Christology and Eucharist in the Early Thought of Cyril of Alexandria

179 Pages·1994·6.79 MB·English

by  Lawrence J. Welch

CHRISTO LOGY
AND Euc HARIST
IN THE EARLY
THOUGHT OF
CYRIL OF
ALEXANDRIA
uwrence ). Welch
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Christology and Eucharist in
the Early Thought of
Cyril of Alexandria
Lawrence J. Welch
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Welch, Lawrence J.
Christology and Eucharist in the early thought of Cyril of Alexandria/
Lawrence J. Welch
169 p. em.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-883255-13-8 (cloth): $59.95--ISBN 1-883255-06-6 (pbk.): $39.95
1. Jesus Christ--History of doctrines--Early church, ca. 30-600. 2. Lord's
Supper--History--Early church, ca. 30-600. 3. Bible. N.T. John-
Criticism, interpretation, etc.--History--Early church, ca. 30-600. 4.
Cyril, Saint, Patriarch of Alexandria, ca. 370-444. Commentary on
John. I. Title
BT198.W4525 1993
232'.092--dc20 93-31835
CIP
Copyright 1994 Lawrence J. Welch
Editorial Inquiries:
International Scholars Publications
P.O.Box 2590
San Francisco, CA 94126
(4150 397-9525
To order: (800) 99-AUSTIN
For my Mother and Father,
my first teachers
in the faith
Acknowledgements .............................................. .
Foreword ........................................................ V
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
A) A note on the Commentary on John . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
B) The Date and Chronology of Cyril's Writings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
C) Cyril's Fundamental Theological Presuppostions and Exegetical 9
Principles ............................................................ .
1) Cyril and the Relationship between the Old and New Testament. ........... 10
2) Basic Christological Principles in Cyril's New Testament Exegesis . . . . . . . . . . 15
D) The Christ of Cyril's Biblical Commentaries: The Research of Robert 16
Wilken ............................................................. ..
Chapter One: History of Research: Cyril and his Interpreters ..... 19
Prolegomenon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Chapter Two: Logos-Sarx? Cyril's Concept of Sarx . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
A) Cyril's early christology in the research of A. Grill meier and J. Liebaert . . . . . . 41
B) The Meaning of Sarx in the Thought of Cyril ................................ 45
1) The Soul of Christ in the Commentary on John ............................. 51
2) The Limitations of Cyril's Thought on the Soul of Christ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
3) Cyril's Later Thoughts on the Soul of Christ. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
C) Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Chapter Three: The Son Emptied Out and the Second Adam . . . . . 61
A) The Kenosis and the Second Adam: Two Fundamental Christological 63
Categories ........................................................... .
1) John 1:14 .................................................................. 63
2) John 1:32-33: The Baptism of the Lord ..................................... 64
3) The Glory of Christ. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
4) The Passion of Christ as Glorious .......................................... 72
5) The Kenosis and the Second Adam in Cyril's Interpretation of the 7 4
Priestly Prayer of Christ .............................................. .
a) John 17:1-3 ............................................................... 75
b) John 17:4-5 ............................................................... 77
c) John 17:6-8 ............................................................... 79
d) John 17:9-11b ............................................................ 80
e) John 17:12-17 ............................................................ 82
f) John 17:18-19 ............................................................. 84
6) The Death and Resurrection of the Son Emptied Out who is the 88
Second Adam ....................................................... .
a) John 13:34,36 ............................................................ 88
b) John 14:20 ............................................................... 91
c) John 19:30/Matt 27:51 .................................................... 95
7) The Eucharistic Context of the Kenosis and the Second Adam: John . . . . . 97
17:20-21 ............................................................. .
D) Conclusion ................................................................ 101
Chapter Four: Christ's Worship as the Basis for Christology. . .. 104
A) The Contribution of Thomas Torrance ...................................... 107
B) Christ as the Son who worships for the sake of humanity. . ................. 109
1) Christ as high priest, mediator and victim. . . .. . .. . . .. . . .. .. .. . . . .. . .. .. .. . . 114
2) The union of the second Adam and the church. . .......................... 121
C) The Eucharist and the historical immanence of Christ: Cyril's concept 125
of the consecration and the epiclesis. . ............................... .
D.) Conclusion ............................................................... 129
Chapter 5: Christ, Recapitulation, and Creation. . ............... 131
A) Christ as the foundation ot Creation ....................................... "\33
B) Christ and the Divine Image in Humani\'f. \lie Opinion ot \J\Jalter .... "\4 '\
Burghardt ....................................... ·:· ................... .
1) Christ and Adoptive Sonship .................... .' ......................... 148
C) Conclusion .......................................: .. . . . . . .. .. . .. .. .. . . . . .. . 158
Bibliography .............................. ~ ................... 161
......................................................
Index 166
'
5\cknow{ecfgements
Tills monograph, the basis of which is my dissertation written at Marquette
University, would not have been possible without the advise, encouragement and
expert assistant of a number of people. Joseph Lienhard, S.J., Earl Muller, S.J.,
Donald Keefe S.J, William Kurz, S.J., Dr. Alexander Golitzen, and Dr. Ronald
Feenstra all read various drafts of this monograph and offered invaluable com
ments and criticisms. I want to thank my colleagues at Loyola University Chicago
who encouraged me to complete this project especially when it seemed it would
never be finished. I especially want to thank Harry Gensler, S.J. of the Philosophy
Department who gave me his unselfish and expert technical support in the often
bewildering world of computer software.
I am also grateful to Christopher Thompson, Michael Naughton, and Brian
Kane for many fruitful hours of discussions about my work. My conversations
and electronic correspondence with Joseph Hallman and John J. O'Keefe led me
to refine and clarify a number of my views with regard to Cyril's thought. Profs.
Hallman and O'Keefe also offered valuable criticisms of a draft of chapter One. I
owe an unpayable debt of thanks to my wife Shawn, who shared, sometimes en
dured, the ups and downs of my research. This monograph would never have seen
the light of day without her unfailing support.
Lawrence J. Welch
Chicago, Winter, 1994
:foreword
T,e
late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries were, par excellence, the age
of the history of dogma. The names Adolf von Harnack, Friedrich Loafs, and
Rudolf Seeberg, all Protestant historians, stand out; but they were hardly the only
scholars to write survey histories in that era. Von Harnack believed that dogma it
self was a betrayal of true Christianity; hence it is ironic that, in the course of
time, so many of his judgments took on the characteristics of dogma.
In recent decades, students of early Christianity have realized that more than
a few standard judgments, often repeated unthinkingly since the era of Harnack
and others, badly needed rethinking and, in many cases, reformulation. The clas
sic histories of dogma were, often enough, based on a fairly narrow selection of
texts from the Fathers of the Church. Often enough, too, these texts were drawn
from dogmatic works written in the heat of controversy. By comparison, the Fa
thers' exegetical works were neglected. Such neglect can be understood. Patristic
exegesis can be a long-winded affair, and the Fathers seldom passed up a chance
to explain a word or a thought that interested them; the same word or thought may
not interest us.
Lawrence J. Welch, in his book Christology and Eucharist in the Early
Thought of Cyril ofA lexandria, makes a fine contribution to the needed process of
rethinking judgments about the Fathers of the Church and the emergence of Chris
tian doctrines. His subject is Cyril of Alexandria, the impassioned patriarch of Al
exandria who was able to draw more personal dislike and animosity upon himself
J'orewora vi
than any other Father, even Jerome. Welch concentrates on Cyril's early Christol
ogy and, in particular, on his understanding of the role of Christ's human soul. He
examines in detail Cyril's Commentary on John.
It has been said, and said rightly, that, had the New Testament not contained
the Gospel according to John, Christianity today would be so different as to be
nearly unrecognizable. Cyril studies this crucial gospel verse by verse, and takes
advantage of the many opportunities it offers to comment on the person of Christ.
Welch shows that Cyril read John through a Pauline optic. Cyril's concerns for the
work of Christ, and for the Eucharist, shape his understanding of the Spiritual
Gospel. Welch's study demonstrates that the doctrine of the person of Christ could
not, in Cyril's mind, be considered apart from the doctrine of salvation, or from
the Church's worship. Welch is able to conclude that one standard judgment about
Cyril needs correction: to use Alois Grillmeier's category "Logos-sarx" of Cyril's
Christo logy before the Council of Ephesus is not accurate; Cyril saw a significant
role for the human soul of Christ, even at that early period.
But this one conclusion is only part of the value of Welch's book. He has
made a careful study of an important exegetical work by an even more important
Father of the Church. He has shown that Cyril, like so many other Fathers, cannot
be accused of "thinking in the static categories of being," a common if unin
formed charge. Rather, Welch can describe Cyril as "a Christian thinker seized by
an insight which is at once soteriological and eucharistic: the union of the bap
tized in the Spirit with Christ to the Father."
Welch's book can be recommended both for the valuable new insights into
Cyril's thought that it provides, and as an example of the type of careful study that
brings forth authentic new insights and judgments on a crucial topic in historical
theology.
Joseph T. Lienhard, S.J.
Fordham University
The Bronx, New York