" of divine abandonment:
hidden virtue
chastisement salvation
humility
hatred of sin
Any attempt to examine Frankenberg's translation whilst maintaining his
original punctuation209 is bound to fail. His text is even more impenetrable than
Driscoll maintained about Guillaumont' s translation. His punctuation is quite
uncertain. Hausherr spotted Frankenberg's weakness in the last sentences that
referred to the acquisition of "rrETpa", and the following connection between divine
206
In Hausherr, Les Versions, 110.
Hausherr, ibid, 113. Hausherr used semicolons to distinguish between the five causes. Thus, the
comma between the two sentences showed their inter-dependence.
208
Guillaumont used five full-stops in order to indicate the length of the sentences and thus point out
the five causes of divine abandonment. See also footnote no. 28 in Evagrius, Le Gnostique, 135ff.
209
Frankenberg used all sorts of punctuation that have obscured the meaning of the text. It is also
probable that the Syriac text was following the obscurity of the Greek original that lacked punctuation,
or it was transmitted with confusing punctuation. Hausherr and Guillaumont introduced further
sources to shed more light on the passage, such as Diadochus and Maximus. Their punctuation was
dictated by their interpretation of what other sources might have revealed the true meaning of the
Gnostikos.
207
174
abandonment and impassibility. For Frankenberg, the sentence concernmg the
"salvation of others" was part of divine chastisement. It seems that Guillaumont took
the sentence referring to divine impassibility as predicating the sentence addressing
the connection between divine abandonment and "rrtipa". However, Hausherr
separated the two sentences:
[c]elui-la bait le mal qui en a fait !'experience, or !'experience est un fruit de Ia
dereliction; et <il y a meme> une dereliction <qui> est fille de l'apatheia.
It needs to be noticed that, the three scholars devised their punctuation in order to
maintain the number "five" that Evagrius introduced in his opening lines. What could
be extracted from Hausherr's examination on chapter 28 of the Gnostikos is the
following scheme:
hidden virtue
chastisement humility
hatred of sin
apatheia
In his effort to discern the five causes --maintaining Evagrius' initial reckoning-while clarifying the distinction between hatred of sin and apatheia, Hausherr
abolished the notion of divine abandonment as an individual cause of the salvation of
others. 210 As it was mentioned, for this scholar, the sentence was part of the notion of
divine chastisement. The reason why Hausherr came up with the above scheme
depended entirely on his attempt to discern behind the Evagrian text the Origenist
distinction of spiritual life into three stages: praktike, physike and theologia. 211
Indeed, Hausherr anticipated his methodology by indicating that Maximus designated
the four causes of abandonment as "salutary"
(owT~p1).
21
Noticing the lack of any
reference to apatheia from Maximus' side, Hausherr suggested that Maximus
excluded the notion of abandonment as resulting in apatheia for the reason that it
was not a true salutary cause. According to Hausherr, Maximus approached the
210
Driscoll did not comment on this fact. Due to the fact that he examined the Evagrian position only
with respect to Paphnutius' teaching, he only focused on the notion of divine abandonment as
chastisement and testing. Though, in fact, Driscoll addressed all the causes of divine abandonment including apatheia- of the Gnostikos, he left out the concept of abandonment as the "cause of
salvation for others". See Driscoll, 'Paphnutius'.
211
For a brief examination of the three stages of the spiritual life see Louth, Origins, 102ff.
212
Maxim us, Char it. 4.96 [PG 90, I 072].
175
notion of apatheia, in this instance, as an echo of the Origenist notion of the
eschatological restoration of beings
213
(aroKcm~).
However, Hausherr has
overestimated Maximus' dependence on Evagrius at this instance. Maxim us did not
use the term apatheia which he did not find in Nemesius/Paphnutius discussion of
divine abandonment.
Nevertheless, it is worth following Hausherr's thought. According to him, the
two first causes (chastisement-virtue) were related to the initial steps of spiritual life
that established virtue within the soul. The next two causes (humility-hatred) were
connected to the fight of the monks against pride at a more mature spiritual stage.
The last cause, i.e. "the fruit of apatheia", was related to knowledge. Hausherr
referred to Maximus to clarify the last point. According to Hausherr, Maximus had
related the last cause of abandonment to knowledge of both the human "weakness"
(acr8tvt1a) and the "divine power" (C5uva1. 1~).
214
Hausherr attempted to present
Evagrian thought as a coherent system: the threefold distinction of the spiritual life
was a motif that was permeating the Evagrian ascetical corpus. 215 Even though his
discussion on the subject seems to justify his interpretation, we could not ignore that
Evagrius was not consistent in his use of the term apatheia. Apatheia in the
Gnostikos might have implied the final apokatastasis of humanity in terms of
perfection. However, in the De Oratione, the third part of chapter 37 addressed
apatheia in terms of the soul's ethical struggle against temptations. Thus, Evagrius
did not always connect apatheia to the eschatological restoration of humanity. The
term had both i) an ethical and ii) an eschatological meaning.
From the above discussion, it is evident that only Guillaumont's translation
supports the position that Evagrius actually discerned the theme of "salvation of
others" as a "cause" of divine abandonment. In his extensive footnote in the edition
213
Hausherr, Les Versions, 111-112.
Cf. Evagrius, De Octo, 18 [PG 79, 1164]: "Mtya av6pomoc; ~oT]60J.u:vc;
napd E>wu:
€yKatEA.Eiq>6TJ, Kai to ilo6Ev€c; t7ttyvro ti)c; q>uoeroc;. Obo€v EXEtc;, o J..lll napd E>wu eA.a~Ec;"
(a man
was greatly helped by God; he was abandoned and conceived the weakness of nature). Maxim us,
Charit. 2.67 [PG 90, 1005]. Though Hausherr pointed out Maximus' dependence on Evagrius, he
overlooked the fact that Maximus could have found the theme of gnosis as resulting from divine
withdrawal in Diadochus of Photice. See Louth, 'The Sources of Maximus' Theology', in Maximus
the Confessor, 25ff.
215
According to Hausherr, in the Ad Monachos, Evagrius introduced the motif of abandonment in the
light of the three stages of the spiritual life. Driscoll followed Hausherr and brought into play the De
Oratione as a potential cross-reference for Hausherr's position. Evagrius, AdMon. 62 . Idem, Orat. 37
[PG 79, 1176]. See Hausherr, Les Le9ons, 55. J. Driscoll, The 'Ad Monachos' of Evagrius Ponticus:
Its Structure and a Select Commentary, Studia Anselmiana I 04 (Rome: Pontificio Ateneo S.
Anselmo, 1991), 234.
214
176
of Le Gnostique, Guillaumont provided some further insights: 216 what attracted
Guillaumont's attention were John Damascene's Expositio Fidei, and the fragments
in Nicetas' exegetical catena on Matthew that were attributed to John. 217 Alongside
divine aversion and pedagogy, John added the experience of abandonment "npoc;
ot6peromv d.A.A.ou" relating the example of Lazarus, 218 the blind-man and, the
martyrs. 219 But, in his Expositio Fidei, John included a final introduction: "So that,
from the action that seems to be absurd, a great and wonderful thing might be
achieved, as, through the cross the salvation of the mankind." 220 Noticeably, John
maintained the images of Lazarus, the blind-man and the martyrs. Thus, in his
Expositio Fidei John added the case of Christ. However, John was copying verbatim
from Nemesius, leaving outside whatever he thought as superfluous. It is not
accidental that John included his discussion on abandonment within the scope of
divine providence, like Nemesius. Thus, even in John's case, there was no reference
to real "kinds" of abandonment in terms of enumerating them. Though John had also
followed Diadochus' distinction between two "kinds" of divine abandonment, he
only did that in order to show the various ways that divine providence was
following. 221
Maximus included another scheme, in his Capita de Caritatre, that underlined
his clear dependence on Evagrius this time. It is significant that, in this instance,
Maximus dismissed any allusion to biblical images. He overlooked the motif of the
"salvation of others". Maximus also maintained the number "five" that had been
introduced by Evagrius' Gnostikos. However, Maximus did not address the causes or
kinds
of abandonment
(tyKaraAE14J1<;).
He
referred
to
divine
withdrawal
(napaxwpi'JOI<;), and introduced the causes that resulted m demonic attacks. 222
Maximus shared all his points with Evagrius, but one.
216
Evagrius, Le Gnostique, 137. In any case, it was not Guillaumont's intention to argue Maximus'
source. Driscoll avoided discussing the only concept that Guillaumont did not examine any further in
the Gnostikos. Driscoll, 'Paphnutius'.
217
Damascene, Fragmenta in Matthaeum (in catena Nicetae), PG 96, 1412.
218
Lk 16:19-31.
219 Jn 9:3.
220
Damascene, ExpF. 43 [pg 101]: "[(]va otd tll<; 7tpd~Ero<;
tll<; OOKOUOT]<; ilt67tOU j.!Eya tt Kat
9aUjlaOtOV Ka't0p9ro9fl ffi<; Otd 'tOU ataupou tt'IV arotT]plav t&v ilv9pronrov".
221
Damascene, ExpF. 43 [pg 101]: ''Tll<; M l:yKataA.Ehj!Ero<; datv cloT] ouo: eatt ydp l:yKatdA.Et\j/t<;
OtKOVOjltKt'l Kat 1tatOEUttKt'l Kat EO'ttV l;yKatUAEt\j/t<; tEA.da ilnoyvroattKT]/'' (there are twO kinds of
abandonment; there is "oikonomical" and educational abandonment, and there is abandonment of total
despair).
222
Maxim us, Charit. 2.67 [PG 90, I 005].
177
discernment (virtue-sin)
human weakness
acquisition of virtue
atred of sin
According to Hausherr's examination of the Gnostikos, the Maximian scheme
depended entirely on Evagrius. 223 However, Maximus did not "copy-paste" from his
source uncritically. He edited his own linguistic applications. What is striking is the
absence of the motif concerning the "cause of salvation of others". Either Maximus
did not discern this motif within the Evagrian text, or he deliberately removed it from
his own scheme. In this scheme, Maximus introduced the presence of demonic
afflictions. Thus, according to the latter hypothesis, he eliminated the case of
"salvation of others". It seems that Maximus treated the motif in close connection to
Christ's abandonment on the cross. Thus, he preferred to leave the motif outside,
counting it unfitting to include it in a chapter that related withdrawal to demonic
afflictions.
Maximus treated the Nemesian and Evagrian texts as unsystematic sources that
had introduced the motif of divine abandonment. He used the N emesian and
Evagrian components according to his own needs. As it was mentioned, Maximus
could not have discerned the notion of providence in Evagrius' Gnostikos. It was
only in Nemesius that Maximus found this theme. Indeed, in his second scheme that
depended on Evagrius, Maximus addressed the causes of demonic afflictions without
highlighting the theme of divine providence. Maximus might have discerned the
motif of the "salvation of others" in Evagrius. However, it is certain that he found it
in Nemesius. There is no evidence that Nemesius was acquainted with Evagrius'
thought. It seems that the introduction of Christ's abandonment belongs entirely to
the theological genius of Nemesius. If Guillaumont got his translation right, then
Evagrius had obscurely deliberated on this theme, observing that the abandonment of
one person could be the cause of salvation. 224
223
Hausherr, Les Versions, Ill. Evagrius, Le Gnostique, 136.
John Damascene used Nemesius' scheme. The introduction of the distinction between T(]t~urK)
and emoyvwar!Kfj t'VKaniAEttpt(;"indicates that he was also aware of the Diadochean ethical thought: divine
aversion led to despair. Kotter did not refer to Diadochus' work in the critical apparatus of the
Expositio Fidei.
224
178
As has been noticed, another point of departure that Maximus introduced to the
Nemesian!Paphnutian teaching was the inclusion of the Jews. 225 Paphnutius
emphasised the presence of sin and its results for the spiritual life. Nemesius had
overlooked this factor. Maximus stressed the notion of divine pedagogy. Thus, he
limited any references to the presence of sin as a potential cause of divine
abandonment. However, he did include the notion of divine aversion in the biblical
figure of the Jews. It seems that Maximus was well aware of both the Nemesian and
the Paphnutian discourse. However, it was in the latter that Maximus discerned the
notion of divine aversion in terms of divine pedagogy. Paphnutius included a triple
allusion to sin including the biblical images of Judas, Esau and the paralytic.
Maximus limited the presence of sin as a spiritual factor by employing three
examples of divine pedagogy instead (Paul, Job and Joseph). The notion of divine
aversion was limited to the image of the Jews. The inclusion of the term aversion
(Km' aropc~v)
suggests that Maximus was familiar with the Diadochean
introduction of this motif in the ascetical literature. We need to exclude a potential
Macarian dependance since the connection between aversion and pedagogy in
Macarius was very obscure. Maximus had intended to introduce the image of the
Jews in terms of their biblical depiction: they were abandoned by God in the desert,
wandering and fighting against many nations. Thus, Maximus implied the presence
of sin. After the exegetical work of Origen, especially on the book of Numbers the
wandering Jews were linked to the spiritual journey of the soul that was advancing
through trials and temptations. In this sense, this biblical image was not similar to the
Paphnutian inclusion of Judas. Maximus smoothed the motif of divine aversion by
saturating his discourse with the theme of divine pedagogy. The Jews were tested in
the desert as they were led by God to the Promised Land. Unlike Paphnutius that
duplicated the images related to sin, Maximus extended the notion of divine
pedagogy.
ii. Perfection and sin.
When looking at the Apophthegmata Patrum, it is evident that the genre
introduced images that addressed the state of spiritual perfection: at this stage,
225
Maximus, Charit. 4.96 [PG 90, 1072].
179
Macarius was an interlocutor with demons, 226 while obedient monks raised the
dead. 227 In fact, at this stage, all sorts of miraculous incidents occurred, whilst monks
transformed their "black-skinned" self into an angelic countenance. 228 Clearly, these
were the works of ascetical perfection. It was observed that, Athanasius presented
Antony as enjoying the fruits of perfection in this present life. There is no doubt that
the influential work of Athanasius was part of a broader tradition founded on a
Christocentric model of ascetical life that highlighted the value of the incarnation. It
is in this context that, for Amma Sarah, victory over passions was established on
Christ's defeat of the passions in his flesh. 229 According to the life of Abba Pachon, 230
he was redeemed from the spirit of fornication only through Christ's intervention.
This spirit had afflicted him for more than 12 years. However, his passion subdued
only through the intervention of Christ who "was crucified for us". 231 These last
words communicated the message that spiritual perfection resulted from Christ's
victory over passions in the incarnation. 232 The fleeing demons of the Apophthegmata
echo Antony's victory over them in the Vita Antonii: the demons were not dreaded
by the monks any more. In fact, it was the demons that were mocked by the Christian
ascetics. 233 Above all, victory over demons was the work of humility. 234 The monk
that had achieved humility was liberated from the passions. He was feared by the
demons who did not dare to approach him. Hence, behind the works of perfection,
the desert ascetics had discerned the works of humility. To borrow from Keller,
humility was making "Christ tangible": the acquisition of humility linked the monks
226
Apophth. (AC), Macarius.3; Theodore ofFerme, 27.
Apophth. (AnC), 294. See Benedicta Ward, 'A Sense of Wonder: Miracles of the Desert', inN.
Russell (ed.), The Lives of the Desert Fathers: The Historia Monachorum in JEgypto (London:
Mowbray, 1980), 39-46.
228
Apophth. (AC), Paul the Simple. I. For an examination ofthe notion ofblackness of skin as part of
the ascetical anthropology and demonology see Brakke, 'Ethiopian Demons: the Monastic Self and
the Diabolical Order', in Demons and the Monk, 157-181.
229
Apophth. (AC), Sarah, 2. Ramfos pointed out the dimensional relation between creation and the
incarnation. According to Ramfos, creation is the outcome of divine freedom; miracles need to be
viewed in terms of this freedom that remains unbound to the need for a scientific explanation. The
incarnation is the ultimate extension of the working of divine freedom within creation. What links
creation and the incarnation, in fact, is the manifestation of divine love as an extension of freedom. S.
Ramfos, 'Wonders and Visions', in Like a Pelican in the Wilderness: Reflections on the Sayings of the
Desert Fathers, trans. N. Russell (Brookline MA: Holy Cross, 2000), 237ff.
230
Apophth. (SysC), 5.54.
231
Cf. Apophth. (AC), Elias.7; Moses.1; 18. Apophth. (SysC) 5.52.
232
Burton-Christie, The Word, 245. The author discerned the work of humility behind the closing
lines which he believes that they were a short comment from Abba Elias.
233
Apophth. (AC), Theodore ofFerme, 27.
234
Apophth. (AC), Anthony, 7; Theodora, 6: "[x]al. £A.qov ott obof:v fJJ.Luc; vtx~.
d JlTt
tamnvo<ppoo6vrl" (and [the demons] said: nothing defeats us, only the humility). The same story also
in ibid, Macarius, 11. Apophth. (AnC), 307.
227
180
to Christ. It was Christ's humility that was featured in the ascetic deeds through their
humility. 235 Humility was the beginning and the end of virtue 236 and, according to
Amma Theodora, the only way to salvation. 237 Abbas such as Ammonas, Arsenius or
Poemen were depicted in terms of spiritual perfection.
238
Their humility was well
attested and tested. 239 The Apophthegmata included short ethical exhortations that
concluded: "do this and you will be saved". 240 What this exhortation meant was that
the elder instructing had followed the above exhortation and had been saved. 241 In
Antony's case, an angel had instructed him to alternate between times of prayer and
work to fight back acedia. According to the story, Antony accomplished what he had
been instructed, and "doing thus he was saved". 242
But, this was only half the story. The "God-bearer" Antony had also grieved
over the ethical fall of the "great pillar of the Church". 243 Before the ethical fall of
this ascetic who "had performed a miracle on the road", Antony had pointed to his
spiritual progress. He had also expressed his scepticism about his spiritual future, as
if anticipating his fall. His fear was realised within a few days. In this same tradition
that highlighted the ascetic's ethical frailty belong sayings and stories of ascetics that
dreaded the time of death. For instance, the judgement that followed death was a
consideration that had been sojourning with Abba Arsenius until his last breath. 244 It
Apophth. (AC), Daniel, 3: " ·Eeoc; l:oti tfl um;pll<puviq. tou otu~6A.,
1ti1ttEtV a1to tft<;
tU1tEtvrom:roc; tftc; l:vtoA.ftc; tou Xptotou" (this is how the pride of devil is brought low, through the
humility ofthe commandment of Christ) [trans. Ward]; ibid, Arsenius, 33: "[o]tK l:tU1tEtvffi011ouv tou
otopOffioaoOut !;autouc;. KUi 1tOpEUOftvut tfl tU1tEtvfl Mq, tOU Xptotou: OlO Kui fleVOUotV E~<O
tftc;
~aotA.Eic;
tou 9Eou=" (they do not humble themselves so as to correct themselves and walk in the
humble way of Christ) [trans. Ward]. Apophth. (AnC), 373: "[E]XE n)v o<ppayioa tou Xptotou, tout'
eott tt'lv tU1tEivrootv" (have the seal of Christ, that is the humility). See Burton-Christie, 'The
Humble Way of Christ', in The Word, 236-260. Also, D. G. R. Keller, 'Humility: Making Christ
Tangible', in Oasis of Wisdom: The World of the Desert Fathers and Mothers (Collegeville MI:
Liturgical, 2005), 131-155. Also: Ramfos, 'Humility: Withdrawal from Being', in Pelican in the
Wilderness, 183-195.
236
In B. Ward (ed.), The Sayings of the Desert Fathers: The Alphabetical Collection (London:
Mowbray, 1981), John ofthe Cells, 2 and Syncletica, 26.
237
Apophth. (AC), John Colobos, 22.
238
Ibid, Ammona, II; Arsenius, 30; Bessarion, 4; Joseph, 7; Poemen, 144; Silouan, 3. Ramfos,
'Wonders and Visions', in Pelican in the Wilderness, 235ff.
239
Ibid, Peter the Pionite 3; Poemen, 4; The Roman Abba, 2 [for Ward, undoubtedly, this Roman
Abba is Abba Arsenius]. Apophthegmata Patrum, (AnCol), 43. Ramfos and Burton-Christie
juxtaposed the works of humility to "false-humility" which, according to the desert fathers, was a
demonic devise. See Burton-Christie, The Word, 241. Ramfos, Pelican in the Wilderness, 185.
240
Apophth. (A C), Anthony, 3; Arsenius, I. Biare, 1; Joseph, 4; Macarius, 41. Apophth. (SysC) 1.1 and
5.53.
241
Apophthegmata Patrum, (A C), Agathon, 4; Cassian, 4; Silouan, 6.
242
Ibid, Anthony, 1: "[K]ui out roc; 1t0t&v l;or~EtO".
243
Ibid, Anthony, 14.
244
Ibid, Arsenius, 40.
235
181
is remarkable that an accomplished ascetic, such as Sisoes was, would ask for more
time in order to repent. 245 The notion of ethical backsliding was an integral part of the
asceticalliterature of late antiquity. This warning anticipated a potential ethical fall
in the life of the ascetics which puts under question the degree to which we need to
understand perfection as a victory already won by the faithful soul.
The desert literature introduced the theological tension of arguing the spiritual
life in terms of perfection and also potential backsliding. Whereas the ascetics had
presented ascetical life in terms of the victory over passions as resulting from the
incarnation, they also illustrated this present life as conducted by spiritual trials. For
Amma Theodora, the accomplished ascetics had defeated the demons. Nevertheless,
she also indicated that, in fact, trials are featured at all stages of spiritual life until
one's last breath:
[L]et us strive to enter the narrow gate. Just us the trees, if they have not stood
before the winters and the storms cannot bear fruit; so it is with us, this present age
is a winter; and if we don't [strive] throu~
many trials and temptations, we cannot
become heirs ofthe kingdom ofheaven. 24
This passage echoed the Origenist connection between winter and the future rewards
in the Exhortatio ad Martyrium. 247 According to Amma Theodora, this present life
featured the winter of trials. The distinction between the present life ("winter") and
the life to come ("kingdom of heavens") gave to her exhortation an eschatological
flavour: perfection was a condition yet to come. Another female ascetic, Amma
Syncletica, employed the image of Paul to conclude that, even at the stage of
spiritual perfection, demons waged war against the soul. 248 The "God-bearer" Antony
had assured Abba Poemen that the latter needed to expect temptations until his last
breath. He also pointed out the impossibility of entering the divine joy without
ethical trials. For Antony, it was only within trials that God manifested his glory:
"Whoever has not experienced temptations cannot enter into the kingdom of
heavens. He said, (you) take away the temptations and no-one is saved"?49
245
Ibid, Sisoes, 14.
Ibid, Theodora, 2: ".A yroviaaa9s dasA.9Eiv otd tftc; CJtEvftc; 1tUATtc;. "Ov tp61tOV ydp td o€vopa,
Mv l.ltl MProat :(Etl.l&vac; KUi UEtouc;, KUp7tocpopdv ou 0\Jvavtat: outroc; Kat 'fllltV, b a\rov outoc;
:(Etl.lOOV ECJtt: KUl Edv l.ltl otd 1t0AAIDV 9A.hj1EffiV KUl 1tEtpUOI.liDV, oi:> OUVTtCJ61.1E9a tftc; PaatA.dac; t&v
oi:>pav&v ysv€a9at KA11POV61.1ot" [trans. Ward].
247
Origen, Martyr. 31-32.
248
Apophth. (AC), Syncletica, 7.
249
Ibid (AC), Anthony, 4-5. The translation by Ward "without temptations no-one can be saved"
expresses in a free style the meaning of Antony's words. The closing sentence was iterated verbatim
by Evagrius according to the same alphabetical collection. Cf. Ibid, Evagrius, 5.
246
182
For the ascetics, spiritual progress was informed by the divine paideia: spiritual
warfare was the ideal way to ethical ascension. Thus, perfection was a promise that
remained unfulfilled in this life. The ascetics communicated this position through the
introduction of ethical trials even at a mature spiritual stage. Unlike Athanasius'
Antony who was victorious over the passions, for Amma Syncletica, spiritual
progress and ethical life were coterminous factors: the higher the progress, the more
intense the trial. At this point, it needs to be noticed, in advance, that the scheme (the
higher ... the higher) was an integral ascetical theory of Macarius and Evagrius. 250
Spiritual progress was conceived in connection to the intensity of ethical trials.
According to the Apophthegmata Patrum, Abba Pachon experienced pedagogical
abandonment: "God has left me alone". 251 What is of interest for us is the fact that
Abba Pachon described his experience in terms of despair and even blasphemy. If we
follow Diadochus' distinction between pedagogy and aversion, in strict terms, then it
is evident that Pachon experienced abandonment due to his ethical corruption. For, in
Diadochus, despair and blasphemy were part of divine withdrawal according to
aversion. However, God revealed to Pachon that he was only tested: it was not sin
that caused divine abandonment: Pachon did not suffer ethical corruption. According
to this account, the experience of divine abandonment, even at a mature spiritual
level, was a dreadful event. Only God's intervention held Pachon from despairing.
The desert fathers presented the theological tension between perfection and
spiritual struggles unsystematically. The two positions were not juxtaposed. They
were integrated into an ascetical system that discerned the works of divine pedagogy
at all levels of spiritual life. In fact, it is also the case that the ascetics identified
divine presence with trials: "[A]n elder was afflicted and sick continuously. It
happened that for a year he was not tried and was grieving and crying saying: God
has abandoned me and has not visited me" ?52 The elder felt desolated due to the fact
that divine pedagogy had abandoned him. It is not the case that the ascetic had
reached ethical apatheia. The lack of trials was a sign of divine abandonment. The
ascetic acknowledged the profit that divine pedagogy had for the spiritual life. It was
noticed that Clement had envisaged spiritual life in terms of divine instruction.
250
Evagrius, Prakt. 59.
Apophth. (SysC), 5.54: "imtot'l j.lOU b Ss~".
252 Apophth. (AnC), 2.209: "rtpmv t~
f)v Kat ouvsx&<; i:KaKouto Kat f]o!ltvst. ~uvt'l
251
sva
os
abtov
i;vtautov l.lt'tKaKm!lf]vat, Kat !;ouocp6pst OEtv&<; Kat SKA.at€, A.tymv: 'EyKattA.t1tE j.l€ b !lEO<; Kat
obK i:1t€0KE\jfat6 j.l€".
183
Origen had emphasised the value of the "narrow gate". And, for the Christian
ascetics, spiritual stillness was the deprivation of divine pedagogy:
Abba Poemen said of Abba John the Dwarf that he had prayed God to take his
passions away from him so that he might become free from care. He went and told
an old man this: 'I find myself in peace, without an enemy', he said. The old man
said to him, 'Go, beseech God to stir up warfare so that you may regain the
afflictions and humility that you used to have, for it is by warfare that the soul makes
progress'. So he besought God and when warfare came, he no longer prayed that it
might be taken away, but said, 'Lord, give me strength for the fight'. 253
Notwithstanding that Abba John had reached the ideal of ethical "tranquillity"
(aiJEPIIJVia), an elder introduced the notion of spiritual warfare as a great ideal. The
elder discerned the work of pride behind abba John's words. Thus, he instructed him
to beseech divine pedagogy in order to be established to his previous humility. The
elder implied a connection between ethical tranquillity and the presence of pride.
The fact that Abba John needed to return to his previous humility highlighted
the link between spiritual progress and ethical laxity (pride). To illustrate this
connection, Abba Orsisius drew the analogy between the soul and a lit lamp: 254 the
Holy Spirit withdrew from the soul when negligence had taken over the soul; like a
lamp without oil that was put out. At times that the soul was stripped of divine
assistance (Holy Spirit), the demons attacked her like mice devouring the unlit wick,
and breaking the vessel. The fire was protecting this vessel a few moments ago. Abba
Orsisius' intention was to warn against spiritual laxity. According to him, the soul
that was acquainted with divine presence was not ethically secured. As opposed to
Athanasius' biography of Antony, the ascetic that Abba Orsisius had addressed
remained subject to potential spiritual foes unless he remained ethically vigilant: the
soul could "put off' divine presence because of her spiritual negligence. Such
negligence sprang up within the human nature. And it resulted in demonic presence as opposed to resultingfrom demonic presence.
For those that compiled the 'Systematic Collection' of the Apophthegmata
Patrum, the "young monk" that caused Antony's grief was attacked by pride. For the
Apophth. (AC), John the Dwarf, 13. "Elm;v b a~u<;
IlotJ..l1')V 1tcpl. tou a~
'lrolivvou tou
Ott 1tapEKUAEOE tOV e~:ov,
Kal. tiP9TJ td 1tU9T) il1t' abtou, Kal. yf':yOVEV UJ..lEPlJ..lVO<;. Kal.
U1tcA.9rov, d1tt ttVt ytpovtt: 'Op& EJ..laUtOV ava1taU6j..lEVOV, Kal. J..lTJOEVa 1t6AEJ..lOV EXOvta. Kal.
AE"/El abt('i> b ytprov: "Y1tayE, 1tapaKUAEOOV tOV e~:ov,
motE tOV 1t6Acj..l6V OOt l;A.Odv, Kal. i'Jv
ElXE<; 1tp6tEpoV OUVtp~1')
Kat ta1tctV(J)OtV: otd ydp t&V 1tOAEj..l(J)V 1tpoK61ttEt i'J \j/UXt'J·
IlapEKUAEOEV ouv, Kat l;A.06vto<; tOU 1tOAEJ..lOU, OUK Ett Ei\~ato
ap9f]vat abtov a1t' abtou, an·
EAE"fE: .Me; J.!Ot, KuptE, U1tOJ..lOVt)v l;v tot<; 1tOAEJ..lot<;" [trans. Ward]. Cf. Ibid, Poemen, 13. Ibid,
Syncletica, 7. Apophth. (SysC) 7.29: "16 oru.JEiov TOO IJOvaxoO tv TOi~
TEipaoJ~
cpaivETOI" (the hall-mark of
the monk becomes manifest in temptations).
254
Apophth. (AC), Orsisius.2.
253
lWAO~U,
184
desert fathers -whose positions Evagrius was expressing-- pride was the most subtle
vice. Unlike every other sin, it sprang together with spiritual perfection, as a parasite
of the virtue. According to Ramfos, pride was the sin when one believed that he/she
had reached spiritual perfection. This is clearly the context within which Paphnutius
had presented his discourse. The ascetics of the Lausiac History were affected by
pride: they believed the demonic suggestion that they had reached perfection; they
rejected the warnings coming from the ascetical community, and even thought that
they were worthy to encounter Christ. Thus, for the desert literature, pride was the
sin to count on oneself, dismissing the ascetical community and becoming isolated.
Pride was an ethical temptation that originated within the ascetical self. 255 For Keller,
pride was "ingratitude" towards God. 256
According to Driscoll's examination of Paphnutius' discourse, Evagrius
devised the motif of divine abandonment to show the interaction between praktike
and the contemplative life. 257 Hausherr anticipated Driscoll's observation by pointing
out the bond between the experience of divine abandonment and the three stages of
ascetical life: praktike, physike and theologia. For Hausherr, the experience was
featured in all stages of spiritual life. 258 Such an argument has maintained that, for
Evagrius, apatheia was not a static condition. The acquisition of the divine did not
protect the soul from experiencing divine withdrawal. Despite the fact that
O'Laughlin did not actually discuss the motif of divine abandonment in Evagrius,
nevertheless, he pointed to the interaction between praktike and the contemplative
life in Evagrius' system: "The feet of Christ are 1tpalcrtril and contemplation. If he
puts his feet on all his enemies, then all will know 1tpa.Knril and contemplation". 259
That the soul contemplated the divine mysteries did not mean that she was no longer
subject to the former; nor was the praktike depriving the soul from glimpses of the
divine splendour.
255
Ramfos, 'Humility', in Pelican in the Wilderness, 183-195. Ramfos turned his attention to the fact
that humility required ethical vigilance due to the fact that, in the desert, ethical perfection could
create a reputation among the co-ascetics that, eventually, damaged ascetical humility.
256
Keller, 'Humility', 137.
257
Driscoll, 'Paphnutius', 274.
258
Hausherr, Les Versions, 113. Cf. Evagrius, KephGn., 1.10.
259
Cf. Evagrius, KephGn., 6.15 and 5.35: "if the bread of reasonable nature is the contemplation of
beings, and if we have received the command to eat this 'in sweat of our face' (Gn 3: 19), it is evident
that it is through 7tpaKnK1) that we eat this". [trans. O'Laughlin, 137-138].
185
Guillaumont examined the notion of apatheia in Clement and Evagrius. 260 Due
to the stoic echoes that the term held, apatheia was viewed as a condition of
emotional indifference, where the soul had put off every emotion and disposition.
However, Guillaumont illustrated aptly that the Evagrian apatheia was not the Stoic
-or Clementine in some respects- ethical and emotional indifference. Evagrius gave
an ascetical content to the term. For him, it designated the stage where the soul
remained subject to demonic attacks. At this stage, thoughts continued to pop up
within the mind. Yet, the soul would not give her consent to the passions. 261 As
O'Laughlin aptly observed, Evagrius discussed the passing of the soul from praktike
to the contemplative life. However, Evagrius was returning to "issues of 7tpaKnKi)
which remain constant once the desired level of impassibility is reached. Temptation
and opposition continue to affect even accomplished monks". 262 Evagrius did not
envisage the spiritual stages in a strict order of consecutive steps. He has rather
outlined the interaction between the ethical and the contemplative life. It is true that,
for him, in order for the soul to pass from ethical struggles to contemplation, she
needed to master her passions and thoughts. Pride, according to Driscoll's comment,
"[is] an especially subtle temptation because it bases itself on what is of genuine
good in the monk's life". 263 Evagrius listed pride and vainglory as the most subtle
and supreme temptations that threatened the soul. 264 What is more important is the
fact that pride was actually associated with apatheia. 265 For Evagrius, the presence of
pride was a sign of spiritual progress. It was the last temptation that the soul had to
face. However, this temptation, unlike the others, originated from the virtues and
interacted with them. Pride actually appeared after the acquisition of apatheia.
260
Guillaumont, 'Le Gnostique chez Clement d' Alexandre et Evagre', in Etudes sur Ia spiritua/ite
de I 'orient chretien, Spiritualite Orientale 66 (Begrolles-en-Mauges : Abbaye de Bellefontaine, 1996),
151-160. CfGuillaumont's introduction in Evagrius, Traite practique ou le moine, vol. I, A. and C.
Guillaumont (ed.), SC 170 (1971), 98.
261
Evagrius, Prakt. 6 and 74-75. Cf. Ousley, Theology of Prayer, 174.
262
M. W. O'Laughlin, Origenism in the Desert: Anthropology and Integration in Evagrius Ponticus
(PhD Thesis: Harvard University, 1987), 241.
263
Driscoll, Evagrius, 228.
264
Evagrius, De Octo, 15-19 [PG 79, 1160-1165]. Evagrius, Prakt. 14.
265
Evagrius, Orat., 37 [PG 79, 1176]: "First of all pray to be purified from your passions. Secondly,
pray to be delivered from ignorance. Thirdly, pray to be freed from all temptation and abandonment"
[trans. Bamberger]. Cf. Driscoll, Evagrius, 234-235 [Driscoll cites Evagrius, Orat., 38 (sic)].
Following Hausherr, Driscoll discerned the distinction between the three stages of spiritual life behind
Evagrius words. The warfare against the passion belonged to the initial stage where the soul was
struggling in the praktike. The second stage was fighting ignorance and led the soul to knowledge,
thus signifYing the passage from praktike to the contemplative life. The third stage was fighting pride
d'un contemplatif:
thus establishing the soul to undisrupted contemplation. lr. Hausherr, Les Le~ons
Le traite de l'oraison d'Evagre le Pontique (Paris: Beauchesne, 1960), 55.
186
In a chain of chapters in his Ad Monachos, Evagrius addressed the passing of
the soul from praktike to the contemplative life. 266 He began by introducing the
presence of apatheia in the soul and the acquisition of contemplation (gnosis). 267 Yet,
"[w]hen the spirit begins to be free from all distractions as it makes its prayer then
there commences an all-out battle day and night against the irascible part". 268 At this
point, the soul was attacked by prideful thought. Like the monks of the Lausiac
History, the soul was presented with apparitions and dreams by the demons: 269
The demon of pride is the cause of the most damaging fall for the soul. For it
induces the monk to deny that God is his helper and to consider that he himself is
the cause of virtuous actions. Further, he gets a big head in regard to the brethren,
considering them stupid because they do not all have the same opinion with him. 270
Evagrius was warning against ethical backsliding. His lines are an abbreviation of
Paphnutius' response to the reasons that led the monks of the Lausiac History to their
ethical distruction: having achieved apatheia, the soul was afflicted by pride. She
believed in her achievements, and thus forsook God's assistance. Evagrius concluded
that pride resulted in divine abandonment. The latter motif was viewed in terms of
God correcting the soul's corruption. Abandonment re-established the notion of
human frailty within the ascetical soul:
Do not give your heart to pride
and do not say before the face of God 'Powerful am I';
lest the Lord abandon your soul
and evil demons bring it low.
For then the enemies will flutter around you through the air,
and fearful nights will follow you. 271
According to Driscoll's examination of the Evagrian discourse in the Ad Monachos,
the experience was meant to restore the soul's humility, and instruct her about her
weakness. It turned the soul against sin. Yet, in Evagrius' ethical system, even after
266
Evagrius, Prakt. 63-70.
It began with the nous discerning its own light.
268
Evagrius, Prakt. 63.
267
269
According to Driscoll, Evagrius had clearly incorporated the stories of monks that he personally
knew in his ethical theory. The monks had been deceived by apparitions, as it was the case in the
Lausiac History. Thus, his theory was established on an ethical realism. Driscoll, 'Evagrius and
Paphnutius', 279: "Experience with fallen monks is what probably gives him the details of his
description".
270
Evagrius, Prakt. 14.
271
Evagrius, AdMon. 62:
"Ml'( o(i><; U1t£pT)<paViQ. al'(v Kapoiav
Kat Jlft ei1tnc; 7tp0 7tpoOc07tOU tou 6wu: ouvat6c; stJlt,
iva Jlft K6ptoc; i::yKataA.l7tTI al'(v 'JIUXTJV,
Kat 1tOVT)pOt oatJlOVEc; ta7tEtVcOOOI>atV alnt'Jv.
t6tE yap OE ot' i.tEpoc; 7ttOTJOOI>atV oi EX6poi,
VUKtEc; Of; <poPEpat ota~vi
aE" [trans. Driscoll]. Cf. Driscoll, Evagrius, 56.
187
this expenence, the soul was not firm in the condition of ethical apatheia. She
remained subject to backsliding:
The hate we have for the demons helps our salvation a great deal, and it favours the
practice of virtue. Yet we are not strong enough to nourish it in ourselves like a good
seed, for spirits that love pleasure destroy it and summon the soul back to its old
love and habits. But, the doctor of souls cures this love, or rather this horrible
gangrene, through abandonment. He permits that we suffer some terror caused by
them, during the night and during the day, and so the soul comes again back to its
original hate, having learning from David to say to the Lord, 'With perfect hatred I
have hated them; they have become my enemies to me (Ps 138:22)'. For this is the
one who hates his enemies with a perfect hate, the one who sins never in act nor in
thought. Such is proof of the first and the greatest passionlessness. 272
In his Gnostikos, Evagrius presented the case that divine abandonment resulted in
hatred of sin and apatheia. In his On Evil Thoughts, he elaborated further by pointing
to the pedagogical character of the experience. According to Hausherr, the motif of
hatred of sin, the knowledge of one's weakness, and also ethical apatheia were terms
intimately related to the experience of divine abandonment. When we take into
consideration that all the above terms appeared in the context of spiritual maturity, it
is evident that Evagrius highlighed the interaction between praktike and
contemplative life. The presence of pride after the acquisition of apatheia from the
soul distanced the Evagrian ethical theory from the Stoic notion of emotional
indifference. In Evagrius, ethical apatheia and divine abandonment were interacting
stages within the spiritual life. 273 Abandonment resulted in apatheia, and it
maintained apatheia within the soul. 274 However, the soul continued to experience
spiritual rest and ethical warfare. For Evagrius, the soul could not have reached
perfection in this life. She only gained glimpses of the fulfillment yet to come.
With the above observations we have intended to put the Evagrian notion of
divine abandonment into its right eschatological perspective. The interplay between
praktike and the contemplative life was another way for Evagrius to postpone the
soul's ethical fulfillment. Indeed, the life of apatheia could not be identified with the
notion of completion in Evagrius' work. To establish this position, we need to take
into consideration his Great Letter and, most importantly, his Kephalaia Gnostica.
Within the two works, Evagrius provided a fair understanding of what he envisaged
272
Evagrius, Cogitat. 10. [trans. Driscoll in idem 'Paphnutius', 280]
Evagrius, KephGn. l.lO: "Among the demons, some are opposed to the practice of the
commandments, others are opposed to the intellections of nature, others are opposed to the words
concerning God, because the knowledge of our health consists of these three things" [trans. Ousley,
172ft].
.
274
Driscoll, 'Paphnutius', 282-283.
213
188
as perfection. It is in the latter book, however, that Evagrius illustrated the interaction
between praktike and contemplative life in vigorous terms. 275 In the former, Evagrius
discussed the exact nature of Christian perfection.
Regardless of the speculative character of the Kephalaia Gnostica, its history
within the context of the Origenist controversy (61h-century) 276 and the esoteric
features of the Great Letter which have become a point of scholarly friction, 277 the
fact remains that, in both works, Evagrius established the notion of perfection within
an eschatological horizon. Evagrius was following Origen and Nicrea in showing
deification as the work of the incarnation. However, according to Evagrius, the
deification of the human nature remained unfulfilled due to the eschatological
character of Christianity. 278 As O'Laughlin observed, Evagrius conceived "unity" as
the culmination of the spiritual life.Z 79 Characteristically, Evagrius referred to the
"unity of the minds" in the final restoration - a position that has ignited a long debate
about his orthodoxy since late antiquity. 280 In his Great Letter, Evagrius wrote ofthe
motion of the "minds" (v6E~)
like rivers that met the great sea (i.e. the Godhead).Z 81
In this "sea" all the "minds" were unified, abolishing every distinction in terms of
numbers, names and forms. For O'Laughlin, this unification was understood as the
eschatological restoration (i.e. fulfillment) that could not be achieved in this life. 282 It
is not our purpose here to examine the firmness of Evagrian esotericism. What is of
importance is the fact that Evagrius presented us with a clear vision of what
perfection was for him: as with Gregory of Nyssa, Evagrius addressed perfection in
the present life only in relative terms. This present life provided only glimpses of this
great sea, i.e. the Trinity.
Apatheia was a stage of relative ethical perfection that interacted with praktike
and the contemplative life. According to Evagrius' vision of the future perfection, the
soul remained subject to her weakness in this life, facing spiritual foes such as pride
in every step. However, like Origen, Evagrius did not deprive the soul of spiritual
275
O'Laughlin, Origenism, 137-138.
See A. Guillaumont, Les 'Kephalaia Gnostica' d'Evagre le Pontique et l'histoire de l'origenisme
chez les grecs et chez les syriens, Patristica Sorbonensia 5 (Paris: Editions du Seuil, 1962). Also,
O'Laughlin, Origenism. A. M. Casiday, Evagrius Ponticus, Early Church Fathers (London:
Routledge, 2006).
277
Casiday, Evagrius, 28ff.
278
O'Laughlin, Origenism, 119.
279
Evagrius, The Great Letter (Ad Melaniam [sic}), 22. Cf. Jn 17:22. I Cor 15:28.
280
Evagrius, KephGn. 1.6-8. Guillaumont, Kephalaia Gnostica, 39.
281
Evagrius, The Great Letter, 27ff and 66.
282
O'Laughlin, 'Eschatology', in Origenism, 150ff.
276
189
consolation: spiritual efforts were followed by rest and joy. But, even this joy could
easily turn to anxiety and pride. Evagrius related sadness to the soul's unfulfilled
desire. Unlike Gregory, Evagrius presented a negative understanding of desire.
Desire led the soul to expectations. The failure to fulfil this desire for spiritual
progress led the soul to sadness. Evagrius complemented the description of the soul's
undisrupted ascension to the unity of divine life in his more esoteric works. 283
This tension between spiritual realism and theological eschatology was also
maintained in authors that were closely associated with Evagrius: i.e. Macarius and
Diadochus. Macarius presented both strands of ascetical thought. On the one hand,
he highlighted the works of divine grace within the soul. On the other hand, he
illustrated an ethical realism: the soul was not secure in her spiritual ascension.
Macarius/Symeon was well acquainted with Paphnutius' discourse: "how those who
are activated by the grace of God fall"? 284 In his ethical 'realism', and despite that
Macarius had argued the divine presence within the soul, he did not deny a potential
ethical backsliding. In fact, according to him, perfection could be achieved only
through ethical trials. 285 Macarius discerned periods of spiritual rest and ethical
struggles in the spiritual life: the ascetical soul was at rest, and then she was afflicted
by demonic thoughts anew. For Macarius, only the spiritually na'ive could have
imagined that the divine presence meant the cessation of passions and thoughts
within the soul. The main point of Macarius' discourse was the co-existence of the
grace and sin within the soul. That is not to say that the soul was at one and the same
time acquainted with both the grace and sin. What Macarius meant was that the soul
was a battlefield between the two spiritual factors. He integrated this position in his
283
It might be the case that behind the riddles concerning the transformation of the spiritual bodies
and the existence of other worlds yet to come, Evagrius attempted to present eschatology as an open
horizon without limiting himself to the temporal notion of death or even the Second Coming. As it
was the case with Origen and Gregory ofNyssa, in his Kephalaia Gnostica, Evagrius was unwilling to
give a temporal definition to the notion of the final restoration. It is true that Evagrius has baffled
modem scholars with his thought on the transformation of humanity to the state ofthe angels and the
foundation of new worlds. Cf. Guillaumont, Kepha/aia Gnostica, 113ff. O'Laughlin, Origenism, 130
and especially 150ff. We need to approach Evagrius work by taking into consideration his
unwillingness to defme a notion of how eschatological restoration would be, and also define a time
that there would be no spiritual progress. Evagrius was well acquainted with Gregory of Nyssa and he
might have known the latter's theory on epektasis which Evagrius clothed with the language of bodily
transformation and eternal creation. The degree to which we could take his descriptions on what
eschatology would include at face value remains questionable. Maybe his description was not one of
what eschatology could be; but it touched upon the open eschatological horizon, as in Gregory of
Nyssa and Didymos.
284
Macarius, Hom. 7.4: "Kai 1t&<; 1tt1t'tOUotV o\. evpyo6~t
!mo xnpttoc; eeou;".
285
Macarius, Hom. 17.5.
190
thought by appropriating the notion of divine withdrawal: the grace diminished when
the demonic presence was at hand due to human free agency. Notwithstanding the
divine presence, sin always remained within the soul afflicting her. According to
Plested's exposition of the Macarian ascetical theory, Macarius was well aware of
the Platonic definition of evil as 'non-being'. But Macari us was not constructing an
ontology in his thought. He was addressing ethical laxity, thus exaggerating the
works of the grace and also highlighting human frailty. 286 Macarius' position seems
to have been shaped through his interaction with his fellow-ascetics. This is the
reason why we called his ethical theory "realistic". As in Paphnutius' case, Macarius
was addressing the ethical fall of ascetics. For Macarius, the ascetical life was
synonymous with spiritual warfare. It was through "the narrow way" that the soul
needed to walk to reach perfection. 287 An exaggeration of the work of grace on
Macarius' part would have diminished the ideal of ascesis as continuous spiritual
vigilance.
For the reason that Macarius highlighted the works of divine grace within the
soul, it was only through the theme of diminution of the divine presence within the
soul that he could compromise this position with his spiritual realism concerning
trials. In his ascetical program, the notion of divine withdrawal was of central
importance:
The grace exists always inside, and it is rooted, and it is leavened from a young age,
and it has become like a natural and fixed thing of one nature with what is in man.
And it takes care of man in many ways as it pleases for his profit. Sometimes the fire
burns and blazes even more, sometimes it is softer and milder; and this light,
sometimes, it burns and shines even more, sometimes it shrinks and grows
gloomier. 288
Using the analogy between a lamp and the light of the lamp, Macari us indicated the
varying degrees to which the divine grace manifested its presence within the soul: the
divine grace revealed itself in full-strength; but it also diminished. For Macarius the
presence of divine grace varied. 289 This variation was illustrated by putting side by
side divine presence and also divine withdrawal-abandonment. We need to be
reminded that, in Macarius, the two latter terms were synonymous. Both themes
286
287
288
Plested, Macarian Legacy, 36ff.
Macarius, Serm. 55.2ff.
Macarius, Hom. 8.2: '"H IJEV xaplr; Mlal.Eimwr; OUVEOTI, Kai tpi~WTOI
Kai t~UIJWTO
EK vtar; ~AIKiar;
KOi
Wr;
<pUOIK6V KOi TTfjKT6V EVEVETO OUT6 T6 OUV6V r4l av9pWTT4J wr; IJIO OUOia, TTOAUTp6rrwr; 15t tiJr; 9tl.EI rrp6r; T6 OUIJ<pEpov
oiKOVOIJEi T6V av9pwrrov. TTOTE IJEV rrAtov EKKOiETOI KOi CrrrrETOI T6 TT0p, TTOTE 15t wr; 1JaA90K6TEpOV KOi rrpauTEpoV, KOi
aur6 T6 q>Wr; KOTO KOipour; Tlvar; TTAEOV t~CmTEOI
289
KOi AOIJTTEI, TTOTE 15t UlTOOTEAAETOI KOI OTUyv~EI".
Macarius, Typs. 10.3.
191
pointed out divine consent. However, the latter motif highlighted human free-agency.
The former illustrated divine pedagogy even for the soul that was spiritually firm.
Both motifs were connected to i) the diminution of grace and ii) afflictions by the
demons. 290 Macarius emphasised divine consent and also human responsibility in
order to compromise between the efficacy of grace (i.e. incarnation) and ethical
realism (i.e. ethical backsliding). 291
Macarius shed light on the multifaceted concept of divine withdrawal. Like
Paphnutius, Macarius noted that divine pedagogy safeguarded the soul from her
ethical fall. Macarius employed the image of Paul to indicate that the foe of pride
remained present in the spiritual life. 292 It comes not as a surprise that Macarius
placed pride at the centre of his ethical thought. But what is important is the fact that
Macari us made pride a part of human nature. For Macari us, pride was an immanent
feature of human nature. In fact, Macarius implicitly employed the Origenist notion
of pride in connection to the devil's fall due to pride, and the subsequent fall of
Adam. According to Macarius, the "pure" nature inclined to pride. 293 In fact it was
the presence of divine grace that resulted in pride. While discussing the image of
Paul, Macarius was actually addressing ascetics who were deceived about their
ethical perfection. 294
But Macarius also maintained a more intellectual argument illustrating his
interaction with Evagrian and also Gregorian thought. For the Alexandrian ascetic,
the spiritual life was established on the dialectics between grace and ethical trials. 295
This polarity extended even to the level of spiritual perfection. In fact, as it was in
Evagrius, Macarius showed the relative character of this perfection: the soul
experienced divine presence and withdrawal while progressing ethically. There is no
290
Macarius, Typs. 9.1-2.
In order to refute spiritual dualism, Macarius argued that it was only due to divine consent that the
soul experienced demonic attacks. However, he underestimated his own argument by using vivid
images that suggested that the demons were actually independent spiritual factors within the soul. For
the transformation of the demons from divine agents to divine adversaries see the classical articles
under the title 'Demon', in Dictonnaire de Spiritua/ite, vol. 3, 141-219 [by S. Lyonnet, 141-152 for
the Old and New Testament demonologies; J. Danielou, 153-189 for classical views up to Origen; and
Cl. and A. Guillaumont, 190-219 for the patristic period]. Also the two invaluable contributions by E.
R. Dodds, The Greeks and the Irrational. Idem, Pagan and Christian. See the most inclusive
monograph on Christian monastic demonologies by D. Brakke, Demons and the Monk.
292
Macarius, Hom. 7.4.
293
Macarius, Hom. op. cit.: "i':xEt ydp fl Ka8apd q>6cn<; to imaipEa8at" (the pure nature has [as its
~ropety]
to become proud).
94
Macarius, Hom. 17.5.
295
Macarius, CEuvres Spiritue//es /: Homelies propres a Ia Collection/// V. Desprez (ed.), SC 275,
(1980), 60-61.
291
192
indication in Macarius that the soul was ever redeemed from this bipolarity in this
present life. Macarius turned to the recurrent theme of poverty and richness: the
person that was rich needed to expect [spiritual] poverty. But he was also aware that
after poverty richness would be restored again. 296
Macarius' thought was not as systematic as it is presented here. However, one
could discern four positions that were of central importance in the Macarian thought.
The four positions indicate the contexts within which Macarius addressed divine
withdrawal/abandonment as an integral part of spiritual maturity:
i) gnosis
ii) training
iii) ministry
iv) eschatology
i) Macarius/Symeon was interacting with the Evagrian ascetical theory: divine
withdrawal resulted in gnosis of both good and evil. As Plested put it, "the
coexistence of sin and grace is permitted so as to educate and to form the soul". 297 It
is only through the experience of divine withdrawal that the soul knew the two
natures within her:
So by the experience of the two natures, tasting frequently both the bitterness of sin
and the sweetness of grace the soul might become more perceptive and more
vigilant, so as to flee evil entirely, and to attach itself wholly to the Lord. 298
This sort of knowledge included the knowledge of the human nature, and also
addressed the nature of divine grace and sin. Through this ethical experience, the
soul maintained a strong notion of her weakness. But, primarily, she was acquainted
with the true character of the divine and demonic. We need to see this argument in
the context of Macarius' position on free-will. Only through full knowledge of both
the divine and the demonic could the soul have chosen to follow one of them.
ii) Macarius also discerned the notion of continuous training through divine
withdrawal. It was the dominical exhortation with regard to the "narrow gate" that
informed Macarius' position. Asceticism was established on the notion of ethical
training. For Macarius, there was no time that the soul was not expected to conduct
her spiritual warfare. His argument could not be isolated from his thought regarding
human weakness and spiritual vigilance. However, Macarius integrated the desert
296
297
298
Macarius, Hom. 10.1; 15.42 and 27.6.
Plested, Macarian Legacy, 37.
Macarius, Typs. 12.2 [trans. Plested in idem, Macarian Legacy, 37].
193
concept of continuous spiritual efforts and divine training by indicating that it was
Adam who was given the concept of spiritual warfare first. In fact, Macarius went so
far as to introduce ethical determinism: the demons were introduced in creation so
that Adam could find an ethical opponent. Once more, Macarius was not establishing
an ascetical-theological ontology. He devised this position to argue the spiritual norm
of human life conducted in spiritual trials. 299
Macarius did not identify ethical trials with divine absence. For Macarius, even
divine presence was a trial. Even though he expressed the notion of divine
abandonment in terms of ethical misfortunes and demonic assaults, Macarius
discerned the divine presence within trials. Through ethical afflictions, God was
testing the soul's love and disposition. According to Macarius, the spiritual rest that
the soul experienced before the presence of the divine could lead the soul to ethical
laxity. Thus, God gave the soul rest in order to observe whether the soul inclined to
laxity or not. Through interchanging periods of trials and divine assistance, God was
testing the soul's endurance and spiritual alertness: at times of trials the soul could
tum against God. While in spiritual rest, she could forsake her ethical vigilance.
Thus, for Macari us, spiritual rest was not a reward. It was another form of testing the
soul's alertness. 300
iii) Plested pointed out the interaction between Macarius and Gregory of
Nyssa. It is difficult to support which author anticipated the other. It is a fact,
however, that Macarius dissociated divine withdrawal from sin, establishing a
broader argument. When inquired about the case of the apostles, Macarius noted that
their experience of ethical trials illustrated the function of the apostles within the
community. He acknowledged that, when caught up in divine inebriation, the soul
forsook her personal needs being "fed" and "clothed" by God.
301
For Macarius, the
soul could have stayed in this stage unceasingly. Yet, God was withdrawing his
presence, so that the soul could experience her human natural need and also interact
with the Christian community. Like in Gregory's De Vita Moisis and Homiliae, the
soul was always connected to the community. She was communicating her spiritual
299
Macarius, Serm. 55.2.8.
Macarius, Serm. 57.1.
301
An implication that God fulfilled the soul's very "being" with his presence. Cf. Mk 9:3 and Nu
6:15.
300
194
experience with the uninitiated souls. 302 Thus, Macarius envisaged the role of the
virtuous man within the community in the light of divine withdrawal. Yet, even in
this context, Macarius did not abolish the connection between withdrawal and ethical
trials. The Macarian ideal of communal service addressed the Messalian position that
prayer was the only activity required from ascetics. According to Macarius, God was
instructing the soul to minister the community by diminishing his divine grace. Thus,
the acquisition of divine grace was not the only ascetical ideal; the ministering of the
community (i.e. spiritual direction) was also valued highly in the ascetic thought.
iv) Macarius also appropriated an Origenist/Evagrian eschatology that showed
the relative character of spiritual perfection in this life. For Macarius, God was
directing history to a final fulfilment where the soul was finally introduced into the
kingdom of God. Considering the fact that the soul experienced spiritual rest in this
life, Macarius could not overlook the eschatological perspective of Christian
asceticism. Macarius highlighted the fact that the soul experienced divine rest and
also ethical trials in order to distinguish between this present life and the
eschatological rest of the soul:
This present time is for grief and tears, that age is of smiling and joy; this present
time is of the cross and death, that time is of redemption and unspoken pleasure; this
present time is of the narrow and hard way, that time is of rest and peace. 303
Macari us juxtaposed the "engagement of the Sprit"304 that featured the "consolation"
of the soul (rrapaKAilm<;) to the "perfect rest" and "rewarding" (TEAEia avarraum<; Kai
avmrrMom<;). Spiritual perfection could be fulfilled only in the life to come. As
Macarius put it, this present life featured grieving and pain: Macarius was exhorting
to ethical vigilance and ascesis. Yet, the life to come meant the final ethical
completion of the soul: the latter position maintained the eschatological orientation
of the Christian Gospel. Macarius provided an argument that was clothed with
eschatological meanings: the spiritual life was directed to a final completion which
was not to be identified with the present consolations. What featured at the heart of
his argument was the presence of the cross which anticipated the future redemption.
Macarius' thought was dispersed within the vast volume of spiritual homilies,
characterised by their polemical character against the extreme ascetical tendencies of
302
Macarius was aware of this fact: he ministered the ascetical community as a spiritual director for
disciples such as Evagrius. Cf. Gregory, Life of Moses, 1.56.
303
Macarius, Typs. 10.3. Cf. Mt 7:14.2 Cor 6:2.
304
2 Cor 1:22.
195
the Messalians. It was Diadochus of Photice that brought Macarian thought into a
remarkable systematic synthesis. Diadochus enriched Macarian ethical thought while
moderating the latter's Messalian overtones. Even though scholars have treated the
notion of divine pedagogy and aversion in Diadochus, they have not provided any
insights in the eschatological character ofhis ethical theory.
To begin with, Diadochus highlighted divine assistance within the soul. Yet,
this assistance never took the form of Athanasian perfection. For Diadochus, this
assistance was a consolation that rested and encouraged the souJ.3°5 Diadochus was
following the established ascetical position, expressed through Evagrius, that denied
ethical perfection in the present:
So it is possible here for those who progress to perfection to taste her (charity)
continuously; but, no-one could possess her completely, until the mortal has been
swallowed up by life. 306
The ethical perfection of the present life was only a foretaste, not fulfillment. For
Diadochus, there was a distinction between continuously tasting and actually
possessing perfection. Thus, Diadochus resolved the observed theological tension
between the two traditions depicting the soul dialectically in perfection and ethical
trials. For Diadochus, the soul participated in both conditions. The tasting of
perfection was not synonymous to the acquisition of perfection. Diadochus was
following Macarius in distinguishing between an "initiating joy"
and the "fulfilling joy"
(Eicrayw6~
xapa)
xapa). 307 What stood between the two conditions
(rEAIOT6~
was the notion of divine withdrawal in order for the soul to experience ethical trials.
Diadochus did not deny the intensity of the experience. As he related, even within
the context of pedagogical abandonment, the memory of the diminishing divine
grace was grieving the soul: "Thus, the soul is even more sorrowful at the memory of
the spiritual love, without it being possible to possess it in her senses through the
deprivation of the most perfect pains." 308 However, Diadochus denied that divine
abandonment caused despair for the soul. What Diadochus designated as "moderate
Diadochus, Keph. 32 and 76: ''J.uKpaic; rropoxwp(JcrEm Koi rruKvoic; rropaKA(JcrEmv rrop' o0T~c;
[Tfic; xaprro<;]
yOJ\ouxou1JE9o" (we are fed by the grace through short small concessions and many consolations).
306
Diadochus, Keph. 90.4: "warE ouv yEuEcr901 IJEV our~<;
(av<lrrll<;) tvroueo auvExwc; ol Ei<; rEAEr6r11ra
305
TTpoK6mOVTE<; ~UVOTI,
TEAEIW<; ~t
our(Jv OU~Ei<;_MVTI
KTrjcroaeor, Ei IJri ClTOV KOTOTTo9n TO ev.,r6v UTTO T~<;
~wc;".
307
~UVOIJt'1
Diadochus, Keph. 60.
308
Diadochus, Keph. 90: "69EV rrAtov aAyUVETOI r; ljiUXri q>tpoucro IJEV r(Jv IJVriiJ'1V T~<;
~E
OUT(JV EV oicr9(JcrEI KT(Jcrocr9or ~10
T(JV TWV TEAEIOTOTWV TTOVWV uartp1101V".
196
TVEUIJOK~<;
0y0rr'1<;. IJri
despair" (O"Uj..lj.JETpoc; cmEATTIO"j.J6c;) expressed the idea that God remained hidden from
the soul, but at the same time strengthening her. Thus, it was the hidden divine
presence that was resolving the soul's despair. But this is not a reason to deny the
intensity of the experience. The soul did experience great grief (i\um1
roM~):
"the
soul is even more sorrowful". 309
If we take into account Diadochus' distinction between the tasting and the
possession of ethical perfection, then it is apparent that the stages of "initial" joy and
"final joy", and also the periods of spiritual rest and ethical trials were dialectical
conditions complementing each other. What it was observed by Ousley with regard
to Evagrius' ethical theory is also valid for the Diadochean ascetical theory: divine
grace and spiritual struggles were interacting features of ascetical life. 310 Diadochus
introduced the notion of hidden grace that was working within the soul. According to
his position, the soul did not always discern the presence of grace within her. What
Diadochus affirmed was the closeness and at the same time hiddenness of God
within the souP 11 God was close to the soul through the presence of his divine grace.
But he was also hiding from the soul, assisting through a mysterious power. For
Diadochus, the dialectic between hidden and revealed divinity applied to the ethical
life of the soul: divine manifestation and hiddenness was a spiritual norm that was
expressed through the dialectical character of spiritual rest and ethical trials. The
notion of divine withdrawal in Diadochus highlighted the fact that it was God that
was the main spiritual factor in the soul's struggles to approach ethical perfection.
Diadochus also linked the spiritual life to the acquisition of the virtues.
According to Diadochus, charity was the highest virtue. As in Evagrius, charity was
a virtue that related the soul to her fellow-men. 312 But also, it was the virtue standing
at the summit of the spiritual life. 313 For Diadochus, divine withdrawal established
309
Diadochus, Keph. op. cit.
Ousley, Theology ofPrayer,l91.
311
Diadochus wrote about the lamp of gnosis (Auxvoc; Tfic; yvwatwc;) that needed to remain lit, echoing
Abba Orsisius and also Paul. Diadochus, Keph. 28.9. Cf. I Th 5:19 and Apophth. (AC), Orsisius, 2:
"ayvwcrrwc; TO noAAo tvtpytT i{J 8toMy4J 4JUXO TO tauTiic; 1JUCT~p•a"
([grace] in a secret way works her
mysteries within the divine-instructed soul). In 77 .I, Diadochus played with the antinomy of the
words "tyKpumt•v" (hiding) and "napEiv" (as "napouoia" in the text, i.e presence) and then moved to
say that, even when it was withdrawn, "divine grace communicates part of her goods to soul"
(npOOOIJIAtT TO 4JUXO 1..1tpoc; Tl Twv tauTfic; ayaewv).
312
See the 9th defmition in Diadochus' introductory paragraph. Also: Diadochus, Keph. 34 and 74.
313
See the 2nd defmition in Diadochus' introductory paragraph. Also: Diadochus, Keph. 34 and 8990. Diadochus distinguished between the natural love that the soul possesses as a natural property and
310
197
charity in the soul. Through experience, the soul was instructed about the
transcendental character of charity: the latter was not to be identified with any other
virtue. 314 In its relation to charity as the summit of the spiritual life, divine
withdrawal signaled spiritual maturity. In his thought, Diadochus minimised the
elegant distinction between divine pedagogy and divine aversion: Diadochus pointed
to the transcendental character of the experience. At the end of the day, the
experience was related to the knowledge of what charity was. 315
The transcending character of charity urged Diadochus to argue for the relative
nature of spiritual perfection. Divine abandonment indicated that spiritual perfection
was not dependent on human efforts:
Whatever he, who has been exercised, believes to be perfection has been
imperfection compared to God's wealth in abundance of love; even it has been
possible for someone to ascend to the top of the ladder that was shown to Jacob
progressing through his efforts. 316
For Diadochus, God withdrew the manifest presence of his grace so that the soul
would distinguish between the divine wealth presented in this life and the actual
promised reward of the life to come: 317 God presented his wealth to the soul, but then
withdrew to stir her desire. Diadochus seems to have appropriated the Gregorian
notion of God stirring up the soul's desire for him.
iii. Imitation of Christ: kenosis and the ascetics.
According to Rosse's examination of the motif of divine abandonment in the
Patristic era, it was only after the Middle Ages that Christian literature emphasised
the connection between Christ's abandonment on the cross and the abandonment of
the spiritual love that was the gift of the Holy Spirit. With the first love, the soul was progressing to
the ethical life. But this love was not sufficient to lead to spiritual perfection. The divine
contemplation was commencing only with the acquisition of the second love that was related to the
presence of the Holy Spirit within the soul. For an analysis of Diadochean thought on charity, the
introduction of Places' remains invaluable. Diadoque de Photice, CEuvres Spirituelles, pg. 48-49.
314
Diadochus, Keph. 90.
315
Diadoque de Photice, CEuvres Spirituel/es, pg. 47-48.
316
Diadochus, Keph. 85. "T6 yap TOO TTOI&:UOIJEVOU VOIJI<OIJEVOV TEhEIOV OTEAE<; ETI w<; np6<; TOV nAoOTOV TOO
nairlEuovTO<; ~IJa<;
9EOO tv aycmn un<lPXEI qnAo~ia<;,
Kav
oArw T~v
1aKwl3 r:iEIX9Eioav KAi~oa
avEA9Eiv TI<; 6uvi']9[J TO
npoKon[J Twv n6vwv".
317
T~<;
Diadochus, Keph. 90: " (y)EUEI IJEV ouv TO OyiOV TTVEOIJO tv apxal<; T~<;
apET~<;
TOO 9E00,
T~V
ljJUX~V
tv noon aio9r']OEI Kai TThl']poq>opiQ
T~<;
TpoKO~<;.
EiTTEP 9EPIJW<; tpao9WIJEV
yAUKUTI']TO<; TOO 9E00, iva EXO Eirltval 6 voO<;
tv 6Kp1!3Ei tmyvwoEI TO TtAEiov fna9Aov TWV cp1Aoetwv n6vwv" (at the beginning of the progress, the Holy
Spirit gives the soul a taste of the sweetness of God in every sense and fulness, if indeed we ardently
yearn for the virtue of God, so that the nous knows in perfect knowledge the supreme trophy of his
divine-loving efforts).
198
the ascetical soul in trials. 318 According to Rosse --citing Delumeau's witness-- the
Rhineland mystics were the first to establish this theological connection. This
position suggests that ascetical abandonment was an experience established on the
idea that the mystics were "imitators of Christ". 319 This imitation encompassed all the
events and experiences of the spiritual life: divine abandonment was such an
experience. The connection between the mystical experience ofthe soul and Christ's
abandonment on the cross illustrated the extension of the work of the incarnation on
the ascetic soul. 320 What lies at the heart of this concept is the notion of kenosis of the
self, understood in dialectical terms of death and resurrection. Christ's kenosis led
him to the ultimate abandonment on the cross, where he willingly gave up his life
and that led to his resurrection and glorification. 321 According to Ramfos, the early
ascetics pointed to the kenosis of the ascetic self through humility: the spiritual life
was progressing from egocentrism to kenosis and glorification. Such kenosis
commenced with the withdrawal from the world (avaxwp'lm<;;) and it reached its
climax with the acquisition of humility and obedience. 322 The image of Christ was
standing at the centre of the ascetical kenosis: 323 for Florovsky, Christ's life was a
kenosis progressing from the Paternal bosom to the maternal womb, the betrayal, the
cross and the tomb. 324 Balthasar extended the work of kenosis to the ascetic self. 325 In
this final chapter, we will discuss the degree to which Byzantine ascetics viewed
their own experience of divine abandonment in terms of the "imitation" of Christ's
abandonment. Thus, we will examine the meaning that the "imitation" of Christ
acquired for the early ascetics. The analysis will be limited to the notion of imitating
Christ with regard to the image of the suffering Christ in asceticalliterature. 326
Patristic literature discussing Christological issues did not draw the connection
between Christ's abandonment and the ascetical experience. That is to say that the
318
Rosse, Cry ofJesus, 78.
Rosse, ibid, 91 [footnote 12]. See also, Delumeau, Sin and Fear.
320
Balthasar, Mysterium, 75ff.
321
Sakharov, Archimandrite Sophrony, 218-219.
322
Ramfos, Pelican in the Wilderness. Ramfos highlighted a progressive kenosis that began with the
"withdrawal from the power to act" and ended with the kenosis of the self through humility. Ramfos
called the latter the "withdrawal from being". See also, Balthasar, Mysterium Pascha/e, 76.
323
Sakharov, Archimandrite Sophrony, 224ff.
324
G. Florovsky, Creation and Redemption, Collected Works 3 (Belmont MA: Nordland, 1976),
lOOff.
325
Balthasar, Mysterium, 75ff.
326
For a thorough analysis of the scriptural origins and also the development of the theme in the
patristic era see the article 'Imitation du Christ', DSp 1, 1536-1601.
319
199
two incidents were never put side by side in late antiquity. Christ's suffering was
viewed in terms of assuming the weakness of the human race. But, as it was
observed, the link between sin and the results of the fall urged the Patristic authors to
refine the way in which Christ accommodated human weakness: Christ assumed the
results of sin. However, Christ's experience was distinct from the human experience
since the latter was always related to sin: Christ assumed the human condemnation,
but he was never condemned. Patristic literature intended to secure the concept that
Christ suffered in the same fashion as the human race, but not due to sin (antidocetism). It was only the human race that remained subject to sin. Christ
accommodated the results of sin, not sin qua a factor of ethical corruption.
To turn to the ascetic ethical theory, the two authors -as far as I am aware- that
introduced a discussion that put Christ's abandonment and the ascetical abandonment
side by side were Nemesius and Maximus. 327 Maximus depended on Nemesius. 328
However, the latter did not introduce a 'parallel' experience between Christ and the
ascetical soul. Nemesius included this insertion as part of his general discussion on
divine providence. His intention was to highlight the providential character of the
incarnation: God was working for human redemption. Evagrius might have also
introduced this connection -independently- without addressing divine providence.
That would have made Evagrius the first author to treat Christ's abandonment as a
parallel experience to the abandonment of the ascetical soul. The only passage that
supports this position is obscure. The hypothesis depends entirely on the degree to
which Guillaumont's translation from Syriac represents the authentic Evagrian
discourse.
Unlike Balthasar, Hausherr,329 Guillaumone 30 and Driscoll 331 overlooked the
meaning of the introduction. For Sakharov, the Maximian insertion meant a parallel
discussion between Christ's experience and the ascetical abandonment:
In Maximus, we find a fairly schematised classification of the various categories of
abandonment, which recapitulates the preceding patristic ideas: there is abandonment as
a test, as a purification, as the edificatory punishment, and Christ-like abandonment. 332
327
Maximus, Charit. 4.96 [PG 90, 1072].
See Damascene, ExpF. 43 [pg 101].
329
Hausherr, Les Versions. Iliff. Hausherr silently dismissed the fact that Evagrius had vaguely
touched upon Christ's experience in his Gnostikos. His intention was not to provide a thorough
discussion of the Maximian insertion.
330
Evagrius, Gnost. 28 [and subsequent footnotes in SC 356].
331
Driscoll, 'Evagrius and Paphnutius on the Causes of Abandonment'.
332
Sakharov, Archimandrite Sophrony, 254.
328
200
Unlike our observation that Maximus only introduced the "ways" in which divine
providence has been expressed throughout human history, Sakharov took Maximus'
reference to "kinds" of abandonment at face value: thus Sakharov discerned the
introduction of a "Christ-like" experience in Maximus. The term "Christ-like" has a
dubious meaning: it either means abandonment as it was in Christ's case, or it
suggests a 'Christ-like' model of abandonment. So, was Christ's experience identical
with the abandonment of the ascetic soul? Balthasar denied this hypothesis: Christ's
abandonment was different from that of the ascetical soul. 333 Taking into
consideration the fact that, in his doctoral thesis, Sakharov was trying to establish the
patristic foundations for a "Christ-like" model with regard to ascetical abandonment,
it seems that, for him, the "oikonomical" abandonment suggests a 'Christ-like' model
of divine abandonment. But is this what Maximus meant?
To answer this question, we need to return to our earlier observations about the
introduction of the theme in Maximus and also John Damascene. Maximus was
following Nemesius of Emesa. Thus he did not distinguish between parallel "kinds"
of divine abandonment. Maximus' intention was to show the way in which divine
providence corresponds to individual conditions in the light of human salvation.
Maximus included the case of Christ, not as a distinct "form" of abandonment. It was
another "way" or "cause" that highlighted a different context in which divine
providence was working: i.e. salvation of the human race. It is indicative that,
whereas the other "kinds" addressed individual redemption, the case of Christ
introduced the notion of universal salvation. In addition, the fact that divine
pedagogy and aversion had dominated the ascetical discussion (Macarius,
Paphnutius, Diadochus), Maximus abolished this elegant distinction by pointing out
the presence of divine providence. But, when Maximus treated the "causes" of
demonic afflictions, Maximus did not include Christ's case. Clearly, Maximus
intended to distinguish between human afflictions and the case of Christ. It was the
presence of sin as a spiritual factor that urged for this distinction. Because, even in
the case of divine abandonment, Maximus discerned the relationship between ethical
afflictions and passions, 334 Maximus coined the term "5oKouoTJc;" (seeming) to deny
333
334
Balthasar, Mysterium, 78.
Maximus, Charit. 4.95 [PG 90, 1072].
201
the fact that Christ's experience was informed by the presence of passions. 335 Thus,
Maximus identified Christ's abandonment with the work of divine providence. But,
at an ethical level, he denied an identification between Christ and the other biblical
figures. His abandonment was only "seeming": it did not result from sin.
As it was mentioned, in his Expositio Fidei, John also introduced the theme of
Christ's abandonment. 336 John was only copying from Nemesius, not Maximus. John
maintained the Nemesian "~oKlcr)<,;.
In his Fragments on Matthew, John introduced
a parallel list with that found in his Expositio. 337 In this case, he did not include the
"oikonomical" abandonment of Christ. The list of the Fragments is a reduction ofthe
one in the Expositio. Its elimination shows that Christ's experience was not identical
with the rest of the experiences on the list. What urged John to this distinction is also
the presence of sin. 338 Whereas every human experience includes a certain degree of
ethical corruption, the case of Christ was different in this respect: his abandonment
was neither due to sin nor due to divine pedagogy.
The second part of the thesis discussed the scepticism with which Patristic
literature of late antiquity approached the accommodation of human weakness from
Christ. That is to say, the degree to which Christ's experience of human weakness as
"man-like" was taken into serious consideration since it was affecting Christ's divine
identity and ethical purity. It was only in a refined way that Patristic literature
addressed Christ's experiences in man-like terms. That raises the objection
concerning the degree to which we could support that the ascetics could have
exemplified their experience of abandonment in Christ-like terms.
But this is not to say that the ascetics did not view their spiritual experiences in
Christocentric terms. It was already mentioned that Athanasius presented the
asceticallife as resulting from Christ's incarnation and subsequent victory over the
passions. Despite the fact that the early ascetics had not developed a connection
between Christ's abandonment and the abandonment of the ascetical soul, they had
envisaged spiritual life in Christocentric terms. It is true that the ascetics introduced
335 Maximus, Charit. 4.96 [PG 90, 1072]: "iva ~u:i
rf]c; ~oKual']c;
tyKorOAEilJ.IEWc;" (so that through the
seeming abandonment).
336
Damascene, ExpF. 43 [pg 101].
337 Damascene, Fragmenta in Mattheum (in catenis Nicetre), PG 96, 1412.
338 John was commenting on Mt. 27:5 where Judas hanged himself. It is clear that John wanted to
emphasise the presence of sin as resulting to divine abandonment and stress the ethical role of human
disposition (np69Emc;).
202
the concept of the "imitation of Christ". The imitation of Christ was a term that had a
biblical origin and was primarily coined after the Pauline language in 1 Cor. 11: 1. 339
In the Systematic Collection an elder defined the ascetical life as the "imitation of
Christ". 340 In late antiquity, the theme was in use in the broader concept of the soul's
being made 'according to the divine image' and 'after the divine likeness': for
instance, in Clement the imitation was linked to the divine likeness of the soul.
341
Origen developed the notion of imitating Christ by following the Pauline
exhortation. 342 In his exegetical context, Origen had invited his reader to follow
Christ's disposition that willingly had accepted death. 343 There is no evidence that
Origen's exhortation to the imitation of Christ included an imitation of the historical
elements of Christ's life.
The ascetics incorporated the notion of "imitating" Christ in their ethical
discourses. Such imitation did not address the stages of spiritual ascension or the
union between the soul and the divine. According to Burton-Christie for the ascetics,
the ascetical exhortation to imitation included the presence of Christ's humility
within the ascetic self. 344 For Keller, the Christocentric core of such an exhortation to
humility made Christ tangible for the ascetics. 345 Humility was the link connecting
339
See 'Imitation du Christ', DSp 7, 1536-1601.
Apophth. (SysC), 1.37: '"Dpo<; XPIOTiavoO IJiiJI']OI<; Xp1oroO".
341
See Origen, Adnotationes in Exodum, PG 12,1453: "[ '0]1.10iroaic; i;onv tJ otd t&v aya9&v
340
npa~EIDV
f.ltJ.lllOtc;. At67tEp ou tote; UJ.lUptUVOUOtV, and tote; Katop9ouatv i;~OJ.ltoha
b Kuptoc;"
(being according to the likeness is the imitation through good deeds. So that the Lord is assimilated,
not to the sinners but to those achieving it). Maximus, Thai. 10 [PG 90, 288D]: "Oi. os tf]c;
9&IDPllttKf]<; TJOll J.lOOnx&c; i~tro9svE<;
9eoA.oyiac; xai n<iall<; q>avtaoiac; l>A.txf]c; tov vouv xa9apov
KU'tUO'tl'jOUVtE<; Kai Eix6va tf]c; 9dac; ropat6tllto<; OAllV ilv&A.A.tn&c; q>spouoav 'ttlV i:KJ.llJ.lllOtV,
ECJ'tiDOUV fy.Ltv oi. ayan&vtec;" (Those that mystically have become worthy of the theoretike theology
already constituting the nous pure from every material imagination and an image of the divine beauty,
bearing the imitation unceasingly, those lovers stand among us).
342
Cf. I Cor. 11: I. Origen, Fragment a in Lamentantiones, 116.47 [pg 277 in GCS 6].
343
Origen, Commentarium in Evangelium Matthaei, 20, 17-19 [pg 462 in GCS 40]
344
Burton-Christie, 'The Humble Way', 236-260.
345
Keller, 'Humility', 131-155. Gregory, Beat. 1.82.20ff. For the reason that it was impossible for the
individual to imitate God in his perfection, Gregory envisaged imitation as the participation in his
humility which he immediately related to Christ's kenosis (cf. ibid, 1.84.9): "oox&t JlOt ntrox.dav
nv&6J.1atoc;, tl'lv i;xouotov tU7tEtvocppoo6vllv bVOJ.lU~&tv
b A6yoc; [sic]. Ta6tll<; os un6o&t'YJ.1U tl'lv
'tOU ewu 7t'tiDXEiav b . An6otoA.oc; ftJ.ltV A.{;yrov npoodxvuotv, oc; ot' ftJlnc; i;mroxwoE 7tAOUotoc;
&v, tva ftf.lEt<; tfl EKEivou mrox.d~
1tAOUtl'jOIDJ.lEV. 'En&i ouv td dna 7tUV'tU, ooa 7tEpi 'ttlV 9&iav
xa9opntat cpuotv, i:JnEpnintEt t<l> J.lStp~:
tf]c; av9pronivllc; cpuoeroc;· ft os tanEtv6tll<; ouf.1cpul'jc; nc;
ftJ.ltV i;on" (the Word [sic] seems to me to be using the words 'poor in spirit' to mean 'voluntary
humility'. The model ofthis is indicated by the Apostle when he speaks ofthe humility of God, 'who,
though he was rich, yet for our sakes became poor, that we by his poverty might become rich'. Every
other aspect of the divine nature exceeds the limits of human littleness, whereas humility has a natural
affinity with us) [trans. Hall]. Gregory reversed the Platonic position: kinship with God was not
viewed in terms of the soul's natural majesty, but by means of the soul's participation in God's
kenotic humility. Cf. 2 Cor 8:9. Phil2:5-7. See Meredith, 'Plato's "Cave"', 49-61. Presently, Gregory
203
Christ and the ascetics. As Burton-Christie put it, "in pursuing humility, (the
ascetics) were attempting to realize in their own lives the call to self-emptying
exemplified in the words and witness of Jesus". 346 The presence of humility had
deeper implications for the ascetical life: humility was presented in the dialectical
terms of the cross and resurrection, poverty and glorification. It was only through
self-emptying that humility could be achieved. This notion of self-emptying, poverty
and the presence of the cross was close to the Christological motif of kenosis. 347 For
the ascetics, humility meant more than the mere positive disposition of the soul in
trials and temptations: according to Burton-Christie, what stood at the centre of
humility was Christ's cross, his obedience to the Father and his self-emptiness that
led to death. Yet, his death also led to the resurrection. The ascetics were called to
participate in his death and glorification.
The theme of the 'imitation of Christ', and the participation in his death and
resurrection, was not employed by Evagrius. 348 It was Macari us that gave the theme
its proper place within Christian ascetical theory. Macarius exhorted his fellowascetics to the imitation of Christ: Christ had left his divine glory and condescended
to trials and death. His exhortation established the link between Christ's cross and
the ascetical trials:
The soul that is following the word of the Lord ought to take up the cross of the
Lord with joy, as it has been written, that is to say, all things readily on behalf of the
Lord, who experienced temptation, whether secret or visible and to have the hope
always in the Lord. For it is in his power to try the soul that he has withdrawn and
349
also to redeem from every temptation and trial for him.
Macarius introduced a link between the notion of the imitation of Christ and the
concept of divine withdrawal: the soul has lifted her cross. This cross entails the
presence of ethical afflictions. Macarius placed divine "power" at the centre of his
has alluded to Plato's cave in 84.18: "b -rfl<; ntasco<; Kupto<; tv anTJI.atcp Ka-r6:ys-rat" (the Lord of
all creation lodges in a cave) [trans. idem].
346
Burton-Christie, 'The Humble Way', 236.
347
Keller and Burton-Christie examined the notion of humility as sharing in Christ's sufferings in the
desert tradition. Thus, they drew the connection between humility and kenosis. See Keller, 'Humility:
Making Christ Tangible', in Oasis of Wisdom, 131-155. Burton-Christie, 'The Humble Way of
Christ', in The Word, 236-260. Ramfos, 'Humility: Withdrawal from Being', in Pelican in the
Wilderness, 183-195.
348
However, Evagrius was not lacking references to the centrality of the cross for the ascetical life.
Cf. Evagrius, Ad Eulogium, 6 [PG 79, 1101]. Idem, Oral. 17 [PG 79, 1172]. Idem, De Vitiis quae
Opposita sunt Virtutibus, 3 [PG 79, 1144].
349
Macari us, Typs., 9.1: "[b ]q>d/.~:t
ouv f) 'liUXl'l f) •<P Mycp wu Kupiou !;~aKol.uiJ
"-rov
O'tUUpOV" 'tOU KUpiou aipt:tV Jll:'td xapa<;. io<; ytypan'tat, 'tOUttanv tto[JlCO<; EXEtV 07tOJlEVt:tV Btd
tov Kuptov 1t1iv-ra l>nspx6J.1t:vov nstpaaJlOV d-rs Kpun-rov d-rs q>av~:p6,
Kai. Ei<; tov K6ptov
attou tan Kai. to IJ.t~flva
tl')v \jluxl')v
lr.noKptJlaaiJat tfi 1;/.nilit nav-rots, on tv !;~ouaiq.
napaxcopoUJlEVTJV I.Jn' UO'tOU KUi tO i:r.no/.utpcoiJflvat 7tUVtO<; 7tt:tpaOJ.10U Kat 0/.i\j/ECO<;".
204
passage, indicating that trials and also redemption lied within this power. Such
power, according to Macarius, was established on the fact that Christ manifested
himself to the soul both in "poverty" and "glory". The interaction between Christ's
glory and poverty took place within the ascetical interaction between spiritual rest
and ethical trials. In Burton-Christie's words,
Jesus Christ was the model of humility par excellence for the monks. The endurance
of afflictions, insults, trials, and dishonor for the sake of Christ, one of the signs of
blessedness in the Beatitudes (Mt 5:10-12), was an important ideal for those living
in the desert, and an expression of humility. However, it is Christ's own example of
humility- his kenosis of self-emptying (Phil. 2)- whose shadow falls most
dramatically across the Sayings. 350
Thus, Macarius presented Christ's model of humility in the dialectical terms of
Christ's suffering and his glorification. But this dialectical interaction was extended
to the life of the ascetics. They also experienced poverty (i.e. trials) and glorification
(i.e. divine grace):
You need to be co-crucified with the crucified, suffer with the sufferer, so that you will
be co-glorified with the glorified. 351
The Lord has shown himself to her in two persons: in his wounds and in the glory of
his light. And the soul sees the sufferings which he suffered for her, and she
contemplates the brilliance of his divine glory ... advancing in both the persons, in that
ofthe sufferings and in that ofthe glorious light. 352
Christ was known to the soul in two manners: i.e. in his poverty and glory. The first
referred to his trials; 353 the latter, to his glory. Christ illustrated his poverty in
sufferings. But he also manifested his divine glory. The notion of following after
Christ's sufferings was established in soteriological terms: Christ suffered for the
human race. This sacrifice was passed to the spiritual life of the ascetical soul.
According to Macarius, Christ condescended to human conditions because of his
love for humanity. Then, for Macarius, the soul needed to correspond to Christ's
sacrifice by suffering for Christ's love. 354 Macarius concluded his thought by
introducing the Pauline hymn of Christ's kenosis. 355 In doing so, Macarius illustrated
the interaction between Christ's sacrifice and the ethical life of the soul.
350
Burton-Christie, The Word, 240. Cf. Macarius, Serm. 55.4.3ff.
Macarius, Hom. 12.1 ff.
352
Macarius, Typs. 3.3: "[o]EiKV\lotV abtfl EU\ltOV b KUpto<; tv 0\lOl 1tpo00l1tot<;. ev tE tot<;
otlyJ.La<nv abtou Kat €v tfl Ml;n tou <proto<; abtou, Kai esropd 11 'Vuxl) td nd9TJ, li lmep abtil<;
ena9EV, 9sropd M )(Ul tl)v bntpA.UJ.l1tPOV Ml;av tOU EV9EO\l <proto<; abtou ... Kai EV i.tJ.Lq>OtEpot<; tOt<;
1tpOOID1tOl<; 1tpOK61tt0\lOU, ev tE tip tOU nd9oll<; Kat EV tip tOU i;v061;ou q>rot6<;".
353
Is 53:2-6.
354
Macarius, Typs. 3.3.
355
Phil 2:6-7.
351
205
Macarius fully employed the Pauline interaction between kenosis and
glorification. He placed the cross at the heart of Christian life, as a symbol of
spiritual suffering in love. 356 The life of the ascetics was an extension of Christ's
kenosis in the incarnation. 357 His language was that of glorification through poverty,
and humility through endurance in trials. 358 There is no evidence that the ascetics
treated Christ's abandonment on the cross as the climax of his kenosis. The ascetics
did not refer directly to a "Christ-like" model of abandonment either. Nevertheless,
the image of the suffering Christ was standing at the centre of the thought of authors
such as Macari us and also Isaac of Syria. This image of the suffering Christ informed
their ethical theory and anticipated the modem theological approach that envisaged
the ascetical experience as an expansion of Christ's redemptive sacrifice on the cross.
356
Ga6:14.
Macarius, Typs. 6.4.
358
Macarius, Hom. 3.3ff.
357
206
CONCLUSION
This thesis has examined the role that the motif of divine abandonment played
in the Patristic thought of late antiquity. The main questions that the thesis looked at
were: i) the "normativeness" of the experience of divine abandonment in spiritual
life; and ii) the degree to which the Patristic thought could have presented a "Christlike" model of abandonment.
The first part traced the origin of the motif of divine abandonment in the
religious literature of the Near East. The motif was not associated with sin and
chastisement: the lamentation psalms did not identify the cause of the abandonment.
However, they introduced the connection between divine abandonment and
distressful conditions. It was only in times of trials that the devotee felt that God had
turned his face away from him; God did not intervene to spare his devotee from
attacking enemies.
Origen was the first Christian author to appreciate fully the religious value of
the Song of Songs for the Christian spiritual life. Origen discerned the motif of
abandonment as an integral part of the Song of Songs. Thus, he highlighted the
dialectical character of divine presence and absence. For Origen, the dialectical
relation between divine presence and absence was a theological device that
highlighted i) divine paideia and ii) eschatology. Divine abandonment was viewed
within the scope of divine paideia: God instructed the soul, leading the latter to her
ethical fulfilment. Divine paideia instructed the soul about her nature: the soul
realised her immanent weakness. But also, divine abandonment illustrated the
eschatological orientation of history. God was leading soul to her final fulfilment.
However, this fulfilment remained only a promise. The soul's present ethical trials
introduced her to the reality of her final union with the divine. However, Origen left
the time of this final union open by pointing to the Second Coming.
Despite the fact that Gregory of Nyssa did not always follow Origen in his
exegesis, he maintained the centrality of the motif. Gregory incorporated his
theological position on abandonment within a broader scheme of Christian
anthropology. He maintained the dissociation between abandonment and sin, and
indicated that the experience of abandonment was an intellectual experience: the soul
was introduced to the depths of divine incomprehensibility. Despite the positive
assertions that derived from Gregory's optimism about spiritual life, the fact remains
207
that, at the summit of spiritual life, Gregory introduced a sudden discrepancy that
caught the soul off her guard. Gregory rejected the Origenist possibility of the soul's
ethical backsliding. Nevertheless, he maintained the same eschatological direction as
Origen: distressful conditions occurred even at the summit of spiritual perfection.
This was due to the distinction between the acquisition of virtues in this life, and the
soul's ethical fulfilment in the future.
Theodoret of Cyrrhus belonged to the generation of exegetes that, unlike
Origen and Gregory, were in direct contact with the developing ascetical
communities of late antiquity. By the time Theodoret composed his commentary,
Evagrius had already introduced his refined ascetical thought in the Egyptian desert.
Despite the fact that Theodoret was affiliated with Syriac asceticism, his exegesis on
the Song did not remain in great uniformity with the current desert anthropology.
Theodoret' s exegetical viewpoints on abandonment were not part of his
anthropology. Theodoret touched vaguely upon the theme of abandonment in terms
that recall the Evagrian-Macarian argument: the common point between Theodoret
and the Desert asceticism was the notion that divine abandonment was defined as
divine consent in trials: God did not intervene in distressful conditions. It remains
uncertain whether or not Theodoret had direct access to the Evagrian tradition when
arguing for abandonment at a level of precaution. It was only in an obscure passage
that he mentioned the link between abandonment and human frailty. Theodoret
introduced the notion of slothfulness, not, however, as a technical term. He
maintained that the experience of abandonment was linked to divine paideia and led
to spiritual perfection. Theodoret approached Christ's suffering and the abandonment
of the soul from the same perspective: the definition of abandonment as "divine
consent" led Theodoret to show the prominence of divine providence both in Christ's
experience of human weakness, and in the ethical trials of the soul.
Finally, Nilus was the exegete who looked at the Song of Songs as the means
by which he could instruct his fellow ascetics. The notion of abandonment was
incorporated within an anthropology that, unlike Origen and Gregory, viewed
spiritual life from the soul's point of view. The soul was not secure in her spiritual
journey. Laxity and pride appeared as parasites of virtue. Despite the fact that the
incarnation played the most important role in his work -Nilus maintained more
Christological elements than any other exegete- he viewed the spiritual life in terms
ofthe soul's response to the divine call through her ethical efforts. In doing so, Nilus
208
exhorted his addressees (i.e. fellow ascetics) to spiritual vigilance. He was the only
author to introduce the motif of abandonment in terms of divine chastisement.
Despite the fact that Nilus asserted that the bride introduced the groom to her inner
chamber, the anthropology that permeated his exegesis weakened his optimism:
pride was a parasite of virtue that God remedied through abandonment. The
experience of abandonment in terms of chastisement showed the way in which God
led the soul to perfection. Most importantly, Nilus was of one mind with his
exegetical predecessors that the soul experienced ethical trials even at the level of
spiritual maturity.
Gregory and Nilus presented the most technical commentaries. The terms they
used were the fruit of a long development in Byzantine theological (Trinitarian
debates) and ascetical thought (desert tradition), respectively. Origen and Theodoret
drew the lines in which other exegetes could follow. Despite their many theological
differences, personal exegetical presuppositions, diverse exegetical viewpoints evident in their stylistic divergence, and the differing degrees in which they used
technical terms - the Patristic commentators showed that at the summit of spiritual
perfection, the soul experienced a sudden shift in her relationship with the divine that
caught her by surprise. The commentators illustrated such a surprise in terms of grief
and a transitory despair. What all commentators agreed on was the fact that, even at a
mature level of spiritual perfection, the soul remained subject to trials and
temptations. However, they left it to be inferred that, at her spiritual maturity, the
soul knows how to deal with such distressful conditions.
The second part showed the reluctance with which Patristic literature
approached the interpretation on Mt 27:46. From the time of Irenreus onwards, it was
only within the context of theological polemics. that the Patristic sources discussed
the loud cry on the cross.
The two main problems that Patristic literature encountered while addressing
Christ's loud cry was i) the maintenance of his ethical purity and ii) the protection of
his unique identity. In the Christological context, divine abandonment was
dissociated to the notion of divine paideia. It was linked to sin and became
synonymous with the separation between God and human race after the fall. When
viewed in these terms, it was felt to be inappropriate to apply divine abandonment to
Christ, owing to Christ's ethical purity. Thus, Patristic literature progressively
developed an understanding of the results of sin that could maintain Christ's ethical
209
purity without diminishing the reality of his humanity. However, abandonment as a
result of the fall was not associated by any means with the notion of divine paideia.
Though Jouassard focused on the distinction between "realism" and
"typology", it seems that the real distinction in Patristic literature concerning the way
that Christ experienced abandonment was between a position interpreting Mt 27:46
in terms of"separation" and the idea that Mt 27:46 expressed a faithful prayer.
The notion of "separation" led Patristic literature to a dead-end: the subject and
the object of the experience remained obscure. During the Arian controversies, it was
left to be implied that it was Christ's divinity that was separated from the humanity.
Only Gregory of Nyssa and Epiphanius indicated that the loud cry referred to the
separation between the soul and the body. But even this position could not explain
the fact that, in his loud cry, Christ addressed God. Gregory was firm that the
divinity was never separated by the body. When Christ's natures were viewed in
more concrete terms (Nestorianism), it implied that there were two active subjects in
Christ: the Logos abandoned the man Jesus. Patristic literature rejected this position
in the condemnation ofNestorius' divisive Christology.
It was Origen that established a paradigmatic understanding of the loud cry on
the cross. Basil exploited it, and Theodoret gave it its most precise expression: he
applied the Origenist-Cappadocian position to the relationship between the Logos
and his humanity. The Logos gave his consent to trials, i.e. death. His humanity was
left subject to human weakness. And, in her turn, the humanity showed its deified
character. Though Theodoret did not argue in these terms, the theology of Maximus
and John Damascene developed the Patristic thought on these lines. Maximus argued
for a distinction between humanity qua humanity, and deified humanity. He fully
exploited the notion that divinity gives way (accommodates) to the humanity to
enable it to experience its natural weakness. But, this humanity was also deified.
Thus, human weakness was overcome. The main conclusion that Patristic literature
drew was that Christ experienced what it was to be human, i.e. human weakness. The
argument never proceeded the other way around: i.e. the devotee was not undergoing
Christ's experience.
The third part shed more light on to Origen's thought concerning divine
abandonment. It showed that, for Origen, divine abandonment was a spiritual norm:
ethical trials were followed by spiritual rest. For Origen, it was the martyrs that were
210
the ethical models for the faithful: through their sacrifice, the martyrs participated in
the passion and also the resurrection of Christ.
The Athanasian point that dismissed ethical trials after the acquisition of divine
grace was put side by side with the Antonian notion of divine visitations and ethical
tribulations. These two authors expressed two traditions that were not necessarily
contrasting: the first argued in terms of the efficacy of the divine grace through the
works of the incarnation. However, the second position highlighted ethical realism
indicating the possibility of ethical backsliding. Thus it exhorted to ethical vigilance
and spiritual efforts.
It was also observed that the ascetical literature of late antiquity included a
discussion of divine abandonment as part of divine providence. It was through
abandonment that God led and instructed the soul. Even when the ascetical literature
distinguished between "kinds" of abandonment, this was not in terms of different
types of abandonment. The two "kinds" highlighted divine providence and human
responsibility, respectively.
Also divine abandonment was a device to show the interaction between the
ethical life and the life of contemplation. It was both at an ethical and also
eschatological level that divine abandonment was envisaged as a spiritual norm: i) at
an ethical level, the motif highlighted the possibility of ethical backsliding due to
occurring trials. But also, still at an ethical level, the motif of abandonment was
associated with the most subtle of vices, pride. ii) The motif maintained the
eschatological anticipation of an ethical fulfilment. God presented the ascetics with
the reward waiting for them. He withdrew his presence leaving the ascetics subject to
trials in order to stir their desire for ethical fulfilment.
Finally, the concept of the "imitation of Christ" as an ethical example was
examined. The ascetical literature did not address this imitation in terms of external
types of Christ's life. The term was closely connected to the notion of the humanity
being "after the divine likeness". In an ethical level, the "imitation" addressed
Christ's humility. It was through the acquisition of humility that the ascetics were
making "Christ tangible". It was in these terms that the ascetics related Christ's
kenosis to the ascetic soul by indicating Christ's poverty and the progressive
withdrawal of the ascetics from the society and the human-self. This poverty was
understood as the ascetical disposition to accept this withdrawal.
211
To conclude, the two main themes that permeated the Patristic discussion
concerning divine abandonment were i) divine paideia and ii) the eschatological
message of the Christian faith. It is through interchanging periods of rest and trials
that God instructs the soul, remedies her natural weakness and leads her to ethical
fulfilment. It is within this context of paideia and eschatology that the Eastern
ascetical tradition and the Western spiritual thought might approach and understand
their common Patristic roots.
212
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