The Anthropology of Methodius of Olympus

Miroslaw Mejzner

Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw image/svg+xml , Poland
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4865-4620


Abstract

The article aims to present the key elements of the anthropology of Methodius of Olympus, which include: the creation of man in the image and likeness of God as a spiritual and bodily unity; the degradation of human nature through the sin of disobedience; redemption in Christ; the spiritual and moral development of the Christian, especially through the virtue of chastity; the passage through the gate of death; the resurrection and the fullness of life in the world of the redeemed. Particular attention will be given to the exegesis of the Bishop of Olympus and his dependence on early Christian theological traditions—specifically the Asia Minor and Alexandrian traditions—which he sought to combine creatively, though not without difficulties. The coherence of the author's thought will also be emphasized, especially the consistency of his protological, soteriological, and eschatological assumptions, as well as those pertaining to spirituality and asceticism.

Keywords:

Methodius of Olympus, creation, God’s image and likeness, body, soul, death, sin, redemption, resurrection, immortality



Methodius, De autexusio, w: Methodius, red. G.N. Bonwetsch, GCS 27, Leipzig 1917, s. 143-206, tł. Metodio di Olimpo: Il libero arbitrio, red. R. Franchi, LCPM 53, Milano 2015, s. 162-339.

Methodius, De resurrectione, w: Methodius, red. G.N. Bonwetsch, GCS 27, Leipzig 1917, s. 217-424.

Metody z Olimpu, O zmartwychwstaniu (albo: Aglaofon), red. M. Mejzner, PSP 87, Warszawa 2023, s. 47-199.

Methodius, Symposium, w: Methodius, red. G.N. Bonwetsch, GCS 27, Leipzig 1917, s. 1-142, tł. Pierwsze pisma greckie o dziewictwie, red. J. Naumowicz, ŹM 16, Kraków 1997, s. 127-253.

Plato, Theaetetus, w: Platon, Parmenides. Teajtet, tł. W. Witwicki, Kęty 2002, s. 90-192.

Benedykt XVI, Spe salvi, Poznań 2007.

Bracht K., Vollkommenheit und Vollendung. Zur Anthropologie des Methodius von Olympus, Studien und Texte zu Antike und Christentum 2, Tübingen 1999.

Clark E.A., The Celibate Bridegroom and His Virginal Brides: Metaphor and the Marriage of Jesus in Early Christian Ascetic Exegesis, „Church History” 77 (2008) s. 1-25. (Crossref)

Franchi R., Where Does the Impulse to Evil Come from? Free Will, Disobedience, and Desire in Methodius’ Thought, w: Methodius of Olympus. State of the art and new perspectives, red. K. Bracht, TU, Berlin 2017, s. 166-197. (Crossref)

Hughes A.B., Agency, Restaint and Desire. Verginity and Christology in Methodius of Olympus, w: Methodius of Olympus. State of the art and new perspectives, red. K. Bracht, TU, Berlin 2017, s. 85-102. (Crossref)

Mejzner M., Fizjologia i rozrodczość kobiety w pismach Metodego z Olimpu i Ambrożego z Mediolanu, „Vox Patrum” 66 (2016) s. 103-126. (Crossref)

Mejzner M., Koncepcja nieśmiertelności człowieka w argumentacji rezurekcyjnej Metodego z Olimpu, „Vox Patrum” 63 (2015) s. 47-61. (Crossref)

Mejzner M., L’escatologia di Metodio di Olimpo, Studia Ephemeridis Augustinianum 124, Roma – Ząbki 2011.

Mejzner M., L’eìdos e l’ochèma. La critica al concetto origeniano di risurrezione nel contesto dell’escatologia intermedia nel „De resurrectione” di Metodio di Olimpo, w: Origeniana Decima: Origen as Writer. Papers of the 10th International Origen Congress, Krakow: 31.08-04.09.2009, red. S. Kaczmarek – H. Pietras, Bibliotheca Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovaniensium 244, Leuven – Paris – Walpole 2011, s. 907-918.

Mejzner M., Methodius: millenarist or anti-millenarist?, w: Methodius of Olympus. State of the art and new perspectives, red. K. Bracht, TU, Berlin 2017, s. 63-84. (Crossref)

Mejzner M., Patrystyczna egzegeza „odzienia ze skór” (Rdz 3,21), „Collectanea Theologica” 83/4 (2013) s. 157-173.

Montserrat-Torrents J., Methodius of Olympus, Symposium III, 4-8: An Interpretation, Studia Patristica 13, Berlin 1975, s. 239-243.

Morozov A., La notion du libre arbitre dans l’héritage littéraire de Méthode d’Olympe, w: Inherited sin? Erbsünde, red. T. Hainthaler – F. Mali – G. Emmenegger – A. Morozov, Wiener Patristische Tagungen 10, Innsbruck – Wien 2024, s. 98-117.

Orbe A., Antropología de san Ireneo, Madrid 1969.

Patterson L.G., Methodius of Olympus. Divine Sovereignty, Human Freedom, and Life in Christ, Washington 1997.

Paverd van de F., „Confession” (exagoreusis) and „Penance” (exomologesis) in „De lepra” of Methodius of Olympus, „Orientalia Christiana Periodica” 44 (1978) s. 309-341; 45 (1979) s. 45-74.

Prinzivalli E., Desiderio di generazione e generazione del desiderio. Metodio di Olimpo e le polemiche sull’eros fra III e IV secolo, w: L’eros difficile. Amore e sessualità nell’antico cristianesimo, red. S. Pricoco, Soveria Mannelli 1998, s. 39-66.

Prinzivalli E., L’esegesi biblica di Metodio di Olimpo, SEA 21, Roma 1985.

Reale G., Świętość: eros czy agape? O pojęciu świętości w myśli antycznej i chrześcijańskiej, „Ethos” 1 (2014) s. 69-80.

Riggi C., Teologia della storia nel „Simposio” di Metodio di Olimpo, „Augustinianum” 16/1 (1976) s. 61-84. (Crossref)

Simonetti M., Modelli culturali nella cristianità orientale del II-III secolo, w: De Tertullien aux Mozarabes, 1. Antiquité tardive et Christianisme ancien (IIIe – VIe siècles). Mélanges offerts à Jacques Fontane, red. L. Holtz – J.C. Fredouille – M.H. Jullien, Collection des Études Augustinienne: Série Antiquité 132, Paris 1992, s. 381-392.

Zorzi B., Bilder und Vorstellungen des Todes in Methodius’ Schrift „De resurrectione”, w: Methodius of Olympus. State of the art and new perspectives, red. K. Bracht, TU, Berlin 2017, s. 149-165. (Crossref)

Zorzi B., La reinterpretazione dell’eros platonico nel „Simposio” di Metodio d’Olimpo, „Adamantius” 9 (2003) s. 114-122.

Zorzi B., The Use of the Terms ἁγνεία, παρθενία, σωφροσύνη, and ἐγκράτεια in the Symposium of Methodius of Olympus, „Vigiliae Christianae” 63 (2009) s. 138-168. (Crossref)


Published
2025-12-15


Mejzner, M. (2025). Antropologia Metodego z Olimpu. Vox Patrum, 96, 29–50. https://doi.org/10.31743/vp.18884

Miroslaw Mejzner  m.mejzner@uksw.edu.pl
Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw image/svg+xml https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4865-4620



License

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Papers published in Vox Patrum are covered by the Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-ND 4.0) licence. Authors and users can use published works licensed under the CC-BY-ND since 2018. For earlier publications, copyrights are available under fair use rights in accordance with the Act of February 4, 1994 on copyrights and related rights.