Victorinus’ Soteriology as a Philosophical, Theological and Exegetical Project

Abstract

Recent studies of Victorinus by Stephen Andrew Cooper, Ellen Scully, Lenka Karfiková and Werner Steinmann have highlighted the need to read the philosophical treatises more closely alongside explicitly theological and exegetical work. But the approach of these authors reflects significantly divergent goals, from reading his work to defend an almost Lutheran emphasis on sola fide, or rather differently, in terms of a ‘physicalist’ approach on universal implications of Christ’s role as Logos. Appreciating the work of Cooper and Karfiková, the present treatment is focused on a recent article by Scully, questioning her understanding of Victorinus on the interconnection of cosmology and soteriology to present the human Christ in terms of a Platonic form.