"Uncorruptible Body of Christ" in Syro-Armenian Christological Controversies

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 22K19952
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: 0101:Philosophy, art, and related fields
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: Hamada Karen 東京大学, 大学院総合文化研究科, 准教授 (70964469)
• Project Period (FY): 2022-08-31 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 東方キリスト教 / キリスト教神学 / キリスト論 / シリア語 / アルメニア語 / アルメニア教会 / シリア正教会

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this project I have investigated the debate between the Armenian Apostolic Church and the Syriac Orthodox Church over the 'incorruptibility of the body of Christ', which has been an issue among the non-Chalcedonian (miaphysite) Christians since the 6th century. Especially I have analyzed the process of formation and development of the doctrine of the incorruptibility in the Armenian theological tradition.
It has been a widely accepted theory that the Armenian Church supported the view of Julian of Halikarnassus, who was considered heretical by the Syriac Orthodox Church. However, my research proposes a hypothesis that the Armenian Church developed their doctrine, which insists that the body of Christ was incorruptible even before the resurrection, based on the Christological view of Philoxenos of Mabbug, one of the most notable Syriac theologians in the 6th century, whose writings were translated into Armenian and used as a source for refutation against Chalcedonians.

Free Research Field

宗教学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究は、ごく限られた時代のごく限られた地域に生きたキリスト教徒が「キリストの肉体が腐敗しうるかどうか」という問いに取り組んだ過程に光を当てたものである。現代を生きる我々の目には、無意味かつ非生産的な問いに見えるが、「人間となった神」たるキリストの「肉体」の在り方を徹底的に追求する姿勢の背景には、「肉体」を「人間を人間たらしめるもの」として定義し、そしてその肉体をもったまま神に近づかんとする意志が潜んでいる。人間はあくまで「肉体」をもって完成されるべきという強い願いは、技術の発達により人間が「肉体」を伴うことがもはや自明ではなくなりつつある現代社会においても重要な示唆を与えうる。