Philosophy and Theology in Late Antiquity: Some reflections on concepts and terminologies

<p>The question of the relationship between nascent Christian thought in late antiquity and the philosophical tradition is neither new nor original. Of the various answers that have been proposed, however, many can be classified into a binary according to which Christian thought in the Patris...

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Main Author: Zachhuber, J
Other Authors: Anagnostou-Laoutides, E
Format: Book section
Language:English
Published: Brill 2020
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author Zachhuber, J
author2 Anagnostou-Laoutides, E
author_facet Anagnostou-Laoutides, E
Zachhuber, J
author_sort Zachhuber, J
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description <p>The question of the relationship between nascent Christian thought in late antiquity and the philosophical tradition is neither new nor original. Of the various answers that have been proposed, however, many can be classified into a binary according to which Christian thought in the Patristic period is either seen as primarily opposed to philosophy or as strongly, potentially unduly, dependent on it. In this book chapter, I query this alternative and argue that it rests on an ultimately anachronistic distinction between philosophy and theology. Instead I seek to demonstrate that Patristic &#x2018;theology&#x2019; can helpfully be understood in analogy to a philosophical school. By carefully examining the potential as well as the limitations of this analogy, my paper aims at an understanding of ancient Christian thought as fully embedded in its historical context while reckoning with its sui-generis character.</p>
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spelling oxford-uuid:098bb738-720a-4c2a-895f-82c480c921c82022-03-26T09:18:54ZPhilosophy and Theology in Late Antiquity: Some reflections on concepts and terminologiesBook sectionhttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_1843uuid:098bb738-720a-4c2a-895f-82c480c921c8EnglishSymplectic ElementsBrill2020Zachhuber, JAnagnostou-Laoutides, EParry, K<p>The question of the relationship between nascent Christian thought in late antiquity and the philosophical tradition is neither new nor original. Of the various answers that have been proposed, however, many can be classified into a binary according to which Christian thought in the Patristic period is either seen as primarily opposed to philosophy or as strongly, potentially unduly, dependent on it. In this book chapter, I query this alternative and argue that it rests on an ultimately anachronistic distinction between philosophy and theology. Instead I seek to demonstrate that Patristic &#x2018;theology&#x2019; can helpfully be understood in analogy to a philosophical school. By carefully examining the potential as well as the limitations of this analogy, my paper aims at an understanding of ancient Christian thought as fully embedded in its historical context while reckoning with its sui-generis character.</p>
spellingShingle Zachhuber, J
Philosophy and Theology in Late Antiquity: Some reflections on concepts and terminologies
title Philosophy and Theology in Late Antiquity: Some reflections on concepts and terminologies
title_full Philosophy and Theology in Late Antiquity: Some reflections on concepts and terminologies
title_fullStr Philosophy and Theology in Late Antiquity: Some reflections on concepts and terminologies
title_full_unstemmed Philosophy and Theology in Late Antiquity: Some reflections on concepts and terminologies
title_short Philosophy and Theology in Late Antiquity: Some reflections on concepts and terminologies
title_sort philosophy and theology in late antiquity some reflections on concepts and terminologies
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