Doctrine and Philosophy in Early Christianity: Arius, Athanasius, Augustine / Edition 1

by Christopher Stead

Overview

The studies in this second collection by Professor Stead, which includes three pieces hitherto unpublished, investigate in detail the philosophical basis and legitimacy of important statements of early Christian doctrine, focusing on the writings of Arius, Athanasius and Augustine. Arius is shown as a theologian of merit, rather than the monster portrayed by conventional historians, with Athanasius' polemical attacks on him emerging as ill-founded - though Athanasius' own positive teaching is deservedly famous. Augustine appears as not only a masterly theologian, but an enterprising philosopher, albeit one capable of error. His cosmology, often neglected, forms the subject of one of the unpublished studies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780860788300
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	08/09/2000
Series:	Variorum Collected Studies
Pages:	314
Product dimensions:	5.88(w) x 8.81(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

Contents: Introduction; Greek influence on Christian thought; The appropriation of the philosophical concept of God by early Christian theologians: W. Pannenberg’s Thesis Reconsidered; Marcel Richard on Malchion and Paul of Samosata; Arius in modern research; Was Arius a Neoplatonist?; Arius on God’s many words; The Word ’from nothing’; The Arian controversy: a new perspective; Knowledge of God in Eusebius and Athanasius; Athanasius’ earliest written work; Athanasius als Exeget; The Scriptures and the soul of Christ in Athanasius; St. Athanasius on the Psalms; Why not three Gods? The logic of Gregory of Nyssa’s Trinitarian Doctrine; Augustine’s philosophy of being; The intelligible world in Platonic tradition, Marius Victorinus and Augustine; Augustine’s universe; Augustine’s De Magistro: a philosopher’s view (with addendum); Augustine, the Meno and the subconscious mind; Logic and the application of names to God; Divine simplicity as a problem for orthodoxy; Index.

Editorial Reviews

'...the book provides an intellectual rich and rigorous journey through fourth- and fifth-century Christian thought...' Journal of Early Christian Studies 'It is the chief merit of this series to make available between two covers works that are not readly accessible... the series appears to be moving in a gratifying direction... an extremely useful introduction... enormously learned... essential reading... a thoroughly remarkable collection of essays.' Adamantius

From the Publisher

As a sequel to his 1985 collection for the series, Stead here presents 11 papers he considers to be the most important of his work from then until 1997. Most of them deal with the three named Christian theologians of the fourth and fifth centuries, but they start with the beginnings of Christian doctrine and follow a chronological order. The topics include a reconsideration of W. Pannenberg's thesis relating to the appropriation of the philosophical concept of God by early Christian theology, Arius in modern research, the knowledge of God in Eusebius and Athanasius, the logic of Gregory of Nyssa's trinitarian doctrine, Augustine's philosophy of being, and divine simplicity as a problem for orthodoxy. The essays are reproduced from their original publication in a number of type styles. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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