Prosopon

Prosopon

Prosopon is the Greek for "face".

The term is used for "the self-manifestation of an individual" that can be extended by means of other things. For example, a painter includes his brush within his own prosopon. (Grillmeier, 126)

Prosopon is the form in which hypostasis appears. Every nature and every hypostasis has its own proper prosopon countenance. It gives expression to the reality of the nature with its powers and characteristics. (Grillmeier, 431)

Two distinct Antiochene Christologists, Theodore of Mopsuestiafollowed by Nestorius, a disciple of Theodore, supported the prosopic union of the two natures (prosopon) of Jesus Christ rather than the accepted hypostatic union.

Theodore of Mopsuestia maintained a vision of Christ that saw a prosopic union of the divine and human. This was a union where Jesus was only a man indissolubly united to God through the permanent indwelling of the Logos. (Grillmeir, 428-39) He believed the incarnation of Jesus represents an indwelling of the spirit of God that is separate from the indwelling that was experienced by the Old Testament prophets or New Testament apostles. Jesus was viewed as a human being who shared the divine sonship of the Logos; the Logos united himself to Jesus from the moment of Jesus' conception. After the resurrection, the human Jesus and the Logos reveal that they have always been one prosopon. This oneness of Jesus and the Logos is thus the prosopic union. (Norris , 25)

Theodore addresses the prosopic union in applying prosopon to Christ. He accounts for two expressions of Christ – human and divine. Yet, he does not mean Christ achieved a unity of the two expressions through the formation of a third prosopon, but that one prosopon is produced by the Logos giving his own countenance to the assured man. (Grillmeier, 432) He interprets the unity of God and man in Christ along the lines of the body-soul unity. Prosopon plays a special part in his interpretation of Christ. He rejected the Hypostasis concept – believing it to be a contradiction of Christ’s true nature. He espoused that, in Christ, both body and soul had to be assumed. Christ assumed a soul and by the grace of God, brought it to immutability and to a full dominion over the sufferings of the body. (Grillmeier, 424-27)

Nestorius furthered Theodore’s belief in the prosopic union as thus: "prosopon is the appearance of the ousia: the prosopon makes known the ousia." The two prosopa are united "In Christ… the one prosopon does not belong to a nature or hypostasis which arose through the natural union of Godhead and manhood, but to the unity of the two unconfused natures." (Grillmeier, 510)

References

*Grillmeier, Aloys, 1975. Christ in Christian Tradition, Volume One.
*Norris, Richard A. Jr., 1980. The Christological Controversy.
* [http://cache.britannica.com/ebc/article-5191 Nestorius: Encyclopedia Britannica Online]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • prosopon — prəˈsōˌpän noun ( s) Etymology: New Latin, from Greek prosōpon : the younger nymphal stage of an insect that undergoes an incomplete metamorphosis …   Useful english dictionary

  • prosopon — n. [Gr. proso, forward; ponos, work] (MOLLUSCA: Bivalvia) The name proposed to replace surface ornament or sculpture …   Dictionary of invertebrate zoology

  • prosopon — pro·so·pon …   English syllables

  • Prosopon —  (греч. лицо) термин, применявшийся в тринитарных и христологических спорах в ранней церкви для обозначения Божества как трех различных Лиц и Иисуса Христа как одного Лица. У этого термина отсутствовала метафизическая ясность, необходимая для… …   Вестминстерский словарь теологических терминов

  • PROSOPUM vel PROSOPON — PROSOPUM, vel PROSOPON insul. Asricae parva ante Carthagmem. Steph …   Hofmann J. Lexicon universale

  • Trilobite — ] Highly complex compound eyes are another obvious feature of the cephalon (see below). Figure 3 shows gross morphology of the cephalon. The cheeks (genae) are the pleural lobes on each side of the axial feature, the glabella. When trilobites… …   Wikipedia

  • Teodoro de Mopsuestia — (Antioquía, c. 350 428) fue obispo y uno de los teólogos más representativos de la escuela de Antioquía. Contenido 1 Vida 2 Escritos 3 Doctrina 3.1 Exégesis …   Wikipedia Español

  • Donald C. Jackman — Donald Charles Jackman (* Februar 1932) ist ein US amerikanischer Mediävist. Donald C. Jackman promovierte 1988 an der Columbia University mit der Arbeit The Konradiner: a study in genealogical methodology. Er arbeitete am State College in… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Nestorius — /ne stawr ee euhs, stohr /, n. died A.D. 451?, Syrian ecclesiastic: patriarch of Constantinople 428 431. * * * born 4th century, Germanicia, Syria Euphratensis, Asia Minor died с 451, Panopolis, Egypt Founder of Nestorian Christianity. Born of… …   Universalium

  • Person — • Discusses (1) the definition of person , especially with reference to the doctrine of the Incarnation; and (2) the use of the word persona and its Greek equivalents in connection with the Trinitarian disputes. Catholic Encyclopedia. Kevin… …   Catholic encyclopedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”