Platonism and Christian Thought in Late Antiquity

Platonism and Christian Thought in Late Antiquity
Author: Panagiotis G. Pavlos
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 367
Release: 2019-06-07
Genre: History
ISBN: 0429803095

Platonism and Christian Thought in Late Antiquity examines the various ways in which Christian intellectuals engaged with Platonism both as a pagan competitor and as a source of philosophical material useful to the Christian faith. The chapters are united in their goal to explore transformations that took place in the reception and interaction process between Platonism and Christianity in this period. The contributions in this volume explore the reception of Platonic material in Christian thought, showing that the transmission of cultural content is always mediated, and ought to be studied as a transformative process by way of selection and interpretation. Some chapters also deal with various aspects of the wider discussion on how Platonic, and Hellenic, philosophy and early Christian thought related to each other, examining the differences and common ground between these traditions. Platonism and Christian Thought in Late Antiquity offers an insightful and broad ranging study on the subject, which will be of interest to students of both philosophy and theology in the Late Antique period, as well as anyone working on the reception and history of Platonic thought, and the development of Christian thought.

Christian Platonism

Christian Platonism
Author: Alexander J. B. Hampton
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 875
Release: 2020-12-17
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1108676472

Platonism has played a central role in Christianity and is essential to a deep understanding of the Christian theological tradition. At times, Platonism has constituted an essential philosophical and theological resource, furnishing Christianity with an intellectual framework that has played a key role in its early development, and in subsequent periods of renewal. Alternatively, it has been considered a compromising influence, conflicting with the faith's revelatory foundations and distorting its inherent message. In both cases the fundamental importance of Platonism, as a force which Christianity defined itself by and against, is clear. Written by an international team of scholars, this landmark volume examines the history of Christian Platonism from antiquity to the present day, covers key concepts, and engages issues such as the environment, natural science and materialism.

Platonopolis

Platonopolis
Author: Dominic J. O'Meara
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 262
Release: 2003-05
Genre: History
ISBN: 0199257582

Conventional wisdom suggests that the Platonist philosophers of Late Antiquity, from Plotinus (third century) to the sixth-century schools in Athens and Alexandria, neglected the political dimension of their Platonic heritage in their concentration on an otherworldly life. Dominic O'Meara presents a revelatory reappraisal of these thinkers, arguing that their otherworldliness involved rather than excluded political ideas, and he proposes for the first time a reconstruction of theirpolitical philosophy, their conception of the function, structure, and contents of political science, and its relation to political virtue and to the divinization of soul and state.Among the topics discussed by O'Meara are: philosopher-kings and queens; political goals and levels of reform: law, constitutions, justice, and penology; the political function of religion; and the limits of political science and action. He also explores various reactions to these political ideas in the works of Christian and Islamic writers, in particular Eusebius, Augustine, Pseudo-Dionysius, and al-Farabi.Filling a major gap in our understanding, Platonopolis will be of substantial interest to scholars and students of ancient philosophy, classicists, and historians of political thought.

Eastern Christianity and Late Antique Philosophy

Eastern Christianity and Late Antique Philosophy
Author:
Publisher: BRILL
Total Pages: 358
Release: 2020-06-29
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9004429565

The essays in Eastern Christianity and Late Antique Philosophy provide valuable insights into the central role of philosophical ideas in a period when paganism was in decline and Eastern Christians were forging their community identities.

The Cambridge History of Philosophy in Late Antiquity

The Cambridge History of Philosophy in Late Antiquity
Author: Lloyd P. Gerson
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 1584
Release: 2015-12-10
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1316175936

The Cambridge History of Philosophy in Late Antiquity comprises over forty specially commissioned essays by experts on the philosophy of the period 200–800 CE. Designed as a successor to The Cambridge History of Later Greek and Early Medieval Philosophy (edited by A. H. Armstrong), it takes into account some forty years of scholarship since the publication of that volume. The contributors examine philosophy as it entered literature, science and religion, and offer new and extensive assessments of philosophers who until recently have been mostly ignored. The volume also includes a complete digest of all philosophical works known to have been written during this period. It will be an invaluable resource for all those interested in this rich and still emerging field.

Aristotle and Early Christian Thought

Aristotle and Early Christian Thought
Author: Mark Edwards
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 248
Release: 2019-03-13
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 1315520192

In studies of early Christian thought, ‘philosophy’ is often a synonym for ‘Platonism’, or at most for ‘Platonism and Stoicism’. Nevertheless, it was Aristotle who, from the sixth century AD to the Italian Renaissance, was the dominant Greek voice in Christian, Muslim and Jewish philosophy. Aristotle and Early Christian Thought is the first book in English to give a synoptic account of the slow appropriation of Aristotelian thought in the Christian world from the second to the sixth century. Concentrating on the great theological topics – creation, the soul, the Trinity, and Christology – it makes full use of modern scholarship on the Peripatetic tradition after Aristotle, explaining the significance of Neoplatonism as a mediator of Aristotelian logic. While stressing the fidelity of Christian thinkers to biblical presuppositions which were not shared by the Greek schools, it also describes their attempts to overcome the pagan objections to biblical teachings by a consistent use of Aristotelian principles, and it follows their application of these principles to matters which lay outside the purview of Aristotle himself. This volume offers a valuable study not only for students of Christian theology in its formative years, but also for anyone seeking an introduction to the thought of Aristotle and its developments in Late Antiquity.

Philosophy in Late Antiquity

Philosophy in Late Antiquity
Author: Andrew Smith
Publisher: Psychology Press
Total Pages: 176
Release: 2004
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780415225106

Philosophy in Late Antiquity provides an essential new introduction to the key ideas of the Neoplatonists, which affected approaches to Plato as late as the nineteenth century. Andrew Smith shows how they influenced Christian thought and his approach not only allows us to appreciate these philosophical ideas in their own right, but it also gives us significant insights into the mentality of the age which produced them.

Plato and Theodoret

Plato and Theodoret
Author: Niketas Siniossoglou
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 201
Release: 2008-02-28
Genre: History
ISBN: 0521880734

A summary of the late antique Hellenic-Christian conflict regarding the compatability of Platonism and Christianity.

A History of Mind and Body in Late Antiquity

A History of Mind and Body in Late Antiquity
Author: Anna Marmodoro
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 895
Release: 2018-07-19
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1316856631

The mind-body relation was at the forefront of philosophy and theology in late antiquity, a time of great intellectual innovation. This volume, the first integrated history of this important topic, explores ideas about mind and body during this period, considering both pagan and Christian thought about issues such as resurrection, incarnation and asceticism. A series of chapters presents cutting-edge research from multiple perspectives, including history, philosophy, classics and theology. Several chapters survey wider themes which provide context for detailed studies of the work of individual philosophers including Numenius, Pseudo-Dionysius, Damascius and Augustine. Wide-ranging and accessible, with translations given for all texts in the original language, this book will be essential for students and scholars of late antique thought, the history of religion and theology, and the philosophy of mind.

Origen Against Plato

Origen Against Plato
Author: Mark Julian Edwards
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2019-09-30
Genre:
ISBN: 9781138733886

"Cover"--"Title"--"Copyright" -- "Contents" -- "Introduction" -- "Chapter 1 Origen among Christians, Jews and Gnostics" -- "Christian and Jew" -- "The Church in Alexandria" -- "Christian Heterodoxy in Alexandria" -- "Christological Considerations" -- "Concluding Remarks on Origen" -- "Chapter 2 The God of Origen and the Gods of Plato" -- "Platonism and the Name of God" -- "Studying Philosophy in Alexandria" -- "God, Philosophy and Revelation" -- "The Divine Creator" -- "Christ as Logos" -- "The Trinity, Ousia and Hypostasis" -- "Chapter 3 The Doctrine of the Soul in Origen" -- "Did Origen Believe in the Pre-existence of the Soul?" -- "Interlude: the Pre-existence of the Soul of Christ" -- "The Pre-existent Soul: does On First Principles Contradict Itself?" -- "A Pilgrimage of Souls" -- "Image, Likeness and the Fashioning of Saints" -- "Eschatology and Mysticism" -- "Chapter 4 The Interpretation of Scripture" -- "Notes Toward a Definition of Allegory" -- "Allegory and the Philosophers" -- "The Alexandrian Tradition" -- "Origen and the Word of God" -- "The Mystery of Christian Maturation" -- "Mysticism, Platonism, Jewish Literalism" -- "Word and Sacrament" -- "Objections and Replies" -- "Conclusion" -- "Bibliography