The Aëtian Placita and the church fathers : creative use of a distinctive mode of ordering knowledge

Book chapter

Runia, David T. (2023). The Aëtian Placita and the church fathers : creative use of a distinctive mode of ordering knowledge. In In Ayres, Lewis, Champion, Michael W. and Crawford, Matthew R. (Ed.). The intellectual world of late antique Christianity : Reshaping classical traditions pp. 198 - 220 Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108883559.014
AuthorsRunia, David T
EditorsAyres, Lewis, Champion, Michael W. and Crawford, Matthew R.
Abstract

The church fathers made a significant contribution to the almost complete preservation of the Placita of Aëtius. In this chapter I investigate what motivated them to use it so extensively. I first introduce the Placita, outlining six features that give this work a distinctive mode of ordering knowledge. Philo of Alexandria, the first of eight authors to be discussed, is not a Christian. Nevertheless his approach to the variety of philosophical doctrines recorded in the antecdent tradition of the Placita will be crucial for his Christian successors. These commence with Athenagoras and Hermias, followed by three fourth-century authors, Eusebius, Pseudo-Justin and Nemesius, and conclude with two fifth-century writers, Cyril of Alexandrian and Theodoret. Although the Placita bring order into the vast body of contradictory doctrines put forward by the philosophers, this ‘structured disorder’ is in sharp contrast to the ordering of Christian knowledge, which is presented as being founded on a unified body of revealed truth.

Keywords Aëtius; doxography; dissensio philosophorum; Philo of Alexandria; Athenagoras; Hermias; Eusebius; Pseudo-Justin; Nemesius; Cyril of Alexandria; Theodoret of Cyrrhus
Page range198 - 220
Year01 Jan 2023
Book titleThe intellectual world of late antique Christianity : Reshaping classical traditions
PublisherCambridge University Press
Place of publicationUnited Kingdom
ISBN9781108883559
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108883559.014
Web address (URL)https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/intellectual-world-of-late-antique-christianity/aetian-placita-and-the-church-fathers-creative-use-of-a-distinctive-mode-of-ordering-knowledge/9E11409F96D87E29B7F9875B04B8967C
Open accessPublished as non-open access
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Output statusPublished
Publication dates
Online05 Oct 2023
Publication process dates
Accepted2023
Deposited20 Jun 2024
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© Cambridge University Press & Assessment 2023

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