The Colophon of Eternal Beatitude: Petrus van Mastricht, the Visio Dei, and the Resurrection of the Body

Abstract

Recent work in eschatology has sought to retrieve the doctrine of the beatific vision, one that has served as one of the predominant views of the eschatological life throughout church history. Yet the doctrine has been criticized for its reported marginalization of the human body. This essay seeks to provide a modest contribution and response to this objection through the retrieval of 17th‐century theologian Petrus van Mastricht. I argue that humanity's telos can be conceived of as complex involving a particular mode of life with God that the visio Dei makes possible, one which requires the resurrection and glorification of the body.