Ilaria Ramelli’s History of the ‘Apokatastasis Doctrine’: A Critical Assessment of Evidence from before Origen
In this article, the treatment of early Christian literature from before Origen in Ilaria Ramelli’s monographs The Christian Doctrine of Apokatastasis and (co-authored with David Konstan) Terms for Eternity is subject to critique. When Ramelli claims that the early literature shared the idea of temp...
| 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: |
Oxford University Press
2024
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| In: |
The journal of theological studies
Year: 2024, Volume: 75, Issue: 1, Pages: 134-147 |
| Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains: | B
Eschatology
/ Eternity
/ Greek language
/ Adjective
/ aiōnios
/ Church
/ Literature
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| IxTheo Classification: | HC New Testament KAB Church history 30-500; early Christianity KAJ Church history 1914-; recent history NBQ Eschatology |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | In this article, the treatment of early Christian literature from before Origen in Ilaria Ramelli’s monographs The Christian Doctrine of Apokatastasis and (co-authored with David Konstan) Terms for Eternity is subject to critique. When Ramelli claims that the early literature shared the idea of temporary punishment after death, thus forming the ‘roots’ of the doctrine of apokatastasis, a clear distinction between early and later concepts and interpretations is missing. The argument that αἰώνιος in eschatological contexts should not mean ‘eternal’, but rather ‘in the world to come’, is untenable, inter alia because this supposed sense of αἰώνιος would duplicate the same information in the phrase ἐν τῷ αἰῶνι τῷ ἐρχομένῳ ζωὴν αἰώνιον (Mark 10:30). The article also demonstrates the incorrectness of Ramelli’s arguments that the texts contain contrasting relations between the words αἰώνιος and ἀΐδιος and κόλασις and τιμωρία, respectively, with only ἀΐδιος indicating a strictly eternal future, and κόλασις a purifying temporary chastisement. These arguments contain a number of methodological errors: the meaning of words is not sought in the contexts in which they are used, and the possibility of stylistic variation is not taken into account. |
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| ISSN: | 1477-4607 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The journal of theological studies
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1093/jts/flae012 |