medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bill East" <[log in to unmask]>
> "It was this which God brought about by a great act of strategy. God
became Man, and the Devil himself failed to realise it. He failed to
> see the Divinity beneath the human form. He claimed Him as his own and
subjected Him to death. But in doing so he committed that great act of
lawlessness - that extension of his authority over One who had made no
'diffidatio', no srrender of himself to the Devil - and this lost him his
empire. Henceforth, the Devil could be smitten hip and thigh, and God could
save whom he would."
>
> All of which may seem rather far-fetched to some members of the list, but
I assure you that Southern accurately reports the view of many of
> the Fathers.<<<<
O no, Your Suppleness, not at all far-fetched. This is wonderfully good
and current theology for all the venerable Churches of the East.
Take, for example, the homily of Saint John the Golden-Mouthed which is
still read in the Orthodox world in as the sermon at the Midnight Paschal
Liturgy.
Fr Ambrose
Let none lament his poverty;
for the universal Kingdom is revealed.
Let none bewail his transgressions;
for the light of forgiveness has risen from the tomb.
Let none fear death;
for death of the Saviour has set us free.
He has destroyed death by undergoing death.
He has despoiled hell by descending into hell.
He vexed it even as it tasted of His flesh.
Isaiah foretold this when he cried:
Hell was filled with bitterness when it met Thee face to face below;
filled with bitterness, for it was brought to nothing;
filled with bitterness, for it was mocked;
filled with bitterness, for it was overthrown;
filled with bitterness, for it was put in chains.
Hell received a body, and encountered God.
It received earth, and confronted heaven.
O death, where is your sting?
O hell, where is your victory?
Christ is risen! And you, o death, are annihilated!
Christ is risen! And the evil ones are cast down!
Christ is risen! And the angels rejoice!
Christ is risen! And life is made free!
Christ is risen! And the tomb is emptied of its dead;
for Christ having risen from the dead,
is become the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
To Him be Glory and Power, now and forever, and from all ages to all ages.
Amen!
>
> We see this view of the Atonement gradually emerging from the Fathers.
> It is first hinted at in the letter of St Ignatius of Antioch to the
> Ephesians, written about 106 AD. Ignatius writes, "Mary's virginity was
> hidden from the prince of this world; so was her child-bearing, and so
> was the death of the Lord." It is only a sentence, but few sentences
> have been so oft-quoted or so influential. The notion that the Devil
> was fooled by failing to spot the Incarnation became central to the
> patristic and early medieval view of the Atonement. A little later than
> Ignatius, Irenaeus of Lyons (c. 130 - c. 200 AD) write this interesting
> passage in the "Adversus omnes haereses":
>
> "...The powerful Word, and true man, redeeming us by his own blood in a
> reasonable way, gave himself as a ransom for those who have been led
> into captivity. And since the Apostasy [i.e. the Devil] unjustly held
> sway over us, and though we were by nature [the possession] of Almighty
> God, estranged us against nature, making us his own disciples;
> therefore the Word of God, mighty in all things and not lacking in his
> own justice, acted justly even in the encounter with the Apostasy
> itself, ransoming from it that which was his own, not by force, in the
> way in which it secured the sway over us at the beginning, snatching
> insatiably what was not its own; but by persuasion, as it became God to
> receive what he wished; by persuasion, not by the use of force, that
> the principles of justice might not be infringed, and, at the same
> time, that God's original creation might not perish."
>
> More tomorrow.
>
> Bill.
>
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