Apo Catastasis

copy Koninklijke Brill NV Leiden 2007 DOI 101163157007207X186051

Vigiliae Christianae 61 (2007) 313 -356 wwwbrillnlvc

VigiliaeChristianae

Christian Soteriology and Christian Platonism Origen Gregory of Nyssa and the Biblical and

Philosophical Basis of the Doctrine of Apokatastasis1

Ilaria LE RamelliCatholic University of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Milan Italy

ilariaramellivirgilioit

Abstract Paulrsquos statement that God will be all in all and other NT and OT passages are taken by Origen and by Gregory of Nyssa as the scriptural basis of their eschatological doctrine of apokatastasis and eventual universal salvation At the same time their doctrine rests (1) on philosophical arguments mainly deriving from Platonism (Gregoryrsquos De anima et resurrectione is deeply influenced by Platonism both in form and in content and so is Origen although both are Christians first and Platonists second) and (2) on the alle-gorical exegesis of Scripture another heritage of Hellenistic culture Origen was very well acquainted with the Stoic and Platonic allegorical interpretations of Greek myths

Keywords allegory relationship between philosophy and Christianity doctrine of evil purification of the soul resurrection eschatology

Th e structure of the argument that I shall endeavour to develop is the fol-lowing (1) Paulrsquos statement that God will be all in all and other NT and OT passages are taken by Origen and Gregory of Nyssa as the scriptural basis of their eschatological doctrine of apokatastasis and eventual univer-sal salvation (2) Th is biblical foundation often passes through the alle-

1) Th is paper was originally delivered at the SBL Annual Meeting Philadelphia 19-22 November 2005 Unit Corpus Hellenisticum Novi Testamenti I am very grateful to the participants who with their questions contributed to its improvement especially Margaret Mitchell and to all those who read it often offering valuable comments Loveday Alexan-der Francesca Calabi David Konstan Judith Kovacs Judith Perkins Roberto Radice David Runia

VC 613_885_f5_313-356indd 313VC 613_885_f5_313-356indd 313 71907 112014 AM71907 112014 AM

314 ILE Ramelli Vigiliae Christianae 61 (2007) 313 -356

gorical exegesis of Scripture a significant heritage of Hellenistic culture Origen was very well acquainted with the Stoic and Platonic allegorical interpretations of Greek myths already applied to the Bible by Philo and Clement of Alexandria (3) At the same time their doctrine rests on philo-sophical arguments mainly deriving from Platonism an even weightier heritage of Hellenistic culture eg Gregoryrsquos De anima et resurrectione is deeply influenced by Platonism both in form and in content and so is Origen especially in his De principiis although both are Christians first and Platonists second

1 Th e Scriptural Foundation of Apokatastasis in Origen and Gregory

Origenrsquos exposition of the doctrine of apokatastasis especially in De prin-cipiis but also elsewhere is always supported by scriptural quotations and his arguments are grounded in the Bible and structured around it in an intimate logical relationship Many of his arguments and quotations confirming them will be taken up by Gregory of Nyssa2

Among all scriptural evidence 1Cor 1521-28 seems to be absolutely essential in Origenrsquos viewmdashas it will later be in Gregoryrsquosmdashand whenever he discusses apokatastasis it is often quoted both entirely and partially in particular in the final statement that laquo God will be all in all raquo3 Th is is

2) See my essay on the apokatastasis in Origen and Gregory in my Gregorio di Nissa Sullrsquoanima e la resurrezione Milan 2007 history of the apokatastasis in my Apocatastasi forthcoming in Milan Th e bibliography on this subject especially for Origen would be impressively wide I refer to my book for complete documentation here I only mention eg W van Laak Allversoumlhnung Sinzig 1990 for Origen and M Ludlow Universal Salvation Oxford 2000 for Gregory also C Lenz ldquoApokatastasisrdquo in Reallexikon fuumlr Antike und Christentum I Stuttgart 1950 510-516 R ParryndashC Partridge eds Universal Salvation Carlisle 2003 with my review in Stylos 14 (2005) 206-208 and some recent entries by L-F Mateo-Seco in Diccionario de san Gregorio de Nisa eds IdndashG Maspero Burgos 2006 (of which an enriched English edition is also expected to appear) ldquoEscatologiacuteardquo 357-378 ldquoPurificacioacuten ultraterrenardquo 765-769 ldquoSoteriologiacuteardquo 803-812 P Tzamalikos Origen Phi-losophy of History and Eschatology Leiden 2007 3) On early Christian interpretation of 1Cor including this very important passage now see JL Kovacs 1 Corinthians Interpreted by Early Christian Commentators Grand Rapids 2005 233-260 (my review in Archaeus 103 [2006] 166-167) see also E Schendel Herrschaft und Unterwerfung Christi 1Korinther 1524-28 in Exegese und Th eologie der Vaumlter bis zum Ausgang des 4 Jahrhunderts Tuumlbingen 1971 praes 81-110 on Origen on Origenrsquos interpretation of 1Cor 15 see J Rius-Camps ldquoLa hipoacutetesis origeniana sobre el fin


ILE Ramelli Vigiliae Christianae 61 (2007) 313 -356 315

extremely important for Origenrsquos contention because it is connected with the final elimination of evil an assumption that turns out to be completely consistent with his metaphysical doctrine of the non-substantiality of evil from the ontological point of view4 In 362-3 Origen reflects on 1Cor 15 28 and draws some consequences from it laquo When God becomes ldquoall in allrdquo we cannot admit evil lest God may be found in evil Th at God is said to be ldquoall in allrdquo means that he is all also in each individual in the sense that everything the rational intelligence freed from any dirtiness of sin and purified from any taint of evil will be able to perceive to grasp and to think all this will be God and so God will be all for this intelligence because evil will not exist any more for such intelligence God not touched by evil is all After removing every sense of evil only he who is the sole good God will become all for the creature returned to a state of soundness and purity and not only in few or in many but in all God will be all when at last there will be no more death nor deathrsquos sting nor evil most definitely then God will truly be all in all raquo Here as he often does else-where Origen even offers a quotation inside another deathrsquos sting which is sin is a reminiscence of 1Cor 1555-565

In the same passage of 1Cor 1515-28 Christrsquos victory over his enemies is repeatedly mentioned especially in vv 24-27 this is another point taken by Origen as important evidence of the doctrine of universal apokatastasis In v 25 δεῖ γὰρ αὐτὸν βασιλεύειν ἄχρι οὗ θῇ πάντας τοὺς ἐχθροὺς ὑπὸ τὰς πόδας αὐτοῦ there is a quotation of Ps 1091 LXX [1101 Hebr] (quoted in turn in Heb 1013)6 Sede ad dexteram meam where the dignity of the throne is connected to victory over enemies which is achieved by the Lord for laquo my Lord raquo (dixit Dominus Domino meo ) in v 27 the concept is repeated and strengthened πάντα γὰρ ὑπέταξεν ὑπὸ τοὺς

uacuteltimordquo in Archeacute e Telos Lrsquoantropologia di Origene e di Gregorio di Nissa eds U BianchindashH Crouzel Milano 1981 58-117 H Crouzel ldquoQuand le Fils transmet le Royaume agrave Dieu son Pegravererdquo Studia Missionalia 33 (1984) 359-384 R Roukema ldquoLa reacutesurrection des morts dans lrsquointerpreacutetation origeacutenienne de 1 Corinthiens 15rdquo in La reacutesurrection chez les Pegraveres Stras-bourg-Turnhout 2003 161-177 praes 166-169 on 1Cor 1524-28 4) For this central doctrine in Origen and Gregory see with ample documentation the philosophical essay in my Gregorio di Nissa a synthesis is to be found in AA Mosshammer ldquoMalrdquo in Diccionario de san Gregorio 583-591 5) Ποῦ σου θάνατε τὸ κεντρον Τὸ δὲ κέντρον τοῦ θανάτου ἡ ἁμαρτία 6) Cf my ldquoHebrews 1013 the Eventual Elimination of Evil and the Apokatastasis Ori-genrsquos Interpretationrdquo in Th e Epistle to the Hebrews and Christian Th eology International Conference July 18-22 St Maryrsquos College St Andrews forthcoming



πόδας αὐτοῦ Origen quotes Ps 1091 both in Princ 161 and in his Com-mentary on the Gospel of John 6295-296 in the latter passage he sees in the biblical sentence evidence for his doctrine of final restoration of all He interprets the words of the Psalm as addressed by the Father to laquo the Lord of each of us raquo and the submission of all his enemies as achieved when laquo the last enemy Death raquo will be defeated and all evil annihilated according to the fundamental metaphysical theory of non-substantiality of evil Univer-sal submission to Christ including the destruction of death is also the theme of 1Cor 1526 (ἔσχατος ἐχθρὸς καταργήσεται ὁ θάνατος) and its context an important passage often quoted by Origen in defence of his theory of apokatastasis and universal salvation and joined to Ps 1091 in our passage of the Commentary on John which is a patchwork of biblical quotations especially from Paul laquo Th e Father is good and the Son is the image of his goodness [Wis 726 Mk 1018] God however although he benefits the world by reconciling it to himself in Christ [2Cor 519] while it had become his enemy as a consequence of sin distributes his benefits according to a plan not putting his enemies as a stool under his feet all at once In fact the Father says to him who is the Lord of each of us ldquoTake your seat to my right until I put your enemies as a stool for your feetrdquo [Ps 1091 Hebr 1013] which will occur when the last enemy Death will be annihilated by him [1Cor 1526] So if we grasp what it means to be subjected to Christ especially in the light of this passage ldquoAnd when all will be submitted to him he himself the Son will submit to him who has subjected everything to himrdquo [1Cor 1528] then we shall understand Godrsquos lamb who takes up the sin of the world in a way worthy of the goodness of the God of the universe raquo

Th e basis of such exegesis consists in the identification of the submis-sion of all to Christ maintained by Paul in 1Cor 155-28 with the salva-tion of all as Origen states in Princ 161 Quae ergo est subiectio qua Christo omnia debent esse subiecta Ego arbitror quia haec ipsa qua nos quoque optamus ei esse subiecti qua subiecti ei sunt et apostoli et omnes sancti qui secuti sunt Christum Subiectionis enim nomen qua Christo subicimur salutem quae a Christo est indicat subiectorum a theme that will be devel-oped by Gregory in his In illud Tunc et ipse Filius in perfect continuity with Origen by means of the same quotations and exactly the same inter-pretation as we shall see Th e persistent presence of the same interpretation and doctrine in the Commentary on the Gospel of John written many years after De principiis confirms that Origen continued to believe stead-fastly in the absolute universality of apokatastasis and eventual salvation



seen by him as wholly compatible with the doctrine of free will7 and that he thought it was definitely grounded in Scripture both in the Old and the New Testament which he considered as strictly joined and forming one and the same body8

Th e same Pauline passages as a basis and the same interpretation of universal submission as salvation are to be found in Princ 356 laquo the only-begotten son of God Logos and Wisdom of the Father must reign until he has put his enemies under his feet and destroyed the last enemy Death embracing in himself at the end of the world all those whom he subjects to the Father and who come to salvation thanks to him Th is is the meaning of what the Apostle says about him ldquoWhen all is submitted to him then the Son himself will submit to him who has subjected every-thing to him so that God may be all in allrdquo raquo Among the several quota-tions 1Cor 1528 is the most emphasized and in fact it is one of the most important passages and most often quoted by Origen9 in defence of his theory of universal salvation10 which is implied in universal submission Origen goes on (ibid sect 7) laquo as the Sonrsquos submission to the Father means perfect reintegration of all creation [sc universal apokatastasis] so the sub-mission of his enemies to the Son means salvation of his subjects and reintegration of the lost raquo Origen carries on his interpretation of Paulrsquos passage in sect 8 explaining that laquo this submission will take place in certain ways and times and according to precise rules the entire world will submit to the Father not as a result of violence nor by necessity that compels sub-jection but thanks to words reason teaching emulation of the best good norms and also threats when deserved and apt Providence operates in

7) See my ldquoLa coerenza della soteriologia origeniana dalla polemica contro il determin-ismo gnostico allrsquouniversale restaurazione escatologicardquo in Pagani e cristiani alla ricerca della salvezza Atti del XXXIV Incontro di Studiosi dellrsquoAntichitagrave Cristiana Roma Augustinianum 5-7V2005 Roma 2006 661-688 8) Documentation in my ldquoOrigen and the Stoic Allegorical Traditionrdquo delivered at the Annual Meeting of the SBL San Antonio TX November 20-23 2004 Invigilata Lucernis 28 (2006) 9) Th e occurrences of 1Cor 1528 in Origen are listed in Biblia Patristica III Paris 1980 404 (for 1527-28) and 405 (for 1528) Th e writing in which this passage most frequently occurs is De principiis 161 and 237 for 1Cor 1527-28 and 175 235 356 357 357+ 361 362 363 366 368 369 and other six occurrences for 1Cor 1528 Eight occurrences are in Comm in Rom six in Comm in Io and other ten are spread over further different works 10) Cf the section on Origen in my Apocatastasi



favour of each one safeguarding the rational creaturesrsquo free will raquo11 Origen is very attentive to the problem of free will and as Gregory too will do explains that the universal submission to which Paul refers will not be slavery but salvation thanks to everyonersquos free adhesion to the Good which will occur sooner or later Th e interpretation of the final submission to Christ as salvation was repeated by Origen elsewhere too in the very same terms12 Th is subjection that means salvation is universal as confirmed by many other passages in Origen always based on Paulrsquos statements espe-cially Princ 233 recalling 1Cor 1515-28 laquo our condition will be incor-poreal one day and if we admit this since all will be subjected to Christ necessarily this condition will extend to all to whom the subjection to Christ is referred And all those who are subjected to Christ in the end will be also submitted to the Father to whom Christ will hand his reign raquo If the salvation of rational beings has to be universal it must also include all fallen angels to account for and to strengthen this claim Origen has recourse to Phil 210-11 a passage that will be used by Gregory for the same argument and that affirms the final adhesion of all creatures to Christ including those who are in the underworld and since this submis-sion means salvation it follows that all creatures angels humans and demons will be saved Origen in fact argues in Princ 462 laquo I refer to all those who bending their knee in Jesusrsquo name have given a sign of their submission the heavenly earthly and infernal creatures Th ese three des-ignations indicate the sum of all created beings ie all those who had one and the same origin but differently driven each one by his impulses have

11) Cf Princ 358 laquo How Godrsquos Providence operates for each one safeguarding all rational creaturesrsquo free will why and in which occasion all this happens only God knows and his only-begotten Son thanks to whom all has been created and reintegrated [Jn 13] and the Spirit through whom all is sanctified who proceeds from the Father to whom is glory etc raquo See also eg Princ 335 on Providence and free will teaching and persuasion and differentiation of times and ways of salvation for each one including the demons in apo-katastasis ibid 212 Hom in Lev 98 where Origen affirms that Providence takes care of each being including the smallest it is minutissima et subtilissima Cf De Prov 298 311517 where Providence is said to be ποικίλη 12) Eg Comm in Matth S 8 laquo How the Saviourrsquos enemies are put by the Father as a stool for his feet we ought to understand in a worthy way according to Godrsquos goodness For we should not believe that God puts Christrsquos enemies as a stool for his feet in the same way as enemies are put under the feet of the earthly kings who exterminate them Instead God puts Christrsquos enemies as a stool for his feet not for their destruction but for their salvation for all these submission means salvation of the subjects raquo Cf Comm in Io 657(37) Hom in Ps 36 21 in Lev 72 Princ 356-8



been distributed in different orders according to their merits since in all of them the Good was not present in ontological form as it is in God raquo For according to Origen each onersquos condition is determined by his own respon-sibility Originally all νόες were created absolutely identical then they were differentiated into angels humans and demons because of their free choices laquo according to the movements of their minds and wills raquo13

In Princ 16 Origen insisting on a concept of reditus that seems to prefigure the Neoplatonic idea of ἐπιστροφή to unity after μονή and πρόοδος toward multiplicity14 but also quoting Is 6517 and Paul depicts the laquo long future ages in which the dispersion and division of the one and sole Principle15 will be reintegrated into one and the same likeness Th ere will be ldquoa new heaven and a new earthrdquo for those who tend to that end of blessedness about which it is said that also the enemies will be sub-jected and God will be ldquoall in allrdquo raquo with the further reminiscence of 1Cor 1525-28 In Princ 237 too this assertion of Paul seals the final perfec-tion of apokatastasis Th e quotation of 1Cor 1528 together with other references to the Psalms and the Gospels concludes yet another passage in Princ 235 where Origen states that apokatastasis will come at the end of all αἰῶνες when everything will be brought back to absolute unity and God will be all in all16 And the same quotation marks the passage from

13) Detailed discussion in my ldquoLa coerenza della soteriologia origenianardquo and my ldquoLa colpa antecedente come ermeneutica del male in sede storico-religiosa e nei testi biblicirdquo opening paper delivered at the Congress of the Associazione Biblica Italiana Settimana Biblica Ciampino Il Carmelo 5-7IX2005 forthcoming in Ricerche Storico-Bibliche 14) Documentation in my ldquoUno-moltirdquo in Enciclopedia fi losofica new edition dir V Mel-chiorre XII Milan 2006 11911-11912 15) Th is idea of oneness obviously is a Platonic and especially Neoplatonic ideal which Ori-gen transmitted to Gregory of Nyssa too see G Maturi ldquoReductio ad unum lrsquoescatologia di Gregorio di Nissa sullo sfondo della metafisica plotinianardquo Adamantius 10 (2004) 167-193 16) laquo But if there is anything superior to αἰῶνες (so that αἰῶνες can be found in the crea-tures it is true but also in other things that are superior to visible creatures which will be the case in the ἀποκατάστασις when all comes to a perfect end) one should probably understand that the situation in which there will be the ἀποκατάστασις of all things will be something more than the αἰών raquo I am induced to think so by the authority of Scripture which says ldquoin the αἰών and furtherrdquo [Mich 45 εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα καὶ ἐπέκεινα] Th e fact that it says ldquofurtherrdquo lets us understand that it means more than one αἰών And please consider whether the Saviourrsquos words ldquoI want them to be with me where I amrdquo and ldquoAs you and I are one and the same thing so they too may be one in usrdquo [John 172421] may indicate something superior to the αἰών and the αἰῶνες and perhaps even superior to the αἰῶνες τῶν αἰώνων that is when no longer all will be in the αἰών but ldquoGod will be all in allrdquo raquo



image to likeness and then from likeness to unity in the progression εἰκών (at the beginning and in this life) =gt ὁμοίωσις (thanks to moral improve-ment in this or the future life) =gt ἕν (total unity in final apokatastasis when God will be all in all)17 in Princ 361 where the quotation from Paul is joined to several from John on likeness and unity with God18 Th e idea of likeness and unity in apokatastasis after all αἰῶνες is joined to the quota-tion of 1Cor 1525 and 28 also in Princ 16 in fine19 And the whole pas-sage of 1Cor 1524-28 is referred to in Princ 369 in support of the view of universal instruction on the part of the angels and then of Christ and consequent salvation20 1Cor 1528 also seals the universal perfection of eventual apokatastasis in Princ 237 laquo We shall be able to live without a body when everything will be subject to Christ and through Christ to God the Father and ldquoGod will be all in allrdquo raquo

On apokatastasis as superior to αἰῶνες and αἰών also see Princ 231 Here αἰῶνες clearly means ldquoagesrdquo not ldquoeternityrdquo for a complete survey of αἰών and αἰώνιος in Origen Gregory of Nyssa and classical and Patristic literature and the philosophical development of the two concepts in Greek and Christian authors see I RamellindashD Konstan Terms for Eter-nity Piscataway NJ 2007 For the ldquoethicalrdquo conception of the αἰῶνες in Origen conceived as the intervals through which the rational creatures choose for good or evil and receive reward or instruction until all of them will freely choose for the Good and the αἰῶνες will come to an end in the ἀϊδιότης of the apokatastasis see P Tzamalikos Origen Cosmology and Ontology of Time Leiden-Boston 2006 272-373 with my review forthcoming in Rivista di Filosofia Neoscolastica 99 (2007) 17) For these stages see my philosophical essay in Gregorio di Nissa 18) laquo Th is concept has been expressed in the clearest and most plain way by the apostle John in these terms ldquoChildren we do not yet know what we shall be but when this is revealed usrdquo and he is certainly referring to the Saviour ldquowe shall be similar to himrdquo [1John 32] where he assuredly indicates the end of all things and expresses the hope of being similar to God which will be granted thanks to excellence of merits raquo Origen finally quotes Jesusrsquo words in John 1724 and 21 laquo Father I want them to be with me where I am raquo and laquo as you and I are one and the same thing raquo Here as Origen notes laquo it seems that likeness too so to say perfects itself and that there is a passage from likeness to unity undoubtedly because in the end ldquoGod is all in allrdquo [1Cor 1528] all creation will be set free from the slavery of corruption when it has received the glory of the Son of God and ldquoGod is all in allrdquo raquo 19) laquo long future αἰῶνες in which the dispersion and division of the one and only Prin-ciple will be reintegrated into one and the same end and likeness for those who tend to that end of blessedness wheremdashit is saidmdashldquothe enemies also will be submittedrdquo and ldquoGod will be all in allrdquo [1Cor 152528] raquo 20) laquo After the instruction given by the blessed powers He himself will teach them as they can understand him as Wisdom and he will reign over them until he will submit them to the Father when they are made able to receive God God for them will be all in all raquo



Another connection in which the references to Paulrsquos passage of 1Cor 1522-28 buttress logical arguments is that of the order of universal reintegration depending on each onersquos merits as is clear from Princ 175 quoting 1Cor 15242821 and in Princ 366 quoting 1Cor 152628 and displaying once again the theme of final unity laquo Every being will be reintegrated in order to be one and the same thing ltwith the other beings and Godgt [John 1721] and ldquoGod will be all in allrdquo [1Cor 1528] now this will not occur in one instant but slowly and gradually through infinite αἰῶνες because correction and purification will take place little by little and sin-gly Th us through innumerable orders constituted by those who make progress and after being enemies become reconciled with God we reach the last enemy Death so that this too may be destroyed and there may be no enemy left [1Cor 1526] raquo Th e idea that some creatures will make rapid progress whereas others will proceed very slowly which produces a large variety of situations is expressed by Origen also in Princ 3117 and 358 where he stresses that submission that is salvation must be wanted freely by each rational creature not imposed on all automatically so the times and ways will vary according to each onersquos merits and spiritual situation

Th e question of the order of final reintegration is also faced in Comm in Io 3226-39 on the basis of 1Cor 1522 and other scriptural quota-tions Origen starts from John 133 according to which laquo the Father has delivered everything into Jesusrsquo hands raquo interpreted by Origen in the strongest sense in parallel with other biblical passages such as Ps 1091 from which Origen deduces that the Father has handed even the enemies to Christ Th e second scriptural passage quoted by Origen in support of his faith in chaps 26-27 is 1Cor 1522 laquo As all die in Adam so all will be vivified in Christ raquo Origen reads this passage with anti-Gnostic aims he confirms the recompense of merits for each one quoting the immediately following section laquo each one in his own order raquo22 A little later he repeats

21) laquo At the end of the world some souls due to their inertness will move on more slowly others instead will fly swiftly owing to their zeal Since all have free will and can freely acquire virtues and vices some will be found in much worse conditions than now while others will attain a better condition because different movements and inclinations in both directions will bring different conditions When subsequently Christ has handed his reign to the Father [1Cor 1524] then these living beings too who had already become part of Christrsquos reign will be handed to the Father together with the rest Th us when God will be all in all [1Cor 1528] as those too are part of the all God will be in them as in all raquo 22) Origen as Gregory later goes on with the exegesis of the extensive Pauline passage stat-ing that Christ will hand the Kingdom to his Father after annihilating every hostile angelic



that the restoration will be realized in different times depending on each onersquos merits and in this sense he interprets John 1336 where Jesus tells Peter that he cannot follow him in that moment but that he will do it later Anyway in the end every creature will be restored and every enemy destroyed even Death (chaps 37-39)

Another important scriptural quotation connected to philosophical argument by Origen and then by Gregory is 1Cor 1542-44 concerning the character of the risen body23 called by Paul σῶμα πνευματικόν Origen recalls it in Princ 366 laquo Th e Apostle clearly says that the risen dead will not be given other bodies but they will receive the same bodies they had when alive and even better For he declares ldquoan animal body is sown a spiritual body will rise it is sown in corruptibility it will rise in incorrupt-ibility it is sown in weakness it will rise in power it is sown in ignominy it will rise in gloryrdquo raquo24

Th ese are only some few examplesmdashnotably those later taken up by Gregory of Nyssa more closelymdashfrom the many we could give indeed but I think they are enough to provide an overview of the method followed by Origen in his arguments in support of apokatastasis and of the impor-tance of Scripture in them above all Paulrsquos witness25

power as far as the last enemy Death (chaps 30-31) basing his claims on 1Cor 1524-26 laquo He will hand the Kingdom to God the Father after annihilating every power for it is necessary that he reigns until he has put all his enemies under his feet Th e last enemy to be annihilated will be Death raquo the passage ending with ὁ θεὸς τὰ πάντα ἐν πᾶσι In chaps 32-34 Origen insists on the submission to the Logos even on the part of death 23) For the question of a material or spiritual body for the risen dead in Origen see my Apocatas-tasi and my philosophical essay in my Gregorio di Nissa Ead ldquoTh reats Punishment and Hope Jeremiah Interpreted by Origen to Support the Doctrine of Apokatastasisrdquo delivered at the Annual Meeting of the SBL Washington 18-21 November 2006 forthcoming with references 24) Also in the preface sect 5 Origen quotes 1Cor 1542 25) Paul was himself to some extent hellenized although Christianityrsquos heart Jesusrsquo salvific cross and resurrection is equally laquo a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles raquo as Paul himself states in 1Cor 123 according to the NRSV Gr ἡμεῖς δὲ κηρύσσομεν Χριστὸν ἐσταυρωμένον ᾽Ιουδαίοις μὲν σκάνδαλον ἔθνεσιν δὲ μωρίαν Vulg nos autem praedicamus Christum crucifixum Iudaeis quidem scandalum gentibus autem stultitiam See ample documentation in my ldquoPhilosophen und Prediger pagane und christliche weise Maumlnner Der Apostel Paulusrdquo in E Amato B Borg R Burri S Fornaro I Ramelli J Schamp Dio von Prusa Der Philosoph und sein Bild Goumlttingen 2007 chap 4 Th e NT itself although it certainly has deep Jewish roots arose in a profoundly Hellenized world too and was soon known and read in Hellenistic cultural environments eg cf AJ Mal-herbe ldquoGraeco-Roman Religion and Philosophy and the NTrdquo in Th e NT and Its Modern Interpreters eds EJ EppndashG McRae Atlanta 1989 3-26 C Th iede Ein Fisch fuumlr den



Gregory in his De anima et resurrectione26 a philosophical writing of the most philosophical-minded of the Cappadocians27 and one of the main

roumlmischen Kaiser Muumlnchen 1998 IdndashU VictorndashU Stingelin Antike Kultur und Neues Tes-tament Basel 2003 TH Olbricht ldquoPrefacerdquo in Early Christianity and Classical Culture Comparative Studies in Honor of AJ Malherbe eds JT FitzgeraldndashIdndashLM White LeidenndashBoston 2003 1-12 and the whole volume with my review article ldquoLa ricerca attuale sui rapporti tra il primo Cristianesimo e la cultura classicardquo Espacio Tiempo y Forma ser II 17 (2006) 223-238 For knowledge of the NT among pagan cultivated persons see eg G Rinaldi La Bibbia dei pagani I-II Bologna 1998 my I romanzi antichi e il Cristianesimo contesto e contatti Madrid 2001 Ead ldquoTh e Ancient Novels and the NT Possibile Contactsrdquo Ancient Narrative 5 (2005) 41-68 EadldquoIndizi della conoscenza del Nuovo Testamento nei romanzieri antichi e in altri autori pagani del I sec dCrdquo in Il Contributo delle scienze storiche alla interpretazione del Nuovo Testamento eds E Dal CovolondashR Fusco Cittagrave del Vaticano 2005 146-169 Ead Un quindicennio di studi sulla prima diffusione dellrsquoAnnuncio cris-tiano e la sua prima ricezione in ambito paganordquo in E InnocentindashI Ramelli Gesugrave a Roma Commento al testo lucano degli Atti degli Apostoli Roma 20063 277-518 26) PG 4612-160 New edition translation commentary with critical essays and bibliog-raphy on Gregoryrsquos De anima in my Gregorio di Nissa Sullrsquoanima e la resurrezione All the translations of De anima (as those of In illud Tunc et Ipse Filius) here quoted are mine and based on my edition with textual critical notes (for some criteria on which it is based see my ldquoIl contributo della versione copta allrsquoedizione del De anima et resurrectione di Gregorio di Nissardquo Exemplaria Classica ns 10 [2006] 191-243) 27) An overview of the debate on the relationship between philosophy and Christianity in Gregory is provided eg by A Le Boulluec ldquoCorporeiteacute ou individualiteacute La condition finale des ressusciteacutes selon Greacutegoire de Nysserdquo Augustinianum 35 (1995) 307-326 E Per-oli ldquoGregory of Nyssa and the Neoplatonic Doctrine of the Soulrdquo Vigiliae Christianae 51 (1997) 117-139 a complete survey and discussion is provided in the philosophical essay in my Gregorio di Nissa Sullrsquoanima e la resurrezione Eg J Danieacutelou Platonisme et theacuteologie mystique Paris 19532 and M Pellegrino ldquoIl Platonismo di san Gregorio Nisseno nel dial-ogo intorno allrsquoanima e alla resurrezionerdquo Rivista di Filosofia Neoscolastica 30 (1938) 437-474 consider Gregory a fundamentally and consistently Christian thinker who harmonized Platonism and Christianity J Rist ldquoChristianisme et antiplatonisme un bilanrdquo in Hel-leacutenisme et Christianisme eds M NarcyndashEacute Rebillard Villeneuve drsquoAscq 2004 153-170 states that he and the other Platonic fathers consciously assumed the philosophical princi-ples and used them to provide Christian faith with a philosophical foundation to demon-strate their own coherence and criticize the adversaries P Chuvin ldquoChristianisation et reacutesistance dans les cultes traditionnelsrdquo ibid 15-34 too supports a deep and fruitful con-ciliation between Christianity and classical philosophy Other scholars instead emphasize contradictions in Gregory as a Platonist as H Cherniss Th e Platonism of Gregory of Nyssa New York 19712 who deems Gregory a philosopher more than a religious man as Macrina forced him to become Ch Apostolopoulos Phaedo Christianus Frankfurt aM 1986 regards him as a Neoplatonist in whose thought Christian elements are superimposed as merely accidental and even accepted for political opportunity with a laquo conscious disguise raquo laquo bewuszligte Tarnung raquo ibid 109 but see rev by JCM van Winden Vigiliae Christianae 41



works of his in which he discusses the question of apokatastasis28 together with In illud Tunc et ipse Filius and some additional sections of other works quotes several passages from the Bible and principally from Paul to support his view Apart from the Lazarus episode in Lukersquos Gospel with which we shall deal later we can recall many instances in the discourses of Macrina Gregoryrsquos sister and the chief character in this dialogue the other being Gregory himself who often contradicts her purely to reinforce the dialectic structure

A key quotation in 72B and again in 136A is Phil 29-1029 on the eventual bending of all knees in heaven on earth and under the earth before Christ a quotation that appears in all periods of Gregoryrsquos production In 72B Gregory sees there an allusion to the ultimate salvation of all rational creatures angels humans andmdashas already Origen maintainedmdasheven dae-mons who laquo after long cycles of ages when evil will have vanished and there will remain nothing else than the Good raquo will return to God and submit to Christ30 For Gregory as already for Origen the underlying idea

(1987) 191-197 J DanieacuteloundashM AltenburgerndashU Schramm Hrsg Gregor von Nyssa und die Philosophie Leiden 1976 and many other studies that I mention in my Gregorio di Nissa 28) For complete documentation on apokatastasis in Gregory see J Danieacutelou Lrsquoapocatastase chez Saint Greacutegoire de Nysse Rech Science Religieuse 30 3 (Juillet 1940) Id Lrsquoecirctre et le temps chez Greacutegoire de Nysse Leiden 1970 221-226 CN Tsirpanlis Th e concept of universal salva-tion in Saint Gregory of Nyssa in Studia Patristica XVII 3 (1982) 1131-1144 HM Meiss-ner Rhetorik und Th eologie der Dialog Gregors von Nyssa De anima et resurrectione Frankfurt aM 1991 82 356-361 M Ludlow Universal Salvation in particular chaps 1-3 C Mores-chini Storia della filosofia patristica Brescia 2004 580 608-609 734 G Ferro Garel Gre-gorio di Nissa Lrsquoesperienza mistica il simbolismo il progresso spirituale Torino 2004 6 my Gregorio di Nissa Sullrsquoanima e la resurrezione Ead ldquoNote sulla continuitagrave della dottrina dellrsquoapocatastasi in Gregorio di Nissardquo Archaeus 10 (2006) 105-145 R Simini ldquoLa spe-ranza cristiana nel dialogo De anima et resurrectionerdquo Nicolaus 33 (2006) 61-73 29) For the exegesis of this passage in Gregory see Danieacutelou Lrsquoecirctre et le temps 69-73 30) 72B laquo Since three are the conditions of rational naturemdashone which since the beginning has been allotted the incorporeal life and which we call ldquoangelicrdquo the other tied to flesh which we call ldquohumanrdquo and the third freed from flesh thanks to deathmdash I think that the divine Apostle intended to indicate that general harmony of all rational nature that one day there will be in the Good calling ldquoheavenlyrdquo what is angelical and incorporeal and ldquoearthlyrdquo what is joined to a body and referring the ldquounderworldrdquo to what is separate from the body or else if among rational beings we can see besides those mentioned some other nature too which if one wished to call of ldquodemonsrdquo or ldquospiritsrdquo or anything else of the sort we would have nothing to object a nature that voluntarily fell away from the best lot and renouncing Beauty and the Good instead of these put in herself the thoughts coming from their contrary it is this nature that some say the Apostle included among the creatures of



is that all rational creaturesrsquo submission to God coincides with their salva-tion which is also the core concept of Gregoryrsquos In illud Tunc et ipse Filius as we shall see

Another group of quotations from the New Testament in reference to apokatastasis in De anima is related to the problem of purification through pains both in this and in the next world In 97B-100C Macrina demon-strates that the first and foremost cause of purification is not punishment but Godrsquos saving will who attracts the soul to himself with the purpose of reciprocal union if the soul is pure it is pulled up without impediments otherwise it first has to be purified from the waste of evil in which case suffering is involved but as a mere side effect31 In 100-105A Macrina indicates the measure and aim of this cathartic process the complete extinction of evil and vice (ὁ παντελὴς ἀφανισμὸς τῆς κακίας) and she makes use of the Gospelrsquos parable of the inept servant in Mt 1823-25 and Lk 741 to argue that purification is necessary and must be proportional to the measure of impurity and evil accumulated by each individual in order that each soul can attain virtue which coincides with the goal of purification and is assimilation to God Such ὁμοίωσις πρὸς τὸ θεῖον is a well known Platonic ideal (Th eaet 176A) passed into Christian thought thanks to Clement of Alexandria and Origen and then resumed by Gregory32 and

the underworld meaning that when one day after long cycles of ages evil has vanished there will remain nothing else but Good and even those creatures will admit in concord and unanim-ity Christrsquos lordship raquo 136A laquo Th e Apostle expressing the harmony of the whole universe with Good means rather transparently what follows ldquoEvery knee will bend in front of him of heavenly and earthly creatures and of those of the underworld and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is the Lord for God the Fatherrsquos gloryrdquo through the ldquohornsrdquo signifying the angelic and heavenly breed and through the rest the intellectual creatures coming after the angels ie us who will be all involved in one and the same big feast charac-terized by harmony raquo 31) 100 C laquo SomdashI saidmdash as it seems it is not that Godrsquos judgment brings as its principal aim punishment to those who sinned but for his part as your argument has proved God exclusively produces good distinguishing it from evil and pulling up the persons to him-self for their participation in blessedness whereas the violent separation of that which was united and attached turns out to be painful to him who is pulled raquo 32) See also Gregoryrsquos De vita Mosis 2251-252318 and his first homily on the Song of Songs laquo each one must make himself similar to God raquo laquo become similar to him who is truly beautiful and good raquo etc Th is principle was widespread in the imperial age Plotinus in particular took it up in 699 where the philosopher in his ascent to God becomes God himself (the Platonic and Neoplatonic θέωσις) For Origen see eg Princ 361 the con-cept was carried on by his disciple Gregory the Wonderworker precisely in his panegyric for



joined to the biblical ὁμοίωσις in combination with εἰκών in Gen 126 a crucial conception in Patristic thought and above all in our Cappadocian Father33

Macrinarsquos inquiry and argument is confirmed by the interpretation of several scriptural passages and chiefly of a fundamental statement by Paul already used by Origen many times in support of apokatastasis 1Cor 1528 about Godrsquos eschatological presence as laquo all in all raquo πάντα ἐν πᾶσι Th is is precisely what leads Macrina to conclude that the ultimate σκοπός of purification is the complete and definitive annihilation of evil once and for all in the end since it has no ontological positive existence a Platonic doctrine very important already in Origen Letrsquos quote the most important passages

Evil must necessarily be eliminated absolutely and in every respect once and for all from all that is and since in fact it is not neither will it have to exist at all For as evil does not exist in its nature outside will once each will has come to be in God evil will be reduced to complete disappearance because no receptacle will be left for it Godrsquos right judgment is applied to all and extends the time of extinction of the debt according to its amount without neglecting even the tiniest debts [cf Mt 1823-25 Lk 741] through necessary suffering he extinguishes the debt accumulated by participating in miserable and painful things and so [the sinner] after getting rid of all that is alien to himself and taking off the shame deriving from debts can achieve a condition of freedom and confidence34 Now freedom is assimilation to what has no master and has absolute power and at the beginning it was given us by God but then it was covered and hidden by the shame of debts Th us as a consequence each one who is free will adapt him-self to what is similar to him but virtue has no masters therefore each one who is free will turn out to be in virtue Now Godrsquos nature is the source of all virtue so in it there will be those who have attained freedom from evil so that as the Apostle says laquo God will be all in all raquo [1Cor 1528] Th is statement actually seems to me to provide confirmation to the idea stated previously because it affirms that God will be both all and in all Godrsquos nature will become all to us and will take the place of

his master 12148 laquo I think that everyonersquos end and goal and realization of its true being is nothing else but to make oneself similar to God through purification to get close to him and to remain in him raquo (on this writing see with interesting interpretation M Rizzi Gre-gorio il Taumaturgo () Encomio di Origene Milano 2002 and JW Trigg ldquoGodrsquos Marvel-ous Oikonomiardquo Journal of Early Christian Studies 9 [2001] 27-52) 33) For ὁμοίωσις θεῷ and εἰκὼν καὶ ὁμοίωσις in Gregory see my philosophical essay in my Gregorio di Nissa Sullrsquoanima e la resurrezione 34) Although it is not an exact Scriptural quotation these are both Pauline concepts for ἐλευθερία see especially Rom 821 Gal 5113 also 1Cor 1029 2Cor 317 for παρρησία see above all Eph 312 619 Col 215 also 2Cor 312 74 Phil 120 1Tim 313



all distributing itself in a way that will be suitable to the needs of that life And from divine revelation it is clear that God for those who deserve it is place house garment food drink light richness reign and whatever it is possible to think and express among those things that contribute to a good life for us Well he who is all also is in all And in this it seems to me that Scripture teaches the complete disappearance of evil [κακία] For if in all beings there will be God clearly in them there will not be evil (An et res 101-104)

In the sixth and last part of the dialogue (129A-160C)35 which crowns the whole work and is focused on resurrection and universal restoration Mac-rina resolves several questions dealing with the future life with the support of Scripture both the Old and the New Testament especially the Gospels and Paul Ps 10320-30 (129C-132A)36 Ps 11727 with the interpretation of the feast of Sukkoth (Gr σκηναί ldquotentsrdquo 132A-136A) Ez 371-14 with the famous vision of the dry bones wrapped again in flesh and vivified by God in 136AB Paulrsquos 1Cor 1552 and 1Th ess 416 in 136C37 finally the Gospels (136C-137A) whose μαρτυρία is presented as the culminat-ing point of a klimax In fact Jesus who is the Logos attested to resurrec-tion not only in words (λόγῳ) but also in fact directly realizing it (ἐνεργεῖ)38 Some sections offer an allegorical exegesis and we shall treat them subsequently Other key quotations from Paul used by Macrina in support of her arguments are to be found in 1Cor 1535-52 with the description of the raised body as a glorious and spiritual body in a set of comparisons with the earthly body she uses this passage to prove that each one will be given back his own body but with characteristics different from those of the fleshly body with a laquo more magnificent complexion raquo (153C) Macrina expands on Paulrsquos description of the spiritual body and grounds her own exposition in it39 exactly as Origen did in Princ 366

35) I follow the division proposed by Meissner Rhetorik und Th eologie 343-370 36) Cf J Danieacutelou Lrsquoecirctre et le temps 211 37) 1Th ess 416 could be interpreted as a restriction of the promise of resurrection only to those who ldquodied in Christrdquo but see D Konstanrsquos and my ldquoTh e Syntax of ἐν Χριστῷ in 1Th ess 416rdquo forthcoming in the Journal of Biblical Literature it is probable that we should read not laquo those who died in Christ will rise raquo but laquo those who died will rise in Christ raquo 38) Th e usage of the verb ἐνεργέω in Gregory is influenced by that of Origen on which see A Bastit-Kalinowska ldquolsquoAgir dansrsquo autour de lrsquoemploi drsquoenergein dans lrsquooeuvre et lrsquoexeacutegegravese drsquoOrigegravenerdquo Adamantius 10 (2004) 123-137 39) See F Altermath Du corps psychique au corps spirituel Interpreacutetation de 1Cor 15 35-49 par les auteurs chreacutetiens des quatre premiers siegravecles Tuumlbingen 1977 esp 181-190 for the exegesis of this passage in Gregory



relying on the same Pauline passage for the very same argument Th e glori-ous body of 1Cor 1552 wrapped in incorruptibility as Macrina says explicitly quoting Paul in 155D and 157A will cause no more sins and will no longer prevent the soul from remaining in the Good Its new char-acteristics incorruptibility glory honour power drawn from Paulrsquos text are typical of Godrsquos nature originally they also belonged to the human being as εἰκών of God and then they are hoped for again for the future (157AB) the same concept based on Paulrsquos account of the spiritual body concludes the whole dialogue in 160D laquo Once those passions have been purified and have vanished thanks to the necessary treatment imparted with care by means of the therapy of fire the place of those deficiencies will be taken by each of the respective realities that are conceived in a positive sense incorruptibility life strength grace glory and any other prerogative of this kind that we conjecture it is possible to contemplate both in God himself and in his εἰκών that is human nature raquo In fact Godrsquos image will shine forth again in every human being in the eventual restoration of all

In his In illud Tunc et ipse Filius written several years after De anima40 but in perfect continuity with it Gregory endeavours to explain precisely a Scriptural passage 1Cor 1528 about the final submission of all crea-tures to Christ and that of Christ to the Father so that God will be laquo all in all raquo41 a passage constantly quoted by Origen and also by Gregory in De

40) It was probably composed between 385 and 393 and more likely in the latest years of this interval J Danieacutelou ldquoLa chronologie des oeuvres de Greacutegoire de Nysserdquo Studia Patris-tica 7 (1966) 187 dated it to the third period of Gregoryrsquos production (385 to 390) JK Downing GNO III 2 pp 3-28 (the edition to which I refer here) and Id Th e Treatise of Gregory of Nyssa In Illud Tunc et ipse Filius Diss Harvard University Cambridge MA 1947 summarized in Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 58-59 (1948) 223 proposed 383 G Maspero La Trinitagrave e lrsquouomo LrsquoAd Ablabium di Gregorio di Nissa Roma 2004 49 observes that the arguments adduced by Downing are not sufficient to date In illud to 383 rather than 385 or later and ibid 39 and 256 points out that in this treatise there is the theme of μίμησις which is more present and highlighted in the works of the last period Th e authenticity of the brief treatise is beyond question See also C MacCambley ldquolsquoWhen (the Father) Will Subject All Th ings to (the Son) Th en (the Son) Himself Will Be Sub-jected to Him (the Father) Who Subjects All Th ings to Himrsquordquo Greek Orthodox Th eological Review 28 (1983) 1-15 and A Penati Bernardini Gregorio di Nissa Commento al Nuovo Testamento translation and notes Roma 1992 20 ss 41) Τότε καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ υἱὸς ὑποταγήσεται τῷ ὑποτάξαντι αὐτῷ τὰ πάντα ἵνα ᾖ ὁ θεὸς τὰ πάντα ἐν πᾶσι laquo Th en the Son himself will also submit to him who will have subdued him all beings so that God will be all in all raquo



anima as we have seen as evidence for universal salvation In this writing Gregory offers an eschatological picture of universal restoration that is wholly coincident with that of De anima and inspired by Origenrsquos concep-tions often with very close correspondences even ad verbum But the whole writing which is exegetical in its nature although at the same time displaying philosophical arguments too is interwoven with Scriptural quotations particularly from the New Testament and more especially from Paul A significant parallel with Origen who comments on the same Pauline passage that constitutes the title of Gregoryrsquos treatise is to be found in the prologue (p 3 Downing) and confronts the theological problem of the sense of the Sonrsquos submission it is necessary to interpret Paulrsquos passage without leaving room for theories that make the Son inferior to the Father42 For laquo the σκοπός of our submission to God is σωτηρία raquo as Gregory puts it in a thesis that is central to the whole of In Illud and derives from Origen Th e Alexandrian exegete whom Gregory knew very well in Princ 356-7 and Comm Io 650-60 interprets Paulrsquos verse in the very same way as we have seen

Next Gregory reflects on the whole context of 1Cor 1528 as he also does in De an et res 152B-156B and De hom opif 224D in 1Cor 1535 the Corinthians ask how the dead can rise and with what body Gregory just like Paul reminds them that God was able to create bodies ex nihilo without a substratum of pre-existent matter laquo Godrsquos will [τὸ θεῖον θέλημα] became matter and the substance of creatures raquo (p 114-9 Downing)43 a fortiori he will be able to reshape bodies that had already been created And on 1110ff Downing Gregory recalls 1Cor 1547-49 according to which as Adamrsquos fall produced as a consequence death for all in the same way Christrsquos redemption has provided life for all with the transmission of good from one to all44 Gregory stresses the universality of future vivification

42) Th eodoret commenting on 1Cor in PG 82357 attests that both Arians and Eunomi-ans used Paulrsquos passage to support their own subordinationalist doctrines cf MacCambley ldquoWhen (the Father)rdquo 1-15 and JT Lienhard ldquoTh e Exegesis of 1Cor 1528 from Marcellus of Ancyra to Th eodoret of Cyrusrdquo Vigiliae Christianae 37 (1983) 340-359 43) Υλη καὶ οὐσία τῶν δημιουργημάτων Cf more extensively Gregoryrsquos Apol in Hex PG 4469AC 44) Adam laquo was dissolved because of sin consequently his descendants also became all earthly and mortal but the human being is reconstituted anew [ἀναστοιχειοῦται] in its elements from a mortal condition to immortality In the same way good arose in human nature flowing from one to all precisely as evil had flowed from one to the whole stock



presented by him as the terminal point of our hopes τὸ πέρας τῶν ἐλπιζομένων45 On p 1317ff Downing he describes this state as charac-terized by the final vanishing of evil one of the pillars of Origenrsquos eschatol-ogy supported by Gregory elsewhere too46 And once again he joins his argument to the exegesis of Paulrsquos passage what the Apostle means when he speaks of the final submission of all to Christ and of Christ to the Father is this laquo One day the nature of evil will pass to non-being [πρὸς τὸ μὴ ὄν] after disappearing completely from being and divine and pure Goodness will enfold in itself every rational nature [πᾶσαν λογικὴν φύσιν] and none of those who have come to being thanks to God will fall outside Godrsquos kingdom [μηδενὸς τῶν παρὰ θεοῦ γεγονότων τῆς βασιλείας τοῦ θεοῦ ἀποπίπτοντος] when once all evil that is mixed up with the beings has been consumed as a kind of waste of nature consumed through the fusion of purifying fire every being [πᾶν] that originated from God will return precisely as it was from the beginning [ἐξ ἀρχῆς] when it had not yet received evil raquo

Th e subsequent argument on p 15 Downing is entirely grounded in Paulrsquos writings and assembles six quotations from them in five lines the phrases laquo first fruit of the dead raquo and laquo first born from the dead raquo re-echo 1Cor 1520 Col 118 and Acts 224 the idea that Christ has annihilated the power of death in himself seems to be a reminiscence of 2Tim 110 and Hebr 214 the whole phrase also recalls 1Cor 1524 Th e subject already discussed by Origen is the order in which each one will receive goodness in himself and follow Christ who has opened the way this will be in the order of each onersquos merits and faculties in this way the value of human free will too is safe In fact Gregory says even though the end will be the same for all in the general apokatastasis when each one has destroyed in himself the power of death imitating Christ in alienation from evil the order in which human perfection will be attainedmdashon the model of Christ ἀπαρχὴ τῆς φύσεως ἡμῶνmdashwill depend on each onersquos merits Th us Gregory dwells upon the description of this process first there will come those who are already perfect then the others more and

as we had carried the image of the earthly man so we shall also carry that of the heavenly man raquo In his De anima Gregory treats very specifically the possibility and modalities of that ἀναστοιχείωσις 45) Cf its discussion already in De an et res 96A-97A 46) In De an et res 72B and in Orat cat PG 4569B



more imperfect according to the conception of the descending gradation of the Good47 We have seen that already Origen maintained the same concept of order in the access to blessedness according to each onersquos mer-its and both in De principiis and in his Commentary on John he based his argument on many scriptural quotations and above all Paulrsquos phrase laquo each one in his place raquo (1Cor 1522)

Also in the following section (p 161-8 Downing) Gregory makes ample use of Paul when he affirms that the advance of the Good ἡ τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ πρόοδος will even reach the πέρας τοῦ κακοῦ and will make it totally dis-appear (ἐξαφανίζω is a strong verb) nothing opposed to Good will remain and divine life extending through all beings (διὰ πάντων) will make death absolutely vanish from them48 Th is complete vanishing of evil from all creatures is precisely the τέλος of our hopes as Gregory notes with a remi-niscence of Col 15 Th is will be possible because before the destruction of evil there will be that of sin thanks to which death obtained its lordship over humankind according to Rom 512 Immediately afterward Gregory introduces the concept of body always drawing inspiration from Paul (p 1612-13 Downing) resuming the fundamental question of the treatisemdashwhat the eventual ὑποταγή of all to God really ismdash and answering that it is the complete alienation from evil ἡ παντελὴς τοῦ κακοῦ ἀλλοτρίωσις he explains that once we all (πάντες) have become far removed from evil then laquo the whole mass of human nature raquo (ὅλον τὸ φύραμα τῆς φύσεως)49 joined to its ἀπαρχή and become one and the same body according to Rom 1116 will receive in itself only the hegemony of Good Th us when laquo the entire body of our nature raquo (πᾶν τὸ τῆς φύσεως ἡμῶν σῶμα) has merged with Godrsquos immortal nature the Sonrsquos submission will take place through us (δι᾽ ἡμῶν) in that such submission will be accomplished by the Sonrsquos body that is the entire human nature

Th e New Testament basis for Gregoryrsquos discourse is evident in the fol-lowing section too (p 1623-1712 Downing) which presents itself as an exegesis of Paulrsquos words it begins with the statement laquo Th e meaning of the teachings offered by Paul the great is to my mind as follows raquo and goes

47) ῾Η τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ ὑπόβασις an idea also found in the Neoplatonists well known to Greg-ory of Nyssa esp Plotinus 18719 48) Th e iteration of ἐξαφανίζω produces an impressive cumulative effect further empha-sized by the addition of καθόλου laquo definitely wholly raquo 49) For this concept in Gregory with further documentation see J Zachhuber ldquoPhyrama (Masa)rdquo in Diccionario de san Gregorio 733-737



on with a section (p 17 Downing) in which the elements taken from Ori-gen are numerous and essential both in the quotations from Paul and in the way in which they are interpreted the parallels are indeed uninter-rupted Gregory quotes 1Cor 1522-28 as already Origen had done in order to confirm the doctrine of apokatastasis through the Apostlersquos author-ity laquo As all die in Adam so all will also be vivified in Christmdasheach one however in his order the first fruit is Christ then those who belong to Christ in his Parousia and then the τέλος will come when he will hand the kingdom to God the Father once he has annihilated every principality force and power it will be necessary in fact that he continues reigning until he has put all his enemies under his feet the last enemy to be annihi-lated will be death And once he has submitted everything to himself then he also will submit to him who has submitted everything to him in order that God may be all in all raquo Paulrsquos passage and especially its last phrase that laquo God may be all in all raquo is often quoted by Origen as evidence for apokatastasis Gregory explains (p 1713-21 Downing) that God will be all in all when in all beings there will be no evil left so Paulrsquos phrase expresses the non-substantiality of evil τὸ τῆς κακίας ἀνύπαρκτον For God will be all in all when nothing evil will be visible in beings since it is impossible that God may be ἐν κακῷ Th us either God will not be in all in case anything evil might remain among creatures or if we have to believe that he will really be in all then together with this belief we get the demonstration that nothing evil (μηδὲν κακόν) will remain Th e same remarks in the connection with the interpretation of the same Pauline passage can be found already in Origen Princ 362-3 quoted above which Gregory follows ad verbum Gregory comments on the last verse of Paulrsquos passage on p 181-18 Downing expressing many ideas already set forth in De an et res 104 where he interprets the same verse 1Cor 1528 on Godrsquos presence as laquo all in all raquo Gregory maintains that this indicates laquo the simplicity and uniformity of the life that we hope for raquo for the variety and multiplicity characterizing the present life will dissolve because we shall have God alone instead of all the various objects of our needs Gre-gory here interprets Paulrsquos statement in the light of the Neoplatonic motive of return to unity50 God in fact will be for us food and drink garment

50) See my ldquoUno-moltirdquo and Ead ldquoEmanatismordquo in Enciclopedia fi losofica new edition dir V Melchiorre IV Milan 2006 3319-3322 for the presence of Neoplatonic elements in Gregoryrsquos thought see my philosophical essay in my Gregorio di Nissa Sullrsquoanima e la



house air and again richness joy beauty health vigour wisdom glory blessedness and all good those who are in God have everything in that they have God himself Now to have God means nothing else than to become one and the same thing with God ἑνωθῆναι τῷ θεῷ which in turn is to become one body with God to be σύσσωμος with Godmdasha clear echo of Eph 36mdash and this will occur when all will constitute the one and same body of Christ (ἓν σῶμα) through participation διὰ τῆς μετουσίας as Gregory says recalling 1Cor 1017 ἓν σῶμα οἱ πολλοί ἐσμεν ἐκ τοῦ ἑνὸς ἄρτου μετέχομεν

Now Gregory argues (p 1919-207 Downing) it is this body that will submit to the Fathermdashand this will be Christrsquos final submission to himmdash this body which is the Church according to Col 124-25 τὸ σῶμα αὐτοῦ ὅ ἐστι ἡ ἐκκλησία Th is section actually is rich both in argument and in references to Scripture in fact it is a mosaic of quotations from Paul As for the argument brought forth it is evident that the equation between the whole human nature and Christrsquos body and then between the latter and the Church leads Gregory to affirm the absolute universality of the Church which will comprise in this way the entire human nature whose final salvation is affirmed although with differences of times and modali-ties in the course of purification and conversion Gregory also evokes 1Cor 1227 where Paul reminds the Corinthians that they are Christrsquos body and his limbs and then Eph 45-16 saying that Christrsquos body is built up ἐν ἀγάπῃ since as Gregory explains Christ constitutes himself through those who progressively join themselves to faith διὰ τῶν ἀεὶ προστιθεμένων τῇ πίστει With further Pauline reminiscences (Eph 220 413 already quoted by Origen in Princ 16 for apokatastasis) Gregory asserts that all will con-tribute to this construction and laquo will be built up and edified raquo (πάντων ἐποικοδομηθέντων) and all (οἱ πάντες) will reach unity of faith and knowl-edge so to make up Christ as perfect man in his wholeness Th en Gregory develops Eph 416 and 1Cor 1220-21 specifying that each one will con-stitute a different member of Christrsquos body according to his faculties any-way he confirms that all will be part of Christrsquos bodymdashall οἱ πάντες a phrase that is significantly repeated three times in this paragraphmdash given that Christ makes all (ποιεῖται τοὺς πάντας) limbs of its own body

In the following section (p 208-24 Downing) Gregory combines both traces of Hellenistic philosophical doctrines and allusions to Paul who as

resurrezione and also shortly A Meredith ldquoNeoplatonismordquo in Diccionario de san Grego-rio 655-657 I Pochoshajew ldquoPlotinordquo ibid 749-753 Id ldquoPorfiriordquo ibid 753-757



it seems was already partly acquainted with such doctrines51 Gregory envisages the eschatological harmony of the whole creation which will be possible because Christ after becoming one and the same thing with us through all (διὰ πάντων) makes all that is ours his own and conciliates it to himself as Gregory says using the terminology of Stoic οἰκείωσις52 already widely employed by Origen53 τὰ ἡμέτερα οἰκειοῦται πάντα Th is way the whole of creation (πᾶσα ἡ κτίσις) will be in harmony with itself ὁμόφωνος πρὸς ἑαυτήν and according to Phil 210-11 already quoted by Gregory before every knee of all beings will bend in heaven on earth or in the underworld and every tongue will proclaim that Christ is the Lord All will be saved because all sooner or later will believe not only the whole human nature but the entire creation will become one and the same body πάσης τῆς κτίσεως ἓν σῶμα γενομένης Gregory depends on Origen Princ 46 who as we have seen also quotes Phil 210-11 and interprets the universal submission of all to Christ as universal salvation of all angels humans and demons in heaven on earth and in the underworld Th en

51) See above note 25 52) See SG Pembroke ldquoOikeiosisrdquo in Problems in Stoicism ed AA Long London 1971 114-149 G Striker ldquoTh e Role of oikeiosis in Stoic Ethicsrdquo Oxford Studies in Ancient Phi-losophy 1 (1983) 145-167 T Engberg-Pedersen ldquoDiscovering the Good Oikeiosis and Kathekonta in Stoic Ethicsrdquo in Th e Norms of Nature eds M SchofieldndashG Striker Cam-bridgendashParis 1986 145-183 Id Th e Stoic Th eory of Oikeiosis Aarhus 1990 M Isnardi Parente ldquoIerocle stoico Oikeiosis e doveri socialirdquo in Aufstieg und Niedergang der Roumlmischen Welt II363 BerlinndashNew York 1989 2201-2226 G Schoumlnrich ldquoOikeiosis Zur Aktual-itaumlt eines stoischen Grundbegriffsrdquo Philosophisches Jahrbuch 96 (1989) 34-51 M Whitlock Blundell ldquoParental Nature and Stoic Oikeiosisrdquo Ancient Philosophy 10 (1990) 221-242 R Radice Oikeiosis Ricerche sul fondamento del pensiero stoico e sulla sua genesi Milano 2000 On the presence of Stoicism in Gregory see briefly I Pochoshajew ldquoEstoicismordquo in Dic-cionario de san Gregorio de Nisa 382-383 Its presence in Origen is broadly discussed by Tzamalikos Origen passim 53) Apart from related forms such as οἰκειότης we find numerous occurrences of οἰκειόω in Origen with exactly the same meaning as in Gregory ldquoto make onersquos own familiar to conciliaterdquo also in reference to Christmdashas then will be seen in Gregorymdashin relation to mortal realities C Cels 354 426 84 Christ conciliates humanity with God in the pas-sive diathesis the verb is used in Comm in Io 6117 in reference to God conciliated and ldquomade ownrdquo to humans οἰκειωθεὶς τοῖς ἁγίοις πνεῦμα οἰκειωθὲν τοῖς προφήταις Clement Origenrsquos master had already used this verb in the sense of ldquoto reconcilerdquo in Strom 77 about humans toward God Gregory of Nazianzus who also knew Origenrsquos writings very well and probably had a penchant toward apokatastasis (see my Apocatastasi section devoted to him) uses οἰκειόω for Christ who takes on the faults of human beings (or 305) τὴν ἀφροσύνην ἡμῶν καὶ τὸ πλημμελὲς οἰκειοῦται



on p 2025-2121 Downing Gregory draws very important consequences from what he has demonstrated so far if every being (πᾶν) that comes to be in Christ is saved and if submission means salvation as Ps 712 sug-gests and if all will be in Christ who will subsume all in his body then we must think that no being will remain outside of those saved μηδὲν ἔξω τῶν σῳζομένων FormdashGregory arguesmdashgiven the total elimination (καθαίρεσις) of death and the submission to the Son at a certain moment death will no longer exist and all will turn out to be in life πάντες ἐν ζωῇ because all will be in Christ and Christ is life according to his own statement in John 1125 ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ἀνάστασις καὶ ἡ ζωή For this reason Christ is called Μεσίτης between God and humans in 1Tim 25 because he who is in the Father and has come among humans accomplishes the mediation (μεσιτεία) in that he unifies all (πάντας ἑνῶσαι) in himself and through himself to the Father Here Gregory relies again on John 1721 laquo in order that all may be one and the same thing [πάντες ἕν] one and the same thing [ἕν] in us raquo and explains that Christ who is in the Father having joined us to himself in unity [ἑνῶσας] accomplishes our union with the Father (p 2122ff Downing) Gregory after quoting the immediate con-tinuation of the above mentioned passage of John (1722 laquo Th e glory you gave me I have given them raquo) introduces a further element in his argu-ment the Holy Spirit equivalent to the glory that Christ had before crea-tion according to John 175 substantiates the above mentioned unity for as humans and God were separate because of sin only the Spirit in its unity could join them again the Spiritrsquos role was fundamental in human reditus already in Origen54 With no interruption Gregory goes on in the exegesis of the passage (John 172123) in which moreover he inserts reminiscences of John 1030 and other similar loci of the same author laquo so that they may be one and the same thing just as we are one [ἕν] for you and I are one [ἕν] in order that they may be made perfect as far as to con-stitute a unity [ἕν] raquo Gregory quoting John 1722 explains that all become one and the same thing πάντας ἓν γενέσθαι in unity with Christ and God who are one thanks to Christ who is in them all Drawing inspiration from John 1723 Gregory demonstrates that if the Father loves humankind

54) Cf M Bayer Moser Teacher of Holiness Th e Holy Spirit in Origenrsquos Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans Piscataway NJ 2005 with my review in Augustinianum 46 (2006) 265-269 Paulrsquos Letter to the Romans about the relationship between Christ and the Spirit (Rm 89) is quoted by Gregory too in the passage we are examining



and if the Father loves the Son and in the Son are present all of us humans (πάντες) it follows that the Father loves us in that we are the Sonrsquos body and laquo the Sonrsquos submission to the Father indicates the knowledge of Being and at the same time the salvation of the entire human nature [σωτηρία πάσης ἀνθρωπίνης φύσεως] raquo We should notice once again the affirmation of the universal character of final salvation which will involve the whole of human nature all though at different times will attain the true knowl-edge of God who is the true Being and is Good itself opposed to evil which is μὴ ὄν according to Gregoryrsquos theory of non-substantiality of evil these also are reflections evidently derived from Origen55

Th e major concepts expressed so far are further confirmed by Gregory in several quotations from Paul on p 2319ff Downing especially Gal 219-20 laquo I have been crucified together with Christ and it is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me raquo and 2Cor 133 where Paul main-tains that it is Christ who speaks in him 1Cor 159 and Gal 113 where he recounts his conversion from persecutor of the Christians to Christrsquos apostle Paulrsquos transformation as far as to become one with Christ took place thanks to his ὑποταγή to God a submission which is for us laquo the origin of all goods raquo Now Gregoryrsquos point (p 2418ff Downing) is that what is said about Paul will logically fit the whole of created human nature πάσῃ τῇ κτίσει τῶν ἀνθρώπων when as Jesus asserts in Mk 1310 and 1615 and in Mt 2819 the Gospel has reached every part of the world All (πάντες) will reject the old manmdashaccording to Col 39 and Eph 422mdashand will receive in themselves the Lord who activates the good things (τὰ ἀγαθὰ ἐνεργεῖ) in them Now of all goods the most important is salva-tion which can be attained thanks to alienation from evil derived from submission and union to God

Th e last stage of Gregoryrsquos argumentation (p 2610ff Downing) is devoted to the eschatological fate of Godrsquos enemies Gregory makes a strong case that not even their submission is to be seen as forced and invol-untary but must be interpreted as σωτηρία as well He draws a distinction on the basis of Paulrsquos own terminology between what will submit (ὑποταγήσεσθαι) and what will be annihilated (καταργηγθήσεσθαι) the latter will be the case of the enemy of all nature ie death and together with this the principle of all sin which produced death and its power It is interesting to compare this distinction with that drawn by Origen in

55) Cf my Gregorio di Nissa introductory essay



Princ 365 between the complete annihilation of laquo enemy will raquo ie sin and of what derives from it ie death and the restoration of the created substance of all those who have sinned including the devil who is not to be saved as devil because what was enemy and death and evil will perish whereas he himself as created by God and endowed with a substance by him will return to his original condition before his sin reintegrated into the Good For he will not be annihilated in his substance which was made by God and can by no means be destroyed56 And all the more interesting is it that Origen sets forth this view precisely in his exegesis of 1Cor 152657 the same passage commented on by Gregory In Princ 365 in fact Ori-gen explains laquo ldquoeven the last enemy who is called deathrdquo will be destroyed so that there may be nothing painful left when death will no more exist nothing opposed ldquowhen there will be no enemy leftrdquo But we must under-stand the last enemyrsquos destruction not as annihilation of his substance which has been made by God but as annihilation of the enemyrsquos inclina-tion and will originated not by God but by the enemy himself Hence he will be destroyed not so as to cease existing but to be no longer enemy and death raquo58

56) For the salvation of the devil according to Origen see at least H Crouzel ldquoA Letter from Origen lsquoTo Friends in Alexandriarsquordquo in Th e Heritage of the Early Church Meacutelanges GV Florowsky ed D NeimanndashM Schatkin Roma 1973 135-150 YM Duval ldquoJeacuterocircme et Origegravene avant la querelle origeacuteniste La cure et la gueacuterison ultime du monde et du diable dans lrsquoIn Nahumrdquo Augustinianum 24 (1984) 471-494 D Satran ldquoTh e salvation of the Devilrdquo Studia Patristica 23 (1989) 171-177 A Monaci ldquoLa demonologia di Origenerdquo in Origeniana quinta Leuven 1992 320-325 H Crouzel ldquoDiable et deacutemons dans les homeacute-lies drsquoOrigegravenerdquo Bulletin de Litteacuterature Eccleacutesiastique 95 (1994) 303-331 G Bunge ldquoCreacuteeacute pour ecirctrerdquo ibid 98 (1997) 21-29 my ldquoLa coerenza della soteriologia origenianardquo 57) Th e same Pauline passage is quoted by Origen also in Comm in Matth 1233 Hom in Jos 84 in Lev 911 in Jer 183 58) Th is is in Origen the most important affirmation of the final salvation of the devil also recognized by H Crouzel ldquoApocatastase chez Origegravenerdquo in Origeniana Quarta ed L Lies Innsbruck 1985 282-290 (cf Id Le fin dernier selon Origegravene Aldershot 1990) Satran ldquoTh e Salvation of the Devilrdquo 171-177 Bunge ldquoCreacuteeacute pour ecirctrerdquo 21-29 according to whom Origenrsquos doctrine of apokatastasis depends on that of the roots nature and final destiny of evil on the basis of Wis 114 quoted by him Origen can maintain that what was made in order to exist cannot stop existing and thus the devilrsquos ontological annihilation must be excluded Hence there remains only the possibility of his re-conversion to Good Gregory also saves all the substances that took part in sin postulating the destruction of sin and death alone ie of evil and its consequence which according to both Gregory and Origen have no ontological consistency Th e thesis of the devilrsquos recovery developed in De princi-piis was criticised and Origen had to defend his position (ibid 2335) Th is idea however



Gregory who is evidently following Origen argues that death and sin ie evil will be completely extinguished to such a point that they will no longer exist (μηκέτι ἔσεσθαι) and the empire of evil will be entirely destroyed (εἰς τὸ παντελὲς ἐξαργηθήσεται) whereas the beings that will be subjected will be those who are called enemies of God in another sense that is those who have deserted from his reign to sin Th e latter according to Gregory is precisely the category meant by Paul when he affirms that while we were still enemies we have been reconciled to God and having been reconciled we shall be saved in his life For those who are called Godrsquos enemies on account of disobedience will become his friends owing to submission Th e last idea developed by Gregory on p 2719ff Downing depends once again on a Pauline statement located in the same passage that inspired the whole treatise 1Cor 1525 laquo It is necessary that he goes on reigning until he has put all his enemies under his feet raquo Th e submis-sion of all his enemies will be accomplished by Christ progressively during his reign in the end once he has subjected all and has unified all beings (ἑνῶσας τὰ πάντα) he will hand over everything to the Father which meansmdashas Gregory explainsmdashto lead all (προσαγαγεῖν τοὺς πάντας) to God in one and the same spirit with God Th ose who were Godrsquos enemies will become a stool for Godrsquos feet according to the phrase of Ps 1091 they will receive Godrsquos footprint on themselves his ἴχνος which is also his mark and signmdashan idea certainly associated with the so-called ldquotheology of imagerdquo so very central in Gregory and already in Origenrsquos thought too59 with the presence of Godrsquos εἰκών in every human being Given that there will be nobody who dies death will vanish and we all (πάντων ἡμῶν) Gre-gory affirms shall enjoy a submission to God that is not slavery but on the contrary sovereignty incorruptibility blessedness βασιλεία ἀφθαρσία μακαριότης Th e perspective and terminology are the same as that we find in the final section of De anima et resurrectione with the depiction of uni-versal apokatastasis and the salvation of all which Gregory believed to be fully grounded in Scripture

was profoundly consistent with the whole of Origenrsquos eschatological and metaphysical theory the devil will be reintegrated and saved not as devil but as a creature of God once it has been set free from evil 59) For this conception in Origen see the chapter devoted to him in my essay in my Grego-rio di Nissa Sullrsquoanima e la resurrezione and for its presence in Gregory see my philosophi-cal essay in the same book



2 Th e Allegorical Interpretation of Scripture and the Continuity with Greek Philosophical Allegory

Origen was first and foremost an exegete laquo the greatest exegete the Church has ever had raquo according to Simonetti60 and this is relevant Young has recently called attention to the importance of exegesis in the formation of early Christian culture61 and on the other hand scholars have shown the philosophical roots of Origenrsquos exegesis he was very well acquainted with the Stoic and Platonic allegorical interpretations of Greek myths already applied to the Bible by Philo and Clement of Alexandria62 Porphyry in a fragment of the third book of his Κατὰ Χριστιανῶν63 attests that Origen the laquo outstanding Christian exponent of the allegorical method raquo64 knew very well the allegorical works of Cornutus and Chaeremon Stoic allego-rists of the Neronian age and heirs of the secular Stoic allegorical tradi-tion65 and of the Neo-Pythagorean and Middle-Platonist Numenius who read the Old Testament (and perhaps some of the New) allegorically and that he transferred the ancient allegorical tradition to the interpretation of Scripture Edwards66 claims that this dependence on the Stoics in the field of allegoresis was attributed to Origen by Porphyry who applied allegory to Greek myths but did not admit allegorical interpretations of Scripture67

60) M Simonetti Origene esegeta e la sua tradizione Brescia 2004 61) F Young Biblical Exegesis and the Formation of Christian Culture Cambridge 1997 62) M-J Edwards ldquoPrecursors of Origenrsquos Hermeneutic Th eoryrdquo in Studia Patristica 29 (1993) 231-237 Id Origen against Plato Aldershot 2002 broad documentation in my ldquoOrigen and the Stoic Allegorical Traditionrdquo 63) Ap Eus Hist Eccl 6198 = F39 Harn cf Jerome Ep 70 G Rinaldi La Bibbia dei pagani I Bologna 1998 142-143 II nr 14 PF Beatrice ldquoPorphyryrsquos Judgement on Ori-genrdquo in Origeniana V ed RJ Daly Leuven 1992 351-367 64) So E Auerbach see JD Dawson Christian Figural Reading and the Fashioning of Iden-tity BerkeleyndashLos Angeles 2002 chap 5 for a critique of Auerbachrsquos attack against Origenrsquos allegorical interpretation 65) On them full documentation in my Anneo Cornuto Compendio di teologia greca Milano 2003 Ead Allegoria I Lrsquoetagrave classica in coll with G Lucchetta Milano 2004 chaps 6-7 66) Edwards Origen against Plato 145 But see PF Beatrice ldquoPorphyryrsquos Judgement on Origenrdquo in Origeniana V 351-367 Also M Zambon ldquoΠαρανόμως ζῆν la critica di Porfirio ad Origene (Eus HE VI 191-9)rdquo in Origeniana VIII ed L Perrone Leuven 2003 553-564 67) Ap Eus Hist Eccl 6194-8 Wide documentation in my Origen and the Stoic Allegorical Tradition A GraftonndashM Williams Christianity and the Transformation of the Book Cam-bridgendashLondon 2006 64-70



for a polemical purpose in order to cast an ambiguous light on Origenrsquos allegoresis At any rate Porphyry probably knew Origen in his youth68 and then criticized him for his exegetical method and for his being a Christian what is now relevant is that among many other things he testifies laquo He was familiar with Plato always held in his hands the writings of Numen-ius Cronius Apollophanes Longinus Moderatus Nicomachus and the most distinguished of the Pythagoreans he availed himself of the books of the Stoic Chaeremon and Cornutus from which he learned the allegorical method of the Greek mysteries which he applied then to the Jewish Scrip-tures raquo69 And according to Jerome Origen drawing inspiration from Clem-entrsquos work wrote Στρωματεῖς in which he laquo matched the Christian conceptions with those of the philosophers and confirmed all the truths of our faith by means of Platorsquos Aristotlersquos Numeniusrsquo and Cornutusrsquo texts raquo70 In both passages the allegorists Cornutus and Chaeremon or Numenius are mentioned near Plato and other outstanding philosophersmdashmostly Middle-Platonists and Neo-Pythagorean thinkersmdashas the main sources of Origenrsquos philosophical formation

Th e importance of Origenrsquos contribution lies not only in his exegesis applied to Scripture in a number of works but also in the theoretical exposition of the levels of interpretation of Scripture in Princ 4 He

68) It is discussed whether Porphyry was a Christian when young see W Kinzig ldquoWar der neuplatoniker Porphyrios urspruumlnglich Christrdquo in Mousopolos Stephanos Festschrift H Goumlrgemanns Heidelberg 1998 320-332 He knew the Scriptures well see RM Berchman ldquoIn the Shadow of Origen Porphyry and the Patristic Origins of the NT Criticismrdquo in Origeniana VI Leuven 1995 657-673 Rinaldi La Bibbia I 124-175 69) Cf J Peacutepin ldquoAgrave propos de lrsquohistoire de lrsquoexeacutegegravese alleacutegorique lrsquoabsurditeacute signe de lrsquoalleacutegorierdquo in Studia Patristica 1 (1957) 395-413 Id Mythe et alleacutegorie Paris 1958 19813 462-466 W Den Boer ldquoSome Striking Similarities in Pagan and Christian Allegorical Interpretationrdquo in Studi filologici e storici in onore di V De Falco Napoli 1971 465-473 Id ldquoAllegory and Historyrdquo in Studia JH Waszink ed Id et al Amsterdam 1973 15-27 Rinaldi La Bibbia I 124ff esp 142-143 II 53-56 nr 14 with bibl F Ruggiero La follia dei Cristiani Roma 2002 chap 10 MJ Edwards ldquoOrigen on Christ Tropology and Exegesisrdquo in Metaphor Allegory and the Classical Tradition ed GR Boys-Stones Oxford 2003 235-256 252 Porphyry vs Origen in Eus HE 619 Eusebius vs Porphyry in Praep Ev 39 passim 70) Ep 70 See C Moreschini ldquoNote ai perduti Stromata di Origenerdquo in Origeniana IV Hrsg L Lothar Innsbruck-Wien 1987 38-42



theorizes71 a threefold interpretation72 of the Bible literal moral and spiritual (ie typological and allegorical)73 in which each level corre-sponds to a component of the human being σῶμα ψυχή πνεῦμα and to a degree of Christian perfection incipientes progredientes perfecti

Here I shall not linger on his theorization but I shall offer a few exam-ples of allegorical reading of Scripture applied by Origen in his arguments in support of apokatastasis

In Origenrsquos perspective of cathartic sufferings and final reintegration adhesion to the Goodmdashie Godmdashought not to derive from fear of pun-ishment but from knowledge and free will and conscious conviction So in his homilies on Genesis (74) he draws a distinction between those who adhere to God in awareness and out of love and those who do so for fear and because of threats comparing the two categories to the children of the free woman Sarah and those of the slave Hagar Th is of course recalls not only the story of Abraham in the book of Genesis but also the figural reading of it offered by Paul in Gal 422-31 where he says that Hagarrsquos and Sarahrsquos vicissitudes were ἀλληγορούμενα74 It is an allegorical interpretation

71) Th is theorization (Princ 424-6 35) is analyzed eg by C Bloumlnnigen Die griechische Ursprung der juumldisch-hellenistischen Allegorese Frankfurt aM et al 1992 205-265 esp 207-220 and Edwards Origen against Plato 123-152 who intends to demonstrate that Origenrsquos exegesis cannot be defined Platonic or Middle-Platonic although he admits Philorsquos influence on Origen see esp 135ff on the three exegetical levels and 139-140 Origenrsquos exegetical tripartition also corresponds to that of Greek philosophy in φυσική ἠθική θεωρική 72) See KJ Torjesen ldquoBody Soul and Spirit in Origenrsquos Th eory of Exegesisrdquo Anglican Th eological Review 67 (1985) 17-30 Dawson Christian Figural Reading 75 78 and passim Simonetti Origene esegeta 20ff Cf also Hom Lev 51 Hom Num 97 Hom Gen 26 Hom Lev 14 K Torjesen Hermeneutical Procedure and Th eological Method in Origenrsquos Exegesis Berlin 1986 40ff and my ldquoOrigen and the Stoic Allegorical Traditionrdquo with broad documentation on the three senses of Scripture 73) On the relativity of this distinction see my ldquoOrigen and the Stoic Allegorical Traditionrdquo 74) Dawson Christian Figural Reading 24-27 Simonetti Origene esegeta 15 For Paulrsquos influence on Origen see F Cocchini Il Paolo di Origene Roma 1992 and M Simonetti ldquoPresenza di Paolo nella cristologia patristicardquo Vetera Christianorum 40 (2003) 191-205 194 Id Ortodossia ed eresia fra I e II secolo Soveria Mannelli 1994 63ff Paul himself seems to have theorized the allegorical reading in 2Cor 312-18 where the veil on Mosesrsquo face at Sinai is considered as follows for those who are fixated on the text as an end in itself the text remains veiled but those who turn to the Lord are enabled to see through the text to its true aim and meaning (τέλος) for them the veil is removed see Dawson Christian Figural Reading 34-35 188 See also R Roukema ldquoTh e Veil over Mosesrsquo Face in Patristic Interpretationrdquo in Th e Interpretation of Exodus Studies in Honour of Cornelis Houtman ed Id Leuven 2006 237-252 in part 242-244 for Origenrsquos interpretation



that highlights these two different levels in the intellectual and moral development of the νόες Likewise in Princ 358 Origen emphasizes that the submission of all creatures to God ie their salvation will take place laquo not as a result of violence nor by necessity that forces to subjection but thanks to words reason teaching emulation of the best good norms and also threats when deserved and apt For we humans too when we edu-cate our servants or children while they are not yet in the age of reason compel them by means of threats and fear but when they begin to under-stand what is good useful and honest then the fear of beating stops and they persuaded by words and reason find satisfaction in all that is good raquo Th us in Origenrsquos view the threat of an everlasting fire after death may be helpful for those who still cannot adhere to the Good freely75 for Origen is persuaded that purifying fire is not really eternal76 and in any case even if it should last after the final apokatastasis it will remain empty Th e spir-itual interpretation of sufferings in the future world is provided by Origen in the preface to Book 1 of his De principiis sect 5 laquo For the sinners there are prepared the πῦρ αἰώνιον the outer darkness the prison and the furnace but letrsquos see how we should understand all this too raquo Th ese torments are interpreted in an allegorical way and an eternal duration is excluded for them for Origen thinks that sin and the soulrsquos disharmony constitute a punishment in themselves and that fire is nothing else but the fire of pas-sions as is clear from Princ 2104 laquo Now let us see what the threat of πῦρ αἰώνιον [Mt 2541] means in Isaiah the prophet we find that the fire that punishes each one is defined as peculiar to each one For he says ldquoGo into the flash of your fire and the flame that you yourselves litrdquo [Is 5011]77 It seems to me that these words indicate that each sinner lights the flame of his own fire Tinder and nourishment for this fire are our sins defined by the Apostle as ldquowood hay and strawrdquo [1Cor 312]78 And I assume that

75) For the pedagogical function of Godrsquos threats and the spiritual interpretation of the resurrection held by Origen (who never denied the resurrection of the body however) see my ldquoTh reats punishment and hoperdquo 76) For a study of the meaning of πῦρ αἰώνιον in Origen see my Apocatastasi in the chapter concerning Origen Ead ldquoOrigene ed il lessico dellrsquoeternitagraverdquo Adamantius 13 (2007) for a study of the meaning of αἰώνιος and ἀΐδιος in Greek pagan and Christian literature see RamellindashKonstan Terms for Eternity 77) Th e same quotation from Isaiah is used to confirm the same idea also in Hom in Lev 98 and in Comm in Rom 26 78) Th is Pauline passage is interpreted by Origen in the same way also in Princ 11 C Cels 515 Hom in Ex 63 Hom in Lev 143



just as in our body abundant consumption and quantity and quality of harmful food produce fevers and fevers of different kind and duration in proportion to the consumption and the stimulation brought by the infirmity so when the soul has gathered in itself a large amount of evil deeds and abundance of sins in due time all this collection of evils boils to produce torments and blazes forth to cause punishment And when the mind or conscience will see disclosed before its eyes as it were the story of its crimes then it will be agitated and stung by its own pricks and will become prosecutor and witness against itself As to the soulrsquos sub-stance some torments are provoked precisely by the sinnersrsquo evil feelings raquo Origen does not at all seem to be disturbed by the characterization of the fire as αἰώνιον but seems to relate its duration and intensity to the meas-ure of passions and sins In fact πῦρ αἰώνιον does not mean ldquoeternal firerdquo properly which would be more precisely indicated by πῦρ ἀίδιον but ldquothe fire of the world to comerdquo79 We shall soon see that the same spiritual inter-pretation of the torments in the future world held by Origen also in other passages80 will be taken up by Gregory of Nyssa too

In Princ 2105 Origen offering his spiritual exegesis of the fire of Hades as that of the passions which is its own punishment interprets the torment of fire as the ardour of the passions that trouble the soul laquo Con-sider the damaging passions that customarily affect the soul when it is eg burnt by the flames of love or devoured by the fire of envy and spite or tossed by the madness of anger or consumed by endless sadness to the extent that some people unable to bear the excess of these troubles deemed death more tolerable than suffering such tortures Well as for those who let themselves be imprisoned by such evil vices and did not succeed in correcting them at all during the present life and left this world in such conditions consider whether for them may it be enough as punishment to be tormented by such evil passions persisting in them ie anger rage folly sadness whose mortal poison was not mitigated during their life by the therapy of any correction raquo Similarly in the same sect 5 Origen sup-poses that as the passions are punishment to themselves so is too the

79) See Ramelli-Konstan Terms for Eternity and the chapter on Origen in my Apocatastasi 80) Another similar parallel between physical troubles and future punishment is to be found also in Selecta in Ps PG 121177 and the trouble given by the mere awareness of onersquos own sins is also theorized in Hom in Ps 38 Ibid 2 2 Origen affirms that each sin will appear to our conscience on the judgement day see also Hom in Ier 1610 De or 285



disharmony of the sinnerrsquos soul81 fire then is simply a therapy for this state of fragmentation for the ideal returnmdashin Platonic termsmdashto har-mony and unity laquo in case the soulrsquos laceration and dissolution is tested by means of fire the soul will undoubtedly be consolidated in renewal and in a firmer connection and structure raquo that the soul ought to be in a condi-tion of perfect harmony because harmony implies unity and unity perfec-tion is an idea found in Plato and in Greek philosophy and then in Jewish and Christian thought influenced by Platonism and Middle-Platonism82 above all Philo and Clement of Alexandria who in the relevant passage significantly quotes Plato and connects the soulrsquos harmony to that of the body83

Gregory of Nyssa interprets the Bible according to the allegorical method theorized and used by Origen84 Let us select from the dialogue De anima et resurrectione some significant examples in which scriptural passages quoted in support of the doctrine of apokatastasis are interpreted allegori-cally In 80A-88C Macrina offers a spiritual exegesis of the parable of Lazarus (Lk 1619-31)85 in order to demonstrate the συμφωνία of her argumentmdashthat after death the soul maintains the human beingrsquos indi-viduality while the body is dispersed in various elementsmdashwith the Bible

81) laquo As the limbs of the body detached from their reciprocal connection make us feel the torment of strongest pain so when the soul is out of the order connection and harmony with which God had created it so that it might behave rightly and have good feelings and can no longer be in agreement with itself in the connection of its rational movements then we can think that it will suffer the torment of its very laceration and the torture of its dis-order and dissolubility raquo 82) Plat Resp 3410CD 4443D 9591D Doxographi Graeci 387 e 651 SVF III 121 Phil Leg all 12372 Clem Strom 4418 Alc Didasc 293182 Hermann 83) Strom 4418 laquo Plato precisely he whom they [sc the Gnostics] proclaim in the loudest voice as a witness in their favour for the refusal of generation in the third Book of his Republic says that it is necessary to take care of the body for the sake of the soulrsquos harmony raquo In Strom 426163-164 Clement speaking of the harmony and reciprocal correspondence of virtues and philosophical disciplines also exalts the soulrsquos harmony Platonically seen as justice and that which obtains between soul and body 84) See HR Drobner ldquoAlegoriacuteardquo in Diccionario de san Gregorio 64-72 M Simonetti ldquoExeacutegesisrdquo ibid 426-438 also A Meredith ldquoOriacutegenesrdquo ibid 700-702 85) See M Alexandre ldquoLrsquointerpreacutetation de Luc 16 19-31 chez Greacutegoire de Nysserdquo in Epe-ktasis Meacutelanges J Danieacutelou eds J FontainendashCh Kannengiesser Paris 1972 425-441 in part 430-439



if interpreted correctly as suggested by its author himself (80B-81A)86 So in 81A-84D she proposes the spiritual meaning of the parable concerning the original condition of the human being untouched by evil the gift of free will and the choice of evil the division of human life into two parts thanks to divine Providence and the free choice of life that humans can make according to two kinds of good and evil sensible or spiritual and the necessity to reserve true good for the future life lest one need purification through fire after death the suffering of the rich is seen as purification not as eternal damnation Spiritual interpretations are offered for the χάσμα μέγα between Lazarus and the rich after death for the κόλπος τοῦ ᾽Αβραάμ in which the blessed are said to be for the φλόξ of hell for the ῥανίς of water from Paradise and for the parts of the body men-tioned in the parable whereas neither the rich nor Lazarus has a body after death87 In 85B-88C finally Macrina explains Lk 1627-31 as a warning

86) laquo Scripture presents such exposition in a form referring to the body but spreads in it here and there many hints by which he who is able to understand accurately is driven to a subtler interpretation For he who separates good and evil by a huge chasm and made the sufferer in need of a drop of water brought on a finger who gave the patriarchrsquos lap to him who in this life had experienced so many harms who also narrated their death makes the reader detach himself from the literal meaning For what eyes can the rich raise in Hades if he left in the grave those of his body And how can the incorporeal perceive a flame What tongue can he wish to get refreshed by a drop of water given that he does not own the corporeal one For since the bodies are in the graves while the soul is neither in a body nor constituted by parts it would be impossible to adapt the structure of the narration in its immediate meaning to truth unless we refer with a metaphor or transpo-sition each detail to the intelligible interpretation raquo 87) See Alexandre ldquoLrsquointerpreacutetationrdquo 425-441 laquo Th is chasm is not an abyss in the earth but is that produced by the choice of life dividing itself into opposite options For he who chose what is sweet in this life and does not correct this fool decision with conversion and repentance makes inaccessible to himself the place of good in the future life because he himself to his own detriment has dug this insurmountable necessity as a sort of widest and impracticable chasm Th us it seems to me that Scripture calls ldquoAbrahamrsquos bosomrdquo the good condition of the soul in which he lets the athlete of endurance rest all those who sail with virtue through present life once freed from this moor their souls in this good lap or inlet as in a tranquil port For the others instead to be deprived of the goods that they deemed such assumes the appearance of a flame burning the soul which would need a little drop from the ocean of Good that the blessed enjoy in abundance but does not obtain it If you interpret in an incorporeal sense the tongue the eye the finger you will admit that their spiritual meanings fit the theory of soul that we have established When Scrip-ture mentions the finger eye tongue after the dissolution of the composite body it refers to the soul it will be reasonable to think that hell (Hades) is not a place called with



that the soul needs to be purified from the laquo fleshly glue raquo either on earth or after death in order to be free in her laquo race toward the Good raquo a race that every soul will accomplish sooner or later88 Gregory is likely to have drawn inspiration from Origen Princ 2104-5 quoted above with its spiritual exegesis of the fire of hell

Later on we have another instance of allegorical exegesis of Scripture in support of apokatastasis after quoting Ps 103(104)29-30 in 132A89 and referring it to resurrection in 132C-136A Macrina explains the spiritual meaning of Ps 117(118)27 detailing how the Feast of the Tabernacles90

this name but a condition of invisible and incorporeal existence where the soul lives as we clearly learn from Scripture raquo 88) laquo Since Lazarusrsquo soul is intent on the present things and does not turn to none of those that it has left behind while the rich even after death remains attached to fleshly life we believe that the Lord wants to teach that those who are living in flesh must absolutely separate from it thanks to life according to virtue lest after that we happen to need another death again which purifying us will eliminate the rests of the fleshly glue but once the ties that bind the soul have been broken its run toward Good may take place immediately easily and swiftly raquo 89) laquo You will subtract their spirit and they will pass away and get transformed into their dust you will send your spirit and they will be created and you will renew the face of the earth raquo Revised Standard Version laquo when thou takest away their breath they die and return to their dust When thou sendest forth thy Spirit they are created and thou renewest the face of the ground raquo 90) On the interpretation of Ps 117(118)27 as a symbol of apokatastasis see J Danieacutelou ldquoLa Fecircte des Tabernacles dans lrsquoexeacutegegravese patristiquerdquo Studia Patristica 1 (1957) 262-279 according to whom this exegesis probably derives from Origen which is likely indeed Th e same feast with the very same interpretation of Ps 117(118)27 is given by Gregory in his Sermon on the Nativity (ed F Mann GNO 102 Leiden 1996 pp 2353-23817 2644-26615 26814-26913) laquo law giving a preliminary sketch of the truth by means of shad-owy figures ordained the blowing of trumpets at the feast of Tabernacles And the occasion for todayrsquos feast is the mystery of the true feast of Tabernacles For in this feast the human ldquotentrdquo [ie body] is ldquopitchedrdquo for him who put on human nature for our sake (John 114) And in this feast our ldquotentsrdquo that were wasted by death have been reconstructed by the one who fashioned our ldquodwellingrdquo to begin with our Lord has given us light so that we may institute the feast and deck out the festal procession up to the horns of the altar By the power of the Spirit and all in tune they trumpet forth the teaching of the truth in order that the ears of those made deaf by sin might be opened and there might be one harmonious feast celebrated in the decking out of the Tabernacles Th is ldquodecking outrdquo takes places when creatures here below chime in with the preeminent spiritual powers who are in front of the heavenly altar (Rev 4) For the ldquohornsrdquo of the heavenly ldquoaltarrdquo mean the preeminent spiri-tual powers who lead the procession the rulers and authorities and thrones and domin-ions In the fellowship of this feast human nature is brought together with these heavenly



mentioned in it symbolizes both resurrection and universal apokatastasis laquo the God of universe the Lord of beings manifested himself to us for the preparation of the feast among the braces that tie surround and cover meaning by this expression of covering and support the Feast of the Tab-ernacles instituted in ancient times by Moses Now I think that this law-giver was prophetically announcing the future and even though this feast was always celebrated it had not yet found complete realization For truth was indicated in advance in a typological sense [τυπικῶς] through sym-bolical allusions given by the events this true construction of the tabernac-les or tents did not yet exist but according to the prophetical word God manifested himself to us with this aim so that for human nature there could take place the construction of our destroyed home consoli-dated [πυκαζομένη] again in bodily form through the gathering of ele-ments In fact the term πυκασμός ldquoconsolidation covering supportrdquo means according to its proper sense the act of tying and surrounding and the order deriving from it91 Now what the Psalm says is as follows God the Lord has appeared to us too to institute a feast among those who sup-port and consolidate as far as [sic] the horns of the altar on which sacrifices are offered Now it seems to me that this through an allusion prean-nounces that for all rational creatures one and the same feast is instituted in which the superiors dance together with the inferiors in the company of good beings raquo this will put an end to all divisions and all sorrows92 For the whole human race and the whole λογικὴ κτίσις will be united in Godrsquos glory after their liberation from all evil and the vanishing of evil ἀφανισμὸς τῆς

powers through the ldquotabernaclerdquo of the resurrection In other words these powers are decked out or adorned by the renewal of our bodies raquo (tr J Kovacs) 91) In Ps 11727 the LXX read by Gregory has συστήσασθε ἑορτὴν ἐν τοῖς πυκάζουσιν ἕως τῶν κεράτων τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου Th is is not really identical with the Hebrew text as it is clear also from the Latin versions iuxta Hebraeos ( frequentate sollemnitatem in frondosis usque ad cornua altaris) and iuxta Septuaginta (constituite diem sollemnem in condensis usque ad cornua altaris) Th e Hebrew text (11827) reads rsquois erucirc- hag balsquoăbōticircm lsquoad-qar egocirct hammiz ebē ah where lsquoăbocirct means laquo interwoven foliage raquo rather than laquo consolidation covering support raquo and rsquosr laquo to bind to tie rather than laquo to build raquo Gregory of course selects the sense of construction and constitution since he intends to apply these words to the recon-stitution of the bodies in their resurrection Here the use of the LXX really makes a remark-able difference Gregory used only the LXX while Origen constantly compared it with the Hebrew Text 92) For the passage from tears to joy in Gregory and Origen see my ldquoTears of Pathos Repen-tance and Bliss Crying and Salvation in Origen and Gregory of Nyssardquo in Tears and Cry-ing in Graeco-Roman Antiquity ed Th Foumlgen forthcoming in Leiden



κακίαςmdasha fundamental doctrine both in Origen and in Gregorymdash as Macrina says also with the spiritual interpretation of the various parts of the temple

So wide is thus the differentiation in the access to this temple which was both image and likeness93 of the intellectual state And the physical observance teaches that not every rational creature can get close to Godrsquos temple that is the confes-sion of God the great but those who are deceived by false suppositions remain outside the divine enclosure Among those who have been able to go in more honour is attained by those who have first purified themselves with ablutions and behaviours aimed at purity than is attained by the others the meaning of the symbolical allusion is that among the rational faculties some like the sacred altar are situated in the most internal recess of divinity and among these in turn some are prominent and jut out like horns while others around these on the basis of a certain order occupy a superior or inferior position Now the human race because of vice implanted in it was banished from Godrsquos enclosure but once purified by the lustral bath can enter it again And since these enclosures that interpose through which vice separated us from the internal part situated beyond the veil are destined to be demolished once and for all when thanks to resurrection our nature will be reconstituted as a tent that is planted and all cor-ruption ingenerated because of vice will disappear from beings then Godrsquos feast will be prepared by all who will have been consolidated again and restructured by means of resurrection so that all will take part in one and the same joy and there will be no more difference to divide the rational nature in its participation in goods that are the same for all but those who now are excluded due to vice will be finally able to enter the recesses of divine beatitude (133D)

93) Gr εἰκών τε καὶ μίμημα (cod A) PG 4612-160 ad loc prints εἰκὼν καὶ μίμημα Cf Gen 126 ποιήσωμεν ἄνθρωπον κατ εἰκόνα ἡμετέραν καὶ καθ᾽ ὁμοίωσιν (LXX Vulg Faciamus hominem ad imaginem et similitudinem nostram) Th e Fathers also thanks to an allegorical interpretation endeavoured to distinguish and characterize the deep mean-ing of ldquoimagerdquo and ldquolikenessrdquo Eg in Origen the original ldquoimagerdquo is different from the ldquolikenessrdquo of God which must be attained through each onersquos will and deeds and is reserved for the eschatological dimension (Princ 361) Already in Philorsquos exegesis the ldquoimagerdquo to which the original human beingmdashdifferent from the subsequent πλασθεὶς ἄνθρωποςmdashis conformed is the image of Logos ἀσώματος ἄφθαρτος φύσει κατὰ τὴν εἰκόνα ἰδέα and οὔτ ἄρρεν οὔτε θῆλυ (cf Leg All 11231 De opif 46134) For Origen too the original human beingmdashjust as the eschatological humansmdash was neither male nor female (Hom in Gen 114) differently from the man formed from the dust of the ground of Gen 27 ie the body derived from sin where the soul was imprisoned (Comm in Ioh 20182) Gregory took up these concepts see my philosophical essay in Gregorio di Nissa Sullrsquoanima e la re-surrezione cit



Th ese interpretations are further reinforced by Paulrsquos authority who in Phil 21094 expresses the same concept more directly without allegory (136A) so Old and New Testament agree in confirming resurrection and universal apokatastasis For laquo Godrsquos aim is one when the complete fullness of our nature will be realized in each human being after that some will have already been purified from evil during the present life others instead will have been cured by means of fire for the due periods and others in this life will have ignored the experience both of good and of evil equally well Godrsquos aim is to offer to all participation in the goods that are in Him Now thismdashat least in my viewmdashis nothing else but being in God himself raquo (152AB)

Another allegorical reading of Scripture used in the explanation of res-urrection and apokatastasis is that of the laquo skin tunics raquo of Gen 32195 taken by Adam and Eve after the sin interpreted by Gregory and by Origen before him as the earthly heavy body and the πάθη connected to it96

94) Ινα ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι ᾽Ιησοῦ πᾶν γόνυ κάμψῃ ἐπουρανίων καὶ ἐπιγείων καὶ καταχθονίων 95) Καὶ ἐποίησεν κύριος ὁ θεὸς τῷ Αδαμ καὶ τῇ γυναικὶ αὐτοῦ χιτῶνας δερματίνους καὶ ἐνέδυσεν αὐτούς 96) Cfr Danieacutelou Lrsquoecirctre et le temps 154-164 L-F Mateo-Seco ldquoTuacutenicas de pielesrdquo in Dic-cionario de san Gregorio 898-903 Th is biblical passage was interpreted allegorically already by Origen in a very similar way In the Alexandrian tradition the interpretation of the Genesis account of the creation of the human being was inspired by the so-called theory of ldquodouble creationrdquo of the intelligible and the sensible human being in a ldquodualisticrdquo perspec-tive Some works illustrate the continuitymdashalthough not absolutemdashbetween Origen and Gregory in this respect U Bianchi ed La ldquodoppia creazionerdquo dellrsquouomo negli Alessandrini nei Cappadoci e nella gnosi Roma 1978 IdndashH Crouzel eds Archeacute e telos Lrsquoantropologia di Origene e Gregorio di Nissa Milano 1981 Id ldquoPeacutecheacute originel et peacutecheacute anteacutecedentrdquo Revue de lrsquoHistoire des Religions 170 (1966) 117-126 Id ldquoIl dualismo come categoria stor-ico-religiosardquo Rivista di Storia e Letteratura Religiosa 9 (1973) 3-16 Id Prometeo Orfeo Adamo Tematiche religiose sul destino il male la salvezza Roma 1978 Id ldquoTh e Category of Dualism in the Historical Phenomenology of Religionrdquo Temenos 16 (1980) 10-25 MV Cerutti ldquoPer una tipologia storica del dualismordquo Studi e Materiali di Storia delle Religioni 49 (1983) 263-277 Ead ldquoDualismo apocalittico e dualismo gnosticordquo in Ead ed Apoca-littica e Gnosticismo Roma 1995 143-156 Ead ldquoUgo Bianchi e il dualismordquo in G Casa-dio (cur) Ugo Bianchi una vita per la storia delle religioni Roma 2002 291-326 Both Origen and Gregorymdashthe former more than the lattermdashactually manifest a tendency towards dualism (as a category of the history of religions see also U Bianchi ldquoPresupposti platonici e dualistici in Origene De principiisrdquo in Origeniana Secunda Roma 1980 33-56 Cerutti ldquoPer una tipologiardquo 268-270 276-277) the conception of two principles at the origin of the human being God the creator and an event as the fall of noes or rational souls which caused the existence of the material world and of the ldquoheavyrdquo human body



After resurrection all this will vanish the bodily organs will not have any longer the functions imposed on them by animal life (144B-148C) such as conjugal intercourse conception generation suckling nutrition excre-tion production of dirt etc given that the risen will laquo move in the heav-enly regions with incorporeal nature raquo All that is transient in human nature and was added to it in the form of the ldquoskinsrdquo of πάθη is accidental to it not essential and will disappear at the resurrection

Towards the end of the dialogue Gregory illustrates resurrection and apokatastasis through the image of the wheat grain associating and

differentiated into two genders cf Cerutti ldquoPer una tipologiardquo 267 I Ramelli ldquoLa colpa antecedenterdquo In Sel in Gen 321 and C Cels 440 Origen hesitates between the interpre-tation of the ldquoskin tunicsrdquo either as material bodies or as mortality As results from a passage preserved in the catenae and in Th eodoretus (Quaest in Gen 39 PG 80140) Origen pro-posed his exegesis of the ldquoskin tunicsrdquo problematically rather than categorically Simonetti Origene esegeta 117-121 refers to Origen a reading reported by Procopius of Gaza Comm in Gen 321 (PG 87221) the human being who is εἰκὼν θεοῦ is the soul that who is moulded out of dust is the ldquosubtlerdquo or ldquoluminousrdquo body that will live in Paradise while the skin tunics are the heavy earthily body Cf G Buumlrke ldquoOrigenes Lehre vom Urstand des Menschenrdquo Zeitschrift fuumlr katholische Th eologie 1950 1ff H Crouzel Th eacuteologie de lrsquoimage de Dieu chez Origegravene Paris 1956 148ff and Id ldquoOrigegravene est-il un systeacutematiquerdquo Bulle-tin de Litteacuterature Eccleacutesiastique 1959 81ff = in Id Origegravene et la philosophie Paris 1962 179ff J Danieacutelou Origegravene Paris 1948 41ff Simonetti Origene esegeta 111-122 esp 112-113 29-31 For the exegetical history of this image see PF Beatrice ldquoLe tuniche di pelle Antiche letture di Gn 321rdquo in La tradizione dellrsquo ἐγκράτεια ed U Bianchi Roma 1985 433-82 J Peacutepin La tradition de lrsquoalleacutegorie de Philon drsquoAlexandrie agrave Dante Paris 1987 156ff P Pisi ldquoPeccato di Adamo e caduta dei νόες nellrsquoesegesi origenianardquo in Ori-geniana IV 322-35 C Noce Vestis varia Lrsquoimmagine della veste nellrsquoopera di Origene Roma 2002 On Origenrsquos and Gregoryrsquos anthropology see M Di Pasquale Barbanti Origene di Alessandria tra Platonismo e Sacra Scrittura Teologia e antropologia del De Principiis Catania 2003 Simonetti Origene esegeta 29ff 111-122 GA Ladner ldquoTh e Philosophical Anthro-pology of Saint Gregory of Nyssardquo in Eiusd Images and Ideas in the Middle Ages II Roma 1983 856-862 Following Origen Gregory too interprets the skin tunics both in De hom-inis opificio (of which I am preparing an essay and a commentary) and in the II homily on the Song of Songs where the soul says laquo because I have abandoned purity I have put on this dark aspect the skin tunic raquo and in the XI homily again with reference to the soul rep-resented by the girl of the Song laquo taking off the skin tunic that she had been wearing after her sin and washing away the earthly element according to the explanation of the Apostle who exhorts him who has taken off the torn wrapping of the old man to put on the new tunic of the man created as image of God in holiness and justice and says that this garment is Jesus raquo Th is theme of the new garment of the human being in connection with the apokatastasis will be kept alive with particular intensity in some Syriac mystics see my ldquoNote per unrsquoindagine della mistica siro-orientale dellrsquoVIII secolo Giovanni di Dalyatha e la tradizione origenianardquo rsquoIlu 12 (2007)



interpreting two important passages from Paul 1Cor 1542b-44a on the glorious risen body (plus 45a 53a) and 1Cor 1535-38 on the grain (plus 40 41) thus in the last and culminating section of the dialogue he creates a continuous commentary of 1Cor 1535-45 (derived from the same chapter analyzed in his In illud Tunc et ipse Filius) In the back-ground there certainly is a reminiscence of Jesusrsquo parable of the grain that must die to bring fruit in John 122497 as is clear from 153A98 Th e image of the ear is moreover applied to Adam in 157A99

[153C] As the body of the ear is formed from the seed thanks to Godrsquos power that with his art makes the ear out of the grain itselfmdashand the ear is neither completely identical with the seed nor completely differentmdash so the mystery of resurrection too has been indicated in advance through the wondrous modifications taking place in the seeds in that Godrsquos power not only will return you the body which will be dissolved but will also add other splendid and beauti-ful characteristics thanks to which your nature will be constituted in a greater magnificence He says laquo It is sown in corruption it rises in incorruptibility it is sown in weakness it rises in power it is sown in dishonour it rises in glory it is sown as a lsquopsychicrsquo body it rises as a spiritual body raquo For as the grain in the sod becomes an ear while maintaining its individuality although it comes out com-pletely different from what it was before in the same way human nature too after abandoning in death all its characteristics which it had acquired through the tendency to subjection to passions I mean ignominy corruption weakness differentiation according to the age does not lose itself but it changes into incor-ruptibility as into an ear and into glory honour power perfection in all respects and in such condition that its life is no longer governed by natural properties but passes into a spiritual state which is free from passions

97) ᾽Εὰν μὴ ὁ κόκκος τοῦ σίτου πεσών εἰς τὴν γῆν ἀποθάνῃ αὐτὸς μόνος μένει ἐὰν δὲ ἀποθάνῃ πολὺν καρπὸν φέρει 98) laquo What is that initiates their germination Isnrsquot it death given that death is dissolution of what is composed For the grain would not reach germination if it did not dissolve into the sod raquo 99) laquo Th e first ear was the first human being Adam But because with the appearance of vice our nature was divided into a great number of parts as happens with the fruit of the ear so we individually deprived of the form of that ear and mixed up with the earth shall rise again in resurrection in our original beauty and instead of that first ear we shall become the infinite myriads of the crops raquo For these agricultural images and others taken from human techniques in this dialogue see my ldquoLa cultura scientifica in Gregorio di Nissa De anima et resurrectione scienza e logosrdquo in Cultura naturalistica e scientifica nei Padri della Chiesa (I-V secolo) Atti del XXXIV Incontro di Studiosi dellrsquoAntichitagrave Cristiana Roma Augustinianum 4-6 maggio 2006 Roma 2007 Studia Ephemeridis Augustinianum forthcoming



Th e agricultural image is kept up in 157CD with God as a farmer who cures his plants while they are growing and eliminates and burns the bad representing passions and evil and brings all his plants to maturation and perfection again described at the very end of the writing in Paulrsquos words laquo Once those passions have been purified the place of those deficiencies will be taken by each of the respective realities that are conceived posi-tively incorruptibility life power grace glory and any other prerogative of this kind that we conjecture it is possible to contemplate both in God himself and in his image which is human nature raquo Both quotations from Paul the agricultural metaphor and the description of the risen body con-verge here along with Gregoryrsquos theology of image in Macrinarsquos last words which point to universal restoration and salvation

3 Patristic Philosophy Philosophical Arguments Joined to Scriptural Authority

Both Origenrsquos and Gregoryrsquos doctrine of apokatastasis relies on philosoph-ical and especially Platonic arguments an even more substantial heritage of Hellenistic culture than allegorical exegesis itself was Simply to recall a few of these arguments used in support of apokatastasis100 for Origen we might cite eg the idea that the end must be similar to the beginning that we human beings were all created as εἰκὼν θεοῦ which in us can be obscured by sin but never deleted and all must acquire the ὁμοίωσις θεῷ through our deeds and deliberate choicesmdashhere of course the biblical reminiscence of humans as Godrsquos εἰκὼν καὶ ὁμοίωσις is coupled with the Platonic and Stoic principle of ὁμοίωσις θεῷmdash that evil is not ontologi-cally subsistent but is mere lack of Good due to the choice of separating from it and will completely vanish in the end the assertion of freewill in all rational creatures against Gnostic determinism and its agreement with Godrsquos providence which always operates for everyonersquos salvation101 for this reason the end will be in a sense not only similar to the beginning but even better because the adhesion to the Good will be not purely natu-ral but voluntary Gregory for his part uses exactly the same philosophi-cal argumentsmdashsince he draws much of his thinking from Origenmdash

100) For extensive documentation on all of them see the chapter devoted to Origen in the essay on the apokatastasis and the philosophical essay both in my Gregorio di Nissa 101) Broad discussion of this agreement in my ldquoLa coerenzardquo



especially the non-substantiality of evil and its final abolition but with greater emphasis on the doctrine of εἰκών (the so-called theology of image) and an explicit refusal of the doctrine of metempsychosis102

Now it is not possible to expand here on the philosophical bases of Origenrsquos and Gregoryrsquos doctrine of apokatastasis and to show its deep coherence in both of them ie its internal rational unity and also its con-sistency with their doctrine of free will and with many aspects of their philosophical thought (mainly metaphysical theological and anthropo-logical) What is important to highlight in this connection is that Origen and Gregory as well always and carefully ground all their arguments in Scripture both Old and New Testament considered to be in deepest mutual harmony by them Origen maintains that the two Testaments form one and the same body which is also Christrsquos body so that studying Scrip-ture and trying to interpret it even means eating this body in a eucharistic act103 Th e unity of both Old and New Testament repeatedly asserted by Origen in his polemic against Gnostics and Marcionites104 is assured by typological and allegorical interpretation which often tend to overlap105 especially in the former exegetical technique characters and events in the Old Testament are seen as anticipations of others belonging to the new economy and of spiritual realities Gregory too in his exegesis uses evi-dence from both Testaments accumulating many attestations to demon-strate the same thing thus showing the absolute unity of σκοπός within Scripture and the εἱρμὸς τῶν πνευματικῶν in it the perfect cohesion and coherence of the spiritual senses

In both authors however the New Testament is prevalent when they treat the doctrine of apokatastasis since as Origen explains if the spiritual interpretation of the old economy is the new according to the traditional typological exegesis of the Old Testament the spiritual interpretation of the New Testament is the Gospel of the αἰών that of the world to come (the εὐαγγέλιον αἰώνιον of Rev 14 6106 the figure of which is Deuteronomy

102) For all these doctrines see my essay on the philosophical elements in Gregoryrsquos thought in my Gregorio di Nissa 103) Complete references in my ldquoOrigen and the Stoic Allegorical Traditionrdquo 104) Documentation in my ldquoLa coerenzardquo 105) See my ldquoOrigen and the Stoic Allegorical Traditionrdquo 106) Εἶδον ἄλλον ἄγγελον πετόμενον ἐν μεσουρανήματι ἔχοντα εὐαγγέλιον αἰώνιον εὐαγγελίσαι ἐπὶ τοὺς καθημένους ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς καὶ ἐπὶ πᾶν ἔθνος καὶ φυλὴν καὶ γλῶσσαν καὶ λαόν



Second Law in Princ 368107 4313)108 and the ἔσχατα In Princ 424109 and 4313110 but also in Comm in Rom 14 Comm in Io 10108-109 Hom in Ps 38 22 Hom in Lev 51 Origen affirms that the New Testa-ment represents the shadow of the complete and perfect revelation at the end of the world111 Th is is precisely the case of the use of the NT in sup-port of the eschatological doctrine of apokatastasis NT quotations are prevalent because they refer either in an allegorical or more direct way to the ldquoultimate thingsrdquo

To focus attention only on Origenrsquos and Gregoryrsquos writings concerning apokatastasis Origenrsquos De principiis and Gregoryrsquos De anima et resurrec-tione are perfect examples of works of Patristic philosophy112 Th e former is the most philosophical and comprehensive work of Origen in comparison to other works which are mainly exegetical nevertheless the entire Book 4 in it which is the last and very extensive is devoted to a systematic theory of biblical exegesis and what is more all philosophical arguments even

107) Here Origen mentions laquo the αἰώνιον Gospel the ever new Testament that will never grow old raquo prefigured by Mosesrsquo law and more perfectly by Jesusrsquo law in the ἔσχατον Christ will give an even more perfect law and instruction to the saints the laquo true and eternal law raquo ie the Gospel of the world (αἰών) to come For the meaning of αἰώνιος see RamellindashKonstan Terms for Eternity 108) As in the book of Deuteronomy the law is expressed in a clearer way than in the preced-ing books so the Saviourrsquos second coming will be more glorious than the first in the flesh then laquo in the Kingdom of Heavens all saints will live according to the laws of the Gospel of the world to come [ἐ αἰώνιον] raquo 109) In the connection of the famous distinction of the flesh of Scripture as its literal sense for simple readers its soul as its moral or psychological sense for more advanced readers and its spirit as its spiritual sense for perfect readers (on which see my ldquoOrigen and the Stoic Allegorical Traditionrdquo) Origen defines the laquo spiritual law raquo of Scripture as that containing laquo the shadow of the future goods raquo (Rom 714 Hebr 101) It is the τύπος of the spiritual law given by Christ in the future world 110) Th is is the continuation of the passage (Princ 4313) cited above as Christ in his present coming realized the law that is shadow of the future goods (Hebr 101) likewise in his second coming he will realize the shadow given by his first coming he realized the shade of the Law through the shade of the Gospel since every law is image of heavenly liturgy but even the heavenly law and liturgy need the truth of the Gospel that in Johnrsquos Revelation is called αἰώνιον certainly in comparison with the present Gospel which is linked to the present world and preached in a world and time destined to come to an end 111) See Simonetti Origene esegeta 20-21 231-232 112) For the legitimacy and importance of the concept of Patristic philosophy see Mores-chini Storia della filosofia patristica introduction my review article ldquoRiparte la filosofia patristicardquo Rivista di Filosofia Neoscolastica 97 (2005) 673-690



those of Book 3 which support the theory of freewill and are the most influenced by philosophy are based on numerous Scriptural quotations that ground and confirm his statements

Th e latter by Gregory clearly is a philosophical dialogue inspired by Platorsquos Phaedo and also his Symposium especially for Macrinarsquos character which is modelled not only on Platorsquos Socrates but also on his Diotima113 she is Gregoryrsquos διδάσκαλος Her arguments well constructed and clearly developed demonstrate the soulrsquos immortality and the possibility and modalities of bodily resurrection for the eventual restoration of all human beings into their original perfection after having been corrupted by sin this restoration or ἀποκατάστασις is the τέλος of resurrection and will involve the whole of humanity after each onersquos purification and return to the Good which is God114 Now every important passage in the argumen-tation is corroborated by quotations from Scripture above all from the New Testament In fact Scripture is explicitly defined by Macrina as κανών and νόμος a norm and law for Christian thinking that all philosophical arguments must refer to (42B-52B)115 So in 49C-52A Macrina leaves aside Platorsquos famous image of the two winged horses and the chariot (Phaedr 246AD) representing the soulrsquos two inferior faculties with the rational part as charioteer and also the theories proposed by other philoso-phers about the soul and takes up the theory of soul found in Scripture which is considered a safer base a criterion a canon

I would like to note a remarkable methodological convergence with Origen Princ 341 which Gregory certainly knew and kept in mind Origen too rejects Platorsquos threefold division of the human soul on the ground that this scheme is laquo not much confirmed by the authority of sacred Scripture raquo thus he will leave this doctrine aside and turn to others which find support in the Bible Origen too in fact presented the Bible as the basis for truth and the canon for human rational investigation116 and

113) See my introductory essay in Gregorio di Nissa cit 114) For a complete analysis of the philosophical motives in Gregoryrsquos De anima see my philosophical essay in my Gregorio di Nissa Sullrsquoanima e la resurrezione 115) See my ldquoAllegoria ed escatologiardquo in Approches de la Troisiegraveme Sophistique Hommages agrave J Schamp ed E Amato Bruxelles 2006 193-220 116) See Princ 131 Comm in Matth S 18 Hom in Num 266 in Jer 17 in Ez 25 our reason without the guide of divine inspiration is unable to reach the truth thus he as a Christian philosopher feels uncertain when he must rely on reason alone Cf C Cels 337 426 Princ 1714 222 411



Gregory closely followed him Scripture remains the last criterion for truth for both Origen and Gregory although this does not prevent them from assimilating Greek philosophical theories especially Platonic and Stoic and the allegorical method which was felt as pagan by Origen himself who tried to avoid the term ἀλληγορία precisely for this reason117 Th ey both tried to absorb and integrate all the good that Hellenism had to offermdashie all that was compatible with Christianity118

117) See my ldquoOrigen and the Stoic allegorical traditionrdquo Ead ldquoGiovanni Crisostomo e lrsquoesegesi scritturale Le scuole di Alessandria e di Antiochia e le polemiche con gli allegoristi paganirdquo in Giovanni Crisostomo Oriente e Occidente fra IV e V secolo Atti del XXXIII Incon-tro di Studiosi dell rsquo Antichitagrave Cristiana Roma Augustinianum 6-8V2004 Roma 2005 121-162 ldquoSan Giustino martire il multiforme uso di mysterion e il lessico dellrsquoesegesi tipo-logica delle Scritturerdquo in Il volto del Mistero ed AM Mazzanti Castel Bolognese 2006 35-66 ldquoMysterion negli Stromateis di Clemente Alessandrino aspetti di continuitagrave con la tradizione allegorica grecardquo ibid 83-120 likewise Clement did not apply the term θεολογία to Christian theology because he deemed it compromised by its pagan usage mostly in the allegorical interpretation of myths dealing with gods 118) Origen himself excluded atheistic philosophical schools from his disciplesrsquo cursus stu-diorum See most recently L Lugaresi ldquoStudenti cristiani e scuola paganardquo Cristianesimo nella Storia 25 (2004) 779-832 my philosophical essay in my Gregorio di Nissa Sullrsquoanima e la resurrezione On Origenrsquos attitude toward the Hellenistic culture see D Runia ldquoOrigen and Hellenismrdquo in Origeniana VIII 43-48



gorical exegesis of Scripture a significant heritage of Hellenistic culture Origen was very well acquainted with the Stoic and Platonic allegorical interpretations of Greek myths already applied to the Bible by Philo and Clement of Alexandria (3) At the same time their doctrine rests on philo-sophical arguments mainly deriving from Platonism an even weightier heritage of Hellenistic culture eg Gregoryrsquos De anima et resurrectione is deeply influenced by Platonism both in form and in content and so is Origen especially in his De principiis although both are Christians first and Platonists second

1 Th e Scriptural Foundation of Apokatastasis in Origen and Gregory

Origenrsquos exposition of the doctrine of apokatastasis especially in De prin-cipiis but also elsewhere is always supported by scriptural quotations and his arguments are grounded in the Bible and structured around it in an intimate logical relationship Many of his arguments and quotations confirming them will be taken up by Gregory of Nyssa2

Among all scriptural evidence 1Cor 1521-28 seems to be absolutely essential in Origenrsquos viewmdashas it will later be in Gregoryrsquosmdashand whenever he discusses apokatastasis it is often quoted both entirely and partially in particular in the final statement that laquo God will be all in all raquo3 Th is is

2) See my essay on the apokatastasis in Origen and Gregory in my Gregorio di Nissa Sullrsquoanima e la resurrezione Milan 2007 history of the apokatastasis in my Apocatastasi forthcoming in Milan Th e bibliography on this subject especially for Origen would be impressively wide I refer to my book for complete documentation here I only mention eg W van Laak Allversoumlhnung Sinzig 1990 for Origen and M Ludlow Universal Salvation Oxford 2000 for Gregory also C Lenz ldquoApokatastasisrdquo in Reallexikon fuumlr Antike und Christentum I Stuttgart 1950 510-516 R ParryndashC Partridge eds Universal Salvation Carlisle 2003 with my review in Stylos 14 (2005) 206-208 and some recent entries by L-F Mateo-Seco in Diccionario de san Gregorio de Nisa eds IdndashG Maspero Burgos 2006 (of which an enriched English edition is also expected to appear) ldquoEscatologiacuteardquo 357-378 ldquoPurificacioacuten ultraterrenardquo 765-769 ldquoSoteriologiacuteardquo 803-812 P Tzamalikos Origen Phi-losophy of History and Eschatology Leiden 2007 3) On early Christian interpretation of 1Cor including this very important passage now see JL Kovacs 1 Corinthians Interpreted by Early Christian Commentators Grand Rapids 2005 233-260 (my review in Archaeus 103 [2006] 166-167) see also E Schendel Herrschaft und Unterwerfung Christi 1Korinther 1524-28 in Exegese und Th eologie der Vaumlter bis zum Ausgang des 4 Jahrhunderts Tuumlbingen 1971 praes 81-110 on Origen on Origenrsquos interpretation of 1Cor 15 see J Rius-Camps ldquoLa hipoacutetesis origeniana sobre el fin
















































































































































































































Apo Catastasis

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Transcript of Apo Catastasis