cyril of alexandria's trinitarian theology of scripture PDF
Preview cyril of alexandria's trinitarian theology of scripture
C A ’ T YRIL OF LEXANDRIA S RINITARIAN T S HEOLOGY OF CRIPTURE Matthew R. Crawford Department of Theology and Religion Durham University Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2012 C A ’ T T S YRIL OF LEXANDRIA S RINITARIAN HEOLOGY OF CRIPTURE by Matthew R. Crawford Abstract Cyril of Alexandria left to posterity a sizable body of exegetical literature. This thesis at- tempts to reconstruct his theology of Scripture in order to suggest that his exegetical practice is inseparable from, and must be interpreted in light of, his overarching theological vision. I ar- gue that the most important intellectual factor shaping his exegesis is his Christologically fo- cused, pro-Nicene Trinitarianism, an inheritance that he received from fourth-century authors. Cyril’s appropriation of pro-Nicene thought is evident in his theology of revelation and his theology of exegesis. Revelation, in his understanding, proceeds from the Father, through the Son, and in the Spirit, following the order of Trinitarian relations. Moreover, this pattern ap- plies to the inspiration of Scripture as well, insofar as inspiration occurs when the Son indwells human authors by the Spirit and speaks the words of the Father. Corresponding to this move- ment of God towards humanity in revelation is humanity’s growth in understanding that oc- curs according to a reverse pattern—in the Spirit, through the Son, unto the Father. This scheme applies broadly to Cyril’s soteriology, but also to his understanding of exegesis, since he regarded biblical interpretation as a means of participating in the divine life. More specifi- cally, this Trinitarian pattern implies that the Spirit is required to read Scripture properly, and that in the act of interpretation the Spirit directs the reader to a Christological reading of Scrip- ture, through which the believer gains a limited but genuine apprehension of the Trinitarian mystery. This process continues until the final eschatological vision when the types and riddles of Scripture will be done away with in light of the overwhelming clarity of the vision of the Father. i Declaration This thesis is the product of my own work and does not include work that has been presented in any form for a degree at this or any other university. All quotation from, and references to, the work of persons other than myself have been properly acknowledged throughout. Statement of Copyright The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published in any format, including electronic and the Internet, without the author’s prior written consent. All information derived from this thesis must be acknowledged appropriately. ii Acknowledgements Cyril of Alexandria made no secret of the fact that he stood in an intellectual tradition, one that he gladly inhabited and upon whose insights he creatively drew. In a loosely analo- gous sense, I stand acutely aware of my own in indebtedness to many other persons without whom this project could not have been brought to completion. I must first thank my doctoral supervisor, Professor Lewis Ayres, who not only patiently read over countless revisions of these chapters, but who also introduced me to the Augustinianism of Johnny Cash. Though in the pages that follow I cite his work only a handful of times, my debt to Lewis extends beyond such explicit citations. Both the mode of historical scholarship in which this thesis is carried out, as well as the historically conscious theological project towards which, I hope, it con- tributes, are intentionally modeled upon his own approach to the discipline of patristics. Other members of the Department of Theology and Religion also influenced my work. A module on the Theological Anthropology of the Fathers taught by Father Andrew Louth re- mains one of the highlights of my time at Durham. Professor Walter Moberly’s module on the Theological Interpretation of Scripture introduced me to many of the current conversations in biblical studies regarding the proper relation between exegesis and theology. I hope that the material in this thesis provides some fodder for those ongoing discussions within the world of biblical scholarship. Also, Professor Robert Hayward taught me the Syriac I needed to work through some of the required primary texts, and graciously helped me figure out several diffi- cult passages. Dr. Krastu Banev also helped me through a couple of passages in Greek that proved challenging. The participants in the department’s weekly patristics seminar endured sit- ting through earlier versions of two of these chapters, and I am grateful for their helpfulness in responding to work that was very much in progress at the time. Outlines of the project and chapters in various stages were read by Thomas Humphries, Ben Blackwell, Roberto Alejandro, Stephen Bagby, Gerald Boersma, Wesley Hill, Keith E. Johnson, Jonathan T. Pennington, and Jacob Shatzer. Each one added valuable comments or raised questions that lingered in my mind and contributed towards the final form of this thesis. Moreover, in the final stages Emma Mc- Cabe read over much of the thesis, saving me from many typographical mistakes. A special thanks must go to Jon Morgan who collaborated with me on several German sources, and Han- nah Milner who looked up several references for me that I could not access in Durham. I also extend my gratitude to Daniel Keating, Dimitrios Zaganas, John J. O’Keefe, Cordula Bandt, and iii Gregory K. Hillis who shared prepublication versions of their work with me. Moreover, the te- dium of doctoral work has been happily interrupted many times by my officemates in No. 37 North Bailey who provided both needed distractions and stimulating conversations. This thesis would not have been the same without them. The lion’s share of my gratitude goes towards my family who have been unendingly patient over the past three years of my working on this project. Brandy has sacrificed more than anyone will ever know to see this through to the end, and Violet, Camille, and Elliot have had to endure my absent mindedness many times over as I was lost in thought over some question related to the thesis. Apart from their love and support I doubt if the project could have been completed. My parents, Bill and Joyce Crawford, have supported me through each stage of my education in every way imaginable. I hope that this thesis proves to be a suitable way of honoring their constant encouragement. iv Table of Contents Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………i Declaration………………………………………………………………………………ii Statement of Copyright ……………………………………………………………………ii Acknowledgements ………………………………………………………………………iii Table of Contents…………………………………………………………………………v Abbreviations …………………………………………………………………………vii Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………………………1 Chapter 2 THE SON AS WORD AND WILL OF THE FATHER: A TRINITARIAN THEOLOGY OF REVELATION ………………………………………………7 The Son as the Revealer of the Father ……………………………………………9 The Messenger of Great Counsel …………………………………………10 The Pen of the Stenographer ………………………………………………16 The Inseparable Operation of the Undivided Trinity …………………………22 Everything Belongs to All Three …………………………………………24 Inseparable Operation, not Cooperation …………………………………27 From the Father, through the Son, in the Spirit ………………………………35 The Son as the Power of the Father ………………………………………38 The Spirit as the Finger of the Son…………………………………………41 A Trinitarian Theology of Revelation …………………………………………47 Inseparable Operations and Revelation ……………………………………48 A Pro-Nicene Theology of Revelation ……………………………………54 Chapter 3 ‘ONE BOOK SPOKEN THROUGH ONE HOLY SPIRIT’: THE INSPIRATION OF SCRIPTURE BY THE SPIRIT …………………………………………60 Inspiration by the Spirit in the Prior Tradition …………………………………61 Spirit-Bearing Authors of a Spiritually-Breathed Book …………………………64 The Prophetic Spirit ……………………………………………………………70 Patristic Theories of Agency in Divine Inspiration…………………………70 Analogies for Inspiration in Cyril’s Corpus ………………………………78 Inspiration as a Prophetic Vision …………………………………………82 The Mystagogy of the Spirit ……………………………………………………88 The Apostles as Mystagogues………………………………………………88 The Apostles Still Preach Today……………………………………………94 Continuities and Discontinuities with respect to Inspiration …………………98 The Redemptive-Historical Contours of the Spirit’s Operation ……………98 The Inspiration of the Church Fathers……………………………………102 Scripture as One Book Sealed by the Spirit ……………………………………106 Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………108 v Chapter 4 ‘HE HAS SPOKEN TO US BY HIS SON’: THE CHRISTOLOGICAL MEDIATION OF SCRIPTURE ………………………………………110 The Son Speaks in the Prophets and Apostles …………………………………111 Christological Mediation among Earlier Pro-Nicenes …………………………116 The Son Speaks through Himself ……………………………………………120 Prophetic Indwelling in the Christological Controversies ……………………127 The Soteriological Immediacy of the Divine Word……………………………133 Chapter 5 ‘THE EVERGREEN ORACLES OF GOD’: THE ROLE OF SCRIPTURE IN THE DIVINE ECONOMY ……………………………………138 ‘The Lord Shepherds Me’ (Psalm 22)…………………………………………140 Psalm 22 in the Prior Exegetical Tradition ………………………………140 The Evergreen Oracles of God……………………………………………144 The Evangelical Table and Its Enemies……………………………………149 The Shepherd’s Two Rods (Zechariah 11) ……………………………………154 Christ the Shepherd Feeding the 5,000 ………………………………………160 The Feeding of the 5,000 in the Prior Tradition …………………………160 Bread from Heaven (John 6) ……………………………………………163 A Table Prepared in the Wilderness (Luke 9:12-17) ……………………169 Participating in the Divine Word through the Written Word…………………171 Chapter 6 SEEING THE FATHER THROUGH THE SON IN THE SPIRIT: THE THEOLOGICAL NATURE OF EXEGESIS ………………………………………………177 Divine Illumination through the Son …………………………………………179 Illumination according to Creation (John 1) ……………………………180 Illumination according to Redemption (John 9)…………………………188 Relating the Two Types of Illumination …………………………………195 Earlier Authors on Illumination …………………………………………203 Trinitarian Exegesis……………………………………………………………209 Spiritual Exegesis…………………………………………………………210 Christological Exegesis……………………………………………………216 The Eschatological Vision of the Father …………………………………223 Chapter 7 CONCLUSION: ‘THE WHIRLWIND IS IN THE THORN TREE’ ………………………………226 Bibliography …………………………………………………………………………234 Primary Sources …………………………………………………………………234 Secondary Sources …………………………………………………………………255 vi Abbreviations ACO Acta Conciliorum Oecumenicorum AugST Augustinian Studies AW Athanasius Werke BZNW Beihefte zur Zeitschrift für die neutestamentliche Wissenschaft und die Kunde der älteren Kirche CCR Coptic Church Review CCSG Corpus Christianorum Series Graeca CCSL Corpus Christianorum Series Latina ChH Church History CPHST Changing Paradigms in Historical and Systematic Theology CrSt Cristianesimo nella storia CSCD Cambridge Studies in Christian Doctrine CSCO Corpus Scriptorum Christianorum Orientalium CSEL Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum EThL Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses FOC Fathers of the Church GCS Die griechischen christlichen Schriftsteller GNO Gregorii Nysseni Opera Gr Gregorianum IJST International Journal of Systematic Theology IJSCC International Journal for the Study of the Christian Church JECS Journal of Early Christian Studies JEH Journal of Ecclesiastical History JHI Journal of the History of Ideas JHS The Journal of Hellenic Studies JTS Journal of Theological Studies LCL Loeb Classical Library LFC A Library of the Fathers of the Holy Catholic Church LSJ Liddell, Scott, Jones, A Greek-English Lexicon (Oxford, 1843; 9th ed. 1940) LXX Septuagint MSR Mélanges de science religieuse vii Mus Le Muséon NTT Nederlands Theologisch Tijdschrift NRT Nouvelle revue théologique NovT Novum Testamentum NovVet Nova et Vetera OECS Oxford Early Christian Studies OECT Oxford Early Christian Texts OSHT Oxford Studies in Historical Theology OTM Oxford Theological Monographs PG Patrologia Cursus Completus: Series Graeca PGL G. W. H. Lampe, A Patristic Greek Lexicon (Oxford, 1961) PL Patrologia Cursus Completus: Series Latina PO Patrologia Orientalis ProEccl Pro Ecclesia PTA Papyrologische Texte und Abhandlungen PTS Patristische Texte und Studien RB Revue bénédictine REByz Revue des études byzantines RechAug Recherches augustiniennes RevSR Revue des sciences religieuses RHE Revue d’histoire ecclésiastique RIPh Revue internationale de philosophie RITh Revue internationale de théologie RSR Recherches de science religieuse SC Sources Chrétiennes SCe Second Century SJTh Scottish Journal of Theology ST Studi e testi STAC Studien und Texte zu Antike und Christentum STPatr Studia Patristica SVTQ St. Vladimir’s Theological Quarterly TLG Thesaurus Linguae Graecae TS Theological Studies TU Texte und Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der altchristlichen Literatur TZ Theologische Zeitschrift viii
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