Science and Theology in Gregory of Nyssa's De anima et Resurrectione: Astronomy and Automata
This article examines two sections of Gregory of Nyssa's De anima et resurrectione which introduce scientific phenomena: from astronomy (eclipses and the phases of the moon) and physics (a water-device). Each passage is set in its intellectual context and possible sources are suggested. I argue...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
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| Fernleihe: | Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste |
| Published: |
Oxford University Press
2009
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| In: |
The journal of theological studies
Year: 2009, Volume: 60, Issue: 2, Pages: 467-489 |
| Online Access: |
Presumably Free Access Volltext (JSTOR) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Summary: | This article examines two sections of Gregory of Nyssa's De anima et resurrectione which introduce scientific phenomena: from astronomy (eclipses and the phases of the moon) and physics (a water-device). Each passage is set in its intellectual context and possible sources are suggested. I argue that the water-device was part of an automaton, not a water-organ as previously argued. The primary importance of these passages, however, lies in their role in Gregory's dialogue as a whole: far from being merely illustrative or designed for rhetorical display, they drive the argument onwards. The first example establishes a general epistemological principle (knowledge requires the cooperation of reason and sense-experience) which is applied to the second example's argument for the existence of the soul. Gregory uses these examples to emphasize the importance of matter as part of God's good creation: this reinforces his later emphasis on the human body (especially its resurrection). Furthermore, the structure of each example mirrors a general movement in Gregory's dialogue from a rejection of materialism to an affirmation of the soul, and then to an emphasis on the co-dependence of the immaterial and material in creation. Each is thus a microcosm of the treatise's main argument. |
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| ISSN: | 1477-4607 |
| Contains: | Enthalten in: The journal of theological studies
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| Persistent identifiers: | DOI: 10.1093/jts/flp067 |