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
Research or scholarlyResearch
Publisher's version
License
All rights reserved
File Access Level
Controlled
Output statusPublished
Publication dates
Online05 Oct 2023
Publication process dates
Accepted2023
Deposited20 Jun 2024
Additional information

© Cambridge University Press & Assessment 2023

Permalink -

https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/item/909q7/the-a-tian-placita-and-the-church-fathers-creative-use-of-a-distinctive-mode-of-ordering-knowledge

Log in to edit

Restricted files

Publisher's version

  • 27
    total views
  • 0
    total downloads
  • 2
    views this month
  • 0
    downloads this month
These values are for the period from 19th October 2020, when this repository was created.

Export as

Related outputs

Aëtiana V (4 vols.) : An edition of the reconstructed text of the Placita with a commentary and a collection of related texts
Mansfield, Jaap and Runia, David T.. (2020). Aëtiana V (4 vols.) : An edition of the reconstructed text of the Placita with a commentary and a collection of related texts Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004428409
The Armenian Corpus of Philo and Recent Philonic Scholarship (in Armenian with summary)
David Runia. (2020). The Armenian Corpus of Philo and Recent Philonic Scholarship (in Armenian with summary). Bulletin of Matenadaran. 29, pp. 29-46.
Philo of Alexandria : An annotated bibliography 2016
Runia, D. T., Alesso, M., Birnbaum, E., Geljon, A. C., Keizer, H. M., Leonhardt-Balzer, J., Niehoff, M. R., Pearce, S. J. K., Weisser, S. and Yli-Karjanmaa, S.. (2019). Philo of Alexandria : An annotated bibliography 2016. In In Runia, David T. and Sterling, Gregory E. (Ed.). The studia philonica annual ; volume XXXI pp. 227-277 SBL Press.
Is Philo committed to the doctrine of reincarnation?
Runia, David T.. (2019). Is Philo committed to the doctrine of reincarnation? In In Runia, David T. and Sterling, Gregory E. (Ed.). The studia philonica annual XXXI, 2019 : studies in hellenistic judaism pp. 107-125 Society of Biblical Literature. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvrs8z2c.8
Philo, quaestiones in Genesim 2.62 and the problem of Deutero-theology
Runia, David T.. (2019). Philo, quaestiones in Genesim 2.62 and the problem of Deutero-theology. In In Weitenberg, Joseph, Johannes Sicco and Bläsing, Uwe (Ed.). Armenian, Hittite, and Indo-European studies : A commemoration volume for Jos J.S. Weitenberg pp. 259-269 Leuven Peeters.
Philo of Alexandria on Planting: Introduction, Translation, and Commentary
Geljon, Albert and Runia, David. (2019). Philo of Alexandria on Planting: Introduction, Translation, and Commentary Brill.
Philo of Alexandria : An annotated bibliography 2015
Runia, D. T., Alesso, M., Birnbaum , E., Geljon, A. C., Keizer, H. M., Leonhardt-Balzer, J., Niehoff, M. R., Pearce , S. J. K., Seland, S. and Weisser, S.. (2018). Philo of Alexandria : An annotated bibliography 2015. In In Runia, D. T., Sterling, Gregory E., Pearce, Sarah J. K. and Cover, Michael (Ed.). The studia philonica annual ; volume XXX pp. 115-164 SBL Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv75d0hr.10
Epicurus and the Placita
Runia, David T.. (2018). Epicurus and the Placita. In In Jaap Mansfeld and David Runia (Ed.). Aëtiana IV: Papers of the Melbourne Colloquium on Ancient Doxography pp. 377-432 Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004361461_012
The structure of Philo’s de Plantatione and its place in the allegorical commentary
Runia, David T.. (2017). The structure of Philo’s de Plantatione and its place in the allegorical commentary. In In Runia, David T. and Sterling, Gregory E. (Ed.). The studia philonica annual : Studies in Hellenistic Judaism ; volume XXIX pp. 115-138 SBL Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1w6tdhx.10
Philo of Alexandria : An annotated bibliography 2014
Runia, D. T., Alesso, M., Birnbaum, E., Geljon, A. C., Keizer, H. M., Leonhardt-Balzer, J., Niehoff , M. R., Pearce, S. J. K., Seland, T. and Weisser, S.. (2017). Philo of Alexandria : An annotated bibliography 2014. In In Runia, David T. and Sterling, Gregory E. (Ed.). The studia philonica annual : Studies in Hellenistic Judaism ; volume XXIX pp. 185-228 SBL Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1w6tdhx.13
Introduction to Special Section : Philo's de Plantatione
Runia, David T.. (2017). Introduction to Special Section : Philo's de Plantatione. In In Runia, David T. and Sterling, Gregory E. (Ed.). The studia philonica annual : Studies in Hellenisitic Judaism ; volume XXIX pp. 111-114 SBL Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt1w6tdhx.9
Synesius of Cyrene's Homily 1 and the Alexandrian exegetical tradition
Runia, David T.. (2017). Synesius of Cyrene's Homily 1 and the Alexandrian exegetical tradition. In In Minchin, Elizabeth and Jackson, Heather (Ed.). Text and the material world : Essays in honour of Graeme Clarke pp. 329-338 Astrom Editions.
From Stoicism to Platonism: The Difficult Case of Philo of Alexandria’s De Providentia I
Runia, David. (2017). From Stoicism to Platonism: The Difficult Case of Philo of Alexandria’s De Providentia I. In In Troels Engberg-Pedersen (Ed.). From Stoicism to Platonism: The Development of Philosophy, 100 BCE-100 CE pp. 159-178 Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316694459.009
Philo in Byzantium: An exploration
Runia, David T.. (2016). Philo in Byzantium: An exploration. Vigiliae Christinane. 70(3), pp. 259 - 281. https://doi.org/10.1163/15700720-12341257