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  4. Jeauneau (Édouard) 2014a

Jeauneau, Édouard, “From Origen’s Periarchon to Eriugena’s Periphyseon”, in: Willemien Otten, and Michael I. Allen (eds), Eriugena and Creation: proceedings of the Eleventh International Conference on Eriugenian Studies, held in honor of Edouard Jeauneau, Chicago, 9–12 November 2011, Turnhout: Brepols, 2014. 139–182.

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“From Origen’s Periarchon to Eriugena’s Periphyseon”
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139–182
Year
2014
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Abstract (cited)
The author wants to show to what extent John Scottus was influenced by Origen. The influence is already reflected in the title he gives his major work: Periphyseon (On Natures). The title evokes an early and important work of Origen: Periarchon (On First Principles). John Scottus refers to Origen as beatus (blessed), a term which he reserves for saints and for the Fathers of the Church. For him Origen is both the exegete par excellence of Sacred Scripture and the most diligent researcher of the realities of nature, two areas of study to which the author of the Periphyseon was deeply committed. In the area of Scriptural interpretation, John Scottus reveals his audacity in following Origen as far as possible without exceeding the limits of orthodoxy. One of the most debated of Origen’s theses is that of the return and restoration of the created universe to its original purity (apocatastasis). The thesis affirms that at the end of time all creation will be reestablished in its primordial state. John Scottus, while suspending his judgment in regard to the fate of the demons, adopts apocatastasis for the rest of creation and in particular for humanity. He does, however, provide two modifications to Origen’s position. First, following Maximus the Confessor, he distinguishes two kinds of “return :” a general one, thanks to which all humans will recover the primeval condition in which they were created, and a special one, by which some of them will be elevated beyond and above nature to enjoy the grace of deification. In addition, John Scottus thinks that for souls separated from their bodies and awaiting the general resurrection, there will be a time devoted to purification. With that he deserves to be included among the witnesses to what some have called “the prehistory of Purgatory.”
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Dennis Groenewegen
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May 2015, last updated: January 2019
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