The Problem of the God-Man in Western Medieval Philosophy

The subject of the research article is the philosophical-theological model of man as God's image and likeness by Anselm of Canterbury, presented in his treatise "Why God Became Man." Anselm, unlike Eastern theologians, asserts the necessity of the incarnation of man in the person of the Word (Logos), which allows for the preservation of the integrity of each nature and the union of God with man without transformation or displacement of natures. The incarnation of God in man is considered by him as a necessity (necessitate) that comes from God Himself to "restore life to the world." The death of the God-Son in Anselm's model acts as a divine necessity to realize His own being through man, which in turn makes the existence of man possible. This anthropocentric view opens a foundation in the Middle Ages for the subsequent development of discourse about man in the Renaissance. The article employs methods of philosophical and theological analysis, as well as a comparative-historical approach to study the concepts of deification in medieval thought. It also uses methods of conceptual analysis and interpretation of metaphors. These methods allow for tracking the development of ideas about differentiation, freedom, and self-knowledge within the framework of medieval philosophical-theological tradition. The scientific novelty of this research lies in the comprehensive and interdisciplinary analysis of the concepts of deification and the God-Man, integrating historical-theological, philosophical, and methodological approaches. In particular, it systematically compares Eastern and Western traditions for the first time, revealing their similarities and differences in understanding the role of the Incarnation, the nature of man, and the process of deification, as well as analyzing the metaphysical foundations of these teachings in light of the development of scholastic thought. Furthermore, the work proposes a new interpretation of the Incarnation as the ontological foundation of the being of both man and God, and it reveals the influence of this concept on the formation of contemporary views about man in the context of Christian anthropology and theodicy. Thus, the research makes a significant contribution to the development of theological and philosophical discourses, expanding the understanding of the relationship between the divine and human principles through the lens of deification and the Incarnation.

God-man, Deification, Theosis, Medieval philosophy, Anselm of Canterbury, John Scotus Eriugena, The Word, Incarnation, Western tradition, Thomas Aquinas