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Periphyseon' Jonathan Mounts Duquesne University Duquesne Scholarship Collection Electronic Theses and Dissertations Spring 2011 Salvation of the Damned Within the 'Periphyseon' Jonathan Mounts Follow this and additional works at: https://dsc.duq.edu/etd Recommended Citation Mounts, J. (2011). Salvation of the Damned Within the 'Periphyseon' (Doctoral dissertation, Duquesne University). Retrieved from https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/956 This Immediate Access is brought to you for free and open access by Duquesne Scholarship Collection. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Duquesne Scholarship Collection. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE SALVATION OF THE DAMNED WITHIN THE PERIPHYSEON A Dissertation Submitted to the McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts Duquesne University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy By Jonathan G. Mounts April 2011 Copyright by Jonathan G. Mounts 2011 THE SALVATION OF THE DAMNED WITHIN THE PERIPHYSEON By Jonathan G. Mounts Approved April 1, 2011 ________________________ ________________________ L. Michael Harrington, Ph.D Thérèse Bonin, Ph.D Associate Professor of Philosophy Associate Professor of Philosophy Director Committee Member ________________________ ________________________ James Swindal, Ph.D James Swindall, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Philosophy Associate Professor of Philosophy Committee Member Department Chair ________________________ Christopher Duncan, Ph.D. Dean, The McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts iii ABSTRACT THE SALVATION OF THE DAMNED WITHIN THE PERIPHYSEON By Jonathan G. Mounts May 2011 Dissertation supervised by L. Michael Harrington, Ph.D This dissertation shall examine the claim of John Scottus Eriugena, the ninth century Irish philosopher, that all things must ultimately return to unity with their creator. This is the ancient Greek theme of apokatastasis, which essentially means reconstitution in full to that which was primordial. A special case subsumed under the class of all things is that segment of mankind traditionally understood as being damned, or separated from God. Eriugena holds that no portion of mankind can be so separated for God, as the Word, received the entire human race, not a subset of it. Although sometimes thought to be at odds with Christianity, it is Eriugena‟s position that the restoration of separated souls should be embraced. The word apokatastasis appears in both the Old and New Testaments. The first reference is found in Malachi 4:2-6, and speaks of the divine bond between children and their fathers, a iv theme which will have special significance in this dissertation. The New Testament reference is found in Acts 3:21, where Peter affirms that the restoration of all things was ordained before the world began. An additional question that this study seeks to answer is whether man is made happy in this restoration. Eriugena gives no clear resolution to this issue. His writing seems to contradict itself, and can reasonably be interpreted either way. Our answer is offered in the affirmative: man is made happy in his restoration. The final chapter of this dissertation examines some of the implications of the answer. v DEDICATION For my family: Patti, Jason, Erin, Lauren, and Shannon vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract .......................................................................................................................... iv Dedication ...................................................................................................................... vi Prologue .......................................................................................................................... 1 Chapter I: Introduction, John the Scot .............................................................................. 2 The Problem to be Investigated: The Salvation of the Damned .................................. 10 Influences .................................................................................................................. 14 Authority ................................................................................................................... 53 Chapter II: Presuppositions for This Work ..................................................................... 60 Existence of God ....................................................................................................... 60 Immortality of the Human Soul ................................................................................. 60 Trinitarian Nature of God .......................................................................................... 62 Special Consideration of the Word Incarnate ............................................................. 66 Chapter III: Overview of the Periphyseon ...................................................................... 69 Four Divisions of Nature ........................................................................................... 73 First Division- God as Creator ............................................................................... 73 The Second Division- The Primordial Causes ........................................................ 79 The Third Division- Corporeal Things ................................................................... 86 The Fourth Division- God as End .......................................................................... 90 Chapter IV: That the Damned are Redeemed ................................................................. 99 vii Resurrection of All .................................................................................................... 99 Modes of Justice ...................................................................................................... 108 Modes of Punishment .............................................................................................. 119 Chapter V: The Logical Necessity of Salvation............................................................ 139 Extended Platonism ................................................................................................. 139 Completeness for God ............................................................................................. 148 Completion for Creation .......................................................................................... 158 Reconciliation of Completion for God and Justice for Man ...................................... 163 Chapter VI: Implication for Contemporary Theology .................................................. 174 Justification ............................................................................................................. 174 Predestination .......................................................................................................... 180 Fellowship ............................................................................................................... 190 Evangelism .............................................................................................................. 198 Summary ..................................................................................................................... 204 Bibliography ............................................................................................................... 207 viii Prologue This dissertation will explore the position of the ninth century Irish philosopher, John Scottus Eriugena, and his work on the salvation of the damned. We will focus mainly on Book Five of his most noted work, the Periphyseon, however, his other writings on the subject will be examined as well. Eriugena holds that all men will gain salvation (Eriugena, Per, 1987, V, 923 C), but not complete salvation. In other words, all men will be restored to the original pristine condition that they enjoyed prior to their fall; however, they will remain unhappy, forced to suffer through the recollection of the evil that they worked while living their earthly lives (Eriugena, V, 944 D). Concerning the first issue, the salvation of all souls, it seems to us that Eriugena has offered some compelling arguments in support of his position. These arguments are advanced mainly within a Christian framework. Although our study should be of interest to non-Christians as well, it seems to us that Christianity, with its unique notion of grace, must confront the issue. Concerning the second question, the eternal torment or unhappiness of the saved, it is our position that Eriugena has failed to show that suffering can be experienced by a resurrected soul. The central argument that Eriugena uses to prove the former position tends to disprove the latter. The Word took all humanity upon Himself, not a subset of humanity (Eriugena, 923 C). Therefore, since man was essentially happy prior to the fall, he must once again be happy after his restoration. 1 Chapter I: Introduction John the Scot Eriugena was a Christian philosopher keenly influenced by his understanding of the Old and New Testaments. He also had an abiding respect for the authority of the Church Fathers as it had developed since the first century A.D. However, our aim is to present a study that will be of interest to both Christians and non-Christians. For the purposes of this study, we shall presuppose the immortality of the human soul and ask our reading audience to reflect upon this immortality. Could it be that some of the human race, and not others, are subject to eternal damnation at the
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