Harmony Between Arkhē and Telos in Patristic Platonism and the Imagery of Astronomical Harmony...

892019 Harmony Between Arkhē and Telos in Patristic Platonism and the Imagery of Astronomical Harmony Applied to Apohellip

httpslidepdfcomreaderfullharmony-between-arkhe-and-telos-in-patristic-platonism-and-the-imagery-of 149

The International Journal of the Platonic Tradition 7 ( 2013 ) 1-49

The International

Journal of the

Platonic Tradition

brillcomjpt

copy Koninklijke Brill NV Leiden 2013 DOI 10486259830881048625104862598309498309110486259830969830951048626983093983092983095983091-1048625104862698309198309210486251048626983092983097

Harmony between Arkhē andTelos in Patristic

Platonism and the Imagery of Astronomical Harmony

Applied to Apokatastasis983089

Ilaria RamelliCatholic University of the Sacred Heart Milan amp Durham University UK

ilariaramelliunicattit

Abstract

This study investigates the idea of harmony as a protological and eschatological

principle in three outstanding Patristic philosophers well steeped in the Platonic

tradition Origen Gregory Nyssen and Evagrius All of them attached an extraor-

dinary importance to harmony homonoia and unity in the arkhē and even more

in the telos This ideal is opposed to the disagreementdispersion of rational crea-turesrsquo acts of volition after their fall and before the eventual apokatastasis These

Christian Platonists are among the strongest supporters of the 1048678983145nal universal res-

toration Their re983142983148ection on the unity-multiplicity dialectic which parallels that

between harmony and disorderdiscorddissonance is informed by the Platonic

tradition In Gregory the idea of harmony assumes musical connotations espe-

cially in relation to the telos

In this connection I examine the relationship between their notion of har-

mony in the arkhē andtelos and Plotinusrsquo concept of harmony Plotinus was well

known to Gregory the author of a Christianized version of Platorsquos Phaedo in which apokatastasis is prominent Origen whose readings included many Mid-

dle-Platonic and Neo-Pythagorean texts in Alexandria attended the classes of the

ldquoproto-Neoplatonistrdquo Ammonius who was also Plotinusrsquo teacher A wide-ranging

methodical investigation of the relation between Origenrsquos and Plotinusrsquo philo-

sophical thoughts is still a notable desideratum

Finally I concentrate on the concept of harmony in astronomy as a metaphor

for intellectual harmony and apokatastasis in Patristic Platonism especially in

983089983081 Ι warmly thank the anonymous readers of IJPT for their valuable suggestions and John

Finamore for welcoming my study into the Journal which profoundly honored and glad-

dened me



2 I Ramelli The International Journal of the Platonic Tradition 7 ( 2013 ) 1-49

Evagriusrsquo Kephalaia Gnōstika The noun apokatastasis was used in an astronomi-

cal sense and employed in Stoicism for the conclusion of a cosmic cycle Evagrius

who loved astronomical metaphors focussed a kephalaion on a wordplaymdashwhichescaped Guillaumont and all other scholarsmdashconcerning the astronomical mean-

ing of apokatastasis thus embedding his theory of the eventual restoration in an

allegorical framework that rests on a notion of astronomical harmony A strong

case is made in this connection that Evagrius was elaborating on Platorsquos pivotal

link between cosmological (astronomical) and intellectual harmony and was

aware that the Stoic theory of cosmological apokatastasis drew on Plato

Keywords

harmony unity Apokatastasis Origen Gregory Nyssen Evagrius Plotinus Plato

1 Harmony as a Protological and Eschatological Principle in Three

Patristic Platonists

The idea of harmony is both a protological and an eschatological principlein three of the main Patristic philosophers all very well steeped in thePlatonic tradition Origen of Alexandria (dagger 255ca)983090 Gregory of Nyssa

(dagger 394 or soon after) and Evagrius of Pontus (dagger 399) All three of themattached an extraordinary importance to harmony (ἁρmicroονία συmicroφωνίασύmicroπνοια) concord (ὁmicroόνοια) and unity (ἑνότης ἕν microονάς) These areregarded as present to a certain degree even in the current arrangementof things essentially thanks to the Logos but above all in the arkhē andeven more in the telos that is to say the beginning and the end both inthe ontological and in the historical sense This ideal harmony and unitythat characterize the beginning and the end of human history is opposed

by these thinkers to the disagreement and dispersion of acts of volition ofrational creatures after the fall and before the eventual apokatastasisIndeed these three Christian Platonists are among the strongest support-ers of the doctrine of the 1048678983145nal universal restoration ie the reintegrationof all rational creatures to harmony and unity with one another and withGod after their rejection of evil These Patristic philosophersrsquo re983142983148ectionon the dialectic between unity and multiplicity which parallels thatbetween harmony and disorderdiscorddissonance is strongly informed

983090983081 For the discussion of the date of Origenrsquos death which should be placed in 254255 or

perhaps even in 256 see I Ramelli (2009) 217-263



I Ramelli The International Journal of the Platonic Tradition 7 ( 2013 ) 1-49 3

by the Platonic tradition This is indeed the main source of their re983142983148ectionon harmony and unity along with the Bible In particular in the New Tes-

tament unity is emphasized in John 17 in the solemn prayer of Jesus atthe Last Supper he prays that his followers my be one (ἕν) just as he andthe Father are One This prayer was a pivotal point of departure for Patris-tic re983142983148ection on unity1048627 that of the Trinity of the Church of the Logosand in the Origenian tradition the unity of all rational creatures with Godat the beginning and in the end

Before going on it is necessary to premise that Origen was indeed aChristian Platonist1048628 Especially Mark Edwards and Panayiotis Tzamalikos

have emphasized Origenrsquos ldquoanti-Platonismrdquo I agree with their point thatOrigen can be regarded as an anti-Platonist in some respects but onlyinsofar as we understand that the Platonism which is criticized by him isldquo paganrdquo anti-Christian Platonism and ldquoGnosticrdquo Platonismmdashwhich forOrigen is not Christianmdashrather than Platonism tout court What Origenaimed at was the construction of a Christian Platonism that was no lesslegitimate in his view than the ldquopaganrdquo one In sum Origenrsquos ldquoanti-Platonismrdquo must be quali1048678983145ed I think he was against pagan Platonism and

Gnostic Platonism precisely because he intended to construct an ldquoortho-doxrdquo Christian Platonism against ldquoGnosticismrdquo Marcionism and ldquopagan-ismrdquo Of course he rejected doctrines such as that of metensomatosis

which was incompatible with Scripture and was supported by Plato him-self only in a mythical form while it was ldquopaganrdquo Platonism that supportedit in a theoretical and dogmatic formmdashand this is what Origen and thenGregory of Nyssa countered1048629 This is why Origen never stopped teachingphilosophy and valued philosophy for instance in Comm in Cant II 128

the queen of Saba who represents the ldquopagansrdquo brought gold with her which symbolizes philosophy regarded as most valuable Origen theChristian may even be the same as the Neoplatonist of whom PorphyryIamblichus and Proclus speak1048630 At any rate he was or became a Chris-tian and his Platonism is Christian to the point that his thought is

1048627983081 A volume of the Novum Testamentum Patristicum series will be devoted to this (that

on John 13-17 Goumlttingen Vandenhoek und Ruprecht)

1048628983081 I Ramelli (2009) and (2011d) OrsquoLeary (2011) with my review in GNOMON 84 (2012)

560-563

1048629983081 I Ramelli (forthcoming)

1048630983081 See I Ramelli (2011d) and (forthcoming a)




grounded in the Bible 1048678983145rst and in Plato aftermdashalso because in his view it was Plato who was inspired by the Bible The latter point which re983142983148ects

a common motif in Hellenistic Judaism and Christian apologetics isexpressed especially clearly in Comm in Cant prol 32-4 Here Origenpresents theology (epoptica =de divinis et caelestibus) as part and parcelof philosophy and declares that it cannot be studied alone without philo-sophical bases then he remarks that Greek philosophers drew inspirationfrom Solomonrsquos wisdom ( Haec ergo ut mihi videtur sapientes quiqueGraecorum sumpta a Solomone utpote qui aetate et tempore longe anteipsos prior ea per Dei spiritum didicisset ) Hence the priority of the Bible

but also the close similarity between the teaching of Scripture and that ofPlato Origen found in Scripture a wealth of philosophical doctrinesbeginning with the 983987νῶθι σεαυτόν which he claims was known to Solo-mon long before being formulated by the Seven Wise Men of Greece(Comm in Cant II 51) The doctrine of apokatastasis is one of the bestexamples of this closeness between the Bible and Greek philosophy espe-cially Platonism as I hope to have demonstrated elsewhere1048631 most of itspremises are grounded in both Scripture and Platonism but Origen

adduces Scripture to buttress it However Scripture expresses the sametruths as Platonism does Among the most important scriptural passages by means of which Ori-

gen supported the doctrine of apokatastasis are 1 Cor 1524-281048632 and Acts321 The latter includes the only occurrence of the word ἀποκατάστασις inthe whole Bible Here Peter announces the eschatological times of univer-sal restoration the same as announced in Matt 1711 ldquoUntil the times ofthe comfort coming from the Lordrsquos face will arrive and he sends Jesus

Christ [ ] the heavens will keep him till the times of universal restora-tion of the apokatastasis of all beings [ἀποκαταστάσεως πάντων] of whichGod has spoken through his holy prophets from time immemorialrdquo1048633 The

1048631983081 In I Ramelli (2013)

1048632983081 On Origenrsquos use of this passage see at least I Ramelli (2007) and (2010)

1048633983081 A Meacutehat (1956) interprets ἀποκατάστασις here in the sense of ldquoaccomplishment ful1048678983145l-

ment realisationrdquo (sc of the promises of God) but contrast L Misiarczyk ldquo Apokatastasisrealizzata attuale e futura nella tradizione patristica pre-origenianardquo Augustinianum 48

(2008) 33-58 praes 36-41 In fact ἀποκατάστασις means a restoration to an original condition

of health or civic rights or beatitude etc as the Vulgate captures well in translating restitutioin Acts 321 Restitutio omnium does not mean the ful1048678983145lment of Godrsquos promises but the




eventual universal restoration is parallel to the 1048678983145nal comfort consolationand relief coming from God It will come about when all have converted

and their sins have been remitted (Acts 319-20) and when Godrsquos promiseto Abraham can 1048678983145nally be ful1048678983145lled ldquoIn your descendants all the familiesof the earth will be blessedrdquo (Acts 325) In this passage too just as in Matt1711 apokatastasis is eschatological universal and a work of God Theprophets foretold these eschatological times (as is repeated in Acts 324)It is noteworthy that the Vulgate renders ἀποκατάστασις in Acts 321 byrestitutio ldquorestorationrdquo9830891048624 Among Patristic authors the supporters of theapokatastasis doctrine saw in Acts 321 an endorsement of their theory

Origen used precisely the phrase ἀποκατάστασις πάντων (restitutioomnium) found in Acts 321 to indicate his own doctrine In Ru1048678983145nusrsquo ver-sion of his De principiis the notion of universal restoration is often ren-dered by restitutio omnium the Latin translation of ἀποκατάστασις πάντωνNotably it is the same translation as the Vulgate offfers for ἀποκατάστασιςπάντων in Acts 321 In Princ II 35 Origen expressly refers to Acts 321 andinterprets the ldquouniversal restorationrdquo of which Peter speaks as the ldquoperfecttelosrdquo and the ldquoperfecting of allrdquo at the end of all aeons983089983089 In Hom in Ier

1418 he links Acts 321 to another Biblical passage in which the vocabularyof ἀποκατάστασις ἀποκαθίστηmicroι appears ldquoif you return repent I shallrestore [ἀποκαταστήσω] yourdquo (Jer 1519) Origen provides here an interest-ing explanation of what ἀποκατάστασις means explaining that it indicatesa return to what is proper and original to someone (ἡ ἀποκατάστασίς ἐστινεἰς τὰ οἰκεῖα) one can only be restored to a state that is original and natu-ral to him or her983089983090 Origen gives the examples of the therapeutic meaningthe reintegration of someone after an exile and the reintegration of a

restoration of all beings Origen himself clari1048678983145es the meaning of apokatastasis as restoration

(see below)

9830891048624983081 ldquoCum venerint tempora refrigerii a conspectu Domini et miserit eum qui praedicatus

est vobis Iesum Christum quem oportet caelum quidem suscipere usque in tempora resti-tutionis omnium quae locutus est Deus per os sanctorum suorum a saeculo prophetarum

[ ] et omnes prophetae [ ] adnuntiaverunt dies istos Vos estis 1048678983145lii prophetarum et

testamenti quod disposuit Deus [ ] dicens ad Abraham Et in semine tuo benedicentur

omnes familiae terraerdquo

983089983089983081 ldquoQuod erit forte in restitutione omnium cum ad perfectum 1048678983145nem universa pervenient id

fortasse plus aliquid esse quam saeculum intellegendum est in quo erit omnium consum-matio [ ] cum iam non in saeculo sunt omnia sed omnia et in omnibus Deusrdquo

983089983090983081 This also con1048678983145rms that in Acts 321 ἀποκατάστασις πάντων means ldquouniversal restorationrdquo




soldier into the military unit from which he was chased It is noteworthythat all of these meanings can be applied metaphorically to apokatastasis

as restoration as Origen conceived it Then Origen relates the Jeremiahpassage to Peterrsquos reference to the universal restoration eventually oper-ated by God (Acts 321)9830891048627 As is typical of Origenrsquos thought9830891048628 the 1048678983145nalapokatastasis announced by the prophets and then Peter is declared todepend on Christ Similarly Origen interprets the ἀποκατάστασις πάντωνin Acts 321 as a clear reference to the eventual universal restoration inComm in Matth XVII 199830891048629

Especially Clement of Alexandria Origen and Gregory of Nyssa applied

the notion of transcendent unity to Christ-Logos as subsuming the multi-plicity of the Ideaslogoi of all existing beings and to Christrsquos humanity ascoinciding with all of humankind9830891048630 Their notion of Christ-Logos as theseat of the Ideas clearly has its roots in Middle Platonism The Logos is theseat of the Ideas the paradigms of reality and uni1048678983145es them Platorsquos Ideashad in fact become thoughts of God and were located in Godrsquos mind thatis Godrsquos Logos Philo who was close to Middle Platonism saw in theLogos which is one the totality of powers which are identical to the Ideas

the intelligible paradigms of sense-perceptible realities Like an architect who forms the model of a city in his mind Godrsquos Logos is the seat of ldquothe world composed by the Ideasrdquo (Opif mund 17-20) The Logos according to

Philo plays a core role in the creation of the world Shortly after Philo thefourth evangelist in his Prologue also assigned this role to the Logos whichhe identi1048678983145ed with Christ as Clement Origen and many Patristic thinkersdid after him The Logos in Philorsquos view is an intermediary between Godand the world and between unity and multiplicity ( LA III 150 Leg ad

and not ldquothe ful1048678983145lment of allrdquo (sc that God promised) See above the discussion of Meacutehat

(1956)

9830891048627983081 ldquoIf we return God will restore [ἀποκαταστήσει] us and indeed the endful1048678983145lment of

this promise is the same as is written in the Acts of the Apostles in the following passage

[321] lsquountil the times of the restoration of all beings [ἀποκαταστάσεως πάντων] of which

God spoke through his holy prophets from time immemorialrsquo in Jesus Christrdquo

9830891048628983081 This is argued by I Ramelli (2011e)

9830891048629983081 ldquoBut in the ultimate end at the accomplishment of lsquothe restoration of all beings

[ἀποκατάστασις πάντων] of which God spoke through his holy prophets from time imme-

morialrsquo we shall see God not like now when we see what God is not but as it will become

that state when we shall see what God isrdquo

9830891048630983081 See I Ramelli (2013a)




G 55) The latter respect is precisely that which is most developed byClement who also took up Philorsquos doctrine of the divine dynameis and

mostly transferred them onto the Logos Clement observes that according to Plato thenous or Intellect is like

a divinity which is able to contemplate the Ideas It is the seat of the Ideasand is itself God (Strom IV 25155-156) In 1561 indeed Clement describesthe Logos as Wisdom Science and Truth notions pertaining to thegnoseological 1048678983145eld which is related to the function of Christ as Logos TheSon is the sum and uni1048678983145cation of all the powers of the spirit ldquoall in onerdquothey ldquoconcur to constitute the Sonrdquo who is the sum of all these spiritual

dynameis But the Son is not determined by the notion of each one of hispowers Christ-Logos is not simply the sum of all these dynameis but tran-scends them in a superior unity Indeed ldquothe Son is not simply lsquoone thingrsquoas one thing nor is he lsquomany thingsrsquo as parts of a sum but One thing as Allthingsrdquo ὡς πάντα ἕν (ibidem 1562) The Logos is not only One (like theFather) and not only All (like creatures) but All in One and One as Allthe unity of multiplicity that transcends the many and makes them oneldquoHence also all things for the Son himself is the circle that embraces all

the powers which are encircled and uni1048678983145ed into onerdquo9830891048631 The Logos is theprinciple of all things because it embraces their multiplicity in a superiorunity and because it is the agent of creation9830891048632

11 Origen

Clementrsquos conception was received by Origen in Comm in Io I 20119 whereas the Father is One and absolutely simply One Christ the Logos is

ldquoOne through Allrdquo Christ is said to be ldquothe 1048678983145rst and the lastrdquo in Revelation

9830891048631983081 All translations from Greek Latin and Syriac in the present essay are mine unless

otherwise stated

9830891048632983081 The notion of circularity in reference to the Logosrsquo encompassing all in unity is devel-

oped by Clement in 1571 ldquoFor this reason the Logos is said to be the Alpha and the Omega

[Rev 18 2213] because only in his case does the end coincide with the beginning the

Logos ends with the 1048678983145rst principle without admitting of any interruption at any pointrdquo

The Logos being God has no duality no multiplicity no division but resolves every divi-

sion and uni1048678983145es multiplicity Since the Logos is the transcendent unity of all ldquoto believe in

Christ and through Christ means to become uni1048678983145ed and simple being uni1048678983145ed in the Logos

continually without distractions or interruptions whereas not to believe means to be in

disagreement separated and dividedrdquo (IV 251572)




because he is the 1048678983145rst the last and all that is in between as Christ-Logosis ldquoall thingsrdquo (ibidem I 31219) ldquoall and in allrdquo (ibidem I 31225)9830891048633 A frag-

ment on John 1711 survives from the Catenae (fr 140) in which Origentakes up the famous Aristotelian expression concerning the many mean-ings of being but he applies it to a Platonic issue namely that of unity(with a very Neoplatonic passage from ontology to henology) he explainsthat τὸ ἓν πο983995αχῶς λέ983987εται ldquoUnity has many meaningsrdquo For instancethere is unity according to harmony and agreement or according to simi-larity of nature the unity of all human beings in Adam and in Christ is ofthe latter kind In Comm in Io I 19114-115 Origen uses the metaphor of the

project in the architectrsquos mind already employed by Philo to explain therelation between the Logos and the paradigm of the world the living Wis-dom of God is the Logos who contains and uni1048678983145es all the archetypal logoi that are the paradigms of all creation The logoi existed in unity in GodrsquosLogos-Wisdom ab aeterno before their creation as substances ( PrincI 45) The SonLogosWisdom contained in itself ab aeterno the ldquoprinci-plesrdquo ldquoreasonsrdquo and ldquoformsrdquo of the whole creation (initia rationes andspecies in Ru1048678983145nusrsquo version = ἀρχαί λό983987οι and εἴδη) the Ideas in which

every existing being participates ( Princ I 22) This depends on the Sonrsquosown existing ab aeterno as well as the Father a point that Origen strenu-ously defended against pre-Arian and subordinationistic drifts accordingto which ldquothere was a time when (the Son) did not existrdquo9830901048624

Christ-Logos with his unifying power is the factor of the cohesion andharmony of the whole universe and plays a role that is comparable to thatof the Platonic anima mundi (and the Stoic πνεῦmicroα but without the imma-nentistic perspective of Stoicism) ldquoEven if it is ordered with diffferent

off1048678983145ces and functions we ought not to believe that the state of the worldis inorganic and disharmonious On the contrary just as our body is com-posed of many members but is governed by one and the same soul so alsoshould we regard the whole of the universe as one immense ensouled being governed by Godrsquos power and Logos which is so to say its soul God theFather of all 1048678983145lls up and embraces the universe with the fulness of hispowerrdquo the Logos-dynamis ( Princ II 13) Christ indeed subsumes not only

9830891048633983081 The unity of the Logos is emphasized by Origen in Comm in Io XX 643-44 against

those who ldquowant to kill the Logos and to break him to pieces to destroy the unity

[ἑνότης] of the greatness of the Logosrdquo

9830901048624983081 This point is extensively argued in I Ramelli (2011) 21-49




all humanity thanks to his ldquoinhumanationrdquo but also all rational creaturesqua Logos ldquoJust as in the Temple of Jerusalem there were steps through

which one could enter the Holy of Holies so is the Only-Begotten Son ofGod all steps for us The 1048678983145rst step is his human nature by placing a footonto this step we can proceed through all the others so that beginningfrom his humanity we can ascend through him who is also angel and allthe other celestial powersrdquo (Comm in Io XIX 6)

Multiplicity is subsumed and transcended in the Logosrsquo unity andthrough Christ-Logos in the eschatological unity of all rational creaturesin God Perfect unity and harmony will be accomplished only in the telos

This condition of unity in the θέωσις or ldquodivinizationdei1048678983145cationrdquo ofrational creatures has often been misrepresented as pantheism as thougha substantial confusion should occur between God and creatures But thisis excluded by divine transcendence itself the ldquodei1048678983145cationrdquo of rationalcreatures or the beings endowed with intelligence983090983089 will be their leadinga divine life Their unity and harmony in God will be for Origen a unityand harmony of will For all rational creaturesrsquo volitions will be orientedonly to the Good ie God no longer to evil neither will they be dispersed

among a multiplicity of minor or apparent goods but God will representand be all goods all in one for all rational creatures983090983090This eschatological unity and harmony will be cemented in ἀ983987άπη

which is why there will be no more fall from harmony and unity in the1048678983145nal apokatastasis because caritas numquam cadit (Comm in Rom V10158-240) And this is one respect in which the eventual apokatastasiscan be regarded not only as a restoration of the initial status but also an

983090983089983081 To indicate them besides λο983987ικά λο983987ικοί Origen uses (esp in reference to angels)νοεραὶ φύσεις νοερὰ φύσις νοεραὶ δυνάmicroεις and the like Princ III 113 (= Philoc 2112) God

ἄφθαρτον φύσιν πεποίηκε τὴν νοερὰν καὶ αὐτῷ συγενῆ Comm in Matth XI 17 εἰσί τινες

προη983987ούmicroεναι ψυχαὶ νοεραὶ καὶ διορατικαί CC VIII 51 νοῦν ἢ τὸ καλούmicroενον παρ991257 αὐτοῖς

πνευmicroατικὸν ἢ λο983987ικὸν πνεῦmicroα νοερὸν ἅ983987ιον καὶ microακάριον ἢ ψυχὴν ζῶσαν VI 70 ἔθος τῇ 983987ραφῇ

τὰ νοητὰ ὀνοmicroάζειν πνεύmicroατα καὶ πνευmicroατικά VII 37 τοῖς ἀναιροῦσι νοητὰς οὐσίας

Στωϊκοῖς εἶναί τινα δηmicroιουρ983987ήmicroατα ἀόρατα τουτέστι νοητά Fr in Ps 10526 δυνάmicroεις τινὲς

νοεραί 11311 αἱ νοεραὶ καὶ ἅ983987ιαι δυνάmicroεις (= Sel in Ps PG 12122553) Sel in Ps PG 12157222

φύσεις αἱ νοεραὶ ἐν αἷς ὁ τῆς δικαιοσύνης ἥλιος ἀνατέ983995ει 157248 Τὰ ὄρη καὶ οἱ βουνοὶ νοεραὶ

φύσεις εἰσὶ χαίρουσαι ἐπὶ τῇ σωτηρίᾳ τοῦ Ἰσραήλ Fr in Ps 478 νοητάς τινας δυνάmicroεις δι991257 οὗ

τοὺς ἐχθροὺς ἀποτρέπει

983090983090983081 This is Origenrsquos interpretation of Godrsquos eschatological being ldquoall in allrdquo in 1 Cor 1528

See I Ramelli (2007) 313-356




improvement of it9830901048627 Love will keep all rational creatures in harmonyamong themselves and with God because love is a centripetal unifying

and harmonizing force Tanta caritatis vis est ut ad se omnia trahat (ibidem V 10226)9830901048628 The harmonious unity of the apokatastasis will never be dis-

rupted by any rational creaturersquos act of volition against God-the GoodOrigen takes up Paulrsquos revelation that nothing will be able to separate usfrom Godrsquos love not even death therefore not even our free will (ibidem

V 10212-222) Each rational creaturersquos free will shall spontaneously adhereto the Good this is the main feature of the 1048678983145nal harmony and unity Thecurrent multiplicity of rational creaturesrsquo willsmdashand as a consequence of

their conditionsmdashwill be subsumed and transcended in the 1048678983145nal unity which will re983142983148ect the unity of the beginning

sicut multorum unus 1048678983145nis

ita ab uno initio multaediffferentiae ac varietates

quae rursum per bonitatem Dei per subiectionem Christi atque unitatem

Spiritus sancti

in unum 1048678983145nem qui sit initio similis revocantur ( Princ I 62)

That the eschatological unity is a unity of will and therefore is concordand harmony is demonstrated also by Origenrsquos statement that the causeof the multiplicity dispersion and diversity of the present state of thingsis the rational creaturesrsquo free will oriented as it has been in diffferent direc-tions since their fall before which there was unitas andconcordia ( PrincII 11) The initial unity9830901048629 like the 1048678983145nal one was harmony and concord of

9830901048627983081 On this see Ramelli (2013) the chapter on Origen This is why Origen states in PrincIII 61 that the likeness to God unlike the image of God was not bestowed on Adam at the

creation but will have to be achieved through personal engagement Gregory of Nyssa will

be on the same line with his notion of an in1048678983145nite progress after death

9830901048628983081 The 1048678983145rst fall of Satan and Adam took place before the manifestation of Christrsquos love

but in the eventual apokatastasis love will be perfect (as the end will be not only similar to but even better than the beginning)

9830901048629983081 Under this notion Origen also subsumes that of the absolute equality of all rational

creatures (a motif that he used insistently against the ldquoValentinianrdquo division of humanity

into classes that are diffferent by nature) Eg Princ II 96 ldquoBecause the Godhead itself was

the cause of what it was going to create and because there was neither diversity nor

change nor impotence in it it created the rational creatures all equal and alikerdquo The equal-

ity of the logika is derived from the unity and absence of diversity in God their Creator




will which was lost after the fall when rational creatures began to wishsomething else than the Good (God) with the result of a dispersion in a

multiplicity of volitions Likewise the 1048678983145nal unity will be a unity of will ieconcord In Princ I 62 Origen stresses the dialectic between the multi-plicity of all creatures (omnes omnis universitas) and the unity of the telos(unum 1048678983145nem) which he also 1048678983145nds announced in Phil 210 The same con-cept is hammered home by him ibidem I 64 dispersio illa unius principiiatque divisio ad unum et eundem 1048678983145nem et similitudinem reparatur It is pre-cisely the perfect harmonious unity of the telos that induces Origen toassume that not even demons will be left outside in the end since this

would mean a break in the universal harmony that will have to obtain inthe telos9830901048630

This inefffable concord that will obtain in the end will derive from theadhesion to the Good and the rejection of evil on the part of all rationalcreatures which will determine the eventual disappearance of evil itselfFor evil has no ontological consistence but is simply a lack of Goodbrought about by a wrong choice of a rational creaturersquos free will It is alack of Good and as such a lack of unity ie dispersion and multiplicity

This is why Origen in Hom in Ier 115 equates dispersion and vanity withthe devil as the opposite of God ldquothat lsquoon sandrsquo [Matt 726] is the buildingof the devil because it is not grounded in anything solid stable and uni-1048678983145ed [ἡνωmicroένῳ]rdquo Here unity is associated with God and the Good lack ofunity with the devil and evil The 1048678983145nal vanishing of evilmdashwhich becomes

what is unstable dispersed and ultimately non-beingmdashwhich will enablethe eventual concord and unity of all logika is deduced by Origen not onlyfrom the metaphysical principle of the ontological non-subsistence of evil

but also from a Scriptural passage indeed his favorite 1 Cor 1528 SinceGod must be ldquoall in allrdquo in the end and God cannot possibly be found inevil as a consequence evil will disappear in the telos and every rationalcreature will 1048678983145nd all its goods in God

When God becomes ldquoall in allrdquo [1 Cor 1528] we cannot admit of evil lest God

may be found in evil That 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

9830901048630983081 Princ III 63 it is impossible that their group ab illa etiam 1048678983145nali unitate ac convenientiadiscrepabit




freed from any dirtiness of sin and puri1048678983145ed from any taint of evil will be able

to perceive grasp and think all this will be God and so God will be all

for this intelligence because evil will not exist any more for such an intel-ligence God untouched 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 allGod will be all when at last there will be no more death nor deathrsquos sting

nor evil most de1048678983145nitely then God will truly be ldquoall in allrdquo ( Princ III 62-3)

The wills of all rational creatures will be harmoniously oriented towardthe Good No evil will spoil this harmony any more John 17 also provides

Origen with an excellent Scriptural basis for his claim concerning the 1048678983145nalunity and harmony in apokatastasis ldquoall will become the Son when they

will become one and the same thing [ἕν] just as the Son and the Father areonerdquo (Comm in Io I 16) all creationrestituetur in illam unitatem quam promittit Dominus ( Princ 162) Quod dicit Salvator lsquoSicut ego et tu unumsumus ut et isti in nobis unum sintrsquo ostendere videtur id cum iam non insaeculo sunt omnia sed omnia et in omnibus Deus (ibidem II 35) whichclearly identi1048678983145es the 1048678983145nal unity promised by Jesus in John 17 with the

eventual apokatastasis9830901048631 ldquoOnce things have begun to rush toward theideal state in which all are one and the same thing just as the Father is oneand the same thing with the Son we must maintain by logical conse-quence that when all are one there will be no diversity any morerdquo ( PrincIII 64) The eventual theōsis will be a participation of all rational creaturesin the life of the Trinity which is unity itself9830901048632 The unity and harmony ofall will depend on the fact that all will eventually be in God and God

will be all in all (see also Princ III 24 III 66 in which unity is again

emphasized)The principle of harmony in Origenrsquos thought works not only at the

level of the beginning and end and not only at the cosmological level butalso at the level of the individual rational creature Disharmony and frag-mentation characterize a soul that is invaded by passions which thus turn

9830901048631983081 In Princ III 61 Origen expresses the same idea against the background of the eschato-

logical passage from ldquoimage of Godrdquo to ldquolikeness with Godrdquo and from likeness to unity with

and in God (ἕνωσις)

9830901048632983081 Origen insists on the unity obtaining within the Trinity eg in Princ 134unitas Trin-itatis




out to be punishment to themselves ( Princ II 105) only puri1048678983145cation frompassions and sins can bring about cohesion and unity in onersquos soul ldquoif the

soulrsquos laceration and dissolution is tested by means of 1048678983145re9830901048633 the soul willundoubtedly be consolidated in renewal and in a 1048678983145rmer connection andstructurerdquo That the soul ought to be in perfect harmonymdashharmonyimplies unity and unity perfectionmdashis an idea that goes back to Plato andhas a long history in Platonism including Hellenistic Jewish and ChristianPlatonism10486271048624 Origen also employs the concept of unity and harmony inrelation to Scripture in his anti-Marcionite and anti-Gnostic polemic1048627983089and describes the Bible as a musical instrument whose cords harmonize

all together ( Philoc 26) all books in the Bible form ldquoone bookrdquo becausetheir content is one and the same Christ (ibidem 54-7) Origen speaks ofldquoextremely tonic and strong connectionsrdquo that bind together all the partsof Scripture thus guaranteeing ldquothe harmony [ἁρmicroονία] of the entire com-positionrdquo (Comm in Io X 18107)

12 Gregory of Nyssa

Gregory Nyssenmdashperhaps the best Patristic philosopher after Origen

together with Augustinemdashfollowed in the footsteps of Origen in manyrespects and also in the application of the principle of harmony to thearkhē and the telos He insists that it is Christ who brings all human beings

9830901048633983081 This is one of the innumerable examples in which Origen shows a concept of ldquo1048678983145rerdquo and

ldquopunishmentrdquo as purifying rather than retributive This is one of the main features of his

thought which will also be stressed by Gregory of Nyssa On this point he went so far as

to ldquocorrectrdquo Plato who admitted of merely retributive punishments at least in some

extreme cases those of the worst sinners in whom evilness has become ingrained WhilePlato thought that these people were ldquoincurablerdquo Origen responded that no being is incur-

able for Christ-Logos who created it See I Ramelli (2008-2009) 197-230

10486271048624983081 See eg Plato Resp III 410CD IV 443D 9591D cf SVF III 121 Philo LA I 2372 Alc

Didasc 293182 Hermann Clem Strom IV 418 ldquoPlato precisely he whom they [sc the

Gnostics] proclaim in the loudest voice as a witness in their favor for the refusal of gen-

eration in the third Book of his Republic says that it is necessary to take care of the body

for the sake of the soulrsquos harmonyrdquo (see here below on this topic in Plato) in IV 26163-164

Clement speaking of the harmony and reciprocal correspondence of virtues and philo-

sophical disciplines also exalts the soulrsquos harmony Platonically seen as justice and that

which obtains between soul and body

1048627983089983081 The Bible in his view constitutes one and the same body that of Christ (eg Comm in Io X 18107 ldquothe unity [ἑνότης] of Spiritinspiration in all the Scripturesrdquo)






split up because of its intimate connection but all things keep beinggoverned as they are by the power [δύναmicroις] of the true Being Now the

true Being is Goodness itself [αὐτοα983987αθότης]rdquo ( Hom in Eccl VII p 4061-9)God is identi1048678983145ed by Gregory with Platorsquos Good (ἀ983987αθόν) and with Nume-niusrsquo and Origenrsquos αὐτοα983987αθόν10486271048629 And the dynamis of God that whichkeeps everything together in harmony (see also Vit Mos 177) is ChristBoth Clement and Origen already described Christ-Logos in these terms

Gregory of Nyssa also describes Christ-Logos-Wisdom as the seat of allIdeas or noetic paradigms of realities before creation ( De Perf 260B)Through Godrsquos dynamis who is Christ-Logos these Ideas became crea-

turesmdasha notion that Gregory inherited from Origen This is the creationof the world performed by Christ-Logos (cf In Hex 72B) According toGregory Christ-Logos-Nous contains ab aeterno all the intelligible beingsthe κόσmicroος νοητός made of the Ideas which are the rational principles orlogoi of all that exists

The notion of the unity of the Logos as ldquoall things in onerdquo subsumingand transcending multiplicity is also at work

1) in Origenrsquos and Gregoryrsquos conception of the assumption of all human-ity (and all rational creatures qua Logos) on the part of Christ sothat the body of Christ is all humankind (and even all the rationalnature) and

2) in their notion of the eventual presence of God ldquoall in allrdquo where thelatter ldquoallrdquo are all humans and all rational creatures qua subsumedin Christ-Logos This emerges for instance from Origenrsquos Hom in Lev 7210-12 and entails that the resurrection of Christ was not only

the one which occurred historically but also the great general res-urrection of humanity in the end The theme of human beings ldquoscat-teredrdquo in deathperdition and brought to unity and harmony by andin Christ-Logos is emphasized by Origen also in connection withthe motif of Jesusrsquo gathering into ἕν the scattered children of GodThis repeatedly appears in his Commentary on John in which thetheme of unity and concord through Christ especially based on

John 1721 is essential In Comm in Io XXVIII 21185 Origen even joins these two motifs The eschatological reconstitution of Christrsquos

10486271048629983081 For Origen and Numenius see I Ramelli (2009)




body10486271048630 is connected to the interpretation of 1 Cor 1528 and theequation between universal submission to Christ and God in the

telos and universal salvation Gregory of Nyssa takes up this whole setof ideas in his In Illud Tunc et Ipse Filius10486271048631 Christ will have 1048678983145nishedthe ldquoworkrdquo to which he refers in John 174 after making even the lastsinner just As long as one single rational creature remains outsidethe body of Christ and the submission to him ie outside of unityharmony and concord Christ will not be able to submit to God Inall rational creatures (his body) made perfect by him Christ willaccomplish his work as the result of which ldquoGod will be all in allrdquo

(Orig Hom in Lev 726) Christ-Logos is the superior unity of allhuman and rational creatures together ldquoall in Onerdquo and his even-tual submission to the Father that is the submission of all logika toGod will have as a result that God who is One and the One parexcellence will be ldquoin allrdquo and for each of these ldquoallrdquo will be ldquoallrdquothat is all goods This concept of God as the One in whom all willbe in the end passes through Christ-Logos as unity of all human

10486271048630983081 In Comm in Io X 35-36225-238 Origen aff1048678983145rms that Christrsquos body which is the templeof living stones erected upon the basement of prophets and apostles and which thus typo-

logically represents the Church will rise again at all humansrsquo resurrection All the bones

of this dispersed body will be reassembled as the resurrection of Christ from his death on

the cross which occurred in the past embraces ldquothe mystery of the resurrection of the whole body of Christ rdquo (sc all humankind or all rational creatures) Christrsquos body has not yet

risen in the 1048678983145nal blessed resurrection that is the object of our hopes a ldquogreat and diff1048678983145cult

mysteryrdquo foreseen in Ez 371-11 (related to the resurrection also in Gregoryrsquos De Anima)

These are Christrsquos scattered bones that will be reassembled in the end (233-236) ldquoAt the

resurrection of Christrsquos true and most perfect body Christrsquos limbs and bones now dry willbe reassembled up to the perfect anthrōpos [Eph 413]rdquo In his lostCommentary on Ephe-sians fr 1615 this theme of the eschatological building up of Christrsquos body is connected to

the unity assured by agapē ldquoendeavoring to keep the unity of spirit in love now the

unity of spirit is kept when love binds together those who are uni1048678983145ed according to the

spirit and gathers them together into one and the same body that of Christrdquo In 965fff

Origen more directly refers this theme to 1 Cor 1528 God ldquosubjected everything under

Christrsquos feet and constituted Christ as the head over all beings for the Church which is

his body the perfect totality of the one who perfectly accomplishes and completes all in

allrdquo Origen in his commentary identi1048678983145ed the Church Christrsquos body with all humans and

angels the same rational creatures portrayed by Gregory in De Anima 132-136 as partici-pating in the heavenly feast of apokatastasis (see below) Origen inComm in Io X 1483

already described such heavenly feasts too

10486271048631983081 See I Ramelli (2010) 259-274




beings (qua human being) and of all rational creatures (qua Logos)Gregory draws on these notions in his In illud

Here Gregory supports a non-subordinationistic and lsquoanti-Arianrsquo interpre-tation of 1 Cor 1528 which was anticipated by Origen he took up both themain pillars and the tiniest details of the Alexandrianrsquos exegesis10486271048632 InGregoryrsquos argument Christrsquos eschatological submission to God fullyachieved after the rejection of evil on the part of all is the submission ofhis body that is all human beings joined in unity ( In illud 1919-207)Since the body of Christ is also the Church (Col 124-25) consequently the

Church will coincide with all humankind The dialectic between ldquoallrdquo(humans) and ldquoonerdquo (body of Christ) is highlighted by Gregory ldquoAllrdquothrough participation will contribute to the construction of Christrsquos bodyall will reach unity of faith and knowledge and will make up Christ inperfect wholeness10486271048633 Gregory insists on unity and concordharmony in theapokatastasis the ldquowhole bodyrdquo of Christ will be ldquoin accord with itself rdquoldquothe entire creationrdquo will be ldquoin harmony with itself rdquo ( In illud 2010-11) andon the basis of Phil 210-11 every knee will bend of all beings in heaven

on earth and in the underworld and all will proclaim that Christ is theLord which means in Gregoryrsquos view that all will believe and be savedThe whole creation will become ldquoone single bodyrdquo ( In illud 2014) thus theunity and cohesion of all humans in the one body of Christ is extended toall creatures10486281048624 In In illud 23 too Gregory attaches like Origen the keyconcept of love to the 1048678983145nal apokatastasis if the Father loves the Son (John1723) and all humans are in the Son as a multiplicity subsumed in unitythen the Father loves all humans as the Sonrsquos body and the Sonrsquos submis-

sion to the Father means that all humanity will ldquoattain the knowledge ofGod and be savedrdquo (1Tim 24-6) Gregory depends again on the notion of

10486271048632983081 Full demonstration in I Ramelli (2011b) 445-478

10486271048633983081 Gregory is drawing on Origen Princ I 62 I 210 II 85

10486281048624983081 On the basis of the aforementioned arguments Gregory in In Illud 21 proposes a cogent

syllogism if submission means salvation according to Origenrsquos equation and Ps 612 and

if ldquoevery beingrdquo that is in Christ conceived as unity in multiplicity is saved then since all

will be in Christrsquos body ldquono being will remain outside the savedrdquo This together with sev-

eral other unequivocal passages also refutes the hypothesis that the apokatastasis is ldquosim-plyrdquo the 1048678983145nal resurrection for Gregory and thus does not imply universal salvation (see

G Maspero [2007] with the review in RBL April 2010 httpwwwbookreviewsorgBook

DetailaspTitleId=7320)




Christ-Logos as the unity of all human beings when in In illud 21 he statesthat the elimination of death will have as a consequence that all will be

in life because all will be in Christ who is ldquothe Liferdquo (John 1125) andChristrsquos body will be constituted by all humankind Similarly Origenargued that in the end all will be in life because eternal life excludes eter-nal death (Comm in Rom 57) since they are incompatible with oneanother one must be eliminated and 1 Cor 1525-28 reveals that this willbe death According to Gregory Christ is the Mediator just in that he uni-1048678983145es all to himself and to the Father in a function of uni1048678983145cation of multi-plicity ( In illud 2110-16 cf Origen Princ 261 C Cels 334)

This is how Gregory also took over Origenrsquos re983142983148ection on the dialecticbetween unityharmony and multiplicitydisharmonydispersion inrespect to the beginning and the end of this world In the present lifedivision and multiplicity are due to the diffferent choices of rational crea-turesrsquo will but the beginning and the end are characterized by unity anduniformity which for Gregory just as for Origen are a unity of will thusconcord directed to the Good (eg De anima 81Bfff) This will be theassimilation to God (ibidem 89fff) which too had a counterpart at the

beginning when ldquohuman nature was lsquosomething divinersquo before the humanbeing acquired the impulse to do evilrdquo (ibidem 148AB) It was divinebecause it was all in the Good in harmonious unity and it will be divinein the end when all will voluntarily adhere to the Good and reject evil In In illud 181-18 expressing many ideas already set forth in De an et res 104Gregory interprets 1 Cor 1528 on Godrsquos eschatological presence ldquoall in allrdquoin such a way as to stress the eventual harmony and unity of all rationalcreatures For Gregory maintains that this verse indicates ldquothe simplicity

and uniformity of the life that we hope forrdquo This is because the variety andmultiplicity characterizing the present life will dissolve in that all rationalcreatures will have God alone instead of all the various objects oftheir needs

Like Origen Gregory too insists on Christrsquos prayer for unity in John1720-23 as a scriptural basis of the perfect unity that will obtain in the end( In illud 22-23) He observes that Christ ldquouni1048678983145es allrdquo in himself and to theFather all become ldquoone and the same thingrdquo ἕν with Christ and God whoare one Christ being in the Father by joining humans to himself accom-plishes the union of all human beings with God But this unity dependson the eventual rejection and annihilation of evil




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 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 ldquoGod will be all in allrdquo God will be both ldquoallrdquo and

ldquoin allrdquo And in this it seems to me that Scripture teaches the complete

disappearance of evil For if in all beings there will be God clearly in them

there will be no evil ( De anima 101-104)

One day the nature of evil will pass into non-being [πρὸς τὸ microὴ ὄν] after disap-

pearing completely from being and divine and pure Goodness will enfold in

itself every rational nature and none of those who have come to being thanks

to God will fall outside Godrsquos kingdom 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 1048678983145re every being that originated from God will

return precisely as it was from the beginning when it had not yet received

evil ( In Illud 13-14 Downing)

All rational beings will return to unity with God and harmony with oneanother only after and because they will have abandoned evil and be freefrom it evil will no longer be mixed with any creature of God which isontologically good in that it derives from the αὐτοα983987αθόν In several pas-sages Gregory insists on the resulting harmony of all rational creaturesmdashhumans angels and demons reintegrated into their original statemdashwithone another and with God in the end sometimes assimilated to a greatfeast of concord and joy

Three are the conditions of rational nature one which since the beginning

has been allotted the incorporeal life and which we call ldquoangelicrdquo the other

tied to 983142983148esh which we call ldquohumanrdquo and the third freed from 983142983148esh thanks

to death Therefore I think that the divine Apostle [Phil 210-11] intended

to indicate that general harmony of all rational nature that one day there willbe in the Good calling ldquoheavenlyrdquo what is angelical and incorporeal and

ldquoearthlyrdquo what is joined to a body and referring the ldquounderworldrdquo to the

ldquodemonsrdquo or ldquospiritsrdquo When one day after long cycles of ages evil has van-

ished there will remain nothing else but Good and even those creatures[sc demons] will admit in concord and unanimity Christrsquos lordship ( Deanima 72B)




The human race because of vice implanted in it was banished from Godrsquos

Temple but once puri1048678983145ed by the lustral bathcan enter it again And since

these enclosures that interpose through which vice separated us from theinternal part situated beyond the veil are destined to be demolished once

and for all when thanks to the resurrection our nature will be reconstituted

as a tent that is planted and all corruption ingrained in us 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 the resurrection

so that all will take part in one and the same joy and there will be no morediffference to divide the rational nature in its participation in goods that are thesame for all but those who now are excluded due to vice will be 1048678983145nally able

to enter the recesses of divine beatitude The Apostle expressed the har-mony of the whole universe with God 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 samebig feast characterized by harmony ( De anima 133D 136A)

Gregory envisages the eschatological harmony of the whole creation which will be possible because Christ after ldquobecoming one with us through

allrdquo makes all that is ours his own and conciliates it to himself (οἰκειοῦταιGregory uses the terminology of Stoic οἰκείωσις already employed by Ori-gen) In this way the whole of creation will be ldquoin harmony with itselfrdquoὁmicroόφωνος πρὸς ἑαυτήν All will be saved because all sooner or later willbelieve not only the whole human nature but ldquothe entire creation willbecome one and the same bodyrdquo ( In illud 208-24 Downing)

In Gregoryrsquos works the idea of harmony often assumes musical con-notations not only in relation to the present arrangement of things asI have shown but especially in relation to the telos The idea of musi-cal harmony in the apokatastasis is suggested in the passage from Deanima quoted above concerning the eschatological feast of all rationalcreatures But it is even more explicit in Gregoryrsquos commentary on thelast Psalm (150) He reads the Psalmrsquos praise song as the song with whichin the end all living creatures will praise God ldquoHumanity after leavingbehind all that is earthly mute and silent will unite the music of its stringinstruments to the cymbals of the heavenly choirs When human natureis lifted up again to its original condition the aforementioned union [sc

of strings and cymbals] will release that sweet music of thanksgiving toGod on account of his love for humanity thanks to their mutual harmony

And through one another and with one another they will sing a song of




thanksgiving to God for his love for humanity a song which will be heardthroughout the universe and once the enemy has been utterly destroyed

a praise will be offfered to God ceaselessly with equal honor by every liv-ing creature eternally Dance in a choir and joy await those who have

won their battle against evil1048628983089 All intellectual creatures join together inan harmonious choir with those who have defeated evil rdquo ( In Inscr Ps GNO

V 667-9 16-22 673-6 864-5 13-14)The image of the common dance and song of human beings and angels

is used by Gregory not only to express the 1048678983145nal perfect harmony andunity but also to depict the initial harmony and unity of all rational crea-

tures which was broken by sin ldquoThere was a time when the Ballet [χοροστασία] of the intellectual nature was one and the same it looked atone and the same Leader [sc God] and performed its dance [χορόν] accord-ing to the harmony that the Leader from on high provided to the move-ment by means of his signs At the beginning human beings dancedtogether [συ983987χορευόντων] with the angelic powersrdquo ( In Inscr Ps II 6) But sinldquobroke that divine harmony of the dance [τοῦ χοροῦ συνωδίαν]rdquo Thereforethe harmonious dance that in the glorious apokatastasis will join

again all human beings and all angels will be the reconstitution of theoriginal dance

13 Evagrius

Evagrius Ponticus is one of the most insightful and re1048678983145ned followers ofOrigen he knew Gregory of Nyssarsquos thought as well Evagrius in KG 328analogously depicts the soul as an intellect that because of carelessnesshas fallen from the original Unity Due to its lack of vigilance and

carelessness1048628983090 it has descended to the order of the praktikē (that is fromcontemplation to practical life ethics which in Evagrius coincides

1048628983089983081 In In Inscr Ps II 6 Gregory describes the ldquo1048678983145nal victoryrdquo over evil as follows ldquoWhen you

have been integrated into the angelic dance and your soul has been puri1048678983145ed by the assault

of temptationsrdquo Cf ldquolsquoIt happened that the beggar [Lazarus] died and was brought among

the angelsrsquo This is the dance [χορεία] the path walked together with the angels the bosom

of the patriarch that receives Lazarus and the non-exclusion from the joyful symphony ofthe choir rdquo (ibidem) Clearly as long as one keeps turning to evil without rejecting it one

will be unable to join ldquothe symphony of the choirrdquo

1048628983090983081 Speaking of sin and vice as ldquocarelessnessrdquo or its result is typically Origenian




with asceticism)10486281048627 whereas the intellect should proceed along its owncontemplative path toward the angels if on the contrary it proceeds on

the path of the soul which should rather be its instrument it risks endingup among demons ( KG 248) Only the intellect in a human being is sus-ceptible of unity ldquoThe lsquoimage of Godrsquo is not that which is susceptible ofGodrsquos Wisdom for in this way the mortal corporeal nature too would bethe lsquoimage of Godrsquo But that which is susceptible of the Unity is the lsquoimageof Godrsquo rdquo ( KG 332) This is why in the end all of the human being willhave to return to be intellect Godrsquos 1048678983145rst creation was the creation of ldquopri-mary beingsrdquo that is the noes orlogika who lived in a unity of concord

that will be recovered only in the end That unity is also described byEvagrius as ldquoessential knowledgerdquo and was disrupted by a diffferentiationof the logikarsquos acts of will as a consequence of which the intellects becamesouls Heavy mortal bodies were thus provided by God for these soulsand this was the second creation that of ldquosecondary realitiesrdquo whichresulted from the ldquo1048678983145rst judgementrdquo operated by Christ who divided ratio-nal creatures into angels humans and demons according to the gravityof their falls

Like Origen and Gregory Evagrius too uses John 1722 as a Scripturalbasis for the 1048678983145nal unity However he elaborates much more on the absenceof names and numbers both in the arkhē and in thetelos Names andnumbers originated with the dispersion in multiplicity and diversity that

was determined by the fall of rational creatures but they will pass awayin the eventual apokatastasis which will represent the overcoming of thatfall These ideas are expounded by Evagrius especially in his KephalaiaGnostika and Letter to Melania or Great Letter CPG 2438 Any plurality

number and name will disappear along with all aeons ( KG 17-8) and allbodies or at least all heavy and corruptible bodies ldquoThe elimination of theaeons the abolition of mortal bodies and the vanishing of names willaccompany the knowledge regarding rational creatures while there willbe unanimity of knowledge in accord with theunanimity of substancesrdquo( KG 217) After all intervals of time however long have passed away onlythe absolute eternity or ἀϊδιότης of life in God will remain The ultimatereality is a unity that is a unanimity namely harmony and concord Quan-tity plurality and numbermdashincluding time and spacemdashare attached to

10486281048627983081 The same term πρακτική with related terms such as πρακτικός is attested in ldquopaganrdquo

Neoplatonism in the sense of ldquoethicsrdquo (see Olympiodorus Proll 8)




secondary beings what Gregory called diastematic realities ldquo lsquoOnersquo is anumber of quantity Now quantity is linked with mortal corporeal nature

Therefore number is proper to secondary natural contemplationrdquo ( KG 419)Secondary natural contemplation pertains to secondary beings those ofthe second creation but this will ultimately be subsumed into the 1048678983145rstTherefore quantity and number will disappear along with the subsump-tion of secondary realities into primary realities This closely reminds thereader of the cessation of plurality and names and even of all divine epi-noiai described by Evagrius in his Letter to Melania In Ep ad Mel 22-30Evagrius expounds some re983142983148ections on apokatastasis which he like Ori-

gen strongly characterises as a ἕνωσις a uni1048678983145cation both of the three com-ponents of the human beings (the eventual elevation of bodies and soulsto the order of intellects is also declared in KG 217 366-68 315 and 165)10486281048628and of rational creatures with God

And there will be a time when the body the soul and the intellect will cease tobe separate from one another with theirnames and their plurality since thebody and the soul will be elevated to the rank of intellects this conclusion can

be drawn from the following words ldquoThat they may be one in us just as you

and I are Onerdquo [ John 1722] And thus there will be a time when the Fatherthe Son and the Spirit and their rational creation which constitutes their

body will cease to be separate with their names and their plurality And this

conclusion can be drawn from the words ldquoGod will be all in allrdquo [1Cor 1528] ( Ep ad Mel 22)

The impression that one might gain at 1048678983145rst sight from this passage that ofa unity that is tantamount to an obliteration of the Persons of the Trinity

or a confusion between the Creator and creatures leading to a pantheismof the kind of Stephen Bar Sudhaili10486281048629 is immediately dispelled by the con-tinuation in which Evagrius clari1048678983145es that the three hypostases of the Trin-ity will remain in the telos and that the three components of rationalcreatures will be absorbed in each of them

10486281048628983081 Bodies and souls will be subsumed into intellects what is inferior will be subsumed

into what is superior As Evagrius states in KG 229 the whole of the soul will return to the

rank of intellect ldquoJust as the 1048678983145re in its power pervades its own body so will also the intel-lect in its power pervade the soul when the whole of it will be mingled with the light of

the Holy Trinityrdquo

10486281048629983081 On Bar Sudhaili see the section devoted to him in I Ramelli (2013)




But when it is declared that the names and the plurality of rational creatures

and their Creator will pass away it does not at all mean that the hypostases

and the names of the Father the Son and the Spirit will be obliterated Thenature of the intellect will be joined to the substance of the Father since it

constitutes his body [2 Pet 14] Similarly the names ldquosoulrdquo and ldquobodyrdquo will be

subsumed under the hypostases of the Son and of the Spirit And the one and

the same nature and the three Persons of God and of Godrsquos image will

remain eternally as it was before the Inhumanation and will be after the

Inhumanation thanks to the concord of wills Thus body soul and mind are

(now) separate in number due to thediffferentiation of wills But when the

names and the plurality that have attached to the intellect due to this move-

ment (sc of will) have passed away then themultiple names by which Godis called will pass away as well [ ] It is not the case that those distinctions

(sc Godrsquosepinoiai ) are inexistent but those who needed them will no more

exist But the names and hypostases of the Son and the Spirit will never disappear since they have no beginning and no end As they have not received

them (sc their names and hypostases) from an unstable cause they will

never disappear but while their cause continues to exist they too continue

to exist They are diffferent from rational creatures whose cause is the Father

as well but these derive from him by grace while the Son and the Spirit

derive from the nature of his essence ( Ep ad Mel 23-25)

Against possible pantheistic interpretations of the 1048678983145nal unity of all ratio-nal creatures with God the point concerning the unanimity of wills isparamount since it reveals that for Evagrius just as for Origen the initialand the 1048678983145nal unity are not a confusion of God and creatures but a unionof wills and therefore concord and harmony The Persons of the Trinityhave the same will and all rational creatures will have the same will in

that everyonersquos will shall be oriented to the Good that is God Just likeOrigen indeed Evagrius also explains the present diffferentiation of thenoes with the diffferentiation of their acts of volitions that occurred withthe fall This is the ldquomovementrdquo (sc of will) as both Origen and Evagriuscall this diffferentiation and dispersion of volitions In the eventual apoka-tastasis such a diffferentiation will disappear and with it all the divineepinoiai will since they exist only for the sake of the salvi1048678983145c economy(Evagrius drew this idea from Origen who expressed it especially in Princ

IV 41 but was also present in Gregory of Nyssa who like Evagrius speaksof epinoiai of God more than of Christ alone) The diffference betweenthe Son and the Spirit and the creatures is made very clear by Evagrius the




Son and the Spirit derive from the Father by nature and share the Fatherrsquosessence while rational creatures derive from God by grace and are not

consubstantial with God10486281048630 In Ep ad Mel 26 Evagrius draws a connection between protology and

eschatology that is reminiscent of Origen (especially Princ II 83) thedescent from intellect to soul to body at the beginning due to a dispersionof the intellectsrsquo wills will be overcome by the 1048678983145nal subsumption of bodyand soul under the intellect in the end with the return to a completeunity of will harmony and concord

The intellect as I have mentioned is one in nature individual substance andorder However there was a time when the intellect because of its free will

fell from its original order and was named ldquosoulrdquo and having plunged fur-

ther was named ldquobodyrdquo But there will come a time when the body soul andintellect thanks to a transformation of their wills will become one and the samething Since there will come a time when the diffferentiations of the movementsof their will shall vanish it will be elevated again to the original state in which

it was created Its nature hypostasis and name will be one known to God What is elevated in its own nature is alone among all beings because neither

its place nor its name is known and only the bare mind can say what itsnature ismdashPlease do not be amazed at my claim regarding the union ofrational creatures with God the Father that these will be one and the samenature in three Persons with no juxtaposition or change When the intel-lects return to God like rivers to the sea God entirely transforms them into hisown nature colour and taste They will be one and the same thing and notmany any more in Godrsquos in1048678983145nite and inseparable unity in that they are unitedand joined to God Before sin operated aseparation between intellects and

God just as the earth separated the sea and rivers they were one with God

without discrepancy but when their sin was manifested they were separated from God and alienated from God When sin interposed between intellects

and God has vanished they will be not many but again one and the same

However even if I have said that the rivers were eternally in the sea with this I do not mean that rational creatures were eternally in God in their substance since although they were completely united to God in Godrsquos Wisdom and

creative power their actual creation did have a beginning however one

10486281048630983081 Indeed in his letter De Fide Evagrius himself is clear that the 1048678983145nal θέωσις will depend

on grace and not on nature human beings will be ldquodeities gods by gracerdquo




should not think that it will have an end in that they are united to God whohas no beginning and no end ( Ep ad Mel 26-30)

It is further clari1048678983145ed here that the 1048678983145nal unity will not be a pantheisticconfusion but a unity of will a concord The idea that only the ldquobare intel-lectrdquo can see the nature of God whose name and place are unknown isfound also in KG 237 and 37010486281048631 The distinction between the eternal exis-tence of the logoi or Ideas of all creatures in God and their creation assubstances in time derives from Origen10486281048632

There are a great deal of shorter passages especially in the Kephalaia

Gnostika in which Evagrius re983142983148ects on the 1048678983145nal unity for instance KG 372 ldquoThe heritage of Christ is the knowledge of the Unity Now if all willbecome coheirs of Christ all will know the holy Unity However it isimpossible that they become his coheirs unless they 1048678983145rst have become hisheirsrdquo10486281048633 Indeed Evagrius like Origen and Gregory in his In illud inter-prets the 1048678983145nal submission of all to Christ (1 Cor 1524-28) as the 1048678983145nal salva-tion of all This submission-salvation will take place through virtue andknowledge10486291048624 and here the highest knowledge is identi1048678983145ed with the knowl-

edge of the Unity which all will achieve in the telos for ldquothe holy Unityrdquo

10486281048631983081 ldquoOne is among all beings without name and its landplace is unknownrdquo ldquoIt is proper

to the bare intellect to say what its nature is and now there exists no clear answer to this

question whereas in the end there will be not even the questionrdquo In the latter kephalaion

however and in our passage from the Letter to Melania it is not entirely sure whether the

nature that the bare intellect can know is its own or Godrsquos

10486281048632983081 Princ I 44-5 Deum quidem Patrem semper fuisse semper habentem unigenitum Filiumqui simul et Sapientia [ ] appellatur [ ] In hac igitur Sapientia quae semper erat cum

Patre descripta semper inerat ac formata conditio et numquam erat quando eorum quaefutura erant prae1048678983145guratio apud Sapientiam non erat [ ] ut neque ingenitas neque coae-ternas Deo creaturas dicamus neque rursum cum nihil boni prius egerit Deus in id ut ageretesse conversum [ ]Si utique in Sapientia omnia facta sunt cum Sapientia semper fuerit secundum prae1048678983145gurationem et praeformationem semper erant in Sapientia ea quae pro-

tinus etiam substantialiter facta sunt 10486281048633983081 Cf KG 48 ldquoThe coheir of Christ is the one who comes to be in unity and delights in

contemplation together with Christrdquo The telos is described as the knowledge of Unity also

in KG 418 ldquoThe intelligible anointing is the spiritual knowledge of the holy Unity and Christ

is the one who is united to this knowledgerdquo

10486291048624983081 Christrsquos feet are the πρακτική (ascesis) and the θεωρία (contemplation) and if Christ

puts all enemies under his feet all will therefore know the πρακτική and the θεωρία

( KG 615)




is essentially God1048629983089 The universality of the eventual submission-salvationis highlighted by Evagrius also in KG 6271048629983090 All will submit to Christ put

themselves ldquounder his feetrdquo by converting to the Good that is God reject-ing evil and thus being saved In Schol in Ps 2129 Evagrius interprets1 Cor 1525 (ldquofor he must reign until he has put all his enemies under hisfeetrdquo) in the sense that Christ will have to keep reigning ldquountil all theunrighteous have become righteousrdquo The idea that Christrsquos reign willendure until all are converted and saved is already found in Origen from

whom Eusebius also derived his discourse on the θεραπευτική andδιορθωτικὴ βασιλεία of Christ10486291048627 The submission of all to Christ who will

submit to God (1 Cor 1528) will take place at the end of the multiplicityof aeons and names in the telos when all will be brought from dispersionand disharmony to unity ldquoWhen Christ will no longer be impressed in various aeons and inall sorts of names then he too will submit to God theFather and will delight in the knowledge of God alone This knowledge isnot divided in aeons and in increments of rational creaturesrdquo ( KG 633)Christ leads all the logika through the aeons in their process of puri1048678983145cation

1048629983089983081 KG 119 ldquothe knowledge of theOne is the knowledge ofthat who only isrdquo KG 31-211 ldquoThe

Father and only he knows Christ and the Son and only he the Father The one qua

unique in Unity the other qua Monad and Unity Christ is the only one who has theUnityin himself and has received the Judgement of rational creatures The mortal corporeal

nature has received Christrsquos lsquoWisdom full of modalitiesrsquo whereas it is not susceptible of

Christ himself But the incorporeal nature both shows the Wisdom of the Unity and is

susceptible of the Unityrdquo Likewise in KG 421 in which Christ is again associated with the

couple ldquoMonad and Unityrdquo ldquoThe anointment either indicates the knowledge of the Unity

or denotes the contemplation of beings Now if it is true that Christ is anointed more than

the others it is clear that he is anointed in the knowledge of the Unity This is why he onlyis said to sit to his Fatherrsquos right that which here according to the norm of the lsquognosticsrsquo

indicates the Monad and the Unityrdquo

1048629983090983081 If all the nations will come bow before the Lord clearly also those who want war will

come and if this is the case the whole nature of rational creatures will submit to the nameof the Lord who makes known the Father who is in him Indeed he is the Name that is

superior to all other names

10486291048627983081 See the section on Eusebius in I Ramelli (2013) This is why I do not think that Evagrius

is original in this respect as is stated by J Konstantinovsky (2009) 157 ldquolsquoHe must reign till

he has put all enemies under his feetrsquo How this is to happen however constitutes Evagri-usrsquos originality The defeat of Christrsquos enemies will come about when all the wicked includ-

ing evil men demons and the devil himself become righteousrdquo (emphasis mine the book

on the whole though is a 1048678983145ne piece of scholarship)




and perfecting whose telos is the apokatastasis characterised by absoluteunity ldquoWho will be able to express Godrsquos grace Who will investigate the

logoi of Providence and how Christ leads the rational nature throughoutthe aeons up to the union of the Holy Unityrdquo ( KG 489)

In the perfect unity of apokatastasis any distinctions of merits whichpertain to the stage of judgement in the aeons will be superseded becauseall will have abandoned passions and evil Then perfect unity and peaceof all rational creatures will be possible when all will participate in divinelife after abandoning multiplicity disharmony opposition and even1048678983145ghting10486291048628

In the secondary natural contemplation some are said to be leaders and

some to be subjected to leaders according to necessity But in the Unity there

will be no leaders nor (others) submitted to leaders but all of them will be gods In the knowledge of those which are secondary in their coming into

being diffferent aeons are constituted and indescribablebattles are fought In

the Unity however none of these things will occur it will be an indescribable

peace There will be only pure intellects who continually satiate themselves

from its impossibility to satiate10486291048629 ( KG 451 and 165)

Eschatological unity and harmony re983142983148ect protological unity and harmonyin Evagriusrsquos system just as in Origenrsquos and Gregoryrsquos In Sent 58 Evagriusreminiscent of Origen and in agreement with Gregory of Nyssa as wellidenti1048678983145es the essence of each rational creature with what it was at thebeginning in Godrsquos own plan before its fall ldquoIf you want to know yourself

who you are do not consider who you have been but who you were at thebeginningrdquo What rational creatures were in the ἀρχή before their fall will

be restored in the end in the eventual apokatastasis when perfect har-mony and unity will reign among all rational creatures and between theseand God

10486291048628983081 On θέωσις in Patristic thought there is a growing body of literature See at least

recently N Russell (2004)

10486291048629983081 The last sentence re983142983148ects Origenrsquos notion of an absence of κόρος in the 1048678983145nal apokatas-

tasismdashwhich guarantees that there will be no new fall from that statemdashand Gregory Nys-

senrsquos epecstatic progress which is also based on that concept




2 Origen Gregory and Plotinus

In this connection it is necessary to examine the relationship betweenOrigenrsquos Gregoryrsquos and Evagriusrsquo notion of harmony in the arkhē and inthe telos and Plotinusrsquo conception of harmony and unity Plotinus reliedon Plato Middle Platonism and Neopythagoreanism the same lore on

which Origen also based himself That of unity was a core notion in theGreek philosophical tradition especially the Platonic one which had itsroots in Eleaticism but also represents a development of it insofar asunlike Parmenides Plato did not deny multiplicity altogether resolving itinto unity Suff1048678983145ce it to think of Platorsquos conception of each Idea which

constitutes the unity of a multiplicity of realities participating in that Ideaand of his protology which is based on the transcendent principles of theOne and the inde1048678983145nite Dyad For Plato the One coincides with the Goodfor Aristotle with the Being Harmony is central to Platorsquos thought andone manifestation of this is the value that he attached to music10486291048630 it mighteven be that his authentic dialogues have a musical structure embeddedin them10486291048631 Both φρόνησις and σοφία are described as a ldquosymphonyrdquo in Leg 689D In Phil 17C11-E1 Plato describes to be wise as to know ldquothe num-

ber and nature of the intervals of sound and the boundaries of thoseintervals and how many scales arise from them which those who camebefore handed down to us their followers to call harmoniesrdquo as well asldquorhythms and metresrdquo and every ldquoOne and Manyrdquo And in Resp 591D heprescribes seeking the harmony in the body for the sake of the symphonyin the soul the latter comes from the harmony of the three componentsof the soul λο983987ικόν θυmicroικόν and ἐπιθυmicroητικόν ( Resp 443DE) As for thecorrespondence that Plato draws between the harmony of the soul and

the harmony of the cosmos I shall return to this toward the end of thepresent essay in relation to Evagrius who as I shall argue brilliantly elab-orated on this pivotal concept of Platorsquos

Among the Neopythagoreans Nichomachus of Gerasa drew an equa-tion between the monad and God Numeniusrsquo 1048678983145rst God is Platorsquos Good

10486291048630983081 I limit myself to citing F Pelosi (2010)

10486291048631983081 J Kennedy (2011) argues that a musical structure underlies Platorsquos dialogues the Neo-

platonic exegetes thought Plato used symbols to conceal his views within the dialogues

Kennedy maintains that Platorsquos views are expressed in harmonious passages as opposed

to dissonant ones




and the One Plato ldquowith a syllogism demonstrated that the Good is theOnerdquo (fr 19 des Places) Basing himself on Pythagoras Numenius called it

lsquoMonasrsquo (fr 52) and depicted it as ldquosuperior to the οὐσίαrdquo (fr 2) andldquoprinciple of the οὐσίαrdquo (fr 16) drawing inspiration from Plato who placedthe Being and the οὐσία below the Good ( Resp VI 509B) Plotinus wouldcontinue along the same line by placing the One ldquobeyond the intellectualnature and the οὐσίαrdquo ( Enn I 18) and making it the principle of the essence(ibidem V 3 17) Likewise Origen spoke of God as superior to οὐσία andintellect even if at times he does present the divinity as Being and Intel-lect10486291048632 For Numenius while the 1048678983145rst God is the Monad the second God

by joining matter uni1048678983145es it but since it does not adhere to the intelligi-ble overlooks itself (fr 11) It ldquogovernsrdquo (fr 12) and ldquobinds matter with har-mony and directs harmony steering it by means of the Ideasrdquo (fr 18)The third god the sense-perceptible cosmos is beautiful and thereforeharmonious in that it imitates the essence of the second god who ismdashlikePlatorsquos Demiurgemdashgood it receives its ornament from its participation inbeauty Numenius is especially relevant to the present research in that he

was one of Origenrsquos favorite readings as well as being well known to Por-

phyry Origen moreover had a special reason for appreciating Numeniusas he was the only ldquopaganrdquo (Middle) Platonist who not only accepted anallegorical-philosophical reading of the Biblemdashwhile others such as Cel-sus and Porphyry rejected itmdashbut even provided allegorical-philosophicalinterpretations of stories from the Old and the New Testament himself10486291048633

In Neoplatonism Plotinusrsquo One (Ἕν) transcends not only the sense-perceptible world but even the intellectual realm and Being itself10486301048624 It ishis disciple Porphyry who insists on the centrality of harmony and unity

in Pythagoreanism ldquoThe Pythagoreans called One the principle of unityidentity and equality because of the harmony [σύmicroπνοια] sympathy [συmicroπάθεια] and conservation of the whole universe The latter alwaysremains one and identical whereas the One which is in the details is suchby virtue of participation in the one primary causerdquo (Vit Pyth 49)

Plotinus attached much importance not only to the idea of unity whichof course is at the top of his henological metaphysics but also to that of

10486291048632983081 For this oscillation in Origen see I Ramelli (2009a) 101-169

10486291048633983081 See I Ramelli (2011c) 335-371

10486301048624983081 In Plotinus there seem to be the roots of Damasciusrsquo meontology See V Napoli (2008)

with my review forthcoming in RFN




harmony and this throughout the Enneads From the beginning in Enn1 Second Tractate On Virtue he makes it clear that harmony is an efffect

of the supreme principle hence its axiological status quoad nos ldquoIt is fromthe Supreme that we derive order anddistribution andharmony whichare virtues in this sphere the Existences There having no need of har-mony order or distribution have nothing to do with virtue and nonethe-less it is by our possession of virtue that we become like to Themrdquo1048630983089 Whatmanifests itself as beauty and harmony in the sense-perceptible world isthe harmony of the noetic world ldquohe must be led to the Beauty that man-ifests itself through these forms he must be shown that what ravished

him was no other than the Harmony of the Intellectual world and theBeauty in that sphere not some one shape of beauty but the All-Beautythe Absolute Beautyrdquo ( Enn 1 Third Tractate On Dialectic 1) Harmony isa crucial mediating principle between the divine sphere and the sense-perceptible world

The divine Realm imposes the one harmonious act each utters its own voice

but all is brought into accord into an ordered system for the universal pur-

pose by the ruling Reason-Principle This Universe is not Intelligence and

Reason like the Supernal but participant in Intelligence and Reason it

stands in need of the harmonizing because it is the meeting ground of Neces-

sity and divine Reason-Necessity pulling towards the lower towards the

unreason which is its own characteristic while yet the Intellectual Principle

remains sovereign over it ( Enn 3 Second Tractate On Providence 2)

This is basically the same idea that is found in Origenrsquos and Evagriusrsquore983142983148ections on harmony in the arkhē and thetelos and in the present world

thanks to the Logos with the diffference that Plotinusrsquo discourse is meta-physical but not eschatologically oriented

Plotinus also has the same dialectic as Clement and Origen havebetween the simple Unity of God the Father and the complex unity of thedivine Logos which I have already pointed out In Plotinus the dialecticis between the simple unity of the One and the complex unity and har-mony of the Nous (Intellect or divine Mind)

1048630983089983081 For the Enneads I use the translation of S Mackenna and BS Page with some slight

changes




Thus far to give us some idea of the nature of Life in general But this Reason-

Principle which emanates from the complete unity divine Mind and the

complete unity Life [= Soul] is neither a united complete Life nor a unitedcomplete divine Mind nor does it give itself whole and all-including to its

subject [By an imperfect communication] it sets up a con983142983148ict of part against

part it produces imperfect things and so engenders and maintains war and

attack and thus its unity can be that only of a sum-total not of a thing undi- vided At war with itself in the parts which it now exhibits it has the unity

or harmony of a drama torn with struggle The drama of course brings thecon983142licting elements to one 1048678983145nal harmony weaving the entire story of the

clashing characters into one thing while in the Logos the con983142983148ict of the diver-

gent elements rises within the one element the Reason-Principle the com-parison therefore is rather with a harmony emerging directly from thecon983142licting elements themselves and the question becomes what introduces

clashing elements among these Reason-Principles Now in the case of music

tones high and low are the product of Reason-Principles which by the fact

that they are Principles of harmony meet in the unit of Harmony the absolute Harmony a more comprehensive Principle greater than they and includingthem as its parts Similarly in the Universe at large we 1048678983145nd contrariesmdashwhite

and black hot and cold winged and wingless footed and footless reasoning

and unreasoningmdashbut all these elements are members of one living bodytheir sum-total the Universe is a self-accordant entity its members every-

where clashing butthe total being the manifestation of a Reason-Principle

That one Reason-Principle then must be the uni1048678983145cation of con983142licting Rea-son-Principles whose very opposition is the support of its coherence and

almost of its Being ( Enn 3 Second Tractate On Providence 16)1048630983090

Plotinus agrees with Origen who as I have illustrated maintained that the

harmony of the universemdasheven relative as it is in the present arrange-ment of thingsmdashis the result and the manifestation of the cohesive andharmonizing dynamis of God Godrsquos Logos ldquoThis Universe is good not

when the individual is a stone but when everyone throws in his own voice towards a total harmony singing out a lifemdashthin harsh imperfect

though it be The Syrinx does not utter merely one pure note there is athin obscure sound which blends in to make the harmony of Syrinxmusicthe harmony is made up from tones of various grades all the tones difffering

1048630983090983081 See also Enn 59 Tractate 5 On the Intellect the Ideas and Being with the commentary

of A Schniewind (2007)




but the resultant of all forming one sound rdquo ( Enn 3 Second Tractate On Providence 17) The cosmic harmony which is described as music with

one of the many musical metaphors adopted by Plotinus10486301048627 results fromthe concordance of the descended souls ldquoWe may know this also by theconcordance of the Souls with theordered scheme of the kosmos they arenot independent but by their descent they have put themselves in con-tact and they stand henceforth in harmonious association with kosmiccircuitmdashto the extent that their fortunes their life experiences theirchoosing and refusing are announced by the patterns of the starsmdashandout of this concordance rises as it wereone musical utterance the music

the harmony by which all is described is the best witness to this truthrdquo( Enn 4 Third Tractate Problems of the Soul 12) Harmony and unity are

joined in Enn 5 First Tractate Περὶ τῶν τριῶν ἀρχικῶν ὑποστάσεων 9 ldquothat work of unity the harmony of the entire heavenly systemrdquo

The One which is the ultimate principle of unity and harmony is itselfbeyond number It is even beyond harmony and its expression beautyIndeed sometimes Plotinus seems to depict the One as καλόν and some-times as beyond beauty10486301048628 But number plays a core role in Plotinusrsquo sys-

tem even though Plotinus may seem to treat it less than other laterNeoplatonists such as Iamblichus or Proclus did and certainly much lessthan the Pythagoreans did Svetla Slaveva-Griff1048678983145nrsquos analysismdashwhich isgrounded in but far from con1048678983145ned to Enn 66mdashhas thoroughly demon-strated that Plotinus in fact discusses number and in depth at that inrelation to each principle the One the Intellect and the Soul and eventhat ldquoPlotinusrsquo conception of number is the fundamental framework on

which his entire philosophical system is builtrdquo10486301048629 Drawing on Platomdash

whose doctrine of ideal numbers he defended against Aristotlemdashand theNeopythagoreans Plotinus placed number in the foundation of the intel-ligible realm and in the construction of the universe This is why I observehe can posit harmony in the universe and derive it from the 1048678983145rst princi-ples Indeed after Plato and unlike Aristotle Plotinus drew a distinctionbetween intelligible numbers and mathematicalarithmetical numbers

10486301048627983081 On which see S Gersh (2005) 195-208

10486301048628983081 See M Achard (2007)

10486301048629983081 S Slaveva Griff1048678983145n (2009) quotation from p 11 I refer readers to this study also for an

account of Platorsquos and the Neopythagoreansrsquo theory of number and its in983142983148uence on Por-

phyryrsquos organization of the Enneads (Ch 6)




and is ldquothe 1048678983145rst post-Platonic philosopher who develops a theory ofnumbersrdquo10486301048630 Plotinus constructs the hierarchy One (not participating in

quantity) gt substantial number (not participating in quantity and expres-sion of the Intellect) gt monadic number (to which quantity pertains) He

views multiplicity as number a notion that Evagrius shared with him andas a derivation from the One in a mathematical procession10486301048631 IndeedPlotinusrsquo idea of the universe as a multiplicity that results from a separa-tion from the One10486301048632 is remarkably similar to Origenrsquos and Evagriusrsquo idea

Plotinusrsquos thought on harmony is particularly relevant to the investiga-tion of Origenrsquos and Gregory of Nyssarsquos concept of harmony not only

because these are Patristic Platonists but also much more speci1048678983145callybecause both of them show precise connections with Plotinus IndeedPlotinusrsquo thought was very well known to Gregory of Nyssa the author ofa deliberately Christianized version of Platorsquos Phaedo in which the doc-trine of apokatastasis is prominent In his De anima et resurrectioneGregory Christianized Platorsquos Phaedo both from the literary and from thephilosophical point of view10486301048633 Both are dialogues and both betweenthe revered philosopher-teacher and hisher disciple(s) in the even of the

teacherrsquos death in the Phaedo Socrates and his disciples just beforeSocrates drinks the poison in Gregoryrsquos De anima Macrina Gregoryrsquos ven-erated elder sister and Gregory himself her disciple (Macrinarsquos characteralso reveals some in983142983148uence from Diotima in Platorsquos Symposium) just

10486301048630983081 S Slaveva-Griff1048678983145n (2009) 12

10486301048631983081 Plotinus depends on Moderatus and his de1048678983145nition of three Ones according to Slaveva-

Griff1048678983145n The 1048678983145rst One is absolute stability the second is the principle of creation and the

third the principle of material reality and of the enumeration of individual things10486301048632983081 S Slaveva-Griff1048678983145n (2009) Ch 1 rightly observes the inversion of direction between Pla-

torsquos cosmogonical scheme in his Timaeus and Plotinusrsquo especially in Enn 66 while Plato

considers the universe to result from a composition or σύστασις operated by the Demiurge

with a bottom-to-top scheme Plotinus uses a top-to-bottom scheme from the One to the

multiplicity of the universe This I note is also Origenrsquos and Evagriusrsquo scheme

10486301048633983081 See Ch Apostolopoulos (1986) and with a diffferent perspective I Ramelli (2007a) and

(2009) While the former tends to think that Christian Platonism is an impossible hybrid

the latter argues for its full legitimacy and its historical success in 1048678983145gures such as Origen

Gregory of Nyssa Evagrius and Ps Dionysius She also points out and valorizes the doc-

trine of apokatastasis in Gregoryrsquos De anima as the most important aspect of Gregoryrsquos

Christianization of the Phaedo




before Macrinarsquos death From the point of view of the philosophicalcontents just as Platorsquos Socrates treats of the immortality of the soul so

does Gregoryrsquos Macrina treat of the immortality of the soul but adding theChristian detail of the resurrection of the bodymdasha scriptural teaching

which she intends to support by means of rational argumentmdashand of theeventual universal restoration or apokatastasis which in Gregory just asin Origen and Evagrius is undoubtedly tantamount to universal salvationPlotinusrsquo and Porphyryrsquos in983142983148uence on Gregory of Nyssa in many respectsis striking10486311048624 and recently a case of joint in983142983148uence from Plato Plotinusand Porphyry has been interestingly illustrated in Gregoryrsquos De hominis

opi1048678983145cio by Kevin Corrigan precisely in reference to the notion of harmonyapplied to the body-soul relationship1048631983089

As for Origen whose formative readings included many Middle-Platonic and Neo-Pythagorean texts besides Platorsquos own and who neverceased teaching philosophy all his life long (all of the Greek philosophicalschools apart from the ldquoatheistrdquo ones) in Alexandria he attended theclasses of the ldquoproto-Neoplatonistrdquo Ammonius Saccas who was also theteacher of Plotinus1048631983090 Indeed a wide-ranging methodical investigation

into the relation between Origenrsquos and Plotinusrsquo philosophical thoughts isstill an important desideratum10486311048627 I suspect it will bring to light extremelyinteresting evidence

3 Eschatological Harmony in an Astronomical Metaphor Discovered

in Evagrius KG 360 and its Indebtedness to Plato

In the light of what I have pointed out so far I can 1048678983145nally concentrate on

the concept of harmony in astronomy as a metaphor for intellectual har-mony and the apokatastasis in Patristic Platonism in particular in Evagriusrsquo Kephalaia Gnōstika (Chapters on Knowledge) in their non-expurgated

10486311048624983081 A systematic analysis is found in I Ramelli (2007a)

1048631983089983081 K Corrigan (2010) 147-162

1048631983090983081 See I Ramelli (2009)

10486311048627983081 Of course there is the pioneering study of H Crouzel (1991) whose importance would

be diff1048678983145cult to overestimate However it is far from being exhaustive in addition

a more philosophical approach would be desirable




redaction known as S2 1048678983145rst published by Antoine Guillaumont10486311048628 These

Kephalaia only survive in scanty Greek fragments and in two Syriac

translations one of which S1 was probably modi1048678983145ed later in order toadapt it to the meanwhile established ldquoorthodoxyrdquo10486311048629

In Greek the noun ἀποκατάστασις was used well before Christianity inan astronomical sense10486311048630 and was employed by the Stoics to indicate theconclusion of a cosmic cycle In its astronomical technical meaningἀποκατάστασις indicated the periodical return of the stars to their initialpositions In the astronomical work of Antiochus only fragments of whichsurvive a chapter was entitled ldquothe great years and the perfect return

[ἀποκατάστασις] of the seven planets to their original positionsrdquo10486311048631 InGeminus the expression ldquothe fourth part of the ἀποκατάστασιςrdquo ( Astron18183) means the fourth part of the time employed by a celestial body toreturn to its original position10486311048632 In 28 Geminus offfers the de1048678983145nition of anapokatastasis as a whole revolution of the moon ldquothe time from the small-est movement to the smallest movement again is called revolution[ἀποκατάστασις]raquo (cf ibidem 17)10486311048633 A fragment from Thrasyllusrsquo astronom-ical work (83 10014-15) de1048678983145nes the apokatastasis of a heavenly body as its

return from a constellation to the same constellation after a completerevolutionThe cosmological meaning of ἀποκατάστασις in Stoicism is closely

related to the astronomical meaning of this word In Stoic cosmology thisterm indicates the endless repetition of cosmic cycles (SVF 2599 625)

10486311048628983081 A Guillaumont (1958-59)

10486311048629983081 A new edition of the non-expurgated redaction of the Kephalaia Gnōstika with the 1048678983145rst

English translation from the Syriac a commentary and an essay will appear in Leiden10486311048630983081 This among other technical meanings such as the medical the civic and the military

ones respectively in reference to the restoration of somebody (or some part of the body)

to health of an exile to his homeland and of a runaway or expelled soldier to his military

unit

10486311048631983081 In the astronomical fragments of Dorotheus 38014-15 not only the apokatastasis of

celestial bodies but also their antapokatastasis is attested ie their return not to their

original position but to the position that is diametrically opposed to it this is called

ἀνταποκατάστασις

10486311048632983081 Ibidem 104-5 the example adduced is the apokatastasis of the moon and the question

at stake is the calculation of its duration

10486311048633983081 The revolution of the moon is indicated by means of the same term also in Plut De fac937F3




based on aeons or ldquogreat yearsrdquo that are identical to one another Thesame persons will exist in each aeon and will behave in the same ways

and the same events will happen with no end This in1048678983145nite succession ofaeons is determined by periodical con983142983148agrations in which everything isresolved into 1048678983145re ie the aether or Logos or pneumamdashwhich coincides

with Zeus the supreme but immanent divinity Then all will expand againinto a new universe SVF 2599 (from Eusebius PE 15191-3) expounds thecon983142983148agration postulated by the Stoics and the birth of a new universe orldquowholerdquo which is indicated by the terms ἀνάστασις and ἀποκατάστασιςSVF 2625 (from Nemesius NH 38) describes the notion of apokatastasis

in Stoicism as astronomical and cosmological together and as related tothe concept of an in1048678983145nite repetition of aeons ldquoThe Stoics maintain thatthe planets will return [ἀποκαθισταmicroένους] into the same constellation[ ] Universal restoration [ἀποκατάστασις] takes place not only once butmany times or better the same things will continue to be repeated[ἀποκαθίστασθαι] inde1048678983145nitely without endrdquo It is worth observing that theterms ἀποκατάστασις and ἀποκαθίστηmicroι are only attested by Christiansources such as Eusebius and Nemesius10486321048624 Kαθίστηmicroι is attested in a Greek

fragment from Chrysippus concerning apokatastasis and preserved againby a Christian author Lactantius1048632983089But the Stoic conception of apokatastasis was 1048678983145rmly criticized by

Origen1048632983090 especially because it seemed to him to eliminate human free will and to imply an in1048678983145nite repetition of aeons which would thus be

meaningless and deprived of any orientation toward anything Origenintended to show in this way that the Christian doctrine of apokatasta-sismdashhis own doctrinemdashwas entirely diffferent The main diffferences

between the Stoic theory of apokatastasis and Origenrsquos Christian doctrineare essentially the following

10486321048624983081 ldquoPaganrdquo sources such as Marcus Aurelius ( Ad seips 1113) Simplicius ( In Ar Phys

88612-13) and Alexander of Aphrodisias ( In Ar Gen et corr 31413-15) rather use παλιγενεσία

and πάλιν 983987ί983987νοmicroαι

1048632983089983081 ldquoIt is clear that it is not at all impossible that we too after our death once given cycles

of time [περίοδοι χρόνου] have elapsed are restoredreconstituted [καταστήσασθαι] into the

structure that we presently haverdquo (Lact Inst 723 = SVF 2623)

1048632983090983081 Eg in Princ II 3 CC IV 12 IV 67-68 V 20




1) Against the endless series of aeons postulated by the Stoics Origen pos-ited an end of the sequence of aeons which will coincide with the 1048678983145nal

apokatastasis This will be the telos the absolute end when every χρόνοςand every αἰών will be superseded The end of all aeons will have all ratio-nal creatures enter eternity in the proper sense (ἀϊδιότης)10486321048627 For instancein Princ II 35 Origen clari1048678983145es that there will come the end of all aeonscoinciding with the apokatastasis ldquowhen all will be no more in an aeonbut God will be lsquoall in allrsquordquo Ibidem 31 Origen foresees ldquoa stage in whichthere will be no aeon any morerdquo And in Comm in Io XIII 3 after ldquoαἰώνιοςliferdquo which will be in the next aeon in Christ Origen posits the apokatas-

tasis in which all will be in the Father and God will be ldquoall in allrdquo104863210486282) According to the Stoics in each aeon everything would happen in

the very same way as in the previous one so that all aeons would be iden-tical to one another and each person would act in the very same way inevery aeon On the contrary Origen regarded the aeons as diffferent fromone another in that they are the theatre of the moral and spiritual devel-opment of rational creatures Their very arrangement depends on thatdevelopment and on the free choices of the logika This is why Origen

criticizes the Stoic theory as a denial of human free will ldquoIf this is the caseour freedom of will is over For if during given cycles out of necessity thesame things have happened happen and will happen [ ] it is clear thatout of necessity Socrates will always devote himself to philosophy and

will be accused of introducing new divinities and of corrupting the youthsand that Anitus and Meletus will always be his accusers and that the Are-opagus judges will condemn him to death [ ] If one accepts this idea Ido not quite know how our freedom will be saved and how praises and

blames will possibly be justi1048678983145edrdquo (CC IV 67-68) Likewise in Princ II 34Origen denounces again the Stoic theory of apokatastasis as destructive ofhuman free will and responsibility ldquoI do not quite know what argumentscould ever be adduced by those who maintain that the aeons follow eachother being perfectly identical to one another For if one aeon will be

10486321048627983081 See I Ramelli (2010a) 57-62 (2008) 210-221 P Tzamalikos (2006) and (2007) with the

reviews respectively in RFN 99 (2007) 177-181 andibidem 100 (2008) 453-458

10486321048628983081 Also in Sel in Ps 60 after the sojourn in the aeons there comes the dwelling not only

in the Son but also in the Father indeed in the Holy Trinity which is the apokatastasis

This is expressed also in Comm in Io X 39 and III 103 In Hom in Ex 613 too Origen

foresees the end of aeons




perfectly identical to another Adam and Eve will do for the second timethe same things that they already did [ ] Judas will betray the Lord again

and Paul will keep again the mantels of those who were stoning Stephenand all that has happened in this life will happen again But this theorycan be supported by no argument since the souls are pushed by their free will and their progresses and regresses depend on the faculty of their willIndeed the souls are not induced to do or wish this or that by the circularmovement of the heavenly bodies that after many aeons accomplish thesame cycle but wherever the freedom of their inclination has pushedthem there they orient the course of their actionsrdquo

Evagrius ldquoperhaps the best educated in philosophy of all the early monksrdquo10486321048629knew very well both the astronomical and cosmological meaning ofἀποκατάστασις and Origenrsquos refutation of the Stoic doctrine of apokatasta-sis At the same time he shows himself to be fond of astronomical meta-phors which he often refers to rational creatures For instance in KG 352he draws the following equation ldquoThe intelligible moon is the rationalnature which is illuminated by the lsquoSun of Justicersquordquo In the context of an

astronomical allegory Christ is called according to Malachi 320 ldquoSun of Justicerdquo and the moon in that it re983142983148ects the light of the sun is the symbolof rational creatures who receive knowledge and illumination fromChrist-Logos In KG 362 likewise ldquoIntellectual stars are rational natures

who have been entrusted with illuminating those who are in darknessrdquoEvagrius is speaking of intellectual stars identi1048678983145ed with rational creaturesthese logika have the same illuminating function as the stars Evagriusfollowing in the footsteps of Origen often offfered an allegorical spiritual

reading of Scripture what B Stefaniw (2010) has recently proposed to callldquonoeticrdquo Further in Περὶ λο983987ισmicroῶν 43 Evagrius observes that if one hasattained apatheia then onersquos intellect in prayer will be ldquolike a starrdquoἀστεροειδής

Now what is most relevant to the present investigation is that hefocussed an important kephalaion of his on a wordplaymdashwhich escapedGuillaumont and the other scholars who dealt with itmdashconcerning theastronomical meaning of apokatastasis thus embedding his theory of theeventual universal restoration and the perfect harmony that it will entail

10486321048629983081 I borrow the expression of C Stewart (2010) 321-327 praes 324




in an allegorical framework that rests on a notion of astronomical har-mony Evagriusrsquo use of astronomical allegory in reference to the eschato-

logical destinies of the logika is to be understood against the backgroundof Evagriusrsquos extensive use of astronomical allegory in reference to ratio-nal creatures In KG 429 astronomical allegory refers to the eschatologicalsituation of rational creatures which is described as a state of harmonyldquoJust as if the earth were destroyed then the night would no more existon the face of the 1048678983145rmament likewise once evil is removed then igno-rance will no longer exist among rational creatures For ignorance is theshadow of evil those who walk in it as in the night are illuminated by the

(lamp-)oil of Christ and see the stars in accordance with the knowledgethat they are worthy of receiving from him And they too the stars willlsquofallrsquo for them10486321048630 unless they immediately turn toward the Sun of JusticerdquoThe eschatological picture that Evagrius draws here is that of harmonyand unity ignorance will no longer be opposed to knowledge nor will evilbe opposed to the Good (who is God) Just as the night is the shadow ofthe earth so is ignorance the shadow of evil But in the eschatologicalconsummation evil will be completely destroyed no shadow will remain

only the light of God which is intellectual light the light of knowledge10486321048631The disappearance of all intellectual moral and spiritual shadows willtake away all opposition and disharmony and will restore harmony andunity

In KG 360 which is the most important passage in this respect Evagriusemploys astronomical allegory in order to describe the telos as the escha-tological restoration of unity and harmony among all rational creatures

10486321048630983081 The fall of the stars in the kephalaion at stake is a reference to Rev 613 (or Jdg 520) which here is allegorized in the sense of a loss of intellectual illumination The illuminative

function of the stars has been declared in an allegorical way by Evagrius in KG 362 and

KG 384 in which he speaks of intellectual stars Their enlightening task is parallel albeit

inferior to that of Christ as Sol Iustitiae this is why they are said to fall for those logika

who do not turn to Christ-Logos the Sun of Justice These are those who refuse to be

illuminated and acquire knowledge and virtue (exempli1048678983145ed by justice) at the same time

10486321048631983081 See Ramelli (2007) A core role in the eventual abolition of ignorance is played by

Christ the Anointed whose lamp-oil illuminates the logika Indeed Christ-Logos accord-

ing to Evagrius just as to Origen has a fundamental gnoseological illuminative function for

the logika (this point is developed by Evagrius also in his Letter to Melania) The charac-

terization of Christ as Sol Iustitiae (from Malachi 320) already appeared in KG 352 Christ

enlightens rational creatures both with knowledge and with virtue ( justice)




There will no longer exist any division and opposition between thoserational creatures that will be in hell for their puri1048678983145cation and those oth-

ers that will enjoy beatitude but all the logika will be one in the Trinityafter the eventual universal restoration This interpretation is based onthe crucial reference to the doctrine of apokatastasis that Evagrius madein this passage by playing on the allegorical meaning of astronomicalapokatastasis Since this important reference has been regularly missed byscholars the full implications of this passage in relation to the doctrine ofapokatastasis as the restoration of all rational creatures to a perfect har-mony after their past divisions have so far escaped scholars This is

Evagriusrsquo kephalaion

The morning star [lit the lsquosignrsquo of the East] is the symbol of thesaints

whereas the evening star [lit the lsquosignrsquo of the West] is the symbol of those

who are in hell But the restoration of the orbit of all is the holy Trinity

In the original Greek text of this passage the term ἀποκατάστασις ldquoreturnrdquoldquorestorationrdquo was certainly present and precisely in the mention of therestoration of the orbit of all This is evident from the allegorical referenceto the return of the stars to their original position which was exactlycalled ἀποκατάστασις Evagrius consciously chose this astronomical termi-nus technicus in order to apply it allegorically to the restoration of all boththe saints and those who will be in hell Their division and oppositionsymbolized in Evagriusrsquos allegory by the diametrical opposition of themorning star and the evening star will vanish in the eventual apokatasta-sis when the harmonious unity of all rational creatures will be restored

This is all the more the case if one considers that the morning star and theevening star although apparently they are diametrically opposed are infact one and the same heavenly body the planet Venus which takes thediffferent names of Lucifer and Vesper Indeed the Syriac term for ldquosignrdquomost probably re983142983148ects the Greek σηmicroεῖον (and not σύmicroβολον as supposedin the Greek retroversion below) which was often used in reference tostars heavenly bodies and constellations thus the ldquosign of the Eastrdquo andthe ldquosign of the Westrdquo are the morning and the evening star representing

respectively the saints in Paradise (which in Gen 28 is a garden ldquotowardthe Eastrdquo) and the prisoners in Sheol those who are spiritually dead that




is sinners in hell as opposed to the saints in their placecondition ofbeatitude10486321048632

Moreover the very name of the morning star Lucifer is also the nameof the devil originally an angel who shone forth as the morning star beforehis fall as is clear from Isa 1412-15 ldquoHow you are fallen from heaven Luci-fer son of Dawn You said in your heart lsquoI shall ascend to heaven abovethe stars of God I shall set my throne on high I shall ascend above theheights of the clouds I shall make myself like the Most Highrsquo But you arebrought down to Sheol to the depths of the abyssrdquo From morning starLucifer became an evening star which in Evagriusrsquos passage symbolizes

hell spiritual death (compare Isa 1415 on Luciferrsquos being cast into death-hell)10486321048633 but he together with those who are in hell will be restored to hisoriginal state in the end when all rational creatures will be in the Trinitymdashinstead of being opposed to one anothermdashand God will be ldquoall in allrdquo

The astronomical imagery that Evagrius here relates to the apokatasta-sis in such a re1048678983145ned manner has been entirely missed by scholars so faras well as the reference to the eventual restoration of rational creatures toharmony that the astronomical apokatastasis symbolizes This is Guillau-

montrsquos French translation of Evagriusrsquos KG 360

Le signe de lrsquoorient est le symbole des saints

le signe de lrsquooccident des acircmes qui sont dans le Scheacuteol

mais lrsquoaccomplissement du retour de la course de tout est la Triniteacute sainte10486331048624

10486321048632983081 Sheol is identi1048678983145ed with hell by Evagrius and not simply with the place of the dead andis contrasted with Paradise also in KG 68 ldquoJust as Paradise is the place of instruction for

the righteous so can Sheol produce thetorment of the impiousrdquo

10486321048633983081 See also Praktikos preface ll 16-17 ldquoPride the original evil that cast Lucifer lsquowho rises

at dawnrsquo down onto earthrdquo Likewise Eight Evil Thoughts 8 ldquoPride cast the archangel from

heaven and made him fall onto earth like lightningrdquo and Περὶ λο983987ισmicroῶν 14 ldquoPride which

cast down onto earth lsquothe seal of the likenessrsquo and the lsquocrown of beautyrsquordquo (Ez 2812) Ibidem

19 Lucifer is again identi1048678983145ed with the angel of Isa 1412 ldquoLucifer who rises at dawn and was

cast upon earthrdquo and with the Leviathan of Job 4123-24 he ldquotroubles all out of his evilness

and wants to rule over allrdquo Evagrius seems to have been inspired by Origen Princ I 55 He

re983142983148ects on Lucifer also in Ep de Trin 1015-22 Schol 23 ad Prov 217 Schol 227 ad Prov

2119 and elsewhere

10486331048624983081 Guillaumont (1958-1959) 123




L Dysingerrsquos online English version based on the French translation1048633983089has

The lsquosign of the Eastrsquo is the symbol of the saints

and the lsquosign of the Westrsquo of the souls which are in Sheol

But the achievement of the return from lsquothe racersquo by all is the Blessed Trinity

Fr Theophanesrsquo online English translation also made on Guillaumontrsquostranslation and not on the extant Syriac1048633983090 has

The sign of the east is the symbol of the saintsand the sign of the west the souls which are in Sheol

But the accomplishment of the return of the lsquocoursersquo of all is the Holy Trinity

Likewise the Greek retroversion fails to grasp either the reference to themorning and evening stars or that to the astronomical apokatastasis

Σύmicroβολον τῆς ἡmicroέρας ἀνατολῆς ἐστι τὸ τῶν ἁ983987ίων σύmicroβολον

τῶν δὲ δυσmicroῶν αἱ ἐν ἅιδου ψυχαί

τελείωσις δὲ τοῦ τοῦ παντὸς δρόmicroου ἐστιν ἡ ἁ983987ία Tριάς

The French translation the two English versions based on it and theGreek retroversion in fact all miss Evagriusrsquos main point in this kephalaion the astronomical allegory based on the notion of astronomical apokatas-tasis as a symbol of the eventual universal restoration to the Trinity andthe end of all oppositions among rational creatures The return of themorning and the evening stars to their original positionsmdashwhich were

not diametrically opposed to one another as they are nowmdashis the allegoryof the return of all rational creatures to their original unity and concordin the 1048678983145nal apokatastasis after their division between the good in Para-dise and the evil in hell as a result of rational creaturesrsquo diverse volitionsIn this kephalaion indeed the reference is 1048678983145rst of all to the astronomicalsense of ἀποκατάστασις (which most probably was in the Greek originaltext instead of the retroversionrsquos τελείωσις) which is taken by Evagrius asan allegory of the eschatological spiritual apokatastasis The word ldquocourserdquo

1048633983089983081 httpwwwldysingercomEvagrius

1048633983090983081 httptimiosprodromos2blogspotcom2006




which I translate as ldquoorbitrdquo and in Greek must have been δρόmicroος is usuallyunderstood as a reference to 2 Tim 47 (the course of the life of the apos-

tle) but it is in fact the course of the stars the orbit that they were thoughtto run Their apokatastasis will be the return to their original positionafter their orbit This orbit leads them to assume positions that are evendiametrically opposed but the eventual apokatastasis will reduce thisopposition to nothing Thus the enormous distance between the morningand the evening stars which essentially symbolizes the distance betweenParadise and hell (Sheol as the place of those who are spiritually dead asopposed to the place of the saints) is overcome by the 1048678983145nal return or

restoration of all stars to their original position in the 1048678983145nal apokatastasis which will bring all to their original state in conformity with Godrsquos origi-

nal planEvagrius links the eventual apokatastasis with the Holy Trinity All dis-

harmony among rational creatures will disappear when these creatures will 1048678983145nally come to being in the Trinity For in the Trinity who is the

Good itself there cannot possibly be room for evil all creatures will be1048678983145nally found in the Good which explains their concord and harmony no

creaturersquos will shall be directed to a lesser good or to evil any longer sothat there will be no more division or opposition among them The apoka-tastasis was expressly related to the Trinity already by Origen as the per-fect unity of all in the unity of God after the reign of Christ and thehanding over of all by him to the Father when God will be ldquoall in allrdquo(1 Cor 1528)10486331048627 And Evagrius entertained a real mystic of unity10486331048628

But we can go a step further I think and trace this newly discoveredinsight of Evagriusrsquo back to Plato For it is notable that as I am going to

argue Evagriusrsquo idea of harmony in astronomy as a metaphor for intel-lectual harmony in its relation to apokatastasis was inspired by Plato andin particular by his Timaeus with which Evagrius was very well acquaintedas all Middle and Neoplatonists were The Stoics too were and indeedtheir doctrine of cosmological apokatastasismdashwell known to Origen whoargued with itmdashwas in fact based on Plato Evagrius seems to have beenaware of this A brief analysis of some core passages in the Timaeus will

10486331048627983081 See I Ramelli (2013) section on Origen

10486331048628983081 See G Bunge (1989) 449-469 On the use of monas andhenas in Evagriusrsquos KG see

G Bunge (1989a) 69-91




suff1048678983145ce to demonstrate my point Indeed Plato himself drew a close con-nection between cosmologicalastronomical movements and harmony

and intellectualpsychic movements and harmony on the basis of the very composition of the cosmos as an Intellect in a Soul and a Soul in a

body (30B) Cosmic harmony has movements that correspond to themovements of human souls this is also why it is a help in bringing themovements of onersquos soul to order (47D) Music is a joy because its har-mony imitates divine harmony in mortal movements (80B) But the spe-ci1048678983145c connection between the cosmicastronomical movements andapokatastasis on which Evagrius relies linking the astronomical move-

ments and apokatastasis to the movements of the rational creatures andtheir eventual restoration is found in 36E-39D The cosmic Soul embracesthe outer heaven and revolves about itself thus originating the divineprinciple of intelligent life (36E) the eternal circular movement of thecosmic soul around itself is also described in 37B On this basis in 37D-38BPlato offfers his famous conception of time as a moving image at the cos-mic level of atemporal eternity (αἰών)10486331048629 the noetic cosmos is an eternalliving being and the sense-perceptible cosmos is its imitation on the

sense-perceptible plane the way of imitating eternity which persists inunity is through time which is an image of eternity in movement pro-ceeding through numbers (37E) Time depends on the cyclical movementof the cosmos which takes place according to number (38A) and is relatedto the cycles of the heavenly bodies (38B) Even though Plato does notdirectly use the term ἀποκατάστασις for the latterrsquos return to their originalpositions at the end of a ldquogreat yearrdquo the concept is clearly there for theStoics and Evagrius to pick up in 39D Plato de1048678983145nes the ldquoperfect yearrdquo as

the completion of the return of the heavenly bodies to their original posi-tions What is more even the mention of the morning and the eveningstars in the Evagrian passage at stake seems to go back to this passage ofPlatorsquos in 38D Lucifer along with Mars is singled out as the heavenlybody whose orbit has the same velocity as the Sunrsquos Platorsquos Timaeus thusde1048678983145nitely seems to provide an important framework for Evagriusrsquo passageon astronomy rational creatures and apokatastasis In this connection itis signi1048678983145cant that Evagriusrsquo very de1048678983145nition of righteousness in Praktikos

10486331048629983081 See at least with analysis and documentation the chapter on Plato in I Ramellimdash

D Konstan (20072011)




89 based as it is entirely on harmony comes directly from Plato the taskof δικαιοσύνη ldquois to generate the symphony and harmony of all the parts of

the soulrdquo

4 Conclusion

The concept of harmony and unity is a core protological and eschatologi-cal principlemdashin addition to being a cosmological principle in relation tothe pervasive and unifying function of Godrsquos Logosmdashfor the three mostoutstanding Patristic philosophers who worked against the backdrop of

the Platonic tradition (and as I have argued even under the direct in983142983148u-ence of Plato himself) This tradition clearly informs in various ways theirnotion of harmony and unity obtaining at the beginning and in the endThey all applied in diffferent ways the monē-proodos-epistrophē scheme

where the point of departure is unity and harmony which is lost in mul-tiplicity and dispersion (but not completely lost since the Logos alwayssubsumes division and dispersion into a superior unity) and will thenbe recovered with a return to the initial unity and harmony This last

stage by these Christian Neoplatonists is also conceived in terms of apoka-tastasis the restoration of all rational creatures to harmony and unityamong themselves and with God operated thanks to the mediation ofChrist-Logos

This is but one example of the profound union of Christian thought andPlatonism that occurred in Patristic Platonism which was no less ldquolegiti-materdquo or fecund than ldquopaganrdquo Platonism On the purely philosophical sideindeed the diffference itself was so slight that Plotinus had Christian dis-

ciples at his school (and not only ldquoGnosticrdquo Christians10486331048630 I suspect) andOrigen had ldquopaganrdquo disciples at his own Moreover Origen the Christianphilosophermdashwho according to Eusebius was admired even by ldquopaganrdquophilosophersmdashmay even have been one and the same person as Origenthe Neoplatonist mentioned with admiration by Porphyry Iamblichusand Proclus10486331048631

10486331048630983081 On Plotinusrsquo relationship with the ldquoGnosticsrdquo see now J-M Narbonne (2011)

10486331048631983081 Arguments in I Ramelli (2009) and (2011d) with further arguments




Bibliography

Achard M 2007 lsquoThe Goodrsquos Beauty is Above Beauty Plotinusrsquo Argument in Ennead VI7[38]32-33rsquo in Finamore-Berchman 2007 Ch 4

Apostolopoulos Ch 1986 Phaedo Christianus Frankfurt Lang

Bunge G 1989 lsquoMysterium unitatis Der Gedanke der Einheit von Schoumlpfer und Geschoumlpf

in der evagrianischen Mystikrsquo Freiburger Zeithschrift fuumlr Philosophie und Theologie 36

449-469

mdashmdash 1989a lsquoHeacutenade ou Monade Au sujet de deux notions centrales de la terminologie

eacutevagriennersquo Le Museacuteon 102 69-91

Corrigan K 2010 lsquoSimmiasrsquo Objection to Socrates in the Phaedo Harmony Symphony and

Some Later PlatonicPatristic Responses to the MindSoul-Body Questionrsquo The Interna-

tional Journal of the Platonic Tradition 4 147-162Crouzel H 1991 Origegravene et Plotin Comparaison doctrinale Paris Teacutequi

Cuumlrsgen D 2008 Henologie und Ontologie Die metaphysische Prinzipienlehre des spaumlten Neuplatonismus Wuumlrzburg Koumlnigshausen amp Neumann

Edwards M 2002 Origen against Plato Aldershot Ashgate

mdashmdash 2008 lsquoOrigenrsquos Platonism Questions and Caveatsrsquo Zeitschrift fuumlr Antikes Christentum

12 20-38

mdashmdash 2009 Catholicity and Heresy in the Early Church Farnham Ashgate

Finamore J and R Berchman (eds) 2007 Metaphysical Patterns in Platonism Ancient Medieval Renaissance and Modern Times University Press of the South

Gersh S 2005 lsquoPlotinus on harmonia Musical Metaphors and Their Uses in the Enneadsrsquoin ed J Dillon amp M Dixsaut (eds) Agonistes Festschrift D OrsquoBrien Aldershot Ashgate

195-208

Guillaumont A 1958-59 Les six centuries des lsquoKephalaia gnosticarsquo drsquoEacutevagre eacutedition critique

de la version syriaque commune et eacutedition drsquoune nouvelle version syriaque inteacutegrale

avec une double traduction franccedilaise PO 28 Paris Firmin Didot

Kennedy J 2011 The Musical Structure of Platorsquos Dialogues Abingdon UK Acumen

Konstantinovsky J 2009 Evagrius Ponticus The Making of a Gnostic Burlington Ashgate

Maspero G 2007 Trinity and Man Leiden Brill

Meacutehat A 1956 ldquoApocatastase Origegravene Cleacutement Act 321rdquo Vigiliae Christianae 10 196-214Napoli V 2008 Ἐπέκεινα τοῦ ἑνός Il principio totalmente inefffabile tra dialettica ed esegesi

in Damascio Prefaced by F Romano Catania-Palermo CUECM-Off1048678983145cina di Studi

Medievali

Narbonne J-M 2011 Plotinus in Dialogue with the Gnostics Leiden Brill Studies in Platon-

ism Neoplatonism and the Platonic Tradition 11

OrsquoLeary J 2011 Christianisme et philosophie chez Origegravene Paris Cerf

Pelosi F 2010 Plato on Music Soul and Body Cambridge CUP

Ramelli I 2008-2009 lsquoThe Debate on Apokatastasis in Pagan and Christian Platonists

(Martianus Macrobius Origen Gregory of Nyssa and Augustine)rsquo Illinois Classical Stud-

ies 33-34 201-234




mdashmdash 2007 lsquoChristian Soteriology and Christian Platonism Origen Gregory of Nyssa and

the Biblical and Philosophical Basis of the Doctrine of Apokatastasisrsquo Vigiliae Chris-tianae 61 313-356

mdashmdash 2007a Gregorio di Nissa sullrsquoAnima e la Resurrezione Milan BompianimdashCatholic

University of the Sacred Heart

mdashmdash 2008 lsquoThe Universal and Eternal Validity of Jesusrsquos High-Priestly Sacri1048678983145ce The Epistle

to the Hebrews in Support of Origenrsquos Theory of Apokatastasisrsquo in RJ Bauckham DR

Driver TA Hart and N MacDonald (eds) A Cloud of Witnesses The Theology of Hebrewsin Its Ancient Contexts London TampT Clark 210-221

mdashmdash 2009 lsquoOrigen Patristic Philosophy and Christian Platonism Re-Thinking the Chris-

tianisation of Hellenismrsquo Vigiliae Christianae 63 217-263

mdashmdash 2009a lsquoApofatismo cristiano e relativismo pagano un confronto tra 1048678983145loso1048678983145 platonicirsquo

in AM Mazzanti (ed) Veritagrave e mistero nel pluralismo culturale della tarda antichitagrave Bologna ESD 101-169

mdashmdash 2010 lsquo In Illud Tunc et Ipse Filius (1Cor 1527-28) Gregory of Nyssarsquos Exegesis Its

Derivations from Origen and Early Patristic Interpretations Related to Origenrsquosrsquo in

J Baun A Cameron M Edwards M Vinzent (eds) in Studia Patristica XLIV Leuven

Peeters 259-274

mdashmdash 2010a lsquoAἰώνιος and Aἰών in Origen and Gregory of Nyssarsquo in J Baun A Cameron

M Edwards M Vinzent (eds) Studia Patristica XLVII Leuven Peeters 57-62

mdashmdash 2011 lsquoOrigenrsquos Anti-Subordinationism and Its Heritage in the Nicene and Cappado-

cian Linersquo Vigiliae Christianae 65 21-49

mdashmdash 2013a lsquoClementrsquos Notion of the Logos ldquoAll Things As Onerdquorsquo in ed Z Pleše (ed) Alex-andrian Personae Scholarly Culture and Religious Traditions in Ancient Alexandria ( 1st ct BCE-4ct CE ) Tuumlbingen Mohr Siebeck

mdashmdash 2011b lsquoThe Trinitarian Theology of Gregory of Nyssa in his In Illud Tunc et ipse Filius

His Polemic against ldquoArianrdquo Subordinationism and the Apokatastasisrsquo in VH Drecoll

and M Berghaus (eds) Gregory of Nyssa The Minor Treatises on Trinitarian Theologyand Apollinarism Proceedings of the 11th International Colloquium on Gregory of Nyssa( Tuumlbingen 17-20 September 2008 ) Leiden Brill Vigiliae Christianae Supplements 106

445-478

mdashmdash 2011c lsquoThe Philosophical Stance of Allegory in Stoicism and Its Reception in Platon-ism Pagan and Christian Origen in Dialogue with the Stoics and Platorsquo International Journal of the Classical Tradition 183 335-371

mdashmdash 2011d lsquoOrigen the Christian MiddleNeoplatonistrsquo Journal of Early Christian History 1

98-130

mdashmdash 2011e lsquo Origen and Apokatastasis A Reassessmentrsquo in Origeniana X eds S Kacz-

marekndashH Pietras Leuven Peeters Bibliotheca Ephemeridum Theologicarum Lovanien-

sium 244 649-670

mdashmdash Forthcoming Preexistence of Souls The ἀρχή and τέλος of Rational Creatures in Origenand Some Origenians Lecture at the Workshop onThe Soul in the Origenian Tradition at

the Oxford Patristics Conference August 2011

mdashmdash Forthcoming a lsquoOrigen and the Symbolic Meaning of Platorsquos Dialoguesrsquo




mdashmdash 2013 The Christian Doctrine of Apokatastasis A Critical Assessment From the NewTestament to Eriugena Leiden Brill

Ramelli I and D Konstan 20072011 Terms for Eternity Piscataway Gorgias (new edition

2011)

Russell N 2004 The Doctrine of Dei1048678983145cation in the Greek Patristic Tradition Oxford OUP

Schniewind A 2007 Plotin Traiteacute 5 ( V9 ) Paris Cerf

Slaveva Griff1048678983145n S 2009 S Plotinus on Number Oxford OUP

Stefaniw B 2010 Mind Text and Commentary Noetic Exegesis in Origen of Alexandria Didymus the Blind and Evagrius Ponticus Frankfurt Lang

Stewart C 2010 lsquoMonastic Attitudes Toward Philosophy and Philosophersrsquo in Studia Patristica 47 321-327

Tzamalikos P 2006 Origen Cosmology and Ontology of Time Leiden Brill

mdashmdash 2007 Origen Philosophy of History and Eschatology Leiden Brill




Evagriusrsquo Kephalaia Gnōstika The noun apokatastasis was used in an astronomi-

cal sense and employed in Stoicism for the conclusion of a cosmic cycle Evagrius

who loved astronomical metaphors focussed a kephalaion on a wordplaymdashwhichescaped Guillaumont and all other scholarsmdashconcerning the astronomical mean-

ing of apokatastasis thus embedding his theory of the eventual restoration in an

allegorical framework that rests on a notion of astronomical harmony A strong

case is made in this connection that Evagrius was elaborating on Platorsquos pivotal

link between cosmological (astronomical) and intellectual harmony and was

aware that the Stoic theory of cosmological apokatastasis drew on Plato

Keywords

harmony unity Apokatastasis Origen Gregory Nyssen Evagrius Plotinus Plato

1 Harmony as a Protological and Eschatological Principle in Three

Patristic Platonists

The idea of harmony is both a protological and an eschatological principlein three of the main Patristic philosophers all very well steeped in thePlatonic tradition Origen of Alexandria (dagger 255ca)983090 Gregory of Nyssa

(dagger 394 or soon after) and Evagrius of Pontus (dagger 399) All three of themattached an extraordinary importance to harmony (ἁρmicroονία συmicroφωνίασύmicroπνοια) concord (ὁmicroόνοια) and unity (ἑνότης ἕν microονάς) These areregarded as present to a certain degree even in the current arrangementof things essentially thanks to the Logos but above all in the arkhē andeven more in the telos that is to say the beginning and the end both inthe ontological and in the historical sense This ideal harmony and unitythat characterize the beginning and the end of human history is opposed

by these thinkers to the disagreement and dispersion of acts of volition ofrational creatures after the fall and before the eventual apokatastasisIndeed these three Christian Platonists are among the strongest support-ers of the doctrine of the 1048678983145nal universal restoration ie the reintegrationof all rational creatures to harmony and unity with one another and withGod after their rejection of evil These Patristic philosophersrsquo re983142983148ectionon the dialectic between unity and multiplicity which parallels thatbetween harmony and disorderdiscorddissonance is strongly informed

983090983081 For the discussion of the date of Origenrsquos death which should be placed in 254255 or

perhaps even in 256 see I Ramelli (2009) 217-263














560-563












1048631983081 In I Ramelli (2013)














(see below)



















(1956)










9830891048630983081 See I Ramelli (2013a)









11 Origen




otherwise stated











































See I Ramelli (2007) 313-356












Spiritus sancti






















































12 Gregory of Nyssa
























































10486271048631983081 See I Ramelli (2010) 259-274





















































































13 Evagrius






































































































( KG 615)





























































to dissonant ones













10486291048633983081 See I Ramelli (2011c) 335-371





















changes







































10486301048628983081 See M Achard (2007)













10486301048630983081 S Slaveva-Griff1048678983145n (2009) 12




























1048631983089983081 K Corrigan (2010) 147-162

1048631983090983081 See I Ramelli (2009)














10486311048628983081 A Guillaumont (1958-59)





unit










































































































2119 and elsewhere

10486331048624983081 Guillaumont (1958-1959) 123

































G Bunge (1989a) 69-91
















the soulrdquo

4 Conclusion












Bibliography





449-469









12 20-38




195-208









Medievali







ies 33-34 201-234


















Peeters 259-274









445-478



98-130



sium 244 649-670









2011)





















560-563












1048631983081 In I Ramelli (2013)














(see below)



















(1956)










9830891048630983081 See I Ramelli (2013a)









11 Origen




otherwise stated











































See I Ramelli (2007) 313-356












Spiritus sancti






















































12 Gregory of Nyssa
























































10486271048631983081 See I Ramelli (2010) 259-274





















































































13 Evagrius






































































































( KG 615)





























































to dissonant ones













10486291048633983081 See I Ramelli (2011c) 335-371





















changes







































10486301048628983081 See M Achard (2007)













10486301048630983081 S Slaveva-Griff1048678983145n (2009) 12




























1048631983089983081 K Corrigan (2010) 147-162

1048631983090983081 See I Ramelli (2009)














10486311048628983081 A Guillaumont (1958-59)





unit










































































































2119 and elsewhere

10486331048624983081 Guillaumont (1958-1959) 123

































G Bunge (1989a) 69-91
















the soulrdquo

4 Conclusion












Bibliography





449-469









12 20-38




195-208









Medievali







ies 33-34 201-234


















Peeters 259-274









445-478



98-130



sium 244 649-670









2011)

















1048631983081 In I Ramelli (2013)














(see below)



















(1956)










9830891048630983081 See I Ramelli (2013a)









11 Origen




otherwise stated











































See I Ramelli (2007) 313-356












Spiritus sancti






















































12 Gregory of Nyssa
























































10486271048631983081 See I Ramelli (2010) 259-274





















































































13 Evagrius






































































































( KG 615)





























































to dissonant ones













10486291048633983081 See I Ramelli (2011c) 335-371





















changes







































10486301048628983081 See M Achard (2007)













10486301048630983081 S Slaveva-Griff1048678983145n (2009) 12




























1048631983089983081 K Corrigan (2010) 147-162

1048631983090983081 See I Ramelli (2009)














10486311048628983081 A Guillaumont (1958-59)





unit










































































































2119 and elsewhere

10486331048624983081 Guillaumont (1958-1959) 123

































G Bunge (1989a) 69-91
















the soulrdquo

4 Conclusion












Bibliography





449-469









12 20-38




195-208









Medievali







ies 33-34 201-234


















Peeters 259-274









445-478



98-130



sium 244 649-670









2011)
















(see below)



















(1956)










9830891048630983081 See I Ramelli (2013a)









11 Origen




otherwise stated











































See I Ramelli (2007) 313-356












Spiritus sancti






















































12 Gregory of Nyssa
























































10486271048631983081 See I Ramelli (2010) 259-274





















































































13 Evagrius






































































































( KG 615)





























































to dissonant ones













10486291048633983081 See I Ramelli (2011c) 335-371





















changes







































10486301048628983081 See M Achard (2007)













10486301048630983081 S Slaveva-Griff1048678983145n (2009) 12




























1048631983089983081 K Corrigan (2010) 147-162

1048631983090983081 See I Ramelli (2009)














10486311048628983081 A Guillaumont (1958-59)





unit










































































































2119 and elsewhere

10486331048624983081 Guillaumont (1958-1959) 123

































G Bunge (1989a) 69-91
















the soulrdquo

4 Conclusion












Bibliography





449-469









12 20-38




195-208









Medievali







ies 33-34 201-234


















Peeters 259-274









445-478



98-130



sium 244 649-670









2011)


















(1956)










9830891048630983081 See I Ramelli (2013a)









11 Origen




otherwise stated











































See I Ramelli (2007) 313-356












Spiritus sancti






















































12 Gregory of Nyssa
























































10486271048631983081 See I Ramelli (2010) 259-274





















































































13 Evagrius






































































































( KG 615)





























































to dissonant ones













10486291048633983081 See I Ramelli (2011c) 335-371





















changes







































10486301048628983081 See M Achard (2007)













10486301048630983081 S Slaveva-Griff1048678983145n (2009) 12




























1048631983089983081 K Corrigan (2010) 147-162

1048631983090983081 See I Ramelli (2009)














10486311048628983081 A Guillaumont (1958-59)





unit










































































































2119 and elsewhere

10486331048624983081 Guillaumont (1958-1959) 123

































G Bunge (1989a) 69-91
















the soulrdquo

4 Conclusion












Bibliography





449-469









12 20-38




195-208









Medievali







ies 33-34 201-234


















Peeters 259-274









445-478



98-130



sium 244 649-670









2011)
















11 Origen




otherwise stated











































See I Ramelli (2007) 313-356












Spiritus sancti






















































12 Gregory of Nyssa
























































10486271048631983081 See I Ramelli (2010) 259-274





















































































13 Evagrius






































































































( KG 615)





























































to dissonant ones













10486291048633983081 See I Ramelli (2011c) 335-371





















changes







































10486301048628983081 See M Achard (2007)













10486301048630983081 S Slaveva-Griff1048678983145n (2009) 12




























1048631983089983081 K Corrigan (2010) 147-162

1048631983090983081 See I Ramelli (2009)














10486311048628983081 A Guillaumont (1958-59)





unit










































































































2119 and elsewhere

10486331048624983081 Guillaumont (1958-1959) 123

































G Bunge (1989a) 69-91
















the soulrdquo

4 Conclusion












Bibliography





449-469









12 20-38




195-208









Medievali







ies 33-34 201-234


















Peeters 259-274









445-478



98-130



sium 244 649-670









2011)









































See I Ramelli (2007) 313-356












Spiritus sancti






















































12 Gregory of Nyssa
























































10486271048631983081 See I Ramelli (2010) 259-274





















































































13 Evagrius






































































































( KG 615)





























































to dissonant ones













10486291048633983081 See I Ramelli (2011c) 335-371





















changes







































10486301048628983081 See M Achard (2007)













10486301048630983081 S Slaveva-Griff1048678983145n (2009) 12




























1048631983089983081 K Corrigan (2010) 147-162

1048631983090983081 See I Ramelli (2009)














10486311048628983081 A Guillaumont (1958-59)





unit










































































































2119 and elsewhere

10486331048624983081 Guillaumont (1958-1959) 123

































G Bunge (1989a) 69-91
















the soulrdquo

4 Conclusion












Bibliography





449-469









12 20-38




195-208









Medievali







ies 33-34 201-234


















Peeters 259-274









445-478



98-130



sium 244 649-670









2011)



















Spiritus sancti






















































12 Gregory of Nyssa
























































10486271048631983081 See I Ramelli (2010) 259-274





















































































13 Evagrius






































































































( KG 615)





























































to dissonant ones













10486291048633983081 See I Ramelli (2011c) 335-371





















changes







































10486301048628983081 See M Achard (2007)













10486301048630983081 S Slaveva-Griff1048678983145n (2009) 12




























1048631983089983081 K Corrigan (2010) 147-162

1048631983090983081 See I Ramelli (2009)














10486311048628983081 A Guillaumont (1958-59)





unit










































































































2119 and elsewhere

10486331048624983081 Guillaumont (1958-1959) 123

































G Bunge (1989a) 69-91
















the soulrdquo

4 Conclusion












Bibliography





449-469









12 20-38




195-208









Medievali







ies 33-34 201-234


















Peeters 259-274









445-478



98-130



sium 244 649-670









2011)
















































12 Gregory of Nyssa
























































10486271048631983081 See I Ramelli (2010) 259-274





















































































13 Evagrius






































































































( KG 615)





























































to dissonant ones













10486291048633983081 See I Ramelli (2011c) 335-371





















changes







































10486301048628983081 See M Achard (2007)













10486301048630983081 S Slaveva-Griff1048678983145n (2009) 12




























1048631983089983081 K Corrigan (2010) 147-162

1048631983090983081 See I Ramelli (2009)














10486311048628983081 A Guillaumont (1958-59)





unit










































































































2119 and elsewhere

10486331048624983081 Guillaumont (1958-1959) 123

































G Bunge (1989a) 69-91
















the soulrdquo

4 Conclusion












Bibliography





449-469









12 20-38




195-208









Medievali







ies 33-34 201-234


















Peeters 259-274









445-478



98-130



sium 244 649-670









2011)














































10486271048631983081 See I Ramelli (2010) 259-274





















































































13 Evagrius






































































































( KG 615)





























































to dissonant ones













10486291048633983081 See I Ramelli (2011c) 335-371





















changes







































10486301048628983081 See M Achard (2007)













10486301048630983081 S Slaveva-Griff1048678983145n (2009) 12




























1048631983089983081 K Corrigan (2010) 147-162

1048631983090983081 See I Ramelli (2009)














10486311048628983081 A Guillaumont (1958-59)





unit










































































































2119 and elsewhere

10486331048624983081 Guillaumont (1958-1959) 123

































G Bunge (1989a) 69-91
















the soulrdquo

4 Conclusion












Bibliography





449-469









12 20-38




195-208









Medievali







ies 33-34 201-234


















Peeters 259-274









445-478



98-130



sium 244 649-670









2011)




























































































13 Evagrius






































































































( KG 615)





























































to dissonant ones













10486291048633983081 See I Ramelli (2011c) 335-371





















changes







































10486301048628983081 See M Achard (2007)













10486301048630983081 S Slaveva-Griff1048678983145n (2009) 12




























1048631983089983081 K Corrigan (2010) 147-162

1048631983090983081 See I Ramelli (2009)














10486311048628983081 A Guillaumont (1958-59)





unit










































































































2119 and elsewhere

10486331048624983081 Guillaumont (1958-1959) 123

































G Bunge (1989a) 69-91
















the soulrdquo

4 Conclusion












Bibliography





449-469









12 20-38




195-208









Medievali







ies 33-34 201-234


















Peeters 259-274









445-478



98-130



sium 244 649-670









2011)




































































































( KG 615)





























































to dissonant ones













10486291048633983081 See I Ramelli (2011c) 335-371





















changes







































10486301048628983081 See M Achard (2007)













10486301048630983081 S Slaveva-Griff1048678983145n (2009) 12




























1048631983089983081 K Corrigan (2010) 147-162

1048631983090983081 See I Ramelli (2009)














10486311048628983081 A Guillaumont (1958-59)





unit










































































































2119 and elsewhere

10486331048624983081 Guillaumont (1958-1959) 123

































G Bunge (1989a) 69-91
















the soulrdquo

4 Conclusion












Bibliography





449-469









12 20-38




195-208









Medievali







ies 33-34 201-234


















Peeters 259-274









445-478



98-130



sium 244 649-670









2011)




































































to dissonant ones













10486291048633983081 See I Ramelli (2011c) 335-371





















changes







































10486301048628983081 See M Achard (2007)













10486301048630983081 S Slaveva-Griff1048678983145n (2009) 12




























1048631983089983081 K Corrigan (2010) 147-162

1048631983090983081 See I Ramelli (2009)














10486311048628983081 A Guillaumont (1958-59)





unit










































































































2119 and elsewhere

10486331048624983081 Guillaumont (1958-1959) 123

































G Bunge (1989a) 69-91
















the soulrdquo

4 Conclusion












Bibliography





449-469









12 20-38




195-208









Medievali







ies 33-34 201-234


















Peeters 259-274









445-478



98-130



sium 244 649-670









2011)




















10486291048633983081 See I Ramelli (2011c) 335-371





















changes







































10486301048628983081 See M Achard (2007)













10486301048630983081 S Slaveva-Griff1048678983145n (2009) 12




























1048631983089983081 K Corrigan (2010) 147-162

1048631983090983081 See I Ramelli (2009)














10486311048628983081 A Guillaumont (1958-59)





unit










































































































2119 and elsewhere

10486331048624983081 Guillaumont (1958-1959) 123

































G Bunge (1989a) 69-91
















the soulrdquo

4 Conclusion












Bibliography





449-469









12 20-38




195-208









Medievali







ies 33-34 201-234


















Peeters 259-274









445-478



98-130



sium 244 649-670









2011)


























changes







































10486301048628983081 See M Achard (2007)













10486301048630983081 S Slaveva-Griff1048678983145n (2009) 12




























1048631983089983081 K Corrigan (2010) 147-162

1048631983090983081 See I Ramelli (2009)














10486311048628983081 A Guillaumont (1958-59)





unit










































































































2119 and elsewhere

10486331048624983081 Guillaumont (1958-1959) 123

































G Bunge (1989a) 69-91
















the soulrdquo

4 Conclusion












Bibliography





449-469









12 20-38




195-208









Medievali







ies 33-34 201-234


















Peeters 259-274









445-478



98-130



sium 244 649-670









2011)














































10486301048628983081 See M Achard (2007)













10486301048630983081 S Slaveva-Griff1048678983145n (2009) 12




























1048631983089983081 K Corrigan (2010) 147-162

1048631983090983081 See I Ramelli (2009)














10486311048628983081 A Guillaumont (1958-59)





unit










































































































2119 and elsewhere

10486331048624983081 Guillaumont (1958-1959) 123

































G Bunge (1989a) 69-91
















the soulrdquo

4 Conclusion












Bibliography





449-469









12 20-38




195-208









Medievali







ies 33-34 201-234


















Peeters 259-274









445-478



98-130



sium 244 649-670









2011)

















10486301048630983081 S Slaveva-Griff1048678983145n (2009) 12




























1048631983089983081 K Corrigan (2010) 147-162

1048631983090983081 See I Ramelli (2009)














10486311048628983081 A Guillaumont (1958-59)





unit










































































































2119 and elsewhere

10486331048624983081 Guillaumont (1958-1959) 123

































G Bunge (1989a) 69-91
















the soulrdquo

4 Conclusion












Bibliography





449-469









12 20-38




195-208









Medievali







ies 33-34 201-234


















Peeters 259-274









445-478



98-130



sium 244 649-670









2011)






















1048631983089983081 K Corrigan (2010) 147-162

1048631983090983081 See I Ramelli (2009)














10486311048628983081 A Guillaumont (1958-59)





unit










































































































2119 and elsewhere

10486331048624983081 Guillaumont (1958-1959) 123

































G Bunge (1989a) 69-91
















the soulrdquo

4 Conclusion












Bibliography





449-469









12 20-38




195-208









Medievali







ies 33-34 201-234


















Peeters 259-274









445-478



98-130



sium 244 649-670









2011)


















10486311048628983081 A Guillaumont (1958-59)





unit










































































































2119 and elsewhere

10486331048624983081 Guillaumont (1958-1959) 123

































G Bunge (1989a) 69-91
















the soulrdquo

4 Conclusion












Bibliography





449-469









12 20-38




195-208









Medievali







ies 33-34 201-234


















Peeters 259-274









445-478



98-130



sium 244 649-670









2011)










































































































2119 and elsewhere

10486331048624983081 Guillaumont (1958-1959) 123

































G Bunge (1989a) 69-91
















the soulrdquo

4 Conclusion












Bibliography





449-469









12 20-38




195-208









Medievali







ies 33-34 201-234


















Peeters 259-274









445-478



98-130



sium 244 649-670









2011)








































G Bunge (1989a) 69-91
















the soulrdquo

4 Conclusion












Bibliography





449-469









12 20-38




195-208









Medievali







ies 33-34 201-234


















Peeters 259-274









445-478



98-130



sium 244 649-670









2011)























the soulrdquo

4 Conclusion












Bibliography





449-469









12 20-38




195-208









Medievali







ies 33-34 201-234


















Peeters 259-274









445-478



98-130



sium 244 649-670









2011)











Bibliography





449-469









12 20-38




195-208









Medievali







ies 33-34 201-234


















Peeters 259-274









445-478



98-130



sium 244 649-670









2011)

























Peeters 259-274









445-478



98-130



sium 244 649-670









2011)













2011)








Harmony Between Arkhē and Telos in Patristic Platonism and the Imagery of Astronomical Harmony...

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Transcript of Harmony Between Arkhē and Telos in Patristic Platonism and the Imagery of Astronomical Harmony...