Savrey, V. Ya. Anthropology of St. Cyril of Alexandria in his ‘The Glaphyras’ on the Book of Genesis

Abstract: Being the main representative of the orthodox School of Alexandria of the Vth century and one of the major exegetes of the patritistic period, St. Cyril, even though he did not think of himself as a philosopher in the classical meaning of the word, still touched upon many philosophical issues in his creativity. His approach to philosophical questions was systematic and quite clear. Considerable part of his exegetic writings was devoted to the interpretation and commentaries on the Old Testament and discovery of the Christological meaning there. St. Cyril’s views on human that are based on Paul the Apostle’s teaching about human are implicitly represented in his theological writings. The author of the present research article explicates these views by analyzing systematic moments in Cyril’s hermeneutics and studying the relation between his interpretations of Biblical human images as a particular picture of human nature. The logic of succession of these images shows that the sacrifi ce of the Divine Logos and His accepting human nature and the Way of the Cross for saving each person from eternal death create the central moment in all anthropology of St. Cyril of Alexandria. Noteworthy that St. Cyril’s ‘The Glaphyras’ do not only represent the hermeneutic method of mature School of Alexandria but also are an important resource in patristic anthropology. According to the author of the article, The Glaphyras are an important work that should be taken into account along with famous systematic treatises of St. Gregory of Nyssa and Nemesius of Emesa.

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