Thesis Chapters by Timothy Winegar
St. Tikhon's Orthodox Theological Seminary, M.Div. Thesis, 2016
In his Commentary on John, St. Cyril of Alexandria follows the divine Apostle in understanding Ch... more In his Commentary on John, St. Cyril of Alexandria follows the divine Apostle in understanding Christ’s body – or more specifically, His assumed human nature – as the true Temple, the fulfillment of the Mosaic Tabernacle and Jerusalem Temple, which were but shadows and types. For Cyril, the Temple of Christ’s body becomes the central image for understanding not only His incarnation, but the meaning of worship in spirit and truth and the redemption and deification of fallen humanity. Though writing before the Nestorian controversy, Cyril nonetheless stresses that while Christ’s Temple is a real human body and soul, it is not a separate person and in no way divides Him. Jesus sanctifies His Temple through the Holy Spirit in order to sanctify all of human nature –and indeed all of creation – and through this sanctification He affords created nature the potential to become a temple of the Holy Spirit and to participate in God Himself. When the veil of the Temple was torn asunder, worship according to the Law ended and a new era of spiritual worship was inaugurated, which is carried out in the “temple” of each believer. Yet spiritual worship is also ecclesial and sacramental, being figuratively connected with the blood and water that flowed from Christ’s side on the Cross and marked the inauguration of the Christian Sacraments. For by partaking of the body of the Son of God Himself in the Holy Eucharist and receiving the Holy Spirit in Baptism, the faithful become temples of God, the very places where true worship is offered, and are thereby united to God and to one another.
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Thesis Chapters by Timothy Winegar