Christian Identity Formation according to Cyril of Jerusalem: Sacramental Theosis as a Means of Constructing Relational Identity

This study is an exploration of how Cyril of Jerusalem constructed

Christian identity for those who were preparing to enter into full

communion with the church at Easter. In order to include the full

catechetical teachings of the fourth-century hagiopolite tradition, the

study examined the history of liturgy arguments against Cyrillian

authorship of the Mystagogic Catecheses and has found, based upon

the most recent scholarship, no reason to date the text to after Cyril’s

bishopric. Having also used codicological and textual critical analysis

to support the claim of Cyrillian authorship, the study argues for a

different preferred manuscript tradition than what is presented in the

critical edition.
Since Cyril provided an identity-clarifying

attribute for the new Christians to associate with each of the rites of

initiation, the study looks at the scholarly literature regarding

Cyril’s sacramental theology. Taking the Jerusalem catechetical writings

as a pedagogical unit and examining it through word studies and

flow-of-thought analysis, this study constructs a new model for Cyril’s

sacramental theology based upon his doctrine of theosis, which

has not been examined with sufficient academic rigor to date. It

demonstrates that not only does Cyril have a fully-developed doctrine of

theosis, but his expression of theosis is Trinitarian,

sacramental, and inseparable from his ethical and identity forming

teachings.