Manea Erna Shirinian: Schema isagogicum apud Patres Ecclesiae

The aim of this paper is to show that the so called schema isagogicum was widely used not only in late antiquity and among late Platonist commentators, but was actively applied for the study of the Bible and biblical exegesis, especially by the Fathers of the Church. Experts use to speak only about Origen and Proclus exercising these isagogical structures while there exist sources, which can prove that the prolegomena - introductory studies or questions, which use to have a propaedeutic character, are present in the commentaries on the books of the Bible by such an authorities as Gregory of Nyssa, Gregory the Theologian, Basil of Caesarea, Evagrius Ponticus, Ephrem the Syrian et al.The main witness to this statement is found in Armenian translations of such prolegomena called mainly "causes" (patčaŕk‘). Moreover, in Armenian manuscript tradition there exist even a collections of these "causes". One of them is the writing under the provisional title the Book of Causes, fuller title reads: "The Causes of wide and subtle writings taken from [the works] of the holy fathers and vardapets (doctors of theology) gathered together and provided by the great rabunapet Grigor, the son of Abas".This unpublished yet isagogical manual, i.e a handbook on Biblical Introduction, composed in the early13th century in Armenia,by the abbot of Sanahin Monastery Grigor the son of Abas. This book is an amazing witness of the Armenian reception of the Greek philosophical and patristic theological heritage.

Marilyn Lewis: Henry Hallywell (1641-1703): A Cambridge Origenist in Parochial Sussex

Henry Hallywell was a pupil at Christ’s College, Cambridge, of George Rust, the probable author of A Letter of Resolution concerning Origen (1661). Hallywell fully accepted Rust’s Origenism, and his writings also demonstrate the influence of Henry More, Ralph Cudworth and Benjamin Whichcote. Writing from a succession of parochial livings in rural Sussex, Hallywell’s Origenism was expressed in a series of short books aimed at a general educated readership. Drawing on these publications, as well as on his six unpublished letters to Henry More, this paper will explore Hallywell’s Origenism in four areas of his soteriological thought: 1) the pre-existence of souls; 2) the doctrine of accommodation; 3) deiformity, with an emphasis on participation in the absolute goodness of God; and 4) the final judgement and millennium. Hallywell’s rejection of Calvinist double predestination, his emphasis on personal responsibility and freedom, and his affirmation of God’s loving desire to save all creation will be explored. Despite recent scholarly doubts concerning the existence of Cambridge Platonism as a distinct strand in seventeenth-century theological/philosophical thought, Hallywell will be presented as an exemplary member of this circle, who has only recently received sustained attention.

Oscar Velasquez: Augustinian Interiority and Platonic Dialectics: From Cassiciacum to Confessions.

This proposal suggests that both Platonic dialectics and Augustinian interiority have in their origin the similar character of a spiritual methodology for the correct search that leads to the intelligible truth. From Cassiciacum’s dialogues and several of the next dialogues was developed a philosophy of interiority, which reveals an explicit Platonic and Neoplatonic origin. This philosophical methodical procedure to intelligible truth, has two variants, particularly examined in Republic and in Phaedo respectively. The former is accomplished through paideia, the latter through a ‘shortcut’ (ἀτραπός τις, Fd 66b) that leads into the interior self. Both methods are present from Casiciacum on, and the latter shows a particular interior turn. This intimate gyre of the soul toward the self is a dialectical methodology of interiority. I would consider in Augustine what I call the Christian turn of Platonic dialectis, i. e. the uia or path to encounter with Christ the Truth. Cassiciacum’s dialogues ord., Acad.will reveal direct links with dialectics, besides those texts clearly originating from Plotinus and possibly, Porphyry. The sol. close a cycle of interiority characterized by the absence of the name of Christ and explicit Christian theology. From those dialogues on Platonic dialectics is mostly called the uia. The transition to a properly Christian interiority will be analyzed in mag., lib. arb., uera rel. It is suggested that a full mature method of a Christian methodic path to truth will culminate in conf. The Verb is the true uia of salvation.

Samuel Kaldas: Flight of the Living Dead: Asceticism as Living Death in the Desert Fathers and Late Platonists

In late antiquity, some Desert Fathers and late Platonists professed a vehement desire to be dead. This was because they both considered ordinary human life — life in a body filled with passions — an unnatural condition which could only be escaped by death. But neither community advocated suicide. Instead, they both strove to approximate the state of being dead as far possible through ascetic living: Platonists fasted, abstained from sex and fled from political society; not to be outdone, the Desert Fathers adopted a variety of ascetic practices that took literal corpses as models for imitation (for instance, taking up residence in abandoned tombs or taking vows of silence). In this way, without committing the sin of suicide, they could begin to enjoy the blessed release from the tyranny of the passions which they hoped bodily death would eventually bring them.This paper compares the 'philosophies of death' that underlie the ascetic practices of the late Platonists and Desert Fathers, particularly with regard to their differing attitudes about the body. To wit, while the Platonists viewed the body itself as an evil: living death was a way of preparing the soul to make a permanent exit from its bodily prison. But Desert Fathers (constrained by the doctrines of the incarnation and general resurrection) viewed their living death as a participation in Christ's death, and a means of cleansing the body from its fallen condition and preparing it for resurrection.

Laela Zwollo: “Some Considerations on Augustine’s Refutation of the Neo-Platonist Porphyry in book 10 of The City of God”

Augustine’s literary monument, The City of God,(writtenca.413-426)is a lengthy exposition on his doctrine of the two cities, the earthly and the heavenly city. It is also an anti-pagan treatise in which he scrutinizes pagan philosophies and religions. It includes an assessment of Platonist philosophy, intended to demonstrate which elements of Platonism can be shared by Christians and do not conflict with Catholic doctrine. The conceptions he explains are plentiful. However he also has numerous points of major critique for these philosophers. This is where Augustine’s treatment of Porphyry (ca. 234-305)comes into the picture.Here he criticizes this philosopher’s involvement with theurgy. Theurgy entails ritual practices in which benevolent demons are called upon to aid the seeker of truth in order to experience the divine. The church father vehemently attacks these practices, alongside his criticism of all ancient pagan religions in general.At first sight, it may seem clear what Augustine’s treatment of Porphyry is all about: refuting aspects of Platonism which do not bring one closer to truth or promote the entrance into future Heavenly City of God. Yet the tone of his treatment of Porphyry is resentful and angry; his refutation is lengthy beyond proportion. It stands in contrast to his otherwise sympathetic treatment of other Platonists. The passages in book 10 are actually ridden with problems and paradoxes.This communication will highlight a few of the many problems in Augustine’s refutation of Porphyry in The City of God.

David Lloyd Dusenbury: The World City: A Reconstruction of Nemesius of Emesa’s De Natura Hominis

This paper will sketch a new and coherent interpretation of Nemesius of Emesa’s conspectus of late-antique anthropology, De Natura Hominis (ca 390). The Stoics held that “the world … is like a city and a polity”. Their Hellenistic ‘world city’ theory likened “human nature” (natura hominis) to “a code of civil law” (Cicero Fin. III 62–67). Now, the bishop of Emesa rejects numerous Stoic tenets. His ‘world city’ is not theirs. Moreover, he criticizes aspects of the Platonic ‘world city’, as set out in the Timaeus. Nevertheless, for Nemesius – as for the Stoics, and late-antique Platonists – the human person is a natural-born world-citizen who is in communion with the whole of creation, and indeed with the Demiurge, since humankind is a “child of God” (θεοῦ τέκνον). Thus, Nemesius opens the Nat. Hom. with an elaborate description of divine creation as οἰκείωσις, and his (unfinished) text closes with a closely argued defence of divine providence as διοίκησις. Nemesius accepts in Nat. Hom. 1 that humankind is “by nature … a political animal”, and his description of human nature is thoroughly political. It is the idea of a ‘world city’ which gives structural and conceptual unity to Nemesius’ Nat. Hom. – a unity which his 19th and 20th-century source-critical interpreters failed to recognize.