Humankind and the Cosmos. Early Christian Representations

Description

In this volume, Costache endeavours to map the world as it was understood and experienced by the early Christians. Progressing from initial fears, they came to adopt a more positive view of the world through successive shifts of perception. This did not happen overnight. Tracing these shifts, Costache considers the world of the early Christians through an interdisciplinary lens, revealing its meaningful complexity. He demonstrates that the early Christian worldview developed at the nexus of several perspectives. What facilitated this process was above all the experience of contemplating nature. When accompanied by genuine personal transformation, natural contemplation fostered the theological interpretation of the world as it had been known to the ancients. ‎Contents ‎Acknowledgments ‎Tables ‎Abbreviations ‎Introduction. The World of the Early Christians ‎1. Methodological Prolegomena ‎2. Framing the Topic ‎3. A Tour to the Chapters ‎4. A Proleptic Synthesis ‎Chapter 1. Not of the World, but in It ‎1. Introducing Diognetus ‎2. In the World, but Not of This World ‎2.1. Immanence ‎2.2. Paradoxes of (Non)localisation ‎2.3. Transcendence ‎2.4. An Anonymous Reiteration ‎3. The Soul of the World ‎4. A Theological Representation of Reality ‎5. The Diognetian Worldview ‎6. Conclusions ‎Chapter 2. Cosmic Harmony ‎1. Ignatius ‎1.1. Ecclesiological Explorations ‎1.2. Celestial Music ‎2. Irenaeus ‎3. Clement ‎3.1. Mapping a Symphonic Universe ‎3.2. The Pure Song ‎3.3. The New Song ‎4. Athanasius ‎4.1. The Analogy of the Lyre ‎4.2. The Analogy of the Choir ‎5. Conclusions ‎Chapter 3. Contemplation of the Natural World: The Second and the Third Century ‎1. Clement ‎1.1. “Gnostic Tradition” and the Contemplation of Nature ‎1.2. Methodological Prolegomena ‎1.3. Performing Natural Contemplation ‎2. Origen ‎2.1. A Methodological Prelude ‎2.2. Allegorical Discourses and Hallowing Perceptions ‎2.3. Natural Contemplation in the Mirror of Scripture ‎2.4. The Shape of the World ‎3. Conclusions ‎Chapter 4. Contemplation of the Natural World: The Fourth Century ‎1. Athanasius ‎1.1. Ascetic Life and Natural Contemplation ‎1.2. The Cosmos as “Another Scripture” ‎2. Evagrius ‎2.1. Introducing Gnostic and Its Sources ‎2.2. Insightfulness and Generosity ‎2.3. A Methodological Intermission ‎2.4. The Evagrian Worldview ‎3. Conclusions ‎Chapter 5. From the Periphery to the Centre ‎1. Basil, Theology, and Science ‎1.1. Christian Worldview and Science ‎1.2. Disentangling Science from Ideology ‎2. The Interactive Dynamic of Nature ‎2.1. The Principle of Synergy ‎2.2. Synergy throughout the Cosmic Continuum ‎2.3. Implications of the Principle of Synergy ‎3. The World as a Theological School ‎3.1. Reading the Narrative of Creation ‎3.2. Spiritual Guidance and Transformative Experience ‎3.3. The Cosmic School ‎4. Conclusions ‎Chapter 6. Description and Interpretation ‎1. Introducing Gregory’s Apology ‎1.1. Continuity or Discontinuity? ‎1.2. Managing Genesis and the Available Sciences ‎1.3. Method and Genre ‎2. Gregory’s Christian Worldview ‎2.1. Cosmological Difficulties and Heuristic Pedagogy ‎2.2. A Theory of Matter ‎2.3. A Single Event and Multiple Events ‎3. Conclusions ‎Chapter 7. Anthropic Perspectives ‎1. Gregory of Nyssa ‎1.1. Tensions within the Continuum ‎1.2. Human Sovereignty ‎1.3. The King, the Palace, and the Kingdom ‎2. John Chrysostom ‎2.1. The Divine Image as Sovereignty ‎2.2. The Divine Image as Overlordship ‎2.3. Anthropic Perspectives ‎3. Conclusions ‎Conclusions. Yesterday’s Lessons for Today ‎1. Piecing Things Together ‎2. Understanding What We Learnt ‎Bibliography ‎Index of Premodern Authors ‎Index of Terms