Overview

The Christians, Gnostics, and Platonists of late antiquity all shared that era’s dislike of matter and the body. The first part of this book looks at key words like ethos, aiōn, and saeculum. The second part investigates the Neoplatonists, the Platonists of late antiquity. In the writings of Plotinus and Porphyry, Iamblichus and Proclus, the dislike of matter and the body was boldly expressed. The third part shows that Gnosticism was second to none in its insistence that matter and the body were evil. It was elitist, suspicious of the political world, and often filled with an interest in magic and immorality. Simon Magus, Carpocrates, and Valentinus are only a few of the Gnostics who are considered. The last part discovers dislike of matter and the body in the early Christians, although with less consistency to their worldview. It was especially notable in the attempt of Origen and Arius to place God the Son at a lower metaphysical level than God the Father in order to protect God from the evil entity of matter. The desert fathers, the Arians, Ambrose, and Augustine are all included.

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9781443882699

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Reviews

This book makes a valuable contribution to the study of Christian literature and theology by identifying a broadly held commonality in the worldviews of many who thought philosophically in the first five hundred years of Christian history. Sabo teases out this attitude of aversion to matter and the body-an important aspect of the spirit of that age. The writing is lucid and demonstrates the author's wide knowledge of the history and literature of the period. Significantly, the book invites us to reflect seriously on the materialism of our contemporary cultures. Stuart Rochester Tutor, Greenwich School of Theology Arguably the most difficult quest facing any academic author is how to ensure that his contribution remains within reach of a wider readership without distancing it from the interest of the more serious student. Sabo not only manages to achieve this, but excels in doing so. As such, this is a work the clarity and comprehensiveness of which makes it accessible to every Christian for whom self-imposed ignorance is not an option. As one might expect from a writer with such a distinguished pedigree of research and learning, Christians and Platonists does inform the mind, but in such a way that it has the potential also to transform lives. Therein lies its true value. Chris Woodall Former Professor, North-West University

This book makes a valuable contribution to the study of Christian literature and theology by identifying a broadly held commonality in the worldviews of many who thought philosophically in the first five hundred years of Christian history. Sabo teases out this attitude of aversion to matter and the body-an important aspect of the spirit of that age. The writing is lucid and demonstrates the author's wide knowledge of the history and literature of the period. Significantly, the book invites us to reflect seriously on the materialism of our contemporary cultures. Stuart RochesterTutor, Greenwich School of Theology Arguably the most difficult quest facing any academic author is how to ensure that his contribution remains within reach of a wider readership without distancing it from the interest of the more serious student. Sabo not only manages to achieve this, but excels in doing so. As such, this is a work the clarity and comprehensiveness of which makes it accessible to every Christian for whom self-imposed ignorance is not an option. As one might expect from a writer with such a distinguished pedigree of research and learning, Christians and Platonists does inform the mind, but in such a way that it has the potential also to transform lives. Therein lies its true value. Chris WoodallFormer Professor, North-West University

“This book makes a valuable contribution to the study of Christian literature and theology by identifying a broadly held commonality in the worldviews of many who thought philosophically in the first five hundred years of Christian history. Sabo teases out this attitude of aversion to matter and the body—an important aspect of the spirit of that age. The writing is lucid and demonstrates the author’s wide knowledge of the history and literature of the period. Significantly, the book invites us to reflect seriously on the materialism of our contemporary cultures.”Stuart RochesterTutor, Greenwich School of Theology“Arguably the most difficult quest facing any academic author is how to ensure that his contribution remains within reach of a wider readership without distancing it from the interest of the more serious student. Sabo not only manages to achieve this, but excels in doing so. As such, this is a work the clarity and comprehensiveness of which makes it accessible to every Christian for whom self-imposed ignorance is not an option. As one might expect from a writer with such a distinguished pedigree of research and learning, Christians and Platonists does inform the mind, but in such a way that it has the potential also to transform lives. Therein lies its true value.”Chris WoodallFormer Professor, North-West University

Author Information

Theodore Sabo is a resident of Washington State and an extraordinary lecturer at North-West University of South Africa. His Ph.D. thesis was on the origins of Eastern Christian mysticism. He has published in Acta Classica and the Journal for Late Antique Religion and Culture.

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