The nature, function, and destiny of the human body—Origen's interpretation of 1 Cor 15

In this article, I will investigate Origen's use of two metaphors: The seed metaphor and the clothing metaphor. Both metaphors are found in Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, which Origen uses as his biblical foundation in the passage from On First Principles that will be analyzed in...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Jacobsen, Anders-Christian 1963- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: De Gruyter [2019]
In: Zeitschrift für antikes Christentum
Year: 2019, Volume: 23, Issue: 1, Pages: 36-52
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Origenes 185-254, De principiis / Bible. Corinthians 1. 15 / Body / Seeds / Clothing / Metaphor
IxTheo Classification:HC New Testament
KAB Church history 30-500; early Christianity
NBE Anthropology
Further subjects:B First Principles
B Origen of Alexandria
B Punishment
B Spiritual Progress
B seed metaphor
B spiritual education
B 1 Cor 15
B Body
B clothing metaphor
Online Access: Presumably Free Access
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Summary:In this article, I will investigate Origen's use of two metaphors: The seed metaphor and the clothing metaphor. Both metaphors are found in Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, which Origen uses as his biblical foundation in the passage from On First Principles that will be analyzed in this article. My focus will be on how Origen understands the nature, the function, and the destiny of human beings and especially of human bodies. According to Origen, the nature of the human body is changeable and unstable. This is because the bodily matter has merely been added to the rational beings at a certain time and will disappear again when its function is fulfilled. The function of the human body is to clothe the rational being on its way through fall and spiritual progress towards perfection. Thus, the body allows the rational being to be punished and educated. The destiny of the human body is eventually to disappear, but this will only happen when the body has gone through many stages of fall and progress in its service of the rational being.
ISSN:1612-961X
Contains:Enthalten in: Zeitschrift für antikes Christentum
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1515/zac-2019-0003