ABSTRACT
Marius Victorinus' presentation of the summa is a regular component of the preface in ancient commentaries. In his seminal article on the 'rediscovery of Paul in fourth-century Latin theology', Bernhard Lohse presented the distinctly non-Alexandrine exegetical approach of the Latin Paul-commentators as prime evidence for Latin theologians having 'attained an unmistakeable style which cannot simply be explained from the encounter with Greek literature'. Marius Victorinus' discussion here has a distinct line of connection to the views articulated by Plotinus and Porphyry on the challenges facing embodied souls. An excellent systematic analysis of Victorinus' philosophical doctrine of God has been done by Matthias Baltes, Marius Victorinus: zur Philosophie in seinen theologischen Schriften. Thus Victorinus' understanding of human nature and society was essentially paideutic: civilization is built through the progressive education of the civil animal. Victorinus emphasises the soul's unique capacity for ontological growth throughout the first book of his commentary on Ephesians.
