Theognosis and the Ontology of God-manhood in the Historico-Philosophical Tradition of the Middle Ages

Ломачинська, Ірина Миколаївна and Омельченко, Юрій Васильович (2025) Theognosis and the Ontology of God-manhood in the Historico-Philosophical Tradition of the Middle Ages Вісник гуманітарних наук (14). pp. 1-21. ISSN 3083-5712

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Abstract

The starting point of Christian anthropology is the need for a rational comprehension of the transcendent God, who in the Biblical tradition appears as an absolute, personal Being, fundamentally unknowable in His essence. As early as Early Christianity, this premise led apologists to focus on key epistemological and anthropological issues, primarily the problem of freedom in Christ and the question of the objectification of religious experience—the transition from the internal experience of the divine to the conscious knowledge of God. Within the context of synthesizing Christian revelation with Hellenistic philosophy, particularly Platonism, the teachings of Origen emerged, laying the groundwork for the apophatic dimension of theognosis. According to Origen, the divine essence is unattainable for the created intellect; however, God is known through His actions and the history of salvation. The Logos plays a decisive role in this process as the mediator between the transcendent God and the world, revealing Himself in Holy Scripture and the Incarnation of Christ. Under the influence of the Origenist tradition, Evagrius Ponticus developed an ascetic-mystical understanding of theognosis, for whom the knowledge of God is a dynamic process of spiritual ascent and noetic purification. A similar stance was shared by Athanasius the Great, who linked the possibility of knowing God with the restoration of the imago Dei (image of God) in man and the overcoming of the consequences of sin. In the teachings of the Cappadocians, notably Gregory of Nyssa and Basil the Great, theognosis is intertwined with moral perfection, symbolic thinking, and the fulfillment of the Divine will. The patristic concept reached its definitive form in Augustine of Hippo, who conceptualized the knowledge of God as an internal spiritual experience combining faith, self-knowledge, and grace. In contrast, medieval Scholasticism, represented by Albertus Magnus and Thomas Aquinas, rationalized theognosis, seeking to systematically harmonize revelation with the capacities of human reason and to construct a coherent theological system.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	theognosis (knowledge of God); ontology of God-manhood; medieval philosophy; apologetics; patristics; scholasticism; Christian anthropology
Subjects:	Статті у періодичних виданнях > Фахові (входять до переліку фахових, затверджений МОН)
Divisions:	Факультет суспільно-гуманітарних наук > Кафедра філософії та релігієзнавства
Depositing User:	Ірина Миколаївна Ломачинська
Date Deposited:	29 Jan 2026 09:36
Last Modified:	29 Jan 2026 09:36
URI:	https://elibrary.kubg.edu.ua/id/eprint/56210

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