"Become All Eye": Optical Imagery in Eastern Christianity and the Theological Anthropology of Pseudo-Macarius

Abstract

To understand the phrase “become all eye”, I will first examine optical imagery in Eastern Christianity as it relates to a theology of vision and theological anthropology. The occurrence of optical imagery in Eastern Christianity offers insight into how many Christian authors built their theological anthropology, i.e. how human beings participate in and behold God. The main Christian author with which this thesis is concerned is Pseudo-Macarius. Ps.-Macarius expounds on the phrase “become all eye” as a part of his theological anthropology. For Ps.-Macarius, “become all eye” is an ontological state in which one’s soul has become so transparent that the divine light shines in as part of the Christian’s being and is refracted out for one to see God. Tracing optical imagery through several Eastern Christian authors up to Ps.-Macarius, I will investigate their conceptions of theological anthropology and discover what implications their understanding of “eyes” (and particularly Ps.Macarius’ phrase “become all eye”) has on Christian theology.