“Illius sponsi thalamus fuit uterus virginis”: The Womb of Mary as Bridal Chamber in Augustine’s Thought about Sexuality
Abstract This article examines the image of Mary’s womb as the bridal chamber in which the Word and the flesh, the divine and the human natures of Christ, are united. The image presents the reader with a paradox – the Word and the flesh engage in a divine unification and comingling in the womb of th...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
2020
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| In: |
Religion & theology
Year: 2020, Volume: 27, Issue: 3/4, Pages: 299-328 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Augustinus, Aurelius, Saint 354-430
/ Maria, von Nazaret, Biblische Person
/ Body
/ Sexuality
/ The Divine
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| IxTheo Classification: | CB Christian life; spirituality HC New Testament NBJ Mariology |
| Further subjects: | B
Augustine
B City of God B Virgin Mary, Womb B Tractates on the First Epistle of John B John Chrysostom B Christian Sexuality B First Epistle of John |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (Resolving-System) Volltext (Verlag) |
| Summary: | Abstract This article examines the image of Mary’s womb as the bridal chamber in which the Word and the flesh, the divine and the human natures of Christ, are united. The image presents the reader with a paradox – the Word and the flesh engage in a divine unification and comingling in the womb of the virgin. The study traces the development of the image in the earlier works of Augustine, and contextualises it within Augustine’s later thought, in which the body and sexuality are considered in a more positive light. The study aims to demonstrate that Augustine’s structuring of incarnational theology served as a framework for his views on sexuality – prelapsarian, postlapsarian, and eschatological sexuality – and the discourse of the incarnation, especially in his later thought, should be seen primarily as a discourse of sexuality. |
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| ISSN: | 1574-3012 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: Religion & theology
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1163/15743012-02703007 |