'Chastely I live for thee': Virginity as bondage and freedom in Origen of Alexandria, Methodius of Olympus, and Gregory of Nyssa

This project examines the link between virginity and Christology from the perspective of literary and theological legacy in and through Origen of Alexandria, Methodius of Olympus, and Gregory of Nyssa. These writers are representative of a strain in Eastern tradition that I argue offers historical theology a distinctive discourse on Christology, specifically as instantiated in the language of virginity. Early Christian virgins not only contributed in significant ways through influence or cultural notoriety, they also "performed" Christology and threaded their way through the fabric of developing theology.;In four chapters this project explores the philosophical and theological footprint left by virginity upon the christological imagination. Chapter 1 is an introduction to the literature on virginity and on Origen, Methodius, and Gregory. Chapter 2 maps a selection of themes drawn from my reading of the Symposium and the Phaedrus that serves to elucidate the Christian conception of the theologia ascendens as the telos of the human life culminating in the ascender's encounter with truth-as-person in Christ. Chapters 3 and 4 consider virginity as the language of "bondage" or "freedom," respectively, by exploring relationships of power and agency, the nature of desire, and the voluntary restraint/suspension of that desire. Also in chapter 4, I explore how the constitutive relationship between virginity and Christology overflows the boundaries of the text and takes on a life of its own in transformative encounter and the legacy of feminine authoritative pedagogy.;The virginal life was a crucible for the early Christian christological imagination; the virgins' choices, bodies, and legacies construct and constitute part of this discourse. Categorizing virginity as a "performing" Christology has the benefit of drawing the countless, and often nameless, virgins into an important historical theological discourse. The focus on Origen, Methodius, and Gregory's conceptions of the virginal life offers theology a paradigm that is necessarily philosophical and resists a totalizing gendered discourse in a significant enough way to merit its consideration for modern christological discussions on the Incarnation. Simply put, for Origen, Methodius, and Gregory, virginity is Christology and the imitatio Christi .