vigchr v61n03 - dragos-andrei giulea - athenagoras legatio.pdf

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The Watchers' Whispers: Athenagoras's "Legatio" 25,1-3 and the "Book of the Watchers"Author(s): Drago-Andrei GiuleaSource: Vigiliae Christianae, Vol. 61, No. 3 (Aug., 2007), pp. 258-281Published by: BRILLStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20474822.

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2/25

bE

Vigiliae

/683

Christianae

BRILL

Vigiliae

Christianae

1

(2007) 258-281

www.brill.nl/vc

TheWatchers'

Whispers:Athenagoras's

egatio

25,1-3

and

theBook

of the

Watchers

Dragos-Andrei

iulea

Marquette

University,

oughlin all

100,

Milwaukee,WI

53201, USA

dragos.giulea

marquette. du

Abstract

The passage 25,1-3

in

Athenagoras'sLegatiopro

christianis,writing replete ith

Greek

philosophical and

mythologicalmaterial, seems to represent

retelling f a Jewish ar

rative, oth biblical and pseudo-epigraphic,namely themyth of theWatchers. A thor

ough investigation f the

passage

from

egatio

discloses that

thenagoras's version of

the

myth

is closest to the

first

ersionof the

narrative, amely

to theBook

of

theWatch

ers. t the same

time,

theAthenian

introduces reek

philosophical

terminology nd

problems

within

his retelling f

the

myth.

However,

the

most significant

iscovery is

the fact that

thenagoras, employing

especially

toic

psychological terms,

nvestigates

theway the fallen

ngels

act

within the

human souls.

In

thisway, one

may say

that the

Athenian

internalized he

myth and conferred n it a

psychological

analysis.He was

probably

the first o undertake

thiskind of

investigation-beforeClement,

Origen,

and

especiallyEvagrius,

the latter

eing

the one

who

articulated themost

elaborate

analysis

f the

psychological

effects f the

demonic

influences.

Keywords

giants, fallen

ngels, demons, Enoch,

irrational ovements,

affinityf the soul, ratio

nality/freeill, image,

idol

Several

scholars

argue

that

Athenagoras

of

Athens,

a

philosophically

instructedreek, sent

supplication n behalf f his

fellow hristiansto

the

emperor nd

philosopher arcus

Aurelius.

The

event seems

to have

taken lace in the ate seventiesf thesecond century .D.' Among the

1}

Regarding

the

temporal

localization of

the

Supplication,

L.W

Barnard

argues

for

a

date between

176

and

180

(Athenagoras.

A

Study

in

Second

Century

Christian

Apologetic

[Paris:

Beauchesne,

1972]

19).

Moreover,

making

room

in

discussion

for

a

study

on

the

?

Koninklijkerill V,

eiden,007

DOI: 10.1

63/157007207X218875

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3/25

D.-A. Giulea /VigiliaeChristianae 1 (2007) 258-281 259

abundantGreek

philosophical

nd

mythological

aterial

in the

upplica

tion, ne encounters his assage

f

Jewish esonance:

These angels, then,who fell fromheaven busy themselves bout the air and the

earth and

are no

longer able

to

rise

to

the realms above

the

heavens.

The

souls

of thegiants are thedemons

(8ai,uove;)

who wander about theworld. Both angels

and demons produce

(notu?o)

ovements

(Kitvf(Yt;)-demons

movements

which

are akin to

thenatures theyreceived, nd angels

movements

which

are akin to

the

lusts

F'Meueiat)

with which they ere possessed. The prince ofmatter, asmay be

seen from hat happens, directs and administers things na manner opposed to

God's goodness...

But since

the demonic impulses and

activities

&xlgovtKxA

KtVT9GC1t

xt

?V?p7etcxt)

f the hostile spirit

(nveiUwa)

ring thesewild attacks

(axtKrl

?ity0popai)-indeed

we see

them

move men

from

ithin

and from

ith

out, one

man one

way and another

man

another,

ome

individually

nd some as

nations,

one

at a time

nd all together, ecause

of

our

kinship

(agn&6Oe-utx)

ith

matter

and

our

affinity

ith

the

divine...

But

to the

xtent

that

t

depends

on

the

reason

peculiar

to

each

individual nd

the

ctivity

Evt

y7Foa)

f

the

ruling

rince

and his attendant

demons,

one

man

is

swept

along

(@pPpTct

at K

tlV1ctal)

ne

way,

another

man another way,

even

though

all have the

same

rationality

(XoR05T6)

within.2

imperial

titles ascribed

to

Marcus

Aurelius

and his

son

Commodus,

B.

Pouderon

even

raises

the

hypothesis

of

a

more

precise

date,

namely

A.D.

177

(ed.

and

trans.

B.

Pouderon,

Ath?

nagore:

Supplique

au

sujet

des chr?tiens

et

sur

la

r?surrection

des

morts

[SC

379;

Paris: Les

Editions du

Cerf,

1992]

23).

For

scholarship

regarding Athenagoras's theological

system,

see

F.

Schubring,

Die

Philosophie

des

Athenagoras

(Wiss.

Beilage

zum

Programm

des

Koel

nischen

Gymnasiums,

1888);

L.

Richter,

Philosophisches

in

der

Gottes-

und

Logoslehre

des

Apologeten

Athenagoras

von

Athen

(1905);

J.

Geffcken,

Zwei

griechische Apologeten

(1907);

A.

Puech,

Les

Apologistes

grecs

du

IIe

si?cle de

notre

?re

(1912);

H.A.

Lucks,

The

Philosophy of

Athenagoras:

Its Sources

and Value

(1936);

J.H.

Crehan,

Athenagoras

(ACW

XXIII,

1956);

A.B.

Malherbe,

"The Structure of

Athenagoras'

'Supplicatio

pro

christianis',"

Vigiliae

Chris

tianae

23

(1969)

1-20;

B.

Pouderon,

Athenagoras

d'Ath?nes,

philosophe

chr?tien

(Paris:

Beauchesne,

1989);

B.

Pouderon,

D'Ath?nes

?

Alexandrie: ?tudes

sur

Ath?nagore

et

les

origines

de la

philosophie

chr?tienne

(Qu?bec:

Presses

de l'Universit?

Laval;

Louvain:

Editions

Peeters,

1997);

B.

Pouderon,

"Ath?nagore

et

la tradition

alexandrine,"

in

Origeniana

Octava,

Vol.

1,

ed.

L.

Perrone

(Leuven:

Peeters,

2003)

201-19;

B.

Pouderon,

Les

Apologistes

grecs

du

Ile

si?cle

Paris:

erf,

2005)

205-7.

2)

Athenagoras,

Leg.

25,1-3

in

W.R. Schoedel's

Athenagoras:

Legatio

and

De resurrectione

(Oxford:

Clarendon

Press,

1972)

61-3.

For

other

translations,

see

C.C.

Richardson's

in

ECF (London, 1953), J.H. Crehan's Embassy for theChristians. The Resurrection of theDead

(London:

Longmans,

1956),

and

B.P

Pratten's

in

ANF

II:

129-48.

For

the Greek

text,

I

use

in

the

present

study

Pouderon's

version

from

SC

379,

1992.

Cf.

W.R.

Schoedel's

in

Athenagoras

and

M.

Marcovich's

edition

Athenagoras,

Legatio

pro

Christianis

(Berlin;

New

York:

W.

de

Gruyter,

1990).



4/25

260

D.-A. Giulea /

VigiliaeChristianae

1 (2007) 258-281

The

roots

f thepassage

seem

to

go

back

to the

main

story f

theBook

of

theWatchers,

ne

of

the

documents

ncluded

n

the

nochic

collection

known

under the

title f The thiopic

ook ofEnoch

or

1

Enoch.

6:1/

When

the sons

of

men had

multiplied,

in

those

days, beautiful

and

comely

daughters

were

born

to

them.2/

And thewatchers,

the sons of

heaven,

saw them

and desired

them.

And they

aid

to one another,

"Come,

let

us

choose for ur

selves

wives

from

the

daughters

ofmen, and

let

us beget

children

for urselves."

[...]

5/

hen

they

ll swore together nd bound

one another

with

a curse.

6/And

they ere, allof them,twohundred,who descended in thedaysof Jared nto the

peak of

Mount

Hermon.

[

...]

7:1/

These

and

all theothers

with

them took

for themselves

ives from mong

them

such as

they

hoose. And

they

egan

to

go

in

to

them, nd

to

defile

them

selves through

hem,

nd to

teach them orcery

nd

charms,

nd to

reveal

to them

the

cutting of

roots and

plants.

2/ And they

conceived

from them

and bore

to

them

greatgiants.And

the

giants begotNephilim

[

..]

3/

They were devour

ing

the

labor of all the

sons of

men,

and

men

were not

able

to supply

them.

4/And

thegiants began

to

kill

men and

to

devour them.

5/And

they egin to sin

against thebirds and

beasts and

creeping things nd

the

fish,

nd

to

devour

one

another's flesh. nd they rank theblood.3

3)

1

En.

6:1-7:5,

in 1

Enoch.

A New

Translation,

eds.

G.W.E.

Nickelsburg

and

J.C.

VanderKam

(Minneapolis:

Fortress

Press,

2004)

23-5.

As

the editors

claim,

"The Book of the

Watchers

probably

took

its

present

form

by

the

mid-

or

late third

century

B.C.E."

(1

Enoch.

A

New

Translation,

3).

For

secondary

literature,

see

for

instance,

J.T

Milik,

"Turfan

et

Qumran:

Livre des

g?ants

juif

et

manich?en,"

in

Das

fr?he

Christentum

in seiner

Umwelt,

eds.

G.

Jeremias,

H.-W.

Kuhn,

and

H.

Stegemann

(G?ttingen,

1971)

117-27;

D.

Dimant,

?The

Fallen

Angels?

in

the Dead

Sea

Scrolls and

in

the

Apocryphal

and

Pseudepigraphic

Books

Related

to

Them

(Ph.D.

Thesis,

Hebrew

University,

1974);

M.

Delcor,

"Le

Mythe

de

la

chute des

anges

et

l'origine

des

g?ants

comme

explication

du mal

dans

le

monde dans

l'apocalyptique

juive.

Histoire

des

Traditions,"

RHR

190

(1976)

3-53,

22-24;

P.

Hanson,

"Rebellion

in

Heaven,

Azazel and

Euhemeristic

Heroes

in 1

Enoch

6-11,"

fBL

96

(1977)

195-233;

G.W.E.

Nickelsburg,

"Apocalyptic

nd

Myth

in 1

Enoch

6-11,"

fBL

96

(1977)

383-405;

D.W.

Suter,

"Fallen

Angels,

Fallen

Priests. The

Problem

of

Family

Purity

in

1

Enoch

6-16,"

UCA

50

(1979)

115-35;

J.

anderKam,

noch and the

rowth

of

n

Apoca

lyptic

Tradition

(The

C.B.Q

Monograph

Series

16;

Washington:

The Catholic

Association

of

America,

1984);

I.

Fr?hlich,

"Les

enseignements

des veilleurs dans

la

tradition de

Qum

ran,"

RQ

13

(1988)

177-87;

M.J.

Davidson,

Angels

at

Qumran.

A

Comparative

Study of

1Enoch 1-36, 72-108 and Sectarian

Writings

from

Qumran (Sheffield, 1992); P.S. Alexander,

"Wrestling

Against

Wickedness

in

High

Places:

Magic

in

the

Worldview

of the

Qumran

Community,"

in

Qumran

Fifty

Years

After,

eds.

S.E. Porter

and

C.A. Evans

(Sheffield, 1997)

319-30;

A.M.

Reimer,

"Rescuing

the

Fallen

Angels:

The

Case

of the

Disappearing Angels

at

Qumran,"

DSD

7

(2000)

331-53.



5/25

D.-A. Giulea /VigiliaeChristianae 1

(2007) 258-281 261

The present tudy

uggests hat

beyond the

overall

imilarities hat ne

may discernbetween

the twopassages,thedistinctive

thenagorian ote

consists

f

the

nsertion

ithin the

upplication

arrative

f

a

few reek

philosophical erms, ost of them

riginating

n

Stoic psychology.hese

terms

ot only lend

a

philosophical

olor

to

thewhole

account,but also

suggest

hat he

thenagorian ragmentight represent

he

ink

etween,

or at

least

n

important ilestone n

the

ay

from he ook

of

the

atchers

to the

Evagrian

Treatise n the arious vil

Thoughts.

n theone

hand,

Athenagorasreshaped he nochic narrative boutWatchers,about their

fall,

nd their nfluence

n

human conduct.

n

the ther

hand,Athena

gorasdescended into thedomain of human

psychology

nd

investigated

the

ay

thefallen

ngels nd their

ffspring

ct

within the

uman soul.

He

was

probably

he

first o

undertake his ind

of

investigation,

efore

lem

ent,4

rigen,5

nd

Evagrius,6

ll ofwhom

most

likely

ollowed,

ediated

4)

See,

for

instance,

Paed.

3,3-15;

Protr.

2,41; 3,42-4;

Str.

2,20,114,

Eclogae

46,1.

See

also

F.

Andres, "Engel- und D?monenlehre des Klemens

von

Alexandrien," RQ34 (1926) 129

40;

307-30.

5)

For

instance:

PArch.

1,8,1;

3,2,4; 3,3,4;

CCels.

1,31;

4,92-3;

6,69;

8,31;

Com.Lc.

12; 35;

Com.Jn.

13,59;

Hom.Jos.

15,4-5;

Com. Ct.

3-4

(for

?iaX-oyia^ioi

=

cogitationes),

and

many

others.

See also

J.

Dani?lou,

"D?mon:

Dans

la litt?rature

eccl?siastique

jusqu'? Orig?ne,"

Dictionnaire

de

spiritualit?,

asc?tique

et

mystique,

doctrine

et

histoire,

Vol.

3

(Paris,

1937

1967);

EX.

Murphy,

"Evagrius

Ponticus

and

Origenism,"

in

Origeniana

Tertia,

eds.

R.P.C.

Hanson

and

F.

Crouzel

(Rome:

Edizioni

dell'Ateneo,

1985)

253-69;

M.

O'Laughlin,

"Elements of

Fourth

Century

Origenism:

The

Anthropology

of

Evagrius

Ponticus

and

Its

Sources,"

in

Origen

of

Alexandria,

eds.

C.

Kannengiesser

and

W.L. Petersen

(Notre

Dame,

IN:

University

of

Notre Dame

Press,

1988)

357-73;

A.M.

Castagno,

"La

demonologia

di

Origene:

Aspetti

filosofici,

pastorali,

apologetici," Origeniana

Quinta

(Leuven:

Peeters,

1992)

320-5;

G.S.

Gasparro,

"Eguaglianza

di

natura

e

differenza di condizione dei

logikoi:

la soluzione

origeniana

nel

contesto

delle formule

antropologiche

e

demonologiche greche

del

II

e

III

sec?lo,"

Origeniana

Quinta

(Leuven:

Peeters,

1992)

301-19;

H.

Crouzel,

"Dia

bles

et

d?mons dans les hom?lies

d'Orig?ne,"

BLE

95

(1994)

303-31;

G.

Gould,

"The

Influence of

Origen

on

Fourth-Century

Monasticism: Some

Further

Remarks,"

Origeniana

Sexta

(Leuven:

Peeters,

1995)

591-98;

M.

Peshty,

"Logismoi

orig?niens?logismoi ?vagriens,"

Origeniana

Octava

(Leuven:

Peeters,

2003)

1017-22.

6)

The doctrine about the

various

kinds of

influences that

demonic

spirits

exert

on

the

human soul

is

present

almost

everywhere

in

the

Evagrian

treatises.

Thorough

analyses

occur

especially in The Prakticos, Antirrheticos, Treatise on Various Evil Thoughts, or The Chapters on

Prayer.

See,

for

instance,

A.

Guillaumont's

synthesis

"D?mon:

Litt?rature

monastique:

Evagre

le

Pontique,"

Dictionnaire

de

spiritualit?,

Vol.

3,

196-205;

A.

Guillaumont,

Les

'k?phalaia

gnosticd

d'Evagre

le

Pontique

et

l'histoire

de

TOrig?nisme

chez les

grecs

et

chez les

syriens

(Paris:

Eds. du

Seuil,

1962);

A.

Guillaumont,

Aux

origines

du monachisme chr?tien:



6/25

262 D.-A. Giulea /

Vigiliae

Christianae 1

(2007) 258-281

or not, the thenagorian roject.7 elying n this raditionbout internal

demonic influencesnd

on

the

spiritual xperience

f

the fathersf the

desert,Evagrius

will

articulate, hrough hilosophical terms,

he

most

elaborate nd

organized

xamination

f the nternal

rocesses

nspired y

the evil

spirits.8 evertheless,

he

origins

of

Evagrius's

nterprise

ost

probably ie

n

the thenagorian

egatio ro

christianis.

or this eason, he

following

ages investigate

he

Athenagorian

onstruction

n

its

border

like

haracter,

n

its two

pivotaldimensions: he

mythological-Jewish

nd

the

hilosophical-Greek.

The Jewish nd Jewish-Christian

ontext

As documentary vidence hows,

he traditionbout giants ndWatchers

was

circulating

n

multiple

versions

duringAthenagoras's

ifetime.

he

most elaborate eportsf themyth of

Watchers and giants

find

xpression

in the

ersion f the

1

(Ethiopic) noch 1-36 (Book f the

Watchers),

n

that

of

Jubilees

,9

hich

preserves

very

imilar

arrative

n

an

extended

orm,

pour

une

ph?nom?nologie

du monachisme

(B?grolles

en

Mauges,

Maine

&

Loire:

Abbaye

de

Bellefontaine,

1979);

A.

Guillaumont,

M?langes

Antoine

Guillaumont:

contributions

?

l'?tude des

christianismes

orientaux:

avec une

bibliographie

du d?dicataire

(Gen?ve:

P.

Cra

mer,

1988);

J.T.

Lienhard,

"On 'Discernment of

Spirits'

in

the

Early

Church,"

Theological

Studies

41

(1980)

505-29;

G.

Bunge,

Akedia: die

geistliche

Lehre

des

Evagrios

Pontikos

vom

?berdruss

(K?ln:

Luthe-Verlag,

1983);

M.

O'Laughlin,

"The

Bible,

Demons and

the

Desert?Evaluating

the Antirrheticus of

Evagrius-Ponticus,"

Studia

Mon?stica

34:2

(1992)

201-15;

A.

Diogenes,

"Ascetic

Theology

and the

Eight

Deadly

Thoughts:

[Evagrius

of

Pontus' Teachings As Resource for Spiritual Regeneration]," Evangelical Journal 13 (1995):

15-21

;

.

Diogenes,

"Ascetic

Theology

and

Psychology,"

Limning

the

Psyche

(Grand

Rapids:

Eerdmans,

1997)

297-316;

A.

Louth,

and

J.

Raitt,

Wisdom

of

the

Byzantine

Church:

Evagrios

of

Pontos

and

M?ximos

the

Confessor.

Four Lectures

(Columbia,

MO:

Department

of

Religious

Studies,

University

of

Missouri,

1998);

A.

Guillaumont,

Un

philosophe

au

d?sert.

Evagre

le

Pontique

(Paris:

Vrin,

2004)

220-59.

7)

Pouderon

argues

that

Athenagoras,

Clement,

Origen,

Eusebius,

or

Cyril

shared

various

ancient

Greek

sources

(see

Pouderon,

"Ath?nagore

et

la tradition

alexandrine").

8)

As

one can see

in

the above

note

6,

scholars

analyzed

in

great

detail

Evagrius's

elaboration.

9)

J.C.

VanderKam,

The Book

of

ubilees

CSCO

511;

Leuven:

Peeters,

1989).

Cf.

O.S.

Wintermute's translation

in

The

Old

Testament

Pseudepigrapha,

Vol.

2,

ed.

J.H.

Charlesworth

(New

York:

Doubleday,

1985)

52-142.

See

also

K.

Berger,

"Das

Buch

der

Jubil?en,"

in

J?dische

Schriften

aus

hellenistisch-r?mischer

Zeit.

Bd.

2:

Unterweisung

in

erz?hlender

Form,

eds.

WG.

K?mmel;

H.

Lichtenberger

(G?tersloh,

1981)

273-576;

J.C.

VanderKam's "The

Angel

Story

in

the Book of

Jubilees,"

in

Pseudepigraphic

Perspectives:

The

Apocrypha

and

Pseudepigrapha

in

light

of

theDead

Sea

Scrolls.

Proceedings of

the

International

Symposium of



7/25

D.-A. Giulea

/

Vigiliae

Christianae

1

(2007) 258-281

263

and finallyn that f2 (Slavonic) noch 18.10Justin artyrmakes two

referenceso

themyth,

n

his

1

Apology ,2

and

2Apology

,3-5. In the

first

apology,

hich

Justin

roduced

in

154

or

155,11 e

tookover

the

general

lines

f the

nochic

narrative

nd

identifiedhe

giants ith

"demons."

n

the econd

one,

elaborated

round

165,12

e

operated ith

the

istinction

between

fallen

ngels

nd

demons, onceiving

f

demons

s

the

hildren f

thefallen

ngels.

3

atian

in

his

Oration

to

he

reeks

,3 also

mentions that

a

certain

first-begottenne"

(o

irpow6yovo;)

ecame a

demon

andmany

other

angels imitated im.

Tertullian, oo,proves

to

be

acquaintedwith

themythof thefallen pirits ho disclosed orrupt nowledge ohuman

kind.14

renaeus's roof

f the

postolic

reaching 8,

elaborated lmost

ne

or

two

decades after

thenagoras's

upplication'5

nd

retelling he

tory f

1

Enoch

6-9

in

its

major

lines,may

represent

n

important itness

for he

widespread

cceptance f the

narrative f the

Watchers

among

the

hris

tian

ommunities f

the

econd

century.16

One

of the

most

interesting

etellings

f the

Enochic

story

bout the

fallen

ngels,

n

particular

he cenario

f

the

fall, ay

be

encountered

n

the

eighth

pseudo-Clementine

omily.'7

s a

distinguishing ark,

the

the

Orion

Center

for

the

Study

of

theDead Sea

Scrolls and

Associated

Literature,

12-14

Janu

ary,

1997,

eds.

E.G. Chazon

and

M.E. Stone

(Leiden,

New

York, K?ln,

1999)

151-170;

G.W.E.

Nickelsburg's

"The Nature

and Function

of

Revelation

in

1

Enoch,

Jubilees,

and

some

Qumranic

Documents,"

in

Pseudepigraphic Perspectives,

eds.

E.G.

Chazon

and

M.E.

Stone,

91-119;

M.

Albani,

J.

Frey

and

A.

Lange,

eds.,

Studies

in

theBook

of

ubilees

(TSAJ

65;

T?bingen,

1997).

10)

A.

Vaillant,

Le

livre

des

secrets

d'Henoch: Texte

slave

et

traduction

fran?aise

(Paris:

Institut

d'Etudes Slaves, 1952); EL Andersen, "2 (Slavonic Apocalypse of) Enoch," The Old Testa

ment

Pseudepigrapha,

Vol.l,

ed.

J.H.

Charlesworth

(New

York:

Doubleday,

1985

[1983]);

A.

Orlov,

Enoch-Metatron

Tradition

(T?bingen:

Mohr-Siebeck,

2005).

n)

E.R.

Goodenough,

The

Theology of

Justin

the

Martyr

(Amsterdam:

Philo

Press,

1968)

81.

12)

Ibid.,

86.

Cf. A.

Wartelle,

Saint

Justin,

Apologies.

Introduction,

texte

critique,

traduc

tion,

commentaire

(Paris:

Etudes

augustiniennes,

1987)

22

and

29-35.

13)

Justin,

2Ap.

5.

Barnard

suggests

that

Justin

follows

a

Jewish

tradition

also

encountered

in

Zohar

on

Gen.

6:4;

R.

Judah

(AD 200);

Pirq.

de

R.

Elizer

22;

Clem. Horn.

6,18;

Papias,

Fr.

4.

According

to

this

tradition the

sons

of

the fallen

angels

are

demons.

On the

contrary,

Athenagoras

seems

to

rely

on

more

ancient

materials such

as

1

En.

15:3

and

Jub.

4:22,

where

the

children

of

the fallen

angels

are

the

giants

(see

Barnard,

Athenagoras,

114).

14)

Tertullian,

e.g.

De

anim.

2;

De

Virg.

Veland.

7;

Adv. Marc.

5.18;

De

idol.

9.

15)

Irenaeus,

Proof

of

the

Apostolic

Preaching,

trans.

Joseph

P.

Smith

(London, 1952)

6.

16)

For

other Irenaeic

occurrences

of

the

myth,

see

Dem.

27;

Haer

4,16,2,

and

4,36,4.

17)

Ps.

Clem. Horn.

8,11-23

in

ANF VIII:

272-5.

Cf.

F.

Bovon

and

P.

Geoltrain,

Ecrits

apocryphes

chr?tiens

II(Paris:

Gallimard,

2005)

1380-4.



8/25

264

D.-A. Giulea

/Vigiliae

Christianae 1 (2007)

258-281

original

in

and thus

theway evil entered

theworld

are

differently

on

ceived than

n

both

the

tradition

fAdam and Eve and thetradition

f the

Watchers:

the

original

in

belongs

to thewhole humankind

nd

consists

of luxury

nd lack

f the fear

f

God."8

In this ontext

the

ngels

f

the

lower ank

sked to be

sent n

the

didactic

mission

inwhich

they ould

show to the

humans

the

ways

of holiness.

aking

use

of their apacity f

changing

heir ubstance

nd form,

hey

ransformedhemselves

nto

men,

precious

tones, nd

gold, aswell

as beasts

nd

reptiles.19

owever, hanged

intomen inall respects,he ngelspartook f human lust nd tasted atal

cohabitation

ith

women.

Making

a

possible

referenceo

Psalm

104:4

and

Hebrews 1:7 ("He

makes his angels

winds and

his

servants

lames

f fire"),

the nonymous

uthor

urther

xplains

ow the

eight

f

lust xtinguished

theheavenly

ire n

angels.

mptied

of their

ower,

the

ngelic

creatures

become unable

to

turn ack

to

the

first

urity

f their

ature.20

n

the

contrary,hey

dvance

n

ustfulnessnd,

wishing

to

please

their

istresses,

reveal

the secrets

f the

earth and cosmos:

metals and

precious stones,

magic and

astronomy,arments

nd

jewels.2'

heir

offspring

re

the

iants

and,as a sign fultimate ecadence, iants ndulge hemselvesndrinking

blood

and

eating

human

flesh.22

The

interestingact

s

that ll

these

ccounts f the

myth

of theWatch

ers re

different

rom he

biblical

ones

and,

keeping

n

mind

themodified

aspects

f

the

myth, especially

hose f the

pseudo-Clementine

ersion,

they

re close to

the nochic

narrative.

iblicalmaterials uch as

Genesis

6:1-8,

Numbers

13:33,

and Deuteronomy 1:28;

2:10,

21;

9:2

weremost

likely sed

in

the hristian

ommunities

f the

firstenturies.

hile the

text

f

Genesis

6 recounts hefornication

f the

onsof

men

(h'lhym)

nd

mentions thepresence f giants nplym)n earth, hebooks ofNumbers

and Deuteronomy

associate the

giants

with

the terrestrial

eople

of

Anakites,

the

sonsof

Anak,

the

nhabitantsf

Hebron at

the time

hen

the Israelites

ame from

gypt;

this

association

most

likely

reflects

18)

Ibid.,

8,11.

19)

Ibid.,

8,12.

20)

Ibid.,

8,13.

21)

Ibid., 8,14.

The disclosure

of

secrets

represents

an

Enochic motif

(cf.

1

En.

7-8).

How

ever, the reason of disclosure is different; while the Enochic material sets it as part of the

diabolic

plan

of the

Watchers,

in

the Clementine

account

the

reason

of disclosure

is

lustful

ness.

In

general

terms,

since

the

fallen

angels

are

not

guilty

for the

original

sin,

the

primary

evil

action

that

may

be

charged

on

the fallen

angels

is

lustfulness.

22)

Ibid.,

8,15.



9/25

D.-A.

Giulea

/

VigiliaeChristianae 1

(2007)

258-281

265

differentradition.everal therfugitiveeferenceso themythappear in

Wisdom

14:6,

Sirach

16:7,

Baruch

3:26-8,

Testament

f

Reuben

5:6, and

TestamentfNaphtali 3:5, and a larger

emaking

n

Philo's e Gigantibus

6-18

and 58-61.23

In

De

Gigantibus

6 Philo of

Alexandria dentifiesoulswith

daemons

and

angels, onsidering

hemno more than

differentames of

the same

sortof

animated

reality istributed verywhere

ithin

the elements

f

the niverse.

owever,

someof these ealities

escended nto odies

while

others

ever

onsented

o

a union

with

anyparts

f the arth

nd

devoted

themselveso the ervice f

the

Father nd Creator.24he

descended ni

mated realities eem to be

Philo's reworking

f

themyth of the

Watchers.

For the

Alexandrian,

the

evil ones cloak themselvesnder the

name

of

angels

nd

do

not know

the

"daughters

f

right eason,

he

sciences

nd

virtues

(-a&;

6p4Ou

X6you Owycat?pcc;, ?71TuYT?LX;

ai

&prTa;,

OV)K

i80T?),

but court the

leasures

hich

are

bornofmen."25

urthermore,

isplaying

in a

clearer anner his

allegorical eading

f the

myth,Philo envisions he

giants s

a

particular pecies

f

human

beings,

he born f

earth" ersons

or the sons f the arth," ho huntthe odilypleasures.n the ontrary,

the

umans

born f heaven" re oncerned

ith

the

leasures

f the

mind

(vo01)),.e.,

with

arts, ciences, nd

moral life.

inally,

he umans

"born

f

God," namely

the

priests

nd

prophets,

irect their

nterest

eyond

the

sensible

orld,

towards herealm

nlynoetically

ccessed.26

Athenagoras'sReading

of

the nochic

Story through

reek

Cosmological

Notions

While

it

is

reasonable

o

assume that

thenagoras

ould have had

a

direct

or

mediated access to

part

f these

aterials,

he

followinguestion

rises

23)

It

might

be

worth

mentioning

that

the short

passage

from the

Testament

of

Reuben

5:6

charges

the

Watchers

primarily

with the

crime

of

lustfulness

similarly

with the later

eighth

pseudo-Clementine

homily.

Another noticeable

common

element of

the

two

writings

would

consist

of

angels'

capacity

of

changing

their

form,

especially

into

the human

one.

24)

De

Gig.

12,

in

hilo

//(LCL, 1950).

25)

Ibid., 17-18.

26)

Ibid.,

60:

oi

jx?v

yn?,

oi ??

o?pocvov,

oi

??

6eo?

yey?vaaiv

avGpomoi.

In

Leg.

All.

2,72

ff. nd

3,66

ff.

the

serpent

of the book

of Genesis

is

also

interpreted,

in

a

similar

allegorical

manner,

as

the

human desire

(n?ovrj)

for

material

things,

which induces

passions

into

the

human

soul.



10/25

266 D.-A. Giulea /VigiliaeChristianae 1 (2007) 258-281

naturally: hy did he appropriate he nochic report?

ince the asespre

sented bove lead

to

thehypothesis

hatthe nochic

version

f themyth

circulated idely amongChristianwritings

f

thefirst

hree enturies,nd

there s

no

evidence

f their

olemic against

he iblical ccount,the

no

chicmaterial eems o

have

been read

s

a

sort

f explanation

f the iblical

passages.

A constant

feature, owever, mong

the

mentioned Christian

documents

eems to consist

n

a

literal, on-allegorical

eading, owhich

may be added a certain reedom n re-workinghedetails f the nochic

narrative. one of these heologians onfers o thisnarrative treatment

through hilosophical erminology.

Plot orcarelessness?Athenagoras,

n

his turn, hooses the nochic account

from ll the iverse eportsbout thefall f the atchers, nd,

in

amanner

similar

o

that f

his

Christian

fellows,

oes

not

showmuch reverence o

this ccount.27

rom

his

perspective,ngels

had

the task f

administrating

the universe;

more

accurately,

hey

were

charged

to

exercise rovidence

(tpo6voux)

n

the

things

hatGod had

set

in

order28nd tomanage the

matter

"iXr)

nd

its

orms

''6r).29 It is

significant

hat,

y

insertinghese

Greek philosophicalterms nto thenarrative, thenagorasoffers new

semantic

nput

o an

old traditionbout the task f the

ngels,

tradition

that lso finds

xpression

n 1

Enoch

60:12-22, 75:1-9,

80:1-8,

2

Enoch

19:1-4, Jubilees

:2

or Papias.30 ngels, according to

this tradition, er

sonify

elestial

verseers

nd

ministers

f the

arious osmic

lements uch

as the

un,moon, stars, ains, inds,

and

their

ircular ovements

n

the

universe.

imilarly,

he

duty

of

the

angels

is to

supervise easons, rivers,

fruits,nd any sort f food.

According to

the

Athenagorian

ersion

f thenarrative, ome of

the

angelsmanifested arelessnessoCgeqiLo)31n their utyand desiredter

27)

Pouderon,

Athenagoras

d'Ath?nes,

149-153.

28)

Leg.

24,3.

29)

Ibid.,

24,2;

25,5.

For

a

short introduction

into

the

philosophical

tradition

of

the

terms

matter,'

'forms,'

providence,'

from

Plato and Aristotle

to

the

Neo-Platonists,

see

for

instance F.E.

Peters's Greek

Philosophical

Terms

(New

York:

New

York

University

Press,

1967).

It

seems

that

Athenagoras,

though

considered

a

Platonist

by

some

scholars

(see,

e.g.,

Lucks,

The

Philosophy,

33-37\

Malherbe,

"The

Structure,"

1),

takes forms

to

lie within the

things, similarly to the tradition originated inAristotle.

30)

See

Fr.12,

after Andreas

of

Caesarea,

in

Apocalypsin

c.34,

serm.

12,

where the

manager

angels

are

the fallen

ones,

i.e.,

theWatchers

(in

U.H.J.

K?rtner

and

M.

Leutzsch,

Papias

fragmente.

Hirt

des

Hermas

[Darmstadt:

Wissenschaftliche

Buchgesellschaft,

1998] 64).

31)

Athenagoras,

Leg.

24,5.



11/25

D.-A. Giulea

/VigiliaeChristianae

1

(2007)

258-281 267

restrialirgins. he fruits

f this elestial

ffair ere thegiants:

n ethical

lesson

that monstrousoutcome

follows

n

outrageous

ct.32

ogether

with the ouls

f the

giants, hey

tand for

emons

nd represent

oth the

agent nd

origin f evil.33 s L.W

Barnardobserved, thenagorian

heol

ogydoes

not connect

the rigin

f evil

in

the orldwith thefall fAdam

and Eve,

butwith this ccount bout

thefallen ngels.34

Nevertheless, thenagoras

nce

more modifies

the story. he Enochic

report

nforms hat theWatchers,

under the leadership f Shemihazah,

actually lottedgainst od.35 owever, heresnomention f the arelessness

in their

rovidential

uty,

n

the nochic corpora.

n the ontrary,hey

purposely

escended

to

earth

iving

irth

to

every

vil

thing

rom

orcery

and charms (7:1),

weaponry (8:1) and cutting

the

roots to

astrology,

knowledge f the igns,

nd observing

he

tars

nd the ourse f the un

and

the

moon

(8:3).

Their

time as one of

"much loodshed

n

the

arth,"

"ungodliness

nd

violence"

(9:1). Succinctly

aid, they

revealed

o the

humankind very ort

f evil deed (9:8) and

"thewhole earthwas filled

with

iniquity"

9:9). Nevertheless,

thenagoras,

nstead f

providing

his

detailedtable f evil actions, nvestigateshepsychologicalrocesses hat

theWatchers induce

nto

thehuman

mind.

A

different

ext,

he

Testament

f

Reuben

3:3-6,

may

also

be

connected

with the theme f the

nternal

perations

f the vil

spirits.

he author f

the

testamentssociates hewicked

spirits,

n

number

f

seven,

ith the

32)

Athenagoras,

Leg.

24,6.

33)

Ibid.,

25.1.

Cf.

1

En.

15:8-9

where

giants

are

called

'evil

spirits'

who

came out

of their

bodies.

While

at

15:10

they

are

called the

'spirits

of the

earth,'

at

15:11

their

title

is

that of

the

'spirits

of

giants.'

34)

Barnard,

Athenagoras,

117-8.

See

also

L.T.

Stuckenbruck's

"The

Origins

of

Evil

in

Jewish

Apocalyptic

Tradition:

The

Interpretation

of

Genesis

6:1-4

in

the

Second

and Third

Cen

turies

B.C.E.,"

in

The

Fall

of

the

Angels,

eds.

C.

Auffarth and

L.T

Stuckenbruck

(Leiden:

Brill,

2004)

87-118.

Pouderon

analyzed

Athenagoras's

view

on

the

relationship

between

matter

and

evil,

which

are

intimately

connected,

as

in

the whole Platonic

tradition.

On the

contrary,

for

Athenagoras,

God made himself

flesh without

the element

of desire.

For this

reason

Pouderon

is

inclined

to

place

the

origin

of evil

(in

Athenagoras)

not

in

the flesh

but

in the carnal influences (Athenagoras d'Ath?ne, 171-7, esp. 175). Sometimes matter seems

to

be,

for

Athenagoras,

just

the

medium

through

which the evil

Prince

of

matter

who

resides

around

matter

operates

against

the human soul

(e.g. Leg.

24

if.).

In

this

scenario,

mater

is

not

evil

per

se.

35)

i En.

6:2-7.

Cf.

Sib.

Or.

1,98;

1,123.



12/25

268

D.-A.

Giulea

/

Vigiliae

Christianae

1

(2007) 258-281

seven, robably apital,vices.36his text hus

witnesses to the

Hellenistic

phenomenon f

cultural

yncretism,

n

which

Greek

and

Jewish erms

nd

images

function ogether

s semantic

toolswithin

the

same text.

s for

Athenagoras,

ne may

reasonably ffirm

hat

he also

was part

of, and

offered is personal

ontribution

o,

this

henomenon.

The

eader f therebels:

hemihazah, he

erpent, r the

rince

fMatter?

Another

Athenagorian

Greek

terminological

nsertion

ithin the

story

may be

noticed

f

ne

focuses

ttention n

the eader f

the fallen

ngels.

While Justin, or nstance,alled the eader serpent, atan,and devil,"37

terms

elonging o theJewish

anguage nd

imagery,

thenagoras

ntitled

this haracter

he Prince fmatter

nd theforms

n

it"

o6i;

'S

Xi;

Kai

tcov

?V

x&Trji6ov

C`pxwv),38

he

spirit

round/about he

matter,"

to

ntcpt

iiv

6UXriv

rvp6gic),39

he

"ruling rince"

o

Ei?X?OV

pCxov),40

r

the

"material

spirit"

iXlKOv

vwI5go)

s

opposed

to

the

pure"

KxOxpov)41

r

"heavenly"

(o9p

Iov)42

ne.

This

distinction

etweenhe pirit

fmatter

nd the

pure

or

celestial

pirit

ecalls he

traditionf the two

pirits,

ow in

a

mix

ture

f

biblical

Jewish

nd

mythological

reek flavors.43

Punishedt thefinaljudgmentr ddicted omatter? differentspect f

the

story

nderlines he

theme f

the

punishment scribed

to

the evil

36)

Cf.

Evagrius's

De

octo

spiritibus

malitiae,

where the

author

explains

how

wicked

spirits

cause

the

human

vices.

For

the number of

eight

spirits

and

thoughts,

see

for

instance

Guillaumont,

Un

philosophe,

214-5.

37)

1

Ap.

28.1.2:

o


13/25

D.-A. Giulea /

VigiliaeChristianae

1

(2007)

258-281

269

agentsfor their orrific eeds.ForAthenagoras, heconsequence f the

Watchers'

original

ct of

desiring

arthly

irgins as

their

mprisonment

within

the

omainof atmosphere

nd

earth. hile

the apiential radition

of

Wisdom 14:6 and

Baruch 3:26-28 speaks

bout

the

vanishing

f the

giants,theBook

of theWatchers oes

notmake anymention

of such an

event. nly chapter

7 of

1

Enoch,part

f the ookofSimilitudes,

ritten

probably

n

the

firstentury C, offers

description f the

ast udgment

and

of the

unishment

f thefallen

ngels.

Jubilees :6 thenportrays

he fallen

ngels

as sent to theearth

rather

than lotting gainst

od

or

manifesting

arelessnessn their

uty.

hile

the ccount

f Jubileesoes not

bring p the

inof the

Watchers,

it is

said

that he ther

ngels f heaven

received hemission

to

"tie them p

in

the

depths f

the arth."44

Nonetheless,thenagoras,

nstead

f

taking

nto

iscussion

he

ssue

fjudg

ment,preferredo

talk bout special

inding, f a psychological

ature, hat

inhibits

ny scent f the allen

ngels ndkeeps

them ound to the arth.45

Jean

anielou noticed

that hristian ocuments

uch sEphesians

:12

or the scensionf saiah10:29-30 preserved differentewish radition,

similar

ith

Athenagoras's,

amely

that

hefallen

ngels

received

he un

ishment

f residing

n

the

ir or

atmosphere.

n

the ontrary,hristian

writers

uch

as

Papias,Justin,

nd

Tatian

preserve

nother radition,

hich

claims that

ctually

hefirst

irmament

as

the

ostlapsarian lace

for he

imprisonment

f thefallen ngels.46

s

Athenagoras

entions ir nd

earth

(25,1),

he

probably

mixes the traditionsttested

n

Ephesians

andAscen

sion

fIsaiah

with that f

Enoch.

n

I

Enoch 15:10

one can

encounter

he

clear-cut istinction

etween

the

spirits

f the arth"

i.e.,

the

Watchers)

and the spiritualeings f heaven" i.e.,the ngels). owever, nthis ase

again,Athenagoras

mprints

he

story

ith

hisGreek

philosophical

eal,

since

n

Legatio

4,2,6

he

portrays

hefallen

owers

s

concerned

ith,

or

even

residing

bout,

the

matter

(n?pi

tijv

tXr1v)

nd

operating

hrough

t

44)

Jub.

5:6,

in

VanderKam's

translation.

As

VanderKam

states,

"it

now seems

safe

to

claim

that the Book of

Jubilees

was

written

between

years

170

and

150

B.C.

(VanderKam,

"Intro

duction," in The Book offubilees, vi).

45)

One

can

further

see

in

the

present

study

that

Athenagoras designated

this

binding,

in

the

case

of human

beings,

with the

Stoic

term

aDUTtocOeioc.

46)

Dani?lou, "D?mon,"

165.

Cf.

H.

Bietenhard,

Die

himmlische

Welt

(T?bingen

1951)

209-21

and

H.

Rahner,

"Erdgeist

und

Himmelgeist,"

?ranos

fahrbuch

13

(1945)

237-75.



14/25

270

D.-A. Giulea /

Vigiliae

Christianae

1

(2007)

258-281

Athenagoras's laboration of

the

Narrative

through

sychological

Terminology

1.

TheTheory

f the

rrational

ovements f the

oul

Although

philosopher,

thenagoras

id

not

dismiss he arrative

bout the

Watchers

s

purely ymbolical.

he

Watchers,

herefore,

ad

to

have

n

onto

logical, ot

only

ymbolical,ubstance.47

thenagoras

rticulatedis

peculiar

treatment

f

the

narrative

hrough

hilosophical

erminology

n

several

is

tinct heories,hichwill constitutehe ubject f thefollowingages.

Before

thenagoras, ustin

pproached

he

matter f

the

nternal

ove

ments that

thedemons

may

produce. For

Justin,

emons try o

subdue

humans

by

deceiving

trategies,

sometimes

y appearances

n

dreams, nd

sometimes

ymagical

impositions."48

ut

according

o

thenagoras, emons

induce

other types f

movements

(Ktv15jotl)

nd activities

'v

pytax)

within the

human souls

as

well, sometimes

n

an

individual

KOCO'

_Vx),

sometimes

n

a

whole nation

(KOCt\

,Ov).'1

Studying

the

meaning

of

the

Stoic

concept

of

"internal

ovements,"

RichardSorabji pointed out Seneca'sdistinction etweenthree

inds of

emotions r

passions

adfectus,

hich

translateshe

Greek

iuiOi1).50

alen

gives

itness that

hrysippus efined

motion

s

"an

irrational

ovement

of

the

oul

contrary

o

nature."'" he

scheme f

the three

inds

of emo

47)

Athenagoras,

Leg.

24,5.

48)

Justin,

1

Ap.

14.

For

non-Jewish

or

Jewish-Christian

contexts,

especially

for

the

Greek

world,

Plutarch should be

mentioned

for

the

idea

that

daemons

are

active

in

the

feasts

and

religious

ceremonies

(De

Def

Orac.

13,

417a. Cf.

Albinus,

Epit.

15,2).

However,

on the

ethical and

everyday

levels the

theme of the

two

daemons,

which

P.

Boyanc?

claims

has

roots

in

the

Pythagorean

tradition

(Boyanc?,

"Les

deux

d?mons,"

189-202),

is

more

important.

It

might

be

encountered

in

Athenagoras's

time in

one

of

his

contemporaries,

Numenius

of

Apamea.

In

Fr.

37

(preserved

from his

original

On

the

Incorruptibility of

the Soul

in

Proclus's

In Tim.

1,76,

30-77)

Numenius

claims that

daemons

may

be

good

or

bad

and

they

may

be

classified

in

three

categories:

divine,

relational,

and those

destroying

the souls

(E.

des

Places,

Numenius:

Fragments

[Paris,

Les

Belles

Lettres,

1973]).

However,

Athenagoras

seems

to

be

the

first

to

investigate

the evil

psychological

influence of the

daemons

in

the

context

of the

Enochic

story.

In

fact,

Numenius

claims that

matter

is

the

source

of

the evil

in

the human

soul: xr\v|n)%fjx? kockov, ano ji?v xfj? vXr\q (Ibid., Fr. 49b).

49)

Athenagoras,

Leg.

25,3.

50)

R.

Sorabji,

Emotion

and

Peace

of

Mind.

From

Stoic

Agitation

to

Christian

Temptation

(Oxford

000)

6lff.

51)

Galen,

PHP

4,2,8,

p.

240

de

Lacy,

from

Sorabji,

Emotion,

60.



15/25

D.-A.

Giulea

/


(2007) 258-281 271

tions hat eneca expounded

n

hisOn Anger

.4.1 was

in

fact

n attempt

at harmonizing

he

previous

toic

positions.According

to

the

Senecan

scheme, hefirst ype f emotions,

r thefirst ovement

p rimus otus)52

of themind, is

involuntary,

annot

be

avoidedby reason, nd

affects

ven

thewise.53 he aspectwhich

is

worthy

f

notice at

thisfirst

tage

f

the

scheme onsists

n

the fact hat hefirst

ovement f the oul isnot ethi

callygood or bad, but neutral. n

the ontrary,

in

the econd

stage,"

s

Sorabji explains,

themind

assents

o

the

ppearance

f

injustice,"nd,

in

thisway, a "moralmistake of reason"54ill takeplace. Finally, he third

stage f Seneca's cheme

s

that f the

ncontrolledimpotens) ind,

which

"has overthrownevicit)reason." orabji observes s well that this third

stage corresponds

o

Chrysippus'

talk

f

disobeying

eason

nd turning

away

from t."55

The first ovement needs further

ttention ince, as Sorabji claims,

Origen

made

a

"decisive

hange"

n

the

theory

f the first

ovements

f

the

mind by connecting

hem

ith evil

thoughts

Xo7tirioi,

lat.

ogitatio

nes]).56

or

the

Alexandrian theologian, herefore,

he

term

first

ove

ment" acquired negative onnotationnd its thicalneutralityanished.

Athenagoras evelopsa similar octrine

o

that laborated yOrigen.

In

52)

In

his

On

Anger,

Seneca

refers

to

the first internal

movement

with

the

following

terms:

primus

ictus

animi

(2,2,2);

movet mentes

(2,2,4);

animum

impellunt

(2,3,1);

motus

animi

(2,3,4);

prima

agitatio

animi

(2,3,5);

primus

motus

(2,4,1);

primus

animi ictus

(2,4,2).

As

Sorabji

noticed,

the

roots

of the

idea

of the first

movement

of the

mind

can

be also

encoun

tered

in

Zeno, Plutarch,

or

Cicero

(Sorabji,

Emotion,

67).

53)

Seneca,

On

Anger,

2,4,1-2;

2,2,2.

54)

Sorabji,

Emotion,

61.

55)

Ibid.

According

to

Sorabji,

Seneca

undertook

his

synthesis

as an

attempt

at

harmonizing

Chrysippus'

and

Zeno's

positions

(Ibid., 55-65).

56)

Sorabji,

Emotion,

346.

Cf.

Origen,

PArch.

3,2,2-4;

Hom.Jos.

15,3;

Com.Mt.

21;

Com.Ct.

3;

Com.Ps.

54,5.

One should also

keep

in

mind

that,

for

Origen, thoughts (cogitationes)

as

first

movements

(primi

motus)

can

also

come

from God

or

angels

and

they

are

evil

just

when

they

come

from the adverse

spirits

(PArch. 3,2,4).

Origen

mentions

in

Peri

Archon

3,2,2-3

such natural

movements

(naturales

motus)

as

sexuality,

anger,

or

sorrow,

which do

not

seem to

be evil

as

long

as

they

do

not

exceed

the bounds of natural

measure

(naturalis

mensura)

and moderation

(temperantia).

Moreover,

the second

homily

on

the

Song

of

Songs

commences with the affirmation that themovements of the soul are good by nature. The

idea of first

movement

as a

demonic

attack will be

present

in

many

ascetical

and

mystical

Christian

treatises,

especially

those included

in

the well-known

collection of the

Philokalia,

and

sometimes

considered

not

an

ethical

error

(e.g.

Mark the

Ascetic,

The

Spiritual

Law

141,

etc.).



16/25

272 D.-A. Giulea /


(2007) 258-281

orderto

understand thenagoras's

osition,

t s

necessary ohave

recourse

to a

perspective ifferentrom

he

philosophical

ne:

namely, he bove

mentioned idea f 'two nclinations'

nd 'two

pirits,'specially

n

its ibli

cal form.

Jean

Danielou's

explorations

may bring

a

deeper

insight

or

understanding

he doctrineof

6uxXotyi,to'

n

Origen's

theology.

he

French cholar tudied his

octrine rom he rism f

theJewish radition

of the

two

nclinations'

ysr,

rom

enesis

6:5

or

8:21, rendered

n

Greek

by

8taooiktov

[resolution,ecision,

eliberation]

n

the

eptuagintnd

by

conciliumn theVulgate). srdenotes theinclinationf thehuman heart

either

owards

ood

or

towards vil

actions.57

he

idea

was

also present

n

Sirach

5:14 and 37:3 and had later

evelopments

n

the

almud

Qidd

30b)

and PirkeAboth :2.58

t is

remarkablehat heTestament

fAsher

:3-6,

in

referringo the

two

opposite inclinations,

mployed the same term f

8to,3ouXtov

s

theGreek

texts

f

Sirach

15:14

and

37:3.

Furthermore,

A. and C.

Guillaumont associate the

Evagrian onceptof

oytag'6;

ith

the

ame

biblical

ysr

through

he

tradition

f theTestaments

f

the

welve

Patriarchs

ndOrigen'sHomilies in

Joshua.59

Theysrdoctrine ssignificant or hepresent tudy s far s itexcludes

from he

very

beginning

he

ethical

neutrality,nd Origen gave

a

Greek

philosophical

treatment o

this ld

Jewish

radition.

e

ascribed

to

the

Jewish onception

f inclination

o

evil

(ysrl

tBoIU'Xtov)

he

toic term

of

68tXoyt16R5;

cogitatio

lat.],

oytug6;

for

vagrius),0

the

term

sed for

denoting

hefirst ovement f

the

oul,

but

removed ts

neutral haracter.

Consequently,

oth

ysr

nd

6toXoytcg6o;,

hough

ot

synonymous,

xhibit

several imilarities.

oth

are not

ethically

eutral,

ut denote

a

human

intention r

commitment

irected ither owards

heevil

or towards he

57)

Dani?lou,

Dictionnaire

de

Spiritualit?,

Vol.

3,

152-89.

Ysr

may

also

signify

council'

as

in

Job

18:7

(?o-?^ri

n

LXX)

or

'thought'

s

in

1

Chr.

29:15

(?iavoia

in

LXX,

which

echoes

Genesis

6:5

where

ysr

is

rendered

through

ti?

?iavoercai

[?v

xx\

Kocp?ia]).

58)

The

Greek

term

used

in

the

passages

from the Book

of Sirach

is

Oia?ou^iov.

A.

&

C.

Guillaumont observed that the

word

employed

in

the

Syriac

version is

yasr?,

while

the

Hebrew

manuscript

from

Cairo

Genizah has

ysr,

see

A.

&

C.

Guillaumont,

Evagre

le

Pontique.

Trait?

pratique

ou

le

moine

(SC

170:1;

Paris:

Les

Editions

du

Cerf,

1971)

60-3

who

base their

argumentation

on

I.

L?vi's

L'Eccl?siastique

ou

La

Sagesse

def?sus,

fils

de

Sira,

Vol. 2 (Paris 1901), 110-1.

59)

Guillaumont,

Evagre

le

Pontique,

60.

60)

The

term

?iot^oyiGuo?

also

appears

in

Plato,

Axiochos

367a,

Strabon

284,

Stobaeus

2,7,10c,

Chrysippus,

SVF

2,890;

891;

911;

Epictetus,

Diss.

1.9.10;

4.2.4;

4.4.48;

Ench.

24.1.

The

term

Xoyiouo?

occurs

in

Chrysippus

and

Epictetus

as

well.



17/25

D.-A. Giulea /VigiliaeChristianae 1 (2007) 258-281

273

good. Consequently, t appears that theJewish radition f ysr, rigen

(e.g.

P.Arch.

,2,4),

and

Athenagoras

e.g.Leg.

24,4 and

25,4) presuppose

implicitly r explicitly hat

free

ill is a cardinalplayer

in

the human

intentionality.6"

Athenagoras, efore rigen, elaborated theory f

psychological ro

cesses ith

no

place

for thical

eutrality.or the thenian theologian, he

evil

in

thehuman

soul

seems to

originate

n

two

distinct ources.The first

one is

xternal nd

comes from he shocks

/ ttacks"

int(popat)62

hat he

wicked spirits nfuse nto themind. Athenagoras also calls theeffects

of these ttacks irrational ovements"

(&Xkoyol

lv

a?l)63-with

one of

Chysippus'sexpressions-and

"activities

operations" ?v?pyrtaC1),

nd

qualifies

hem

s

"demonic,"

or heir

oming

from

n

adverse

pirit.64

he

second ource

f

interior

vil is nternal

nd

consists

n

human

affinity

nd

deliberation

22,12; 24,4),

which are not

ethically

eutral. he

next

sec

tion f the

resent tudy

s

dedicated

to their

nalysis.

In

general

erms

thenagoras

ets

the rrational

nd demonic

processes

ofmind

in

opposition

to that

f

the

ontemplationro3pla)

of the ruth

and to that f the ntuitionf the ather n?ptv06r1G1oi0 iratp6;). ccord

ing

to

him,

the

human

mind

(vo-3;)

nd

reason

Xoyo;)

have the

apacity

of

comprehension

Kaxwa6xVt;;

0,1)

and

intuition

nr?ptv0fl6t;)

f

God.65

Hence

there

re

two

ppositeways

in

which the uman

mindmay operate:

evil internal

ovements

versus

ontemplation

f the

divine.

t seems

that

this

trong

isjunction

oes

not leave room

for

the ethical

neutrality

f

the

mind.

61)

For the

connection

between

^oyiouoc

and

rcpoaipeoic

('deliberation

or

choice'),

see

Aristotle's

Metaph.

1015a.33.

LoyiGuxSc

and

?ia^oyiGuo?,

therefore,

encompass

delibera

tion

and

choice,

and this Greek

philosophical

aspect

should

not

be

overlooked

during

the

course

of

this

discussion.

62)

Athenagoras,

Leg.

25,3.

It

might

be worth

mentioning

that

later

Porphyry

will talk

about

the brutal and

surprising negative

attacks

of

the

daemons

(DeAbst.

2,39

A)

63)

Athenagoras,

Leg.

27,1.

64)

Ibid.,

25,3:

ai

arco

touvavciot)

nve\)\iaxoq

?a?uoviKai

Kivr|Gei?

Kai

?v?pyeiai.

Cf.

27,1.

65)

Ibid.,

27,2.

For

7t?pivor|Gi?,

see

23,7

where the

term

comes

in

association

with

the

notion

of'Truth'

(??TjGeia,

i.e.,

God,

probably

the

Son),

a

divine

title different from that

of'Father'.

As

in

Leg.

27,2

the

faculty

of

Gecopia

is

associated with the

Truth,

one

may

sup

pose that 7t?pivor|Gi? and Gecopia have, ifnot a synonymous, then a similar meaning. As

Clement of Alexandria

testifies,

Posidonius viewed the ultimate

goal

of

existence

as to

"live

contemplating

the truth

of all"

(to

?f^v

Gecopo?via

xrjv

xcov

oXcov

aXriGeiav).

See Str.

2,21,129,4;

cf. Posidonius.

Volume

I:

The

Fragments,

eds.

L.

Edelstein and

LG.

Kidd

(Cambridge

1972),

Fr.

186.



18/25

274 D.-A. Giulea /

Vigiliae

Christianae 1 (2007) 258-281

2.

The Theory

fuxa

Ocioc: Phenomenologyf

Human

Mind's

Affinity

Each of these woways inwhich the umanmindmay operate ependson

a special ort f previous

inclination"

r

affinity

f

the

mind.

In

its

turn,

the inclination" oes not appear

to

be

ethically

eutral nd

Athenagoras

offers

everal indicationsfor

upholding

its

lack of

neutrality.

n

this

context, n analysis f his concept

of

moZa?Oia

(affinity,

ttachment,

co-affection,inship)66

ay lead

to

the onclusion that his

oncept

plays

a similar unction o that f thebiblicalconcept f 'inclination'.

Ihe

term f

(umgniOta

lso derives rom

toic

vocabulary

nd suffered

semantic

eshaping

nder

Athenagoras's

en.

FE.

Peters

bserved hat he

Stoic

theory

f

G

nuxa'Ola

as

deep

roots

n

a series f

premises

hatthe

Greek

philosophy

hared

from

ts

verybeginning.67

hile

Milesians,

for

instance,onceived he orld as a living ntity,ythagoreansnvisaged

t

s

an

ordered hole. Plato,

in

his

turn,

n

Timaios

0d,

also

regarded

hekos

mos

as

a living eing.

On

thebasis of thesetheoretical

onstructs,

toics

proposed theconception f thekosmos s

a

unity D.L. 7,140), rational

being 4coov o7tiov; VF 1,111-4), ndorganism/wholeo6ov; ed. 7,13).

For thephilosophers f the toa thekosmos as not a totalityn&v; VF

2,522-4) of disparate hings, ut rathern organism here every hing as

in

a strong nter-connectionith the thers, onnection hat hey sed to

call

mugnoc&a.

osidonius

was

the

ne

who

synthesizedhe toic concep

tions n the nteractions

r

affinitiesetween he arts

f

theuniverse.68

Nonetheless, picurus,

in

his Letterto

Herodotus

nd

within the theo

retical

ontext

f

his

atomism,

ad

represented hings

s

organisms nd

envisioned

rur6Ocuta

s the

interaction

hat

holds

each

organism s a

whole. Throughthe ameconcept, e alsoqualified s sympathyhe nter

relation etweenthehuman soul and body, nd

that

etweenthe ompo

66)

Leg.

25,3:

r\

npbq

x?

9e?a cruuTt?Oeux.

Cf.

Leg.

7,2;

22,12; 27,1;

Res.

15,2-3;

21,4

(esp.

for

the

affinity

for

material

things).

67)

Peters,

"Sympatheia,"

in

Greek

Philosophical

Terms.

68)

See for

instance Fr.

106

from

the

edition

of

Edelstein and

Kidd.

For

modern scholar

ship,

see

K.

Reinhardt,

Kosmos

und

Sympathie.

Neue

Untersuchungen

?ber Poseidonios

(M?nchen: CH. Beck'sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, 1926) orA.A. Long, Hellenistic Philoso

phy

(New

York:

Charles

Scribner's

Sons,

1974)

chap.

"The

Problem of

Posidonius,"

216-21,

and

J.

Dillon,

TheMiddle

Platonists.

80

B.C.

to

A.D. 220

(Ithaca,

New

York:

Cornell

Uni

versity

Press,

1977)

chapter

"Posidonius,"

106-113.



19/25

D.-A.

Giulea /Vigiliae

Christianae

1 (2007) 258-281

275

nents f external

hings

s well.69 oreover,

one should

not overlook

the

presence f

this octrine

mong the eopythagoreans

nd

in

the gyptian

magical texts

e.g.Bolus

ofMendes

in

the econdcentury

C)70 as

well as

in

themystery

eligions.71

An emblematic

emantic evelopment

merges

n

themystery

ults nd

Posidonius's

ystem hen

the deaof affinity

s

developed

n

an anthropo

logic direction.

n the

one hand, the

initiand

n

themysteries

as to

empathize

with the sufferingod

in

order

to receive alvation. n

the

otherhand, according oPosidonius,there s an affinityetweenhuman

beings

nd

deity

n

the

basisof

some 'elements'

hich

humans

share

ith

thedeity.

2

Sharing

this

anthropologic

evelopment,

thenagoras

conceives of

,ugna'&ta

s

the connection

etween thehuman

soul and

an

external

instance,

ither

matteror the

divine

things.

ince

matter is the

dwelling

place

of the

demons,73

he onsequence

f having

n

affinity

mJr6OaEwta)

for

matter

consists

n

theemergence

f

irrational

ovements ithin the

mind.

In

the ractate

n Resurrection,

scribed

o

Athenagoras,

ne

can find

explicitlyxpressedhe deathat hebodywith itsmaterial eanings raws

the soul

to

affinity

or

material

things.74

n the

contrary,

he

ffinity

or

divine

things ta&OCta;

Leg. 25,3)

will entail

good

behaviors

npa6-t;

ayooai;

Ib.

1

,4),

moderate

life

,?Irpto;

Ptio;

Ib.

12,1),

intuition f the

truth

voiVwaxt

riivXa

Otav;

Ib.7,2),

and

Father's

doption Ib.

1

,2,

citing

Mt 5:45).

While

in

Leg.

7,2,

for nother nstance,thenagoras

peaks

bout

69)

Epicurus,

Epistula

ad

Herodotum,

in

Epicuro, Opere

(Turin:

Einaudi,

1973).

For

the

interaction

between soul

and

body,

see

63,7

and

64,10.

For

that between the

parts

of the

external

things,

see

48,10;

50,2; 52,7;

and

53,1.

70)

See

the

book On

Affinities

and

Antipathies.

Cf.

P.

Kingsley,

Ancient

Philosophy,

Mystery,

and

Magic.

Empedocles

and

Pythagorean

Tradition

(Clarendon

Press:

Oxford,

1995),

esp.

298-300,

335-8.

71)

S.

Angus,

The

Mystery-Religions

and

Christianity.

A

Study

in

the

Religious Background

of

Early

Christianity

(New

York: Charles Scribner's

Sons,

1925)

117-21.

72)

Ibid.,

48-9

for

Posidonius;

for

affinity

in

mysteries,

see

58-62,

117-21,

229.

73)

Athenagoras,

Leg.

24,2;

25,1;

27,2.

74)

Res.

21,4.

Scholars

are

divided

in

their

opinion

on

the

paternity

of this

tractate.

In

his

critical edition, M. Marcovich, though ascribing the date of the tractate to the end of

the second

century

A.D.,

denies

Athenagoras's

authorship.

See

Athenagorae

qui

fertur

De

resurrectione

mortuorum,

edidit

M.

Marcovich

(Supplements

to

Vigil