Persuasive Rhetoric in Origen's Contra Celsum
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Plotinus and Augustine
The Influence of Plotinus on the Writings of St. Augustine Josiah Meyer History of Ancient & Medieval Philosophy, PH 502 March 8, 2017 1 Introduction If Plato and Aristotle are the most important thinkers of the ancient world, St. Augustine could be a close runner up in brilliance and importance. Far less known, however, is the vital role of Plotinus. Serving as a link between Augustine and Plato, Plotinus was to have a lasting influence on Augustine, and through him on the Christian Church, especially in the West. This paper will bring illumination to the often overlooked intellectual contribution of Plotinus to the thoughts of Augustine. To that end, it will provide an overview of Plotinus’ thought, paying special attention to his use and modification of Plato and Aristotle. It will then turn its attention to Augustine’s appropriation of Plotinus, and the lasting mark he made on the shape of Augustinian theology. Section One: Plotinus Bibliography Plotinus was a native of Lycopolis (or Lycon) in Egypt.1 At the age of 28 he became interested in philosophy and moved to Alexandria to study. After expressing dissatisfaction in several teachers, he finally found Ammonius Saccas (175 AD - 240 AD), declaring, τοῦτον ἐζήτουν, “This is the man I was looking for!” and became his pupil for eleven years.2 This Ammonius Saccas is identified (probably wrongly) by Eusebius as a lapsed Christian. Eusebius 1 Frederick Copleston notes that Eunapis identifies his birthplace as Lycon, while Suidas identifies it as Lycopolis, leaving the exact location a mystery. Frederick Copleston, S.J., A History of Philosophy, vol. -
The Protrepticus of Clement of Alexandria: a Commentary
Miguel Herrero de Jáuregui THE PROTREPTICUS OF CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA: A COMMENTARY to; ga;r yeu'do" ouj yilh'/ th'/ paraqevsei tajlhqou'" diaskedavnnutai, th'/ de; crhvsei th'" ajlhqeiva" ejkbiazovmenon fugadeuvetai. La falsedad no se dispersa por la simple comparación con la verdad, sino que la práctica de la verdad la fuerza a huir. Protréptico 8.77.3 PREFACIO Una tesis doctoral debe tratar de contribuir al avance del conocimiento humano en su disciplina, y la pretensión de que este comentario al Protréptico tenga la máxima utilidad posible me obliga a escribirla en inglés porque es la única lengua que hoy casi todos los interesados pueden leer. Pero no deja de ser extraño que en la casa de Nebrija se deje de lado la lengua castellana. La deuda que contraigo ahora con el español sólo se paliará si en el futuro puedo, en compensación, “dar a los hombres de mi lengua obras en que mejor puedan emplear su ocio”. Empiezo ahora a saldarla, empleándola para estos agradecimientos, breves en extensión pero no en sinceridad. Mi gratitud va, en primer lugar, al Cardenal Don Gil Álvarez de Albornoz, fundador del Real Colegio de España, a cuya generosidad y previsión debo dos años provechosos y felices en Bolonia. Al Rector, José Guillermo García-Valdecasas, que administra la herencia de Albornoz con ejemplar dedicación, eficacia y amor a la casa. A todas las personas que trabajan en el Colegio y hacen que cumpla con creces los objetivos para los que se fundó. Y a mis compañeros bolonios durante estos dos años. Ha sido un honor muy grato disfrutar con todos ellos de la herencia albornociana. -
Depending on Evil an Analysis of Late Antique Christian Demonologies
Depending on Evil An Analysis of Late Antique Christian Demonologies Thomas Andruszewski 2/17/2008 Table of Contents Preface ........................................................................................................................................................... i Introduction ..................................................................................................................................................1 Part I - In Support of Apocalypse Chapter I - Justin Martyr, Athenagoras and Tertullian................................................................................7 Chapter II - Origen .....................................................................................................................................23 Chapter III - Augustine of Hippo ................................................................................................................33 Part II - Demonizing Demons: the Construction of Evil in Late Antiquity Chapter IV - Taking Aim, the Role of Demons in the Polemical Arsenal of Early Church Fathers...........39 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................................55 1 Preface This thesis provides an analysis of the demonologies included in the writings of some of the early Church Fathers. They include: Justin Martyr’s Apology (150 CE),1 Athenagoras’ Legatio (177 CE),2 Tertullian’s Apology (197 CE),3 Origen’s On First Principles (218 CE)4 and Against Celsus (248 CE),5 -
The Routledge Companion to Early Christian Thought Greco-Roman
This article was downloaded by: 10.3.98.104 On: 27 Sep 2021 Access details: subscription number Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG, UK The Routledge Companion to Early Christian Thought D. Jeffrey Bingham Greco-Roman Understanding of Christianity Publication details https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/doi/10.4324/9780203864517.ch3 Paul Hartog Published online on: 21 Dec 2009 How to cite :- Paul Hartog. 21 Dec 2009, Greco-Roman Understanding of Christianity from: The Routledge Companion to Early Christian Thought Routledge Accessed on: 27 Sep 2021 https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/doi/10.4324/9780203864517.ch3 PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR DOCUMENT Full terms and conditions of use: https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/legal-notices/terms This Document PDF may be used for research, teaching and private study purposes. Any substantial or systematic reproductions, re-distribution, re-selling, loan or sub-licensing, systematic supply or distribution in any form to anyone is expressly forbidden. The publisher does not give any warranty express or implied or make any representation that the contents will be complete or accurate or up to date. The publisher shall not be liable for an loss, actions, claims, proceedings, demand or costs or damages whatsoever or howsoever caused arising directly or indirectly in connection with or arising out of the use of this material. Downloaded By: 10.3.98.104 At: 23:14 27 Sep 2021; For: 9780203864517, chapter3, 10.4324/9780203864517.ch3 First published 2010 by Routledge 2 park square, milton park, abingdon, oxon oX14 4Rn simultaneously published in the usa and Canada by Routledge 270 madison ave., new york, ny 100016 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2010. -
Saint Augustine's Synthesis: a Brief Study of Early Christianity's Debt to Greek Philosophy
Western Oregon University Digital Commons@WOU Student Theses, Papers and Projects (History) Department of History 1999 Saint Augustine's Synthesis: A Brief Study of Early Christianity's Debt to Greek Philosophy Ross Mailhiot Western Oregon University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.wou.edu/his Part of the History of Religion Commons Recommended Citation Mailhiot, Ross, "Saint Augustine's Synthesis: A Brief Study of Early Christianity's Debt to Greek Philosophy" (1999). Student Theses, Papers and Projects (History). 283. https://digitalcommons.wou.edu/his/283 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Department of History at Digital Commons@WOU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Student Theses, Papers and Projects (History) by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons@WOU. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]. Saint Augustine's Synthesis : A Brief Study of Early Christianity's Debt to Greek Philosophy Ross Mailhiot Senior Thesis Spring 1999 1 St. Augustine's Synthesis : A Brief Study of Early Christianity's Debt to Greek Philosophy "You stir man to take pleasure in praising you, because you have made us for yoursel{, and our heort is restless until it rests inyou."l This is an often quoted line from the Confessions, written just before the close of the fourth century, and one of many passages pointed to by scholars as evidence of the influence of Greek philosophy in St. Augustine's numerous works. For those of us who need something a little less subtle, Augustine (354-430) spells it out for us by mentioning Plato (428-3478C) and Plotinus QA5-270) on numerous occasions in his wealth of writings. -
The Jew of Celsus and Adversus Judaeos Literature
ZAC 2017; 21(2): 201–242 James N. Carleton Paget* The Jew of Celsus and adversus Judaeos literature DOI 10.1515/zac-2017-0015 Abstract: The appearance in Celsus’ work, The True Word, of a Jew who speaks out against Jesus and his followers, has elicited much discussion, not least con- cerning the genuineness of this character. Celsus’ decision to exploit Jewish opinion about Jesus for polemical purposes is a novum in extant pagan litera- ture about Christianity (as is The True Word itself), and that and other observa- tions can be used to support the authenticity of Celsus’ Jew. Interestingly, the ad hominem nature of his attack upon Jesus is not directly reflected in the Christian adversus Judaeos literature, which concerns itself mainly with scripture (in this respect exclusively with what Christians called the Old Testament), a subject only superficially touched upon by Celsus’ Jew, who is concerned mainly to attack aspects of Jesus’ life. Why might this be the case? Various theories are discussed, and a plea made to remember the importance of what might be termed coun- ter-narrative arguments (as opposed to arguments from scripture), and by exten- sion the importance of Celsus’ Jew, in any consideration of the history of ancient Jewish-Christian disputation. Keywords: Celsus, Polemics, Jew 1 Introduction It seems that from not long after it was written, probably some time in the late 240s,1 Origen’s Contra Celsum was popular among a number of Christians. Eusebius of Caesarea, or possibly another Eusebius,2 speaks warmly of it in his response to Hierocles’ anti-Christian work the Philalethes or Lover of Truth as pro- 1 For the date of Contra Celsum see Henry Chadwick, introduction to idem, ed. -
Pythagorean, Predecessor, and Hebrew: Philo of Alexandria and the Construction of Jewishness in Early Christian Writings
Pythagorean, Predecessor, and Hebrew: Philo of Alexandria and the Construction of Jewishness in Early Christian Writings Jennifer Otto Faculty of Religious Studies McGill University, Montreal March, 2014 A thesis submitted to McGill University in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy © Jennifer Otto, 2014 ii Table of Contents Abstracts v Acknowledgements vii Abbreviations viii Introduction 1 Method, Aims and Scope of the Thesis 10 Christians and Jews among the nations 12 Philo and the Wisdom of the Greeks 16 Christianity as Philosophy 19 Moving Forward 24 Part I Chapter 1: Philo in Modern Scholarship 25 Introducing Philo 25 Philo the Jew in modern research 27 Conclusions 48 Chapter 2: Sects and Texts: The Setting of the Christian Encounter with Philo 54 The Earliest Alexandrian Christians 55 The Trajanic Revolt 60 The “Catechetical School” of Alexandria— A Continuous 63 Jewish-Christian Institution? An Alternative Hypothesis: Reading Philo in the Philosophical Schools 65 Conclusions 70 Part II Chapter 3: The Pythagorean: Clement’s Philo 72 1. Introducing Clement 73 1.1 Clement’s Life 73 1.2 Clement’s Corpus 75 1.3 Clement’s Teaching 78 2. Israel, Hebrews, and Jews in Clement’s Writings 80 2.1 Israel 81 2.2 Hebrews 82 2.3 Jews 83 3. Clement’s Reception of Philo: Literature Review 88 4. Clement’s Testimonia to Philo 97 4.1 Situating the Philonic Borrowings in the context of Stromateis 1 97 4.2 Stromateis 1.5.31 102 4.3 Stromateis 1.15.72 106 4.4 Stromateis 1.23.153 109 iii 4.5 Situating the Philonic Borrowings in the context of Stromateis 2 111 4.6 Stromateis 2.19.100 113 5. -
Christian Faith in the Greek World: Justin Martyr's Testimonyl by David F
Christian Faith in the Greek World: Justin Martyr's Testimonyl By David F. Wright Mr. Wright, who is Senior Lecturer in Ecclesiastical History in the University of Edinburgh, modestly says that he claims no originality for the contents of this essay but hopes that it may serve to commend justin to readers who may be unfamiliar with him. justin may in fact have something important to say in relation to the problem of communica ting the gospel in today's wor~ with its many cultures, creeds and ideologies. Werner Jaeger has pointedly reminded scholars that 'the first stage of Christian Hellenism' was 'the use of the Greek language'. This was 'the original meaning of the word Hellenismos ... With the Greek language a whole world of concepts, categories of thought, inherited metaphors, and subtle connotations of meaning enters Christian thought. '2 Terms as basic to early Christian language as theos and psyche were able to bring with them from their secular past a whole furniture of assump tions and mental associations, often unnoticed or unquestioned. Some of the doctrinal difficulties of the Church of the Fathers had their starting point here. 'The idea of one who is in a full sense Son of God sharing the divine nature is a difficult enough idea to work out and 77 to express in terms of Jewish monotheistic faith. But once transform the biblical conception of the one God into the Platonic concept of God as a simple undifferentiated unity, and the already existing difficulty is raised to the level of logical impossibility. '5 Similar complications arose with regard to divine immutability and transcendence. -
The Devil in Legend and Literature
View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by OpenSIUC THE DEVIL IN LEGEND AND LITERATURE ALLEN H. GODBEY, PH.D. DR. RUDWIN has written half a dozen earHer "devil studies" in the past twenty years, dealing chiefly with the use made of the devil in French and German literature. The present volume is primarily a study of "fiendish" elements in the literatures of England, France, and Germany : more narrowly, of their modern literatures. For the devil that Dr. Rudwin would have us consider is a product of the fusion of and conflict of medieval Christianity with pagan divinities and Jewish spooks and dethroned godlings of high and low degree. For devils, historically speaking, are often gods who have lost their jobs: deities sometimes proscribed because they are too popular! The element of political or tribal or eccle- siastical jealousy may be a prominent factor. "Your god is my devil," said Wesley to a theological opponent. The Pahlevi and the Sanscrit are two branches of one language and culture. But the Hindu, like the Roman, declared that divs or devas were the powers to be worshiped, and that the Asuras of the Northern peo- ples were "devils" indeed ! Tit for tat ! Zoroaster retaliates by declaring that an Asura (Ahura-Mazda-Ormuzd) is the Supreme Good, and that all devas are evil, and their worshipers all children of the devas. "There! take that!" Just so, the supreme guardian angel in Assyro-Babylonian lore was a Shedu : the ancestral guardian represented by the human- headed bull-colossi that guarded the gateways of temple and pal- ace. -
The Angelic Spirit in Early Christianity: Justin, the Martyr and Philosopher*
The Angelic Spirit in Early Christianity: Justin, the Martyr and Philosopher* Bogdan G. Bucur / Duquesne University In the conclusion of his article entitled “The Angelic Spirit in Early Judaism,” John R. Levison invited the scholarly community to use his work as “a suitable foundation for discussion of the angelic spirit” in early Christianity.1 A few years later, in his study of angelomorphic chris- tology, Charles A. Gieschen highlighted the need for similar work in the field of early pneumatology.2 The case for angelomorphic pneu- matology has been argued at length with respect to the Book of Reve- lation, the Shepherd of Hermas, and Clement of Alexandria.3 This essay contributes to the discussion by pursuing the occurrence of the “an- gelic spirit” in the writings of Justin Martyr.4 * I am grateful to Fr. Michael Slusser, SJ, for his helpful critique of an earlier draft of this article. 1 “Discussions of the spirit of God in Early Judaism and Christianity . ought to consider . interpretations of the spirit as an angelic presence. The texts included in the present analysis serve . to provide a suitable foundation for discussion of the angelic spirit in the Fourth Gospel, the Shepherd of Hermas, and the Ascension of Isaiah” ( John R. Levison, “The Angelic Spirit in Early Judaism,” Society of Biblical Literature Seminar Papers 34 [1995]: 464–93, 492), and see also The Spirit in First Century Judaism, Arbeiten zur Geschichte des antiken Judentums und des Urchristentums 29 (Leiden: Brill, 1997). 2 Charles A. Gieschen, Angelomorphic Christology: Antecedents and Early Evidence, Arbeiten zur Geschichte des antiken Judentums und des Urchristentums 42 (Leiden: Brill, 1998), 6: “Ig- norance concerning the influence of angelomorphic traditions has also plagued scholarship on early Pneumatology. -
The Discourse of Daemonic Sacrifice in Porphyry's De Abstinentia
View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Carolina Digital Repository Daemonic Trickery, Platonic Mimicry: the Discourse of Daemonic Sacrifice in Porphyry’s De Abstinentia Travis W. Proctor A thesis submitted to the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Department of Religious Studies Chapel Hill 2013 Approved by: Bart D. Ehrman Zlatko P e e James B. Rives © 2013 Travis W. Proctor ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ii ABSTRACT TRAVIS W. PROCTOR: Daemonic Trickery, Platonic Mimicry: the Discourse of Daemonic Sacrifice in Porphyry’s De Abstinentia Porphyry of Tyre’s discussion of daemons and anima sacrifice in his De Abstinentia strays from traditional Graeco-Roman formulations of daemonic benevolence and physiology. As a result, past studies have struggled to identify the intellectual lineage for Porphyry’s daemonology. By contrast, I propose that Porphyry draws his daemonology from Christian Platonic sources, best represented in the writings of Origen of Alexandria. I provide an extensive survey of early Christian views on daemonic physiology and encroachment upon sacrificial ritual, with a special section devoted to a comparison with the daemonology of Origen. There are notable similarities between the daemonologies of Porphyry and early Christian writers, ike y occasioned by Porphyry’s fami iarity with Christian daemonological discourses. Porphyry attributes his daemono ogica discussion, moreover, to “certain P atonists,” a c aim which, when read in ight of Porphyry’s Vita Plotini, places Origen (and other Christians) squarely within the intellectual circles from which Porphyry was drawing his daemonological discourse. -
Neoplatonism, Then And
NEOPLATONISM, THEN AND NOW Date: 2-11-2014 OPENING WORDS Earlier this year, I undertook a twelve-week philosophy course at Sydney Community College, in Rozelle. It was a fairly easy- going, yet exhaustive course that saw us cover everything from the pre-Socratic philosophers of ancient Greece, right up to the musings of Jürgen Habermas in the twentieth century. We covered Descartes and Spinoza, Hegel and the Hindus, amongst others – the span of time we examined stretched over more than 2,500 years. Not at all bad for a course that only lasted three months. Needless to say, I found a lot to think about in this time, and in the months since – not least of all, which philosophical traditions I find myself most agreeing with. In the months since the course concluded, I have worked out that I am much more a rationalist than an empiricist, certainly much more a virtue ethicist than a consequentialist, and almost certainly a monist, rather than a dualist (that is to say, in a metaphysical sense, I find myself agreeing more with Spinoza than Descartes, and notably more with Hinduism than Christianity in its view of God and the universe). Though, I must admit, I’m still not certain whether my own personal philosophy fits in more with the analytic or continental tradition – I’ll have to work that one out. Seriously, though, I find philosophy fascinating – it is, after all, the study of and attempt to make sense of the general and fundamental problems of all existence, problems that every human being (provided they’re bothered to think about it) has grappled with since time immemorial, and continues to do so today.