The Prosōpon of Jesus’ Soul in Origen’s Homilies on Psalm 15 (16)

Abstract

Prosopological exegesis was integral to the trinitarian theology of several second- and early third-century Christian theologians who argued that the different divine personae or prosōpa that speak in biblical texts were distinct from one another in reality. Unlike these predecessors, Origen’s use of prosopological exegesis in the Psalms occurs in a less polemical context and gravitates towards Christology and ecclesiology rather than trinitarian theology. In his homilies on Psalm 15 (16), Origen identifies the soul of Jesus as a speaking prosōpon distinct from, and acted upon by, the divine Word. This instance of prosopological exegesis highlights the distinctiveness of Origen’s theological use of this literary practice. In particular, I argue that Origen draws conclusions of soteriological and ecclesiological relevance from his notion of the speaking prosōpon of Jesus’ soul, which mediates a kind of communicatio idiomatum between the human Christ and the Church.