The Ultimate Man in the Primitive Paradise: An Analytical Study of the interpretations of Hexaemeron in the teachings of Johannes Scottus of Eriugena

Articles in Press

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Professor, Department of Religions and Mysticism, Faculty of Theology, University of Tehran

2 Professor, Department of Religion and Mysticism, Faculty of Theology, University of Tehran

3 PhD candidate of Religions and Mysticism, Faculty of Theology, University of Tehran

10.22061/orj.2025.2376

Abstract

In the teachings of Johannes Scottus Eriugena, the Irish philosopher of the 9th century AD, the originality of human nature is the soul resulting from divine reason, which makes the external manifestations of divinity sensible and reasonable.  Although the spirit is the verb of the Logos and according to the dogma of the Trinity, it is one with the divinity of the Word, but its external and objective "appearance" is the world that Eriugena calls the Paradisus, the theophanic world, and human nature; and according to the text of the Torah, it is an image of Divinity (Imago Dei). Eriugena makes a distinction between God's predestined creation, which comes to the fore in accordance with God's knowledge, and his contrived creation, which is the result of divine foreknowledge of human disobedience. He portrays the reaching of human beings to their natural destinies as an afterthought and depends on rationality and faith, and contrary to the dominant view of Catholicism, he does not see the human being driven away from his nature, Rather, in his belief, man has an inherent connection with his nature or head, which is possible to reach with the science of the soul, that is, the steps of intellectual dialectics.

Keywords

References

 
Agamben, Giorgio, The Kingdom and Garden, translated by Ebrahim Ranjbar, Tehran: Negah Publications, third edition, 2021, Persian.
Agamben, Giorgio, The Kingdom and Glory, Homer Saker, Part 2, translated by Yahya Santi Masbughi, Tehran: Nimaj, first edition, 2022, Persian.
Bieler, Jonathan (2016), Maximus The Confessor on Christ's Human Will, Communio (International Catholic Review), Vol.4, No. 1, pp: 55-82
Byron, Mark, Ezra Pound's Eriugena, ed. (Mattew Feldman), first published, Bloomsbury, 2014
Carabine, Deirdre (2000), John Scottus Eriugena, Oxford University Press
Corbin, Henry, Heavenly Earth, translated by Ziauddin Deshiri, Tehran: Tahouri Publications, 4th edition. 2008, Persian.
Cvetković, Vladimir (2011), Predeterminations and Providence in Dionysius The Areopagite and Maximus the Confessor, Chapter Eight in "Dionysius The Areopagite between Orthodxy and Heresy", ed. (Filip Ivanović), Cambridge Scholars Publishing, pp: 135-156
D'Onofrio, Giulio (2020), The Speculative System of John Scottus Eriugena and Tradition of Vera Philosophia, in A companion to John Scottus Eriugena, ed. (Adrian Guiu), Vol.86, Brill, pp: 213-238
Duncan, Joseph E., Milton's Earthly Paradise: A Historical Study of Eden. University Of Minnesota Press, 1972
Eliade, Mircha, Myths, Dreams, Mystries, translated by Roya Monajjem, Tehran: Gulrang Yekta, third edition, 2003, Persian.
Eriugena, Johannes Scotus, periphyseon (The Division of Nature), translated by I.P, Sheldon - Williams, Revised by John I.O'Meara, Canada: Bellarmin, 1987
Gilson, Etienne , The Spirit of Mediaeval Philosophy, translated by Ali Morad Davoudi, Tehran: Sherkat e Enteshārāt e Elmi va Farhangi, second edition, 1991, Persian.
Gilson, Etienne, Medieval Philosophy, translated by Reza Gandomi Nasrabadi, Qom: University of Religions and Religions Publications, second edition, 2016, Persian.
Harrington, Michael (2020), Eriugena and Neoplatonic Tradition, in A Companion to John Scottus Eriugena, ed. (Adrian Guiu), Vol.86, Brill, pp:64-92
Hovorun, Cyril (2015) Maximus, A Cautious Neo Chalcedonian, in The Oxford Handbook of  Maximus The Confessor, ed ( Pauline Allen and Bronwen Neil), Oxford University Press, pp: 106-124
Kavanagh, Catherine (2015), The Impact of Maximus The Confessor on John Scottus Eriugena, The Oxfrd Handbook of Maximus The Confessor, pp: 480-499
Kurdzialek, Martin (2014), Mediaeval Doctorines on Man as Image of the World, Rocznici Filozoficzne, Published by John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin, Vol.62, No.4, pp: 205-246
Lloyd-sidle, Elena M (2020), A Thematic Introduction to and out line of the Periphyseon for Alumnus, in A Companion to John Scottus Eriugena, ed (Adrian Guiu), Vol.86, Brill, pp: 113-133
Maximus The Confessor (2003), Blowers, Paul.M and Wilken, Robert Louis (translators), On the Cosmic Mystery of Jesus Christ: Selected 'Writings from ST MAXIMUS THE CONFESSOR, St Vladimir's Seminary Press
McGinn, Bernard (1996),The Originality of Eriugena's Spritual Exegesis, in Johannes Scottus Eriugena, The Bible and Hermeneutics, ed. ( Carlos Steal and others), Leuven University Press, pp: 55-80
McGinn, Bernard (2020), the priphyseon as Hexaemeral Commentary , in A Companion To John Scottus Eriugena, ed. ( Adrian Guiu), Copy Right by Koninklijke Brill NV, PP: 154-188
Mojtahedi, Karim, Medieval Philosophy (collection of articles), Tehran: Amirkabir Publications, 6th edition, 2018, Persian.
Moran, Dermot, The Philosphy of John Scottus Eriugena, A Study of Idealism in the Midle Ages, Cambridge University Press, first published, 1989
Omeara, Dominic (1981), The Conception of Natura in John Scottus Eriugena, Vivarium, Published by Brill, Vol.19, No.2, pp: 126-145
Otten, Willemien, The Anthropology of Johannes Scottus Eriugena, in Brill's Studies in Intellectual History, ed. (A.J.Vanderjagt), Netherland: E.J.Brill, vol 20, 1991
Pascal Mueller, Jourdan (2015), The Foundation of Origenist Methaphysics, ed( Paulin Allen And Bronwen Neil), The Oxford Handbook of Maximus The Confessor, Oxford University Press,pp: 149-162
Plotinus, The Enneads (Arabic translation by Ibn Naymah Homsi from Plotin's Tasawat), translated by Hassan Malekshahi, Tehran: Soroush Publications, 3rd edition, 2016, Persian.
Portaru, Marius (2015), Classical Influences: Aristotle and Platonism, in The Oxford Handbook of Maximus The Confessor, pp: 127-149
Scafi, Alessandro, Return to the Sources: Paradise in Armenia, in Mapping Paradise: A History of Heaven on Earth. London, England and Chicago, Illinois: British Library and University of Chicago Press, 2006
Stock, Brian (1967), Observations on the use of Augustine by Johannes Scottus Eriugena, The Harward Theological Review, Published by Cambridge University Press, Vol.60, No.2, pp: 213-220
The Holy Bible, New Millennium Translation from Hebrew and Greek, UK: Elam, 2014 Publications, Persian.
Tomasic, Thomas Michael (1988), The Logical Function of Metaphor in Pseudo Dionysius and Johannes Scottus Eriugena, The Journal of Religion,Published by the University of Chicago Press, Vol.68, No.3, pp:361-376
Zevit, Ziony, what Really Happened in the Garden of Eden? Yale University Press, 2013
Journal of Ontological Researches

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 13 July 2025

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics