Didymus' doctrine of apocatastasis, if it was in fact a
part of his teaching, remains unclear. He speaks about a "universal salvation,"
but this by itself is inconclusive. He seems to have hesitated on the problem of
the salvation of fallen angels and to have limited the redemption achieved
through Christ's assumption of the flesh and full humanity to mankind. The
fragmentary nature of the surviving documents does not allow us to make definite
conclusions, but most likely Jerome was right when he accused Didymus of
confessing the ultimate restoration of the devil. Apparently Didymus also
accepts the pre-existence of souls and he sees the afterlife as a process of
purification. He insists that everything which has a source or a beginning is
mutable and must have an end, and from this he concludes that the material world
will ultimately be destroyed. He rejects metempsychosis and metasomatism, and
his teaching on resurrected bodies as heavenly bodies is clear. Didymus suggests
that in the future world there will be no evil men, not because their essence
will be destroyed but because evil "as a quality" will cease to exist. He
understands the Day of the Lord as an internal illumination of the soul. All of
these doctrines reveal the influence of Origen. It should also be noted that
Didymus seems to have sensed that the last days were at hand and to have
expected the coming of the Antichrist.
Didymus places great emphasis on the necessity of disciplined
effort and striving. It is not enough to be without sin. Virtue must be a
constant habit and a condition. A man's life as a Christian begins with the
sacrament of baptism, which cleanses him of sin and returns to him his freedom.
After his rebirth through baptism a believer is free and without sin, and the
path of good works is open before him. Didymus considers the highest virtue to
be wisdom or gnostic knowledge. This knowledge is not abstract or intellectual
but is expressed in virtue and in the discipline of the soul. Didymus sees an
example of a true philosopher in Job, whose image in his interpretation takes on
Stoic features. Wisdom can be acquired only by renouncing and mortifying the
flesh. Didymus presents the life of the true Christian as a marriage with
Christ, which was also a favorite image of the Egyptian ascetics. Sanctified
souls participate in the Word to the degree that they are united with Christ in
such intimacy that they can be spoken of as christs and gods. In this expression
Didymus is more reminiscent of Methodius than of Origen. Didymus places high
value on virginity but he makes clear that this path is not for everyone. He
emphasizes that marriage was sanctified and dignified by the birth of
Christ.
Didymus expresses his personal views on angels with particular
vividness. Angels are incorporeal and "intellectual beings," but Didymus
ascribes to them "heavenly bodies" which are similar to the bodies of righteous
men who have achieved perfection. Angels are creatures which have been created
for service. Didymus describes their participation in the fate of the visible
world, which is the reason that men are justified in invoking them through
prayer and in dedicating churches to them.
Didymus follows the example of Origen in opposing Gnostics, men
for whom a higher knowledge is possible, to men who can never attain the truth,
who do not comprehend the spiritual meaning of Scripture, and who are incapable
of defending them selves against heretics by giving a clear confession of their
faith. The philosophy possessed by true gnostics is Divine. When Didymus is
compared with previous Alexandrians, it becomes evident that the distinctions he
makes in this respect are moderate.
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