Aristova, E. P. Soul, Body and Material in Writings by Aurelius Ambrosius

Abstract: The author of the article would like to appeal to the sources of Christian interpretation of relations between soul and body and analyze a number of works written by Ambrosius (Saint Ambrose), a famous religious figure of the IVth century BC. According to the author, his works reflect the turn from the ancient philosophy to the Christian world view. Christian denial of the body is usually associated with the Platonic tradition. Nevertheless, a Christian and an ancient philosopher have different views on the world and the place of body and soul in this world. Even though relations between soul and body may look alike, they are explained by different reasons. Ambrosius who used anonymous quotations of Plato and Plotin acquired the image of a ‘Christian neoplatonist’. The author notes that this image creates many doubts so she suggests to view his works not from the point of view of a philologist who only studies general vocabulary but from the point of view of a philosopher whose main goal is to pay attention to peculiarities of Ambrosius’ Christian views and his contradiction to the previous intellectual tradition even if the same terms are used in both. As a result of comparing works written by Ambrosius and Plotin, the researcher finds out quite a number of contradictions that are to be taken into consideration when studying the dependence of Christian Patristics on Neo-Platonism. Ambrosius views the opposition between body and material not as a condition but as a consequence of Adam’s spiritual failure. He views the spiritual failure not as a part of the natural cosmic process but as a catastrophe of the nature. From the point of view of Ambrosius, human soul is not just emanation of transcendental Creator.

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