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Longing for Perfection in Late Antiquity
Studies on Journeys between Ideal and Reality in Pagan and Christian Literature
Series: - Ancient Philosophy & Religion, Volume: 11
Johan Leemans, Ph. D (2001), KU Leuven, is Professor of Christianity in Late Antiquity at the Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies at the same university. He has published widely on late antique sermons, martyrdom, the Cappadocian Fathers and patristic exegesis.
Geert Roskam, Ph.D. (2001), KU Leuven, is Professor of Greek Literature at that university. He has published several monographs and numerous articles on Hellenistic philosophy (esp. Epicureanism) and later Platonism (esp. Plutarch).
Peter Van Deun, Ph.D. (1989), KU Leuven, is full professor of Byzantine Studies at that university. He has published widely on Patristic and Byzantine literature, esp. on Maximus the Confessor, Metrophanes of Smyrna and the genre of spiritual anthologies.
Geert Roskam, Ph.D. (2001), KU Leuven, is Professor of Greek Literature at that university. He has published several monographs and numerous articles on Hellenistic philosophy (esp. Epicureanism) and later Platonism (esp. Plutarch).
Peter Van Deun, Ph.D. (1989), KU Leuven, is full professor of Byzantine Studies at that university. He has published widely on Patristic and Byzantine literature, esp. on Maximus the Confessor, Metrophanes of Smyrna and the genre of spiritual anthologies.
Contents
Figures and Table
1 Introduction
Johan Leemans, Geert Roskam and Peter Van Deun
2 Assimilation to God and Practical Life from Plato to Plotinus
Paolo Torri
3 The God-like Plotinus and Proclus
Two Neoplatonic Patterns of Perfection
Robbert M. van den Berg
4 One Ideal, Various Paths to Perfection
‘Becoming like God’ in Proclus’ Commentary on the First Alcibiades
Thibaut Lejeune
5 More than Perfect?
The Distinction between “Completely Perfect” (παντελής) and “More than Perfect” (ὑπερτέλειος) in Proclus’ Description of the Intelligible Gods
Arthur Oosthout
7 Christian versus Pagan Perfection
George Karamanolis
7 The Reader, the Bible, and the Path to Perfection
Philo, Clement & Origen
Marco Rizzi
8 Love’s Early Christian Lives
Schemata and Scenarios of Love’s Perfecting Work in Representative Greek Patristic and Monastic Writers
Paul M. Blowers
9 On the Concept of ‘Perfection’ in Maximus Confessor’s Genuine Capita Collections (ThOec, Car, CapXV, CapX)
A Lexical Survey
Pietro D’Agostino
10 Human Perfection in Plutarch
Finding the Right Balance between Philosophy and Politics in the Comparison of Aristeides and Cato Maior
Laurens van der Wiel
11 Dealing with Models and Virtue
Plutarchean Synkriseis and Cappadocian Typology
Thomas Valgaeren
12 Perfect Imitators of Christ?
Saints and Martyrs as Models of (Im-)Perfection
Peter Gemeinhardt
13 Nunc Est Sudandum
Training and Exercises in Stoicism and Epicureanism
Geert Roskam
14 Galen on Human Perfection and Enhancement
Morality, Medicine, Cosmology
Teun Tieleman
15 Perfection in the Two Ways Tradition
Aspirational or Attainable?
Julien C. H. Smith
16 A Thousand Pains and a Thousand Crowns
Perfection in the Homiletic Tradition
Olympe De Backer and Johan Leemans
17 The Road to Perfection in the Apocalypse of Paul
Jan N. Bremmer
18 Perfection – a Main (Educational) Topic in John Cassian’s Conferences?
Dorothee Schenk
19 “The Perfect Imperfect Perfection of the Perfects”
Longing for Perfection in the Ladder of John Sinaites
Maxim Venetskov
Index
Figures and Table
1 Introduction
Johan Leemans, Geert Roskam and Peter Van Deun
Part 1: Human Goal and Divine Perfection in Plato and the Platonist Tradition
2 Assimilation to God and Practical Life from Plato to Plotinus
Paolo Torri
3 The God-like Plotinus and Proclus
Two Neoplatonic Patterns of Perfection
Robbert M. van den Berg
4 One Ideal, Various Paths to Perfection
‘Becoming like God’ in Proclus’ Commentary on the First Alcibiades
Thibaut Lejeune
5 More than Perfect?
The Distinction between “Completely Perfect” (παντελής) and “More than Perfect” (ὑπερτέλειος) in Proclus’ Description of the Intelligible Gods
Arthur Oosthout
Part 2: Human Goal and Divine Perfection in Early Christian Thought
7 Christian versus Pagan Perfection
George Karamanolis
7 The Reader, the Bible, and the Path to Perfection
Philo, Clement & Origen
Marco Rizzi
8 Love’s Early Christian Lives
Schemata and Scenarios of Love’s Perfecting Work in Representative Greek Patristic and Monastic Writers
Paul M. Blowers
9 On the Concept of ‘Perfection’ in Maximus Confessor’s Genuine Capita Collections (ThOec, Car, CapXV, CapX)
A Lexical Survey
Pietro D’Agostino
Part 3: Models of Perfection: Greek and Christian
10 Human Perfection in Plutarch
Finding the Right Balance between Philosophy and Politics in the Comparison of Aristeides and Cato Maior
Laurens van der Wiel
11 Dealing with Models and Virtue
Plutarchean Synkriseis and Cappadocian Typology
Thomas Valgaeren
12 Perfect Imitators of Christ?
Saints and Martyrs as Models of (Im-)Perfection
Peter Gemeinhardt
Part 4: Pursuits of Perfection: Greek and Christian
13 Nunc Est Sudandum
Training and Exercises in Stoicism and Epicureanism
Geert Roskam
14 Galen on Human Perfection and Enhancement
Morality, Medicine, Cosmology
Teun Tieleman
15 Perfection in the Two Ways Tradition
Aspirational or Attainable?
Julien C. H. Smith
16 A Thousand Pains and a Thousand Crowns
Perfection in the Homiletic Tradition
Olympe De Backer and Johan Leemans
17 The Road to Perfection in the Apocalypse of Paul
Jan N. Bremmer
18 Perfection – a Main (Educational) Topic in John Cassian’s Conferences?
Dorothee Schenk
19 “The Perfect Imperfect Perfection of the Perfects”
Longing for Perfection in the Ladder of John Sinaites
Maxim Venetskov
Index
Specialists and students in the domains of ancient philosophy and Late Antique Christianity; also a broader readership (e.g. those interested in intellectual and cultural history, semantics,…).