Death and the idea of individualization in Athenagoras of Athens as a refutation of the modern understanding of death as the death of personality

Abstract

The article is about the critical analysis of the modern understanding of the “death of personality”. The point of view of the early Christian teacher of the Eastern Church Athenagoras of Athens is taken as the basis of this consideration. His heritage “On the Resurrection of the Dead” tells us that man is an immortal being. The author introduces a certain terminology to describe the process of immortality to human nature. According to Athenagoras, death is an ordinary process, like a comparison with sleep. Death is not the final stage of human life, rather it is a phase of change from corruption to incorruption. To provide evidence, Athenagoras discusses the judgment of God, where each person personally needs to answer for the actions committed during lifetime. There is no precise definition of personality in the author’s work, but his arguments about the immortal soul and the resurrection of the human body as an integral part of the human hypostasis allow us to imagine a person as a hypostasis, which means a personal creation of God. The meaning of all described is the contemplation of God. In total, the hypostasis is a person who is not subject to death.