The soma-sema formula in the Book of Thomas the Contender and its ontic and ethical implications

Anna Z. Zmorzanka

Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II , Poland


Abstract

The first part of the article shows the genesis of the soma-sema formula and its function in the Orphic and Pythagorean tradition, as well as in Plato. A particular attention was paid to its ontic background (dualism) and its ethical aspect: a neces­sity to undergo a punishment in the subsequent birth cycles (metempsychosis) and cleanse the soul of guilt. The second part presents a reception of the formula in the Gnostic Book of Thomas the Contender, indicating similarities and differences.

Keywords:

orphism, Plato, gnosticism, The Book of Thomas the Contender

Irenaeus Lugdunensis, Adversus haereses, éd. A. Rousseau – L. Doutreleau, t. 2: Livre I, SCh 264, Paris 1979, tłum. W. Myszor: Ireneusz z Lyonu i gnostycy. Zdemaskowanie i odparcie fałszywej gnozy. Tłumaczenie: Adversus haereses: Księga I i II, SACh SN 17, Katowice 2016.
Pindari carmina cum fragmentis, pars II: Fragmenta. Indices, post B. Snell ed. H. Ma¬chler, Leipzig 1975, tłum. J. Danielewicz, w: Liryka starożytnej Grecji, oprac. J. Da¬nielewicz, Wrocław 1984.
Plato, Leges, ed. R.G. Burry: Plato with on English Translation, t. 9: Laws, vol. 2, Lon¬don 1961, tłum. M. Maykowska: Platon, Prawa, Warszawa 1960.
Plato, Oeuvres completès, Paris 1921-1935, tłum. W. Witwicki: Dialogi, t. 1-2, Kęty 1999.
The Coptic Gnostic Library. A Complete Edition of the Nag Hammadi Codices, vol. 2, ed. gen. J. Robinson, Leiden – Boston – Köln 2000, tłum. W. Myszor: Biblioteka z Nag Hammadi. Kodeksy I i II, SACh SN 7, Katowice 2008.
CornelliG., In Search of Pythagoreanism: Pythagoreanism as an Historiographical Ca¬thegory, Berlin 2013.
Filipowicz A., Chrześcijaństwo a reinkarnacja i metempsychoza w świetle polemiki Tertu¬liana z Platonem, VoxP 30 (2010) t. 55, 189-211.
Jonas H., Life, death, and the body in the theory of being, „The Review of Metaphysics” 19 (1965/66) 3-23.
Reale G., Historia filozofii starożytnej, t. 1: Od początków do Sokratesa, tłum. E.I. Zieliń¬ski, Lublin 2000; t. 5: Słownik, indeksy i bibliografia, Lublin 2002.
Robinson D.M., Pindar. A Poet of Eternal Ideas, The Johns Hopkins Uniwersity Studies in Archeology 21, Baltimor 1936.
Tylka A., Etyczny wymiar metempsychozy w dialogach Platona, „Collectanea Philologi¬ca”, 14 (2011) 35-44.
VogelDe C.J., The Sóma-Séma Formula: Its Function in Plato and Plotinus Compared to Christian Writers, w: Neoplatonism and Early Christian Thought, ed. H.J. Blumen¬thal – R.A. Markus, London 1981, 79-99.

Published
2018-12-16


Zmorzanka, A. Z. (2018). Formuła soma-sema w Księdze Tomasza Atlety i jej aspekty ontyczno-etyczne. Vox Patrum, 67, 767–777. https://doi.org/10.31743/vp.3427

Anna Z. Zmorzanka 
Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II



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.