Time and Eternity in Fifth-Century Oikonomic Thought: Cyril of Alexandria on the Only Begotten and the First Born
Time and Eternity in Fifth-Century Oikonomic Thought: Cyril of Alexandria on the Only Begotten and the First Born

Summary/Abstract: In this article the author aims to revisit the themes of qualifi ed and unqualifi edcoming-to-be of the Word of God in Cyril of Alexandria. While the fi rst type ofcoming-to-be of God the Word is depicted by Cyril as being removed from any temporal associations (i.e. his eternal begetting), the second type of coming-to-be, i.e.coming-to-be in human conditions (that is, the Incarnation), attributes temporal characteristics to the Word. The issue of confl icting properties (atemporal vs. temporal)and confl icting names (i.e. Only-Begotten vs. First Born) associated with divergingpoints of reference of scriptural affi rmations (i.e. those of theologia and oikonomia)is an interesting one in this context. Cyril’s Scholia offers a set of deductions of bothatemporal (or quasi-temporal) and temporal characteristics predicated of the Wordand qualifi ed by the following terms: “according to nature” and “according to oikonomia.” In this article, the author endeavors to critically re-evaluate Cyril’s philosophical underpinnings and readmit some Neo-Platonist speculations (in particularemphasizing the creative input of Iamblichus) to early Christian thought. The articlealso makes an emphasis on the role of the commentaries on the Parmenides in theformation of relevant intellectual projections.

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