Sophia – the First Second Divine Person. Christological and Trinitarian Reflections on a Biblical Basis

Abstract

It is well known that some texts of the Old Testament and the Second Temple period present the divine wisdom (ḥåkmā/sophia) as a preexistent and personified figure in close relationship to God, thus introducing female dimensions into the Judeo-Christian image of God. The fact that these Sophia-motives are strongly adopted to express the preexistence of Christ in the New Testament and in patristic and liturgical traditions is much less known. The present article shows this reception for Prov 8:22–31; 9:1–5; Sir 24:3–12; Bar 3:9–4,4; Wis 7–8; 9; 11:4 and 1 En. 42:1–3 in the epistles and gospels of the NT (1 Cor 8:6; 10:4; 2
Cor 3:18; 4:4.6; Col 1:15–17; Heb 1:2–3; John 1:1–18; Luke 7:31–35; 11:49–51; 13:34–35) and its continuation in some patristic (Augustine, Civ. 18:20; Ep. 187; Gregory of Nazianz Or. 31) and liturgical texts. This opens the field to reflect whether and how a de-masculinisation of trinitarian speech and prayer would be possible in a manner compatible with tradition.