Salvation of the Damned Within the 'Periphyseon'

This dissertation shall examine the claim of John Scottus Eriugena, the ninth century Irish philosopher, that all things must ultimately return to unity with their creator. This is the ancient Greek theme of apokatastasis, which essentially means reconstitution in full to that which was primordial. A special case subsumed under the class of all things is that segment of mankind traditionally understood as being damned, or separated from God. Eriugena holds that no portion of mankind can be so separated for God, as the Word, received the entire human race, not a subset of it.</p><p> Although sometimes thought to be at odds with Christianity, it is Eriugena's position that the restoration of separated souls should be embraced. The word apokatastasis appears in both the Old and New Testaments. The first reference is found in Malachi 4:2-6, and speaks of the divine bond between children and their fathers, a them which will have special significance in this dissertation. The New Testament reference is found in Acts 3:21, where Peter affirms the restoration of all things was ordained before the world began.</p><p> An additional question that this study seeks to answer is whether man is made happy in this restoration. Eriugena gives no clear answer to this issue. His writing seems top contradict itself, and can reasonably be interpreted either way. Our answer is offered in the affirmative: man is made happy in his restoration. The final chapter of this dissertation examines some of the implications of the answer.

Name thesis:degree_name

PhD

Level thesis:degree_level

Immediate Access

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Philosophy

Year dc:date.available

2011

Author dc:creator

• Mounts, Jonathan

Contributors dc:contributor

• L. M. Harrington
• Therese Bonin
• James Swindal

• Apokatastasis
• Eriugena
• Peripyseon
• Reconciliation
• Universal salvation

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

https://dsc.duq.edu/etd/956

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dsc.duq.edu:etd-1972