The Relationship between Sin and Mortality in the History of Mankind: Insights from Theodore of Mopsuestia’s Theology

The Relationship between Sin and Mortality in the History of Mankind: Insights from Theodore of Mopsuestia’s TheologySyriaca.org: The Syriac Reference PortalThe National Endowment for the HumanitiesThe International Balzan Prize FoundationDavid A. Michelsoncbsc_adminRecord added to Zotero bycbsc_adminSyriaca.org: The Syriac Reference Portalhttp://syriaca.org/cbss/K8PVSG88/tei

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CREATED: This bibl record was autogenerated from a Zotero record.SvetoslavRibolovThe Relationship between Sin and Mortality in the History of Mankind: Insights from Theodore of Mopsuestia’s Theologyhttp://syriaca.org/cbss/K8PVSG88https://www.zotero.org/groups/a_comprehensive_bibliography_on_syriac_studies/items/K8PVSG88https://www.zotero.org/groups/4861694/items/K8PVSG88ElkaBakalovaMargaretDimitorvaMary AllenJohnsonMedieval Bulgarian Art and Letters in a Byzantine ContextSofiaAmerican Research Center in Sofia2017267-293According to Theodore of Mopsuestia, death is not only punishment for men but also an important educational tool. It is precisely because men are mortal that they have been able to appreciate the value of immortality and to become aware of the wretchedness of their situation. At the same time, Adam’s sin brought man’s changeable nature to a state of confusion, which, in turn, provoked an out-pour of passions. This event brought sin to man, yet it also taught man to search for a proper solution to this problem. The Antiochian thinker is convinced that God not only wanted to teach men how to live right but also to give them the opportunity to choose between dedicating their lives to God and dedicating them to evil. The very possibility for sin (peccato aditum) has been given to men as an educational tool: sin represented a necessary choice, and not only the actual choice of sin but also the opportunity to choose God. Making good moral choices is man’s highest pursuit. In Theodore’s logic, the sensibility of human nature is inevitably accompanied by changeability. Hence, man needs to be able to make a free choice because man is a reasonable being. As part of his educational mission, God has also given men orders, laws that help man regulate his present life (κατὰ τὸν παρόντα βίον): life in man’s first state, the first epoch of the oikonomia of salvation. Ribolov, Svetoslav. “The Relationship between Sin and Mortality in the History of Mankind: Insights from Theodore of Mopsuestia’s Theology.” In Medieval Bulgarian Art and Letters in a Byzantine Context, edited by Elka Bakalova, Margaret Dimitorva, and Mary Allen Johnson, 267–93. Sofia: American Research Center in Sofia, 2017. Svetoslav Ribolov, The Relationship between Sin and Mortality in the History of Mankind: Insights from Theodore of Mopsuestia’s Theology, in Medieval Bulgarian Art and Letters in a Byzantine Context, ed. Elka Bakalova, Margaret Dimitorva, and Mary Allen Johnson (Sofia: American Research Center in Sofia, 2017), 267–93.AdamAntiochene schoolIV-VII CETheodore of MopsuestiaV CEdeathfallsinsoteriology