Contemplation in the Life and Works of Saint Cyril of Alexandria

Houdek, Francis Joseph (1979) Contemplation in the Life and Works of Saint Cyril of Alexandria. PhD thesis, University of California.

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Abstract

Because of his central position in the history of Greek theological development, any important theme in the intellectual life and work of Cyril of Alexandria is important. In his own intellectual development and in the theological tradition which he communicated to subsequent generations contemplation is of central and critical importance. The concept and practice of contemplation has a long and rich history in Greek thought prior to Cyril. Its subsequent history and development is conditioned by his personal contributions to this notion and its practice. The problem of this dissertation is, therefore, one of intellectual and methodological development. The important questions in this study are the following: What did Cyril inherit from his non- Christian and Christian predecessors? What was the prior and prevalent understanding and practice of this important exegetical and theological concept of contemplation? How did Cyril himself understand this concept of contemplation? How did he practice it? How did he modify this practice by experience? What legacy did he pass on to subsequent generations of theologians? These questions form the central problem and focus of this dissertation. The methodology of this dissertation is historical and analytic. There is a detailed, chronological study of the major authors prior to Cyril who use contemplation in their philosophical or theological speculation. It is their thought which forms the intellectual matrix in which Cyril lived and worked. This intellectual frame work provide s the operational context for Cyril. This same historical and analytic methodology is use d to examine the relevant works of Cyril. The concept of contemplation is trace d chronologically through his major exegetical and theological works. There is a detailed analysis of every usage of this concept in both h is exegetical and theological works in an effort to discover the underlying common elements in this notion. This analysis provides the data for the following synthetic evaluation and conclusions. In the works of Cyril of Alexandria contemplation has fundamental and related meanings: the objective sense, i.e., the hidden spiritual sense of Scripture or of theological mystery centered in the person of Christ. In this sense the notion of contemplation is concerned with true, non-sensible reality which has radical existence prior to and independent of the action of the human intellect. This is objective mystery which can only be known and understood by the revelation of God. The subjective sense, i.e., the ordered intellectual process of prayer, interior discipline and asceticism, study and gathering of data, by which one come s to know the mystery (objective sense of contemplation) revealed by God. These two senses of contemplation are related as process and object. They are de pendent on one another, though contemplation in its objective sense has t rue and re al existence prior to the act of human intellection which Cyril calls contemplation. As an exegetical and theological method Cyril used this process of contemplation to arrive at new insight into the mystery of Scripture and of the person of Christ. Both the process of exegetical or theological insight and the insight born of this process Cyril names contemplation. Though they appear disparate, these related concepts of object and process, objective and subjective, constitute Cyril’s understanding and practice of contemplation. He discovers this dual meaning early in his exegetical career. He develops it broadly in his exegetical exposition of both the Old and the New Testament. He makes use of the same radical concept in the same fundamental manner as he develops speculative insight into the deeper mysteries of Christianity, particularly the mystery of the person and activity of Christ. It is the discovery of this -objective and subjective meanings of contemplation that answers the questions posed earlier and solves the fundamental problem which generated this study. It is this rich notion of contemplation as both object and process that Cyril passed on to his theological successors. It is because of this rich insight on his part that all of his theological successors, both orthodox and heterodox, are indebted to him.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Saint Cyril of Alexandria's works and life
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BD Speculative Philosophy
Divisions:	Comparative
Depositing User:	Mr Christopher Mapunda
Date Deposited:	04 Jul 2015 13:16
Last Modified:	07 Oct 2016 08:29
URI:	http://thesisbank.jhia.ac.ke/id/eprint/253

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