Aion in Christian Visual and Literary Sources
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Abstract
In this article, a search is conducted for the traces of the conceptions of Time and Aion in mythological and theological accounts of the ancient Near East as they are re-interpreted in the metaphorical images in Christian literary sources and iconographic formulae in Christian art. We find that the sun-God Re is adopted in the Orphic cosmogonic system, together with the memory of his serpentine primordial aspect, which is preserved in the Orphic conception of the God Chronos. Other features of this God can be traced in the image of the cherubim of Ezekiel’s vision. This image, combined with the concepts of the Son of Man and Ancient of Days from Daniel 7, are interpreted in Christian literary and visual sources with reference to the notion of Aion. While these conceptualizations mainly are theological, they also are understood in the context of “polymorphic Christology.” Various aspects of the conceptualization of Aion in Christian interpretation correlate with philosophical texts and the writings of Ps.-Dionysius. The image of the primordial serpent is interpreted in the highpriestly context of Jewish mystical traditions. It is represented in art by the tollbooths which are embedded in the Christian mystical story about the heavenly ascent of the soul.
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Aion in Christian Visual and Literary Sources
In: Gnosis: Journal of Gnostic StudiesSearch for other papers by Irina Kolbutova in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Abstract
In this article, a search is conducted for the traces of the conceptions of Time and Aion in mythological and theological accounts of the ancient Near East as they are re-interpreted in the metaphorical images in Christian literary sources and iconographic formulae in Christian art. We find that the sun-God Re is adopted in the Orphic cosmogonic system, together with the memory of his serpentine primordial aspect, which is preserved in the Orphic conception of the God Chronos. Other features of this God can be traced in the image of the cherubim of Ezekiel’s vision. This image, combined with the concepts of the Son of Man and Ancient of Days from Daniel 7, are interpreted in Christian literary and visual sources with reference to the notion of Aion. While these conceptualizations mainly are theological, they also are understood in the context of “polymorphic Christology.” Various aspects of the conceptualization of Aion in Christian interpretation correlate with philosophical texts and the writings of Ps.-Dionysius. The image of the primordial serpent is interpreted in the highpriestly context of Jewish mystical traditions. It is represented in art by the tollbooths which are embedded in the Christian mystical story about the heavenly ascent of the soul.
| All Time | Past 365 days | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 688 | 617 | 40 |
| Full Text Views | 11 | 7 | 0 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 37 | 24 | 0 |
