The Cappadocians and their Christian Philosophy

2020 ◽  
pp. 15-71
Author(s):  
Johannes Zachhuber
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Abstract Theory ◽  
Christian Philosophy ◽  
Gregory Of Nyssa ◽  
Introductory Overview ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
Cappadocian Fathers

This chapter offers an in-depth analysis of the philosophy underlying the teaching of the so-called Cappadocian fathers. After an introductory overview of their historical and intellectual background in the trinitarian controversy of the fourth century, the chapter initially turns to Basil of Caesarea. He introduced a distinctive terminological and conceptual framework to articulate his proposal for a solution to the trinitarian controversy. Philosophically, it is geared towards grammar and logic; it is therefore called the ‘abstract’ dimension of the Cappadocian theory. All three Cappadocians accept this abstract theory. Subsequently, the chapter turns to Gregory of Nyssa who in his cosmological and trinitarian writings develops a corresponding theory geared towards physics and ontology. It will be referred to as the ‘concrete’ dimension of Cappadocian philosophy. These two are conceived as complementary but their difference introduces a conceptual tension into the Cappadocian theory.

The Cappadocian Fathers and Civic Patriotism

1974 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 293-303 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas A. Kopecek
Keyword(s):  
Social Class ◽  
Recent Article ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Strong Sense ◽  
Traditional Values ◽  
Family Ties ◽  
Gregory Of Nyssa ◽  
Present Essay ◽  
The Social ◽  
Cappadocian Fathers

In a recent article I argued that the famous Cappadocian Fathers of the fourth century were by birth members of the eastern empire's municipal aristocracy, the so-called curial class. Libanius of Antioch, himself born of a curial family, indicates that this social class was characterized by three traditional values: civic patriotism, devotion to Greek paideia and a strong sense of the importance of family ties and tradition. The purpose of the present essay is to focus on the first and most important component of the threcfold “curial ideal” —that is, civic patriotism — and to investigate the extent to which this value of the social circles to which the Fathers belonged influenced their thought and action as clerics. Although Gregory of Nyssa, the youngest of the Cappadocian Fathers, was not at all immune to the influence of other curial values, our sources reveal little effect of civic patriotism upon his clerical activity. Therefore our study will concentrate on the older Cappadocians, Bishop Gregory the Elder of Nazianzus, his son Bishop Gregory of Nazianzus and Bishop Basil of Caesarea.

Introduction

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Johannes Zachhuber
Keyword(s):  
Classical Theory ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Second Century ◽  
Christian Philosophy ◽  
History Of ◽  
Cappadocian Fathers ◽  
Christian Thought ◽  
Selection Of ◽  
Theory Lead

This chapter provides an overall introduction to the book. It outlines its methodological approach, explains the selection of authors, and sets out the case that will be argued. Central for the approach is the concept of Patristic philosophy meant to stem the traditional dualism of Christian thought and philosophy. Christian writers themselves are thus seen as philosophers. While Christian philosophy in this sense began in the second century, it obtains a distinctive shape at the end of the fourth century through the work of the Cappadocian fathers. The book recounts the history of this uniquely influential, classical theory. It is subsequently received but also modified and transformed. The history must represent the diversity of this development and cannot be restricted to Chalcedonian authors only. The tensions between the needs of the Christological controversy and the inherited Cappadocian theory lead to philosophical innovations that prepare much later developments.

Art, Craft, and Theology in Fourth-Century Christian Authors

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Morwenna Ludlow
Keyword(s):  
Fourth Century ◽  
Detailed Examination ◽  
Fine Art ◽  
Active Response ◽  
Gregory Of Nyssa ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Shared Practice ◽  
John Chrysostom ◽  
Literary Techniques ◽  
Applied Arts

Ancient authors commonly compared writing with painting. The sculpting of the soul was a common philosophical theme. This book takes its starting-point from such figures to recover a sense of ancient authorship as craft. The ancient concept of craft (ars, technē) spans ‘high’ or ‘fine’ art and practical or applied arts. It unites the beautiful and the useful. It includes both skills or practices (like medicine and music) and productive arts like painting, sculpting, and the composition of texts. By using craft as a guiding concept for understanding fourth-century Christian authorship, this book recovers a sense of them engaged in a shared practice which is both beautiful and theologically useful, which shapes souls but which is also engaged in the production of texts. It focuses on Greek writers, especially the Cappadocians (Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nazianzus, and Gregory of Nyssa) and John Chrysostom, all of whom were trained in rhetoric. Through a detailed examination of their use of two particular literary techniques—ekphrasis and prosōpopoeia—it shows how they adapt and experiment with them, in order to make theological arguments and in order to evoke an active response from their readership.

The Rise of Christian Theology and the End of Ancient Metaphysics

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannes Zachhuber
Keyword(s):  
Subsequent Development ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Gregory Of Nyssa ◽  
Eastern Christianity ◽  
First Millennium ◽  
Full Analysis ◽  
Conceptual Problems ◽  
Philosophical Project ◽  
First Time

It has rarely been recognized that the Christian writers of the first millennium pursued an ambitious and exciting philosophical project alongside their engagement in the doctrinal controversies of their age. This book offers for the first time a full analysis of this Patristic philosophy. It shows how it took its distinctive shape in the late fourth century and gives an account of its subsequent development until the time of John of Damascus. The book falls into three main parts. The first of them starts from an analysis of the philosophical project underlying the teaching of the Cappadocian fathers, Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nyssa, and Gregory of Nazianzus. This philosophy, arguably the first distinctively Christian theory of being, soon becomes near-universally shared in Eastern Christianity. A few decades after the Cappadocians, all sides in the early Christological controversy take its fundamental tenets for granted. Its application to the Christological problem thus appeared inevitable. Yet it created substantial conceptual problems. Parts II and III of the book describe in detail how these problems led to a series of increasingly radical modifications of the Cappadocian philosophy. The chapters of Part II are dedicated to the miaphysite opponents of the Council of Chalcedon, while Part III discusses the defenders of the Council from the early sixth to the eighth centuries. Through this overview, the book reveals this period as one of remarkable philosophical creativity, fecundity, and innovation.

scholarly journals Classification and Measurement of the Firms’ Resources and Capabilities Applied to Eco-Innovation Projects from a Resource-Based View Perspective

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 3161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pilar Portillo-Tarragona ◽  
Sabina Scarpellini ◽  
Jose Moneva ◽  
Jesus Valero-Gil ◽  
Alfonso Aranda-Usón
Keyword(s):  
Natural Resources ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Corporate Sustainability ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Resource Based View ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
Innovation Projects ◽  
Resources And Capabilities

Interest from academics, policy–makers and practitioners in eco-innovation has increased as it enables the optimization of the use of natural resources improving competitiveness and it provides a conceptual framework for corporate sustainability. In this context, this paper provides an in-depth analysis and a wide classification of the specific indicators for the integrated measurement of eco-innovation projects in business from a resource-based view (RBV). The specific metrics were tested to measure the economic-financial and environmental resources and capabilities applied by five Spanish firms to eco-innovation projects, selected as case studies.

scholarly journals The Nature of Theology and the Extent of the Atonement

Perichoresis ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 3-18
Author(s):  
Stephen R. Holmes
Keyword(s):  
Fourth Century ◽  
Gregory Of Nyssa ◽  
2 Corinthians ◽  
Doctrine Of The Trinity ◽  
Scriptural Exegesis ◽  
Biblical Texts ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
English Baptist ◽  
The Trinity

Abstract This article considers the post-Reformation debates over the extent of the Atonement. It traces the origins of these debates from the articles of the Arminian Remonstrance of 1610 through the declarations of the supporters of the Synod of Dort in 1618-19. The debate is then considered in relation to an English Baptist context, and specifically the exegetical dispute over the meaning of the word ‘all’ in 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 and Romans 3:23-4. Three options are examined and the various difficulties in arbitrating between these various interpretations. Recognising these difficulties, the article goes on to explore the relationship between scriptural exegesis and theology with reference to the formulation of the ecumenical doctrine of the Trinity in the fourth century. It argues that while theology should always attempt to be consistent with the exegetical data on occasion it proves inconclusive, as in the case of the debate over the extent of the atonement. In such cases the role of theology becomes one of mediation as it seeks a way of reading the texts of Scripture that allows them to be heard without contradicting each other. Again, this is illustrated from the fourth century and the Christology of Basil of Caesarea and Gregory of Nyssa. Returning to the question of atonement with this understanding of the task of theology the article seeks to propose a way to reconcile the biblical texts which speak of the atonement as both universal and limited.

scholarly journals St Maximus the confessor’s teaching on movement

2013 ◽  
pp. 33-48
Author(s):  
Vladimir Cvetkovic
Keyword(s):  
Christian Tradition ◽  
Basic Principles ◽  
Christian Philosophy ◽  
Dionysius The Areopagite ◽  
The Creation ◽  
Cappadocian Fathers ◽  
Maximus The Confessor ◽  
Supreme Being

The article aims to present how the Byzantine scholar St Maximus the Confessor perceived the notion of movement (kinesis). St Maximus exposed his teaching on movement in the course of his refutation of Origenism, which regarded the movement of created beings away from God as the cause of breaking the original unity that existed between the Creation and the Creator. By reversing Origen?s triad ?rest? - ?movement? - ?becoming? into the triad ?becoming? - ?movement? - ?rest?, St Maximus viewed the movement toward God as the sole goal of created beings, finding in the supreme being the repose of their own movement. In addition to the cosmological view of the movement, St Maximus developed a psychological and an ontological view on movement, relying on previous Christian tradition. By transforming and adapting Aristotelian and Neoplatonic notions to the basic principles of Christian metaphysics, St Maximus creates a new Christian philosophy of movement which he supported primarily with the views of the Cappadocian Fathers and Dionysius the Areopagite.

Sound and Unsound Teachings in the Ad Evagrium (CPG 3222/1774): Problems of Authenticity and Doctrinal Context of a Pseudo-Gregorian Work

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 445-478
Author(s):  
Francesco Celia
Keyword(s):  
Holy Spirit ◽  
Fourth Century ◽  
Gregory Of Nyssa ◽  
The Third ◽  
Degree Of Certainty

Abstract Among the works ascribed to Gregory Thaumaturgus, Gregory of Nazianzus, and Gregory of Nyssa there is one entitled, in Greek, Ad Evagrium monachum, de deitate, and, in Syriac, Ad Philagrium, de consubstantiali, which deals with the issue of whether the nature of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is simple or composite. While the attributions to the Cappadocians have been ruled out on the basis of its Monarchian contents, current scholarship is still completely divided in dating it to the third or to the fourth century, so that the mutually exclusive hypotheses that the Thaumaturgus was its author and that Evagrius of Pontus was its addressee have continued to coexist. This study accounts for the investigations of previous scholars and focuses on those doctrinal contents which are attacked and endorsed in the work and which allow us to date it with some degree of certainty. It is argued that the main polemical focus of the Ad Evagrium was Eunomius’ theory of names and that it was written by an exponent of the Marcellian party in the late 370 s.

scholarly journals Die Christelike filosofie van H. Dooyeweerd (1894–1977) soos gerekonstrueer volgens Vollenhoven se probleem-historiese metode

2013 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
B. J. Van der Walt
Keyword(s):  
Present Article ◽  
Critical Realism ◽  
Background Information ◽  
Christian Philosophy ◽  
The Road ◽  
Historical Method ◽  
The Third ◽  
Fourth Part ◽  
Introductory Overview ◽  
New Research

Hierdie inleidende, oorsigtelike artikel is die derde in ’n reeks van drie in hierdie tydskrif. Die kort trilogie beoog om die grondleggers van ’n Christelike filosofie, naamlik D.H.Th. Vollenhoven (1892–1978), H.G. Stoker (1899–1993) en H. Dooyeweerd (1894–1977) bekend te stel. In hierdie bydrae word gepoog om die hooftrekke van Dooyeweerd se komplekse filosofiese ontwikkelingsgang te rekonstrueer met behulp van sy Nederlandse kollega, Vollenhoven, se probleem-historiese metode van wysgerige historiografie. Ter inleiding word belangrike agtergrondinligting oor hierdie internasionaal erkende Christelike denker gegee. Daar word ook daarop gewys dat Dooyeweerd en Vollenhoven aan die begin (1918–1922) dieselfde filosofiese standpunt (wat deur Vollenhoven ontwerp is) gehuldig het. Mettertyd het hulle filosofiese paaie egter verskillend ontwikkel en groot verskille het in hulle konsepsies ontstaan. In die tweede gedeelte word eerstens daarop gewys dat Vollenhoven asook verskeie van sy leerlinge lank tevore reeds monargianistiese tendense by Dooyeweerd vermoed het. Sedert 2010 suggereer navorsing dat Dooyeweerd se filosofie oor ’n periode van ongeveer 50 jaar deur ten minste die volgende drie verskillende fases ontwikkel het: 1918–1922 (kritiese realisme), 1923–1928 (semimistiek) en 1929–1977 (monistiese monargianisme). Met hierdie indeling as hipotese word daarna verskillende moontlike invloede op Dooyeweerd van binne die eie geesgenootlike kring sowel as daarbuite nagegaan. Laastens word enkele van sy uitstaande bydraes uitgelig. Op grond van ’n terugblik van al drie die bydraes in hierdie reeks, word ten slotte enkele opmerkings ten opsigte van die pad vorentoe gemaak.This introductory overview is the third in a series of three in this journal. The aim of this trilogy is to introduce the founders of a Christian philosophy, viz. D.H.Th. Vollenhoven (1892–1978), H.G. Stoker (1899–1993) and H. Dooyeweerd (1994–1977) to the readers. The present article tries to reconstruct the contours of the complex philosophical development of Dooyeweerd by employing the problem-historical method of philosophical historiography of his colleague, Vollenhoven. The introduction provides important background information about this internationally acclaimed scholar. It is indicated that at the emergence of a reformational philosophy (1918–1922) these two thinkers shared a viewpoint mainly developed by Vollenhoven. Afterwards, however, their philosophical journeys developed in different directions, distinct from each other. A second section of the article draws attention to the fact that since long ago Vollenhoven and some of his followers suspected monarchian tendencies in Dooyeweerd’s thinking. Since 2010 new research suggests that his philosophy developed during a period of about 50 years through at least the following three phases: 1918–1922 (critical realism), 1923–1928 (semi-mysticism) and 1929–1977 (monistic monarchianism). This hypothesis about Dooyeweerd’s philosophical development enables a next (third) step, viz. to trace the possible internal influences (from his like-minded predecessors) as well as external (secular) ones on the formation of his thought. A following (fourth) part provides a few highlights of his contribution to Christian scholarship. Finally, in retrospection on all three articles, this contribution is concluded with a few remarks about the road ahead.

Transforming into Global Universities

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-47 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuangmiao Han ◽  
Zhou Zhong
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Research Universities ◽  
Efficient Strategy ◽  
Depth Analysis ◽  
World Class ◽  
Generic Strategies ◽  
International Strategies ◽  
University Internationalization

Effective and efficient strategy is central to university internationalization. This study focused on 50 top research universities worldwide to compare their international endeavors through in-depth analysis of their publicly stated international strategies. The study conducted a typological analysis of those world-class research universities at macro, meso and micro levels. The findings point to a set of generic strategies across the universities, as well as various specific strategies at individual universities. We provide a conceptual framework to describe, explain and evaluate university international strategies.

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