The Rise of Christian Theology and the End of Ancient Metaphysics: Patristic Philosophy from the Cappadocian Fathers to John of Damascus

The Rise of Christian Theology and the End of Ancient Metaphysics: Patristic Philosophy from the Cappadocian Fathers to John of Damascus

It has rarely been recognized that the Christian writers of the first millennium pursued an ambitious and exciting philosophical project alongside their engagement in the doctrinal controversies of their age. The Rise of Christian Theology and the End of Ancient Metaphysics offers, for the first time, a full analysis of this Patristic philosophy. It shows how it took its distinctive shape in the late fourth century and gives an account of its subsequent development until the time of John of Damascus. The book falls into three main parts. The first starts with an analysis of the philosophical project underlying the teaching of the Cappadocian fathers, Basil of Caesarea, Gregory of Nyssa and Gregory of Nazianzus. This philosophy, arguably the first distinctively Christian theory of being, soon became near-universally shared in Eastern Christianity. Just a few decades after the Cappadocians, all sides in the early Christological controversy took its fundamental tenets for granted. Its application to the Christological problem thus appeared inevitable. Yet it created substantial conceptual problems. Parts two and three describe in detail how these problems led to a series of increasingly radical modifications of the Cappadocian philosophy. In part two, Zachhuber explores the miaphysite opponents of the Council of Chalcedon, while in part three he discusses the defenders of the Council from the early sixth to the eighth century. Through this overview, the book reveals this period as one of remarkable philosophical creativity, fecundity, and innovation. "This excellent book provides a thorough study-to my knowledge, the first of its kind-of the philosophical dimension of Christian doctrine in late antiquity...I think, the most important book on early Christian doctrine in the past decade or more. It is clearly written, though conceptually demanding, and thereby provides a needed model for how to study dogmatic theology's complex philosophical underpinnings." -- Andrew Radde-Gallwitz, The Thomist "Zachhuber has produced an important work for the study of early Greek Christian thought, certain to appear in many footnotes and bibliographies in the years to come and rightly so. The work is highly recommended for its perceptive interpretive thesis and expansive scope and deserves a close reading by philosophers, church historians, and Christian historical and systematic theologians." -- MATTHEW B. HALE, RESTORATION QUARTERLY "Zachhuber offers a fascinating journey through the fluctuating fortunes of ousia and hypostasis. Some will undoubtedly find it difficult to apply the phrase 'Christian philosophy', mostly I suspect due to outmoded prejudices - but if recent studies on the relation of theology and philosophy in late antiquity are anything to go by, it will become necessary to engage with it. This engagement with philosophical ideas cuts across the Christian communities of the time, and unless we are prepared to examine what was happening in these variant traditions, we shall fail to grasp the historical significance of this intellectually exciting epoch." -- Ken Parry, Macquarie University, Sydney, International Journal of Systematic Theology "It is beyond any doubt that this book is a singular achievement." -- Mårten Björk, Campion Hall, Oxford, Heythrop Journal Johannes Zachhuber, Professor of Historical and Systematic Theology, University of Oxford Johannes Zachhuber is Professor of Historical and Systematic Theology at the University of Oxford and Fellow of Trinity College, Oxford. He studied theology in Rostock, Berlin, and Oxford where he earned his DPhil in 1997. He has published Human Nature in Gregory of Nyssa (1999) and Theology as Science in Nineteenth-Century Germany (2013) as well as numerous articles mostly in the areas of late ancient Christianity and nineteenth-century theology.