Origen and the Life of the Stars
A History of an Idea
This item is a print on demand title and will be dispatched in 1-3 weeks.
Paperback / softback
£41.49
QTY
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 9780198263616
Number of Pages: 206
Published: 20/01/1994
Width: 13.6 cm
Height: 21.4 cm
It was widely assumed by intellectuals from antiquity to the Middle Ages that the beauty and regularity of the heavens was a sign of their superior life. Through this belief the stars gained an important position in Greek religion, and speculations on their nature figured prominently in discussions of human psychology and eschatology.
In the third century AD the influential Christian theologian Origen included Hellenistic theories on the life and nature of the stars in his cosmology. This marked an interesting episode in the history of the idea, but it also had important implications for early Christian theology. Although he was condemned as heretical for these (and other) speculations, he was successful in incorporating traditional philosophical theories about the stars into a biblical theology.
"Scott provides us a distinctive perspective on Christian attitudes to the natural world and awareness of the natural sciences. He also helps us better understand the world-view ultimately apotheosized in Dante's Paradiso."--Journal of Early Christian Studies"[A] fine comprehensive study....Scott's copious accumulation and accessible arrangement of evidence alone make this a necessary acquisition for all research libraries."--Choice"Scott's control of primary and secondary sources is masterful."--The Classical World