Download or read book Plotinus in Dialogue with the Gnostics written by Jean-Marc Narbonne and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2011-03-18 with total page 164 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The point of view put forth in the following pages differs greatly from the common perspective according to which the treatises 30 to 33 constitute a single work, a Großschrift, and this single work, Plotinus’ essential response to the Gnostics. Our perspective is that of an ongoing discussions with his “Gnostic”—yet Platonizing—friends, which started early in his writings (at least treatise 6), developed into what we could call a Großzyklus (treatises 27 to 39), and went on in later treatises as well (e. g. 47-48, 51).
Download or read book Against the Gnostics written by Plotinus and published by . This book was released on 2017-04-14 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At least two modern conferences within Hellenic philosophy fields of study have been held in order to address what Plotinus stated in his tract Against the Gnostics and whom he was addressing it to, in order to separate and clarify the events and persons involved in the origin of the term "Gnostic". From the dialogue, it appears that the word had an origin in the Platonic and Hellenistic tradition long before the group calling themselves "Gnostics"--or the group covered under the modern term "Gnosticism"--ever appeared. It would seem that this shift from Platonic to Gnostic usage has led many people to confusion. The strategy of sectarians taking Greek terms from philosophical contexts and re-applying them to religious contexts was popular in Christianity, the Cult of Isis and other ancient religious contexts including Hermetic ones (see Alexander of Abonutichus for an example).Plotinus and the Neoplatonists viewed Gnosticism as a form of heresy or sectarianism to the Pythagorean and Platonic philosophy of the Mediterranean and Middle East. He accused them of using senseless jargon and being overly dramatic and insolent in their distortion of Plato's ontology." Plotinus attacks his opponents as untraditional, irrational and immoral and arrogant. He also attacks them as elitist and blasphemous to Plato for the Gnostics despising the material world and its maker.The Neoplatonic movement (though Plotinus would have simply referred to himself as a philosopher of Plato) seems to be motivated by the desire of Plotinus to revive the pagan philosophical tradition. Plotinus was not claiming to innovate with the Enneads, but to clarify aspects of the works of Plato that he considered misrepresented or misunderstood. Plotinus does not claim to be an innovator, but rather a communicator of a tradition. Plotinus referred to tradition as a way to interpret Plato's intentions. Because the teachings of Plato were for members of the academy rather than the general public, it was easy for outsiders to misunderstand Plato's meaning. However, Plotinus attempted to clarify how the philosophers of the academy had not arrived at the same conclusions (such as misotheism or dystheism of the creator God as an answer to the problem of evil) as the targets of his criticism.
Download or read book Plotinus in Dialogue with the Gnostics written by Jean-Marc Narbonne and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2011-03-18 with total page 165 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The point of view put forth in the following pages differs greatly from the common perspective according to which the treatises 30 to 33 constitute a single work, a Großschrift, and this single work, Plotinus’ essential response to the Gnostics. Our perspective is that of an ongoing discussions with his “Gnostic”—yet Platonizing—friends, which started early in his writings (at least treatise 6), developed into what we could call a Großzyklus (treatises 27 to 39), and went on in later treatises as well (e. g. 47-48, 51).
Download or read book Plotinus Ennead II 9 33 Against the Gnostics written by Nicola Spanu and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book consists in a commentary and translation of Plotinus's Ennead II 9 [33], entitled by Porphyry Against the Gnostics. The commentary has tried to go beyond the traditional approach, based on the idea that Plotinus's Ennead II 9 is the theatre of the clash of two antithetical worldviews: the first, championed by Plotinus; the second, by his Gnostic disciples; on the contrary, the Ennead II 9 [33] represents a dialogue between a master of philosophy and his own disciples. Plotinus's disciples do not regard Gnosticism as distant from Plato. In contrast, Plotinus does not think that Plato is a precursor of Gnosticism, even if he is aware that his doctrines can be interpreted in a dualistic and Gnostic fashion. He agrees with his disciples that for Plato sensible and intelligible reality, as well as Soul and body, are different; however, Plotinus thinks that their different nature can be ultimately traced back to the same principle, namely being, which contains in itself all possibilities of existence. This is the true gnosis that Plotinus has tried to make his disciples obtain by writing the Ennead II 9 [33].
Download or read book Plotinus Amid Gnostics and Christians written by David T. Runia and published by Vu Uitgeverij/Free University Press. This book was released on 1984 with total page 122 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Platonizing Sethian Background of Plotinus s Mysticism written by Zeke Mazur and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2020-10-12 with total page 355 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In The Platonizing Sethian Background of Plotinus’s Mysticism, Zeke Mazur offers a radical reconceptualization of Plotinus with reference to Gnostic thought and praxis, chiefly as evidenced by Coptic works among the Nag Hammadi Codices whose Greek Vorlagen were read in Plotinus’s school.
Download or read book Ennead II 9 written by Plotinus and published by Enneads of Plotinus. This book was released on 2017 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How was the universe created, and what is our place within it? These are the questions at the heart of Plotinus' Against the Gnostics. For the Gnostics, the universe came into being as a result of the soul's fall from intelligible reality--it is the evil outcome of a botched creation. Plotinus challenges this, and insists that the soul's creation of the world is the necessary consequence of its contemplation of the ideal forms. While the Gnostics claim to despise the visible universe, Plotinus argues that such contempt displays their ignorance of the higher realities of which the cosmos is a beautiful image. Against the Gnostics is a polemical text. It aims to show the superiority of Plotinus' philosophy over that of his Gnostic rivals, and poses unique challenges: Plotinus nowhere identifies his opponents by name, he does not set out their doctrines in any great detail, and his arguments are frequently elliptical. The detailed commentary provides a guide through these difficulties, making Plotinus' meandering train of thought in this important treatise accessible to the reader.
Download or read book Sethian Gnosticism and the Platonic Tradition written by John Douglas Turner and published by Presses Université Laval. This book was released on 2001 with total page 868 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book PLOTINUS Ennead II 9 written by Sebastian Gertz and published by Parmenides Publishing. This book was released on 2017-03-28 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How was the universe created, and what is our place within it? These are the questions at the heart of Plotinus' Against the Gnostics. For the Gnostics, the universe came into being as a result of the soul's fall from intelligible reality-it is the evil outcome of a botched creation. Plotinus challenges this, and insists that the soul's creation of the world is the necessary consequence of its contemplation of the ideal forms. While the Gnostics claim to despise the visible universe, Plotinus argues that such contempt displays their ignorance of the higher realities of which the cosmos is a beautiful image.
Download or read book Spiritual Taxonomies and Ritual Authority written by Heidi Marx-Wolf and published by University of Pennsylvania Press. This book was released on 2016-02-02 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Spiritual Taxonomies and Ritual Authority recounts how philosophers of the late third century C.E. organized the spirit world into hierarchies, positioning themselves as high priests in the process. By establishing themselves as experts on sacred matters, they fortified their authority, prestige, and reputation.
Download or read book Gnosticism Platonism and the Late Ancient World written by Kevin Corrigan and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2013-07-25 with total page 753 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This Festschrift honors the life and work of John D. Turner (Charles J. Mach University Professor of Classics and History at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln) on the occasion of his 75th birthday. Professor Turner’s work has been of profound importance for the study of the interaction between Greek philosophy and Gnosticism in late antiquity. This volume contains essays by international scholars on a broad range of topics that deal with Sethian, Valentinian and other early Christian thought, as well as with Platonism and Neoplatonism, and offer a variety of perspectives spanning intellectual history, Greek and Coptic philology, and the study of religions.
Download or read book The Embroidered Bible Studies in Biblical Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha in Honour of Michael E Stone written by Lorenzo DiTommaso and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2017-11-27 with total page 1100 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This Festschrift contains original essays in honour of Michael E. Stone on Old Testament Pseudepigrapha, in its broadest sense: apocryphal texts, traditions, and themes from Second-Temple times to the High Middle Ages, in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
Download or read book Valentinianism New Studies written by and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2019-10-07 with total page 522 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Valentinianism: New Studies offers fresh contributions by leading experts on the history of the Valentinian “Gnostic” church, on contested aspects of Valentinian doctrine, and on the use and interpretation of the New Testament by the Valentinians.
Download or read book The Beauty of the Unity and the Harmony of the Whole written by Vladimir Kharlamov and published by Wipf and Stock Publishers. This book was released on 2009-01-01 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book traces the emergence and development of the deification theme in Greek patristic theology and its subsequent transformation into the theology of theosis in Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite. This volume dwells on the deification theme as it is situated in the complex context of its historical development and thus avoids the common tendency to treat this notion of Christian theology in an anachronistic manner. Significant attention is given to the influence of Neoplatonism on Pseudo-Dionysius. His theology is justified neither as essentially orthodox Christian nor as essentially orthodox Neoplatonic. Dionysius's sophisticated synthesis of Christian and Neoplatonic elements, especially in his exposition of theosis, does justice to this anonymous author's originality and demonstrates the importance of his influence both on the further development of Christian theology, and on the advancement of the Neoplatonic tradition. The intricate cultural background of the Pseudo-Dionysian world helps clarify the formation process of Christian imperial identity, and throws additional light on why these works were attributed to Dionysius the Areopagite, not as a conscious forgery, but as a literary device. Such attribution was a common practice of the time. Comprehensive analysis of the development of the deification theme opens possibilities for further study of Trinitarian and christological formations, of philosophical and individual moral theology, of Christian and Neoplatonic mysticism, and of cultural studies. By surveying the historical development of deification and by opening further areas of research, this book serves a valuable introductory source for both professionals and students. While primarily focusing on academic interests, the book is written keeping the general reading audience in mind as well. All quotations of the original texts are provided with existing or new English translations, while important Greek terminology is acknowledged. Readers interested in Christian spirituality, late antiquity, early Christian theology, and Neoplatonism will find this book useful.
Download or read book Guide to the Study of Ancient Magic written by David Frankfurter and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2019-03-19 with total page 817 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume seeks to advance the study of ancient magic through separate discussions of ancient terms for ambiguous or illicit ritual, the ancient texts commonly designated magical, and contexts in which the term magic may be used descriptively.
Download or read book The Gnostic Dialogue written by Pheme Perkins and published by . This book was released on 1980 with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Routledge Handbook of Neoplatonism written by Svetla Slaveva-Griffin and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-07-25 with total page 657 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Routledge Handbook of Neoplatonism is an authoritative and comprehensive survey of the most important issues and developments in one of the fastest growing areas of research in ancient philosophy. An international team of scholars situates and re-evaluates Neoplatonism within the history of ancient philosophy and thought, and explores its influence on philosophical and religious schools worldwide. Over thirty chapters are divided into seven clear parts: (Re)sources, instruction and interaction Methods and Styles of Exegesis Metaphysics and Metaphysical Perspectives Language, Knowledge, Soul, and Self Nature: Physics, Medicine and Biology Ethics, Political Theory and Aesthetics The legacy of Neoplatonism. The Routledge Handbook of Neoplatonism is a major reference source for all students and scholars in Neoplatonism and ancient philosophy, as well as researchers in the philosophy of science, ethics, aesthetics and religion.
