Religious Research

Religious Research

Religious Anthropology in Johannes Scottus Eriugena

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors
Ghorban Elmi 1
Mojtaba Zurvani 1
zahra shahbazi 2
1 Professor, Department of Religions and Mysticism, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
2 PhD Candidate, Department of Religions and Mysticism, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
10.22034/jrr.2025.495616.2248
Abstract
The anthropology of Johannes Scottus Eriugena, a distinguished scholar of the Carolingian Renaissance, derives from an innovative synthesis of the philosophical views of the Latin and Greek Neoplatonic Fathers, arranged on the basis of his interpretation of the narratives of Genesis in the Torah. Imago Dei, or the human being in the divine form, in Eriugena, is the encompassing and highest level of the human being, namely, the soul, which he calls created wisdom and human nature. Eriugena considers the inner human synonymous with human nature, which represents God’s intelligible world. In contrast to Latin theology, by assuming that the outer human has not yet attained the status of his divine image, he moves the metaphysical history of creation backward and forward and portrays humanity’s enjoyment of this nature as a subsequent matter, dependent upon rational dialectic and his spiritual journey of faith. The unique finding of this research is to clarify the individuality of the human being in Eriugena’s view, which has remained neglected in the views of Eriugena scholars. Eriugena portrays the material creation of the human being in the form of an animal not according to the necessity of the Fall, but on the basis of the principle of emanation and procession, and does not see the destined corporeality and animality of the human being as being in conflict with his divine form. Many researchers of Eriugena’s works have mistakenly associated animality with the fallen condition of the human being and have overlooked the rational human being in the form of an animal.
Keywords
Nature
Inner Human
Outer Human
Animality
Paradisal Individuality
Subjects
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