Divine Perfection and Human Potentiality: The Trinitarian Anthropology of Hilary of Poitiers (Oxford Studies in Historical Theology)

The place of Hilary of Poitiers in the debates and developments of early Christianity is tenuous in contemporary scholarship. His invaluable historical position is unquestioned, but the coherence and significance of his own thought is less certain. In this book, Jarred A. Mercer makes a case for understanding Hilary not only as an important historical figure, but as a noteworthy and independent thinker. Divine Perfection and Human Potentiality offers a new paradigm for understanding Hilary's work De Trinitate. The book contends that in all of Hilary's polemical and constructive argumentation, which is essentially trinitarian, he is inherently developing an anthropology. The work therefore reinterprets Hilary's overall theological project in terms of the continual, and for him necessary, anthropological corollary of trinitarian theology- to reframe it in terms of a "trinitarian anthropology." The coherence of Hilary's work depends upon this framework, and without it his thought continues to elude his readers. Mercer demonstrates this through following Hilary's main lines of trinitarian argument, out of which flow his anthropological vision. These trinitarian arguments unfold into a progressive picture of humanity from potentiality to perfection. -- ‡c From publisher's description Cover 1 Series 3 Divine Perfection and Human Potentiality 4 Copyright 5 Dedication 6 Contents 8 Acknowledgments 12 Abbreviations 16 Introduction 20 The State of Scholarship 20 The Aim of the Book: A New Paradigm for Hilary’s Thought 25 The Structure of the Book and Summary of Chapters 26 1. Divine Generation and Human Potentiality 32 John 1:1–​4 and Divine Generation 36 The Word in the Beginning: John 1:1–​4 in Origen 40 Cosmology and Soteriology in Origen 45 The Reasonable Word: John 1:1–​4 in Tertullian 49 Novatian: God, Creation, and the Two “Logoi” 52 Athanasius Against the “Arians”: Reconceiving Divine Perfection 55 Hilary: John 1:1–​2 and the Birth Without Beginning 57 The Life in the Word and the Light of Humanity: John 1:3–​4 66 The Potential Creation “In Him” 69 2. Divine Infinity and Human Progress 74 “Traditional” Arguments of Father-​Son Relations for Eternal Generation 75 Name and Nature in Hilary 78 Divine Birth and Father-​Son Analogy 80 Reforming the Analogy: The Epistemological Reorientation of the Doctrine of God 87 Divine Infinity in Early Christianity 90 Introduction to Hilary’s Conception of Divine Infinity 93 The State of the Scholarship: What Is Not Being Said 97 Apophatic Analogy and Divine Linguistics 99 Proverbs 8:22: The Crux Interpretum 103 Proverbs 8:22 in the Fourth Century 104 Hilary’s Interpretation: “Potential Creation” and Proverbs 8 108 Divine Infinity and Human Progress 113 Conclusion 117 3. Divine Unity and the “Ladder of Our Nature” 118 The Centrality of John 10:30 in Third-​Century Anti-​Monarchian Polemic 122 John 10:30 in Fourth-​Century Controversy: Hilary’s Interpretive Background 125 Introducing Hilary’s Polemical Arguments for Divine Unity 130 Origin and Nature 130 Natural Unity and Agreement of Will 135 The Holy Spirit: Spirit of God and Spirit of Christ 138 Divine Unity and Mutual Indwelling 140 Hilary’s “Power Theology”: Divine Unity and Common Operations 143 Epistemological Foundations: Arguments by Analogy and Analogical Language 145 Tertullian: Approaching the Unapproachable God 146 Novatian: The Visible Image of the Invisible God 150 Hilary: The Living Image and the Triune God 154 Conclusion: Divine Unity and Human Ascension 165 4. The Divine Image and Human Destiny 167 “Image” Language in Philosophical and Christian Traditions 168 Image Theology in the Fourth Century 170 Hilary’s “Consubstantial” Image Theology 177 The Consubstantial Image and the Imago Dei 179 Basil of Ancyra and the Formation of Hilary’s Argument 181 The Living Image of the Living: Hilary’s Transformation of Image Language 183 Image and Equality 186 Image and Revelation 187 Image and Mediation 189 The Imago Dei in Early Christianity 189 The Imago Dei in Hilary: Humanity in Trinitarian Perspective 192 Trinity and Human Mediation: Christ’s Humanity as the Lived Imago Dei 195 Approaching Hilary’s Christology 196 Forma Dei–​Forma Serui: Divine-​Human Coexistence 199 Body-​Soul Relations: Contextualizing Hilary’s Discussion 202 The Body and Soul in Hilary 204 The Body and Soul of Christ: Contours of the Discussion 209 The Body and Soul of Christ in Hilary 211 Approaching Hilary’s Discussion of Christ’s Suffering 217 The Influence of Stoicism on Hilary’s Argument 220 Introduction to Stoic Moral Psychology 222 Hilary’s Psychological Framework 224 Christ’s Unique Body 227 Other-​Focused Suffering 231 Divine Impassibility 234 Human Potentiality as Hopeful Mutability 236 Conclusion 242 5. Divine Humanity: The Glorification of Christ and the Perfection of Human Potentiality 245 The Double Adsumptio: Transforming the Language of Incarnation 246 Corpus Uniuersi Humani Generis: Christ as the Meeting Place of God and Humanity 249 Exchange of Glory: John 17:1–​6 253 Double Adsumptio and Human Progress 260 His Glorious Body: Completed in eo (Phil 3:21) 262 Deus Totus: Subjection and the Finis of Humanity (1 Cor 15:21–​28) 265 From in eo to in ipsis: The Consummation of the Image 273 Knowledge of the Trinity and Human Perfection 276 From Adsumptio to Adsumptio: A Certain Hopeful Direction 279 Conclusion 280 Conclusion: A Hope Greater Than Expected 282 References 288 General Index 308 Hilary Citation Index 316 Biblical Citation Index 322 The place of Hilary of Poitiers in the debates and developments of early Christianity is tenuous in contemporary scholarship. His invaluable historical position is unquestioned, but the coherence and significance of his own thought is less certain. In this book, Jarred A. Mercer makes a case for understanding Hilary not only as an important historical figure, but as a noteworthy and independent thinker.0Divine Perfection and Human Potentiality offers a new paradigm for understanding Hilary's work De Trinitate. The book contends that in all of Hilary's polemical and constructive argumentation, which is essentially trinitarian, he is inherently developing an anthropology. The work therefore reinterprets Hilary's overall theological project in terms of the continual, and for him necessary, anthropological corollary of trinitarian theology- to reframe it in terms of a "trinitarian anthropology." The coherence of Hilary's work depends upon this framework, and without it his thought continues to elude his readers. Mercer demonstrates this through following Hilary's main lines of trinitarian argument, out of which flow his anthropological vision. These trinitarian arguments unfold into a progressive picture of humanity from potentiality to perfection The place of Hilary of Poitiers in the debates and developments of early Christianity is tenuous in contemporary scholarship. In this book, Jarred A. Mercer makes a case for understanding Hilary not only as an important historical figure, but as a significant and independent thinker. Divine Perfection and Human Potentiality offers a new paradigm for understanding Hilary's work De Trinitate as a trinitarian anthropology