Christ the Saviour: Eastern Christian Perspectives

A survey of both patristic and contemporary approaches to Christological questions (how the divinity and humanity of Christ come together in one person). Soteriological questions will also be addressed (what is salvation, how Jesus saves, from what and for what He saves}. This will also necessitate some examination of Theological Anthropology (from creation according to the Divine Image to the fulfillment of likeness to God in Theosis/Divinization) and the human condition that requires an Incarnate Saviour. Comparisons will be made among ancient Christological approaches (Alexandria, Antioch, Rome), as well as between Eastern and Western Christian understandings of the means and the content of salvation. Emphasis will be placed on apophatic and antinomic tools for articulating an understanding of Christ the Saviour that operates coherently within the complex of the elements of Holy Tradition (Scripture, Fathers, Councils, Creeds, Liturgy, Iconography, Hagiography, etc.)