Marquette University e-Publications@Marquette Dissertations, Theses, and Professional Dissertations (1934 -) Projects The Assumption of All Humanity in Saint Hilary of Poitiers' Tractatus super Psalmos Ellen Scully Marquette University Follow this and additional works at: https://epublications.marquette.edu/dissertations_mu Part of the Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons Recommended Citation Scully, Ellen, "The Assumption of All Humanity in Saint Hilary of Poitiers' Tractatus super Psalmos" (2011). Dissertations (1934 -). 95. https://epublications.marquette.edu/dissertations_mu/95 THE ASSUMPTION OF ALL HUMANITY IN SAINT HILARY OF POITIERS’ TRACTATUS SUPER PSALMOS by Ellen Scully A Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School, Marquette University, in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Milwaukee, Wisconsin May 2011 ABTRACT THE ASSUMPTION OF ALL HUMANITY IN SAINT HILARY OF POITIERS’ TRACTATUS SUPER PSALMOS Ellen Scully Marquette University, 2011 In this dissertation, I focus on the soteriological understanding of the fourth- century theologian Hilary of Poitiers as manifested in his underappreciated Tractatus super Psalmos . Hilary offers an understanding of salvation in which Christ saves humanity by assuming every single person into his body in the incarnation. My dissertation contributes to scholarship on Hilary in two ways. First, I demonstrate that Hilary’s teaching concerning Christ’s assumption of all humanity is a unique development of Latin sources. Because of his understanding of Christ’s assumption of all humanity, Hilary, along with several Greek fathers, has been accused of heterodoxy resulting from Greek Platonic influence. I demonstrate that Hilary is not influenced by Platonism; rather, though his redemption model is unique among the early Latin fathers, he derives his theology from a combination of Latin-influenced biblical exegesis and classical Roman themes. Second, this teaching of Christ’s assumption of all humanity is a prominent part of Hilary’s entire theological system and so illustrates the unified nature of his theology. The implications of this aspect of Hilary’s thought expand into nearly every realm of his theology: in the course of this dissertation, I address the areas of soteriology, Christology, eschatology, ecclesiology and Trinitarian theology. Modern Hilary scholarship is defined by a method that approaches Hilary’s theology according to narrow and anachronistic categories of study and results in a negative appraisal of Hilary’s theological contribution. This dissertation, in working with a unified method, serves as a corrective to the standard scholarly approach to Hilary and offers a more positive evaluation of his theology. i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Ellen Scully I would like to thank the Marquette University Theology department for their help and support over the years, my board members—Dr. John Cavadini, Rev. Joseph Mueller, S.J., and Dr. Ralph Del Colle—for their patient and diligent reading, and especially my dissertation director Dr. Michel Barnes. Certainly in the process of writing this dissertation, Dr. Barnes taught me what good research looks like. I also am extremely grateful to my husband Jason Scully who served as my second pair of eyes for every part of this dissertation. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................................ i CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ............................................................................... 1 The Debate: Hilary’s Relationship to the Greek “Physicalist” Doctrine ........ 7 Biographical Details of Hilary’s Life That Shed Light on the Debate ............ 14 The Results of the Debate: Neglect of Hilary’s Teaching .............................. 23 The Ramifications of Christ’s Assumption of All Humanity in Hilary’s Teaching .......................................................................................................... 27 The Trinitarian Implications ............................................................................ 30 Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 31 CHAPTER 2: THE CONTEXT OF, AND INFLUENCES UPON, HILARY’S SOTERIOLOGY ......................................................................................................... 35 Hilary’s Appropriation of Greek Philosophy .................................................. 36 Prior to his Exile .................................................................................. 36 After his Exile ..................................................................................... 41 Hilary’s Relationship with Greek Theology ................................................... 42 Irenaeus and Athanasius ...................................................................... 42 Origen and Eusebius of Caesarea ........................................................ 44 The Influence of Latin Stoicism on Hilary’s Conception of the Unity of Humanity ......................................................................................................... 53 Latin Theological Context for Hilary’s Physicalist Model of Redemption .... 57 Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 65 CHAPTER 3: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HILARY’S CHRISTOLOGY AND SOTERIOLOGY ................................................................................................ 67 Hilary’s Three-Stage Christology in the Framework of Philippians ............... 67 “Christology” as a Double Category ............................................................... 76 The Physicalist Model of Redemption in the Thought of Hilary .................... 79 The Physicalist Model in the In Matthaeum : Refutation of Platonic Influence .......................................................................................................... 86 The Physicalist Model in the Tractatus super Psalmos .................................. 91 Latin Atonement Theory? The Importance of the Suffering and Death of Christ in Hilary’s Redemption Model ............................................................. 93 Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 101 CHAPTER 4: THE ASSUMPTION OF ALL HUMANITY .................................... 104 The Prerequisite: The Anterior Unity of Humanity ....................................... 105 The Pauline Adam-Christ Parallel ................................................................... 107 The New Unity in Christ’s Body ..................................................................... 115 Christ the Mediator and the Double Creation of Man ..................................... 122 Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 132 iii CHAPTER 5: ESCHATOLOGICAL RAMIFICATIONS OF THE ASSUMPTION OF ALL HUMANITY ................................................................................................. 134 The Contours of Hilary’s Eschatology ............................................................ 136 Christ’s Inheritance ......................................................................................... 139 1 Corinthians 15 as the Scriptural Frame for Hilary’s Eschatology ............... 143 The Eternal Priesthood of Christ ..................................................................... 145 The Resurrection of the Body: From Corruption to Incorruption ................... 150 Salvation is of Both Body and Soul ................................................................ 153 The Heavenly City of Jerusalem; The Celestial Zion ..................................... 157 Heaven and the Divine Indwelling .................................................................. 160 Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 160 CHAPTER 6: ECCLESIOLOGICAL RAMIFICATIONS OF THE ASSUMPTION OF ALL HUMANITY ................................................................................................. 164 The Development of Hilary’s Ecclesiology and its Dependence on the Assumption of All Humanity .......................................................................... 165 The Relationship of Soteriology and Ecclesiology in the In Matthaeum ...... 166 The Role of the Church and Sacraments ......................................................... 168 Ecclesial Images in the In Matthaeum ............................................................ 172 The Younger Supplants the Elder in the Tractatus super Psalmos : The Universality of the Church .............................................................................. 176 The Creation of Eve as Prefigurement of the Church in the Tractatus Mysteriorum and the Tractatus super Psalmos ............................................... 179 The Church as Body of Christ in the Tractatus super Psalmos ...................... 183 The Expansion of Hilary’s Christocentric Soteriology to Include the Holy Spirit ................................................................................................................ 192 Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 197 CHAPTER 7: HILARY’S PATERCENTRIC THEOLOGY: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SOTERIOLOGY AND TRINITARIAN