Wczesnochrześcijańska symbolika o charakterze ponerologicznym. Wybrane przykłady

• Authors: Mieczysław Celestyn Paczkowski

Title variants

EN

The ponerological symbolism in the ancient Church. Some selected examples

• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

Ponerology is devoted to the study of evil in its different aspects. Indeed, also in the early Church it was created a kind of ponerological symbolism. This short study analyses some of these significant traditionally interpreted symbols. In the Christian symbolism holiness is full of fragrance, however the demons and sins emit a terrible odor. The symbolic value of darkness covers the negative aspects of human ignorance, evil, disbelief, danger and death. The fire represents not only illumination and light, but it has the punitive value. The serpent is first mentioned in connection with the history of the temptation and fall of the humanity. In the Christian tradition the serpent or the „dragon” represents Satan, the malicious ene­my. Babylon symbolizes all that is worldly and fell away from God. St. Augustine sees the world in which he lives as a mixture of the city of confusion and the city of heaven (Jerusalem). In the ponerological symbolism appears Amalek. The Fathers equated them with passion or evil. The faithful of Christ always fights against him. In Origen this approach is much more clearly defined in his explicitly spiritualizing reading. The ponerological symbolism of the ancient Christian lite­rature contained a moral or religious lessons or allegories.

Keywords

PL

patrystyka; symbolika; zło; grzech

EN

patristics; symbols; evil; sin

• Publisher: Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawła II
• Journal: Vox Patrum
• Year: 2013
• Volume: 59
• Pages: 39-65

Dates

published

2013-01-25

Contributors

author

Mieczysław Celestyn Paczkowski

Identifiers

DOI

10.31743/vp.4014