The conception of man’s immortality in the resurrectional argumentation of Methodius of Olympus
Mirosław Mejzner
Uniwersytet Kardynała Stefana Wyszyńskiego w Warszawie , PolandAbstract
The foundation of the christian truth about the resurrection is the paschal event, ie the death and resurrection of Christ. However, the interpretation of this dogma is essentially linked to an anthropological vision, therefore the exegesis of biblical protology has a particular significance. At the start of the IVth century, Methodius of Olympus undertook an interesting trial to clarify the status of the first man. Namely, departing from the traditional concept of medietas, which placed Adam in an indeterminate balance between immortality and death, he favoured the idea, which can be called “principaliter (essential or original) immortality”. Thanks to this modification, the author of De resurrectione, gained an important point in resurrectional polemics. He thus presented death, not as an equivalent possibility linked with the original choice of man, but a consequence of his sin, certainly dramatic, but secondary to God’s original plan. In this perspective, the resurrection of the body, and restoring it to immortality, appeared worthy and necessary, being the eschatic realisation of the Creator’s design, his who cannot err.
Keywords:
Methodius of Olympus, resurrection, immortality, death, bodyReferences
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