Pleroma (from the Greek plḗrōma, “fullness,” “completion,” “that which is filled”) designates the fullness of being, the totality of a reality in its perfection and fulfillment. In Christianity, the term is primarily used to express the divine fullness present in Christ and, by participation, in the Church and in creation as it is called to its ultimate consummation. More generally, it denotes a state of perfection or wholeness opposed to privation, fragmentation, or incompleteness.

More specifically

The term plḗrōma appears several times in the New Testament, particularly in the epistles of Saint Paul. It first designates the fullness of the Godhead dwelling bodily in Christ: “For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Col. 2:9). Christ thus appears as the locus in which the totality of divine perfections is fully present and manifested.

In Pauline theology, pleroma refers not merely to quantitative abundance but to qualitative perfection. It expresses the idea of fulfillment, complete realization, and harmonious totality. Christ is the fullness because He recapitulates all things in Himself, both heavenly and earthly, and restores them to their divine origin.

The Church itself is described as the “pleroma” of Christ (Eph. 1:23), not because it adds anything to His perfection, but because it participates in His life and presence. The notion thus expresses the organic unity between Christ and His Mystical Body.

In certain Gnostic schools of the second and third centuries, the term acquired a particular meaning. The pleroma designated the realm of divine aeons, opposed to the material world, which was regarded as inferior or fallen. This interpretation was rejected by Christian tradition, which refuses any radical opposition between creation and divinity. For Christian faith, the pleroma is not a separate world but the fullness of God communicating itself to creation.

From a metaphysical perspective, the pleroma designates the perfection of being insofar as it is fully realized. Every created reality possesses a certain fullness according to its degree of participation in being; however, only Divine Reality is absolute fullness, since it suffers no limitation or privation.

The notion is closely related to the ideas of totality, unity, and perfection. The pleroma is that toward which every creature tends: the fulfillment of its potentialities, the realization of its deepest vocation, and the fullest possible participation in the Good. In this perspective, the history of salvation may be understood as a movement toward fullness.

Spiritual traditions have often regarded the pleroma as the ultimate state of union with God. Without abolishing the distinction between Creator and creature, this union enables the human person to participate in the divine life and attain his proper perfection. The eschatological fullness promised to the saints thus constitutes one of the highest expressions of the pleroma.

The pleroma therefore appears as the opposite of all dispersion and fragmentation. It expresses reconciled totality, accomplished unity, and realized perfection. It stands as one of the great symbols of metaphysical, cosmic, and spiritual fulfillment.

Further reading

  • Epistle to the Ephesians, 1:10 and 1:23;
  • Epistle to the Colossians, 1:19 and 2:9;
  • Saint Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies;
  • Origen, On First Principles;
  • Saint Gregory of Nyssa, The Life of Moses;
  • Saint Maximus the Confessor, Ambigua;
  • Hans Urs von Balthasar, The Glory of the Lord;
  • Jean Borella, The Crisis of Religious Symbolism (La crise du symbolisme religieux);
  • Jean Borella, Symbolism and Reality (Symbolisme et Réalité);
  • Bruno Bérard, Metaphysics for Everyone, Angelico Press (It. trans. Sui sentieri della metafisica; Sp. trans. ¿Qué es la metafísica?; Ger. trans. Was ist Metaphysik? Zwischen Ambition und Wirklichkeit).

Note: Although the term was widely employed by certain Gnostic schools, its Christian meaning remains profoundly different. In Christianity, the pleroma does not designate a realm separate from the created world, but rather the divine fullness manifested in Christ and toward which all creation is called.