“That Miracle of the Christian World”

Hengstermann, Christian; Hengstermann, Christian
“That Miracle of the Christian World”
Origenism and Christian Platonism in Henry More
 
Reihe
Bandnummer
12
Auflage
1. Auflage
Umfang
352 Seiten
Einband
gebunden
Erscheinungstermin
08.09.2020
Bestell-Nr
13727
ISBN
978-3-402-13727-7
Preis
56,00
The present collection of essays is devoted to the Christian philosophy of Henry More, the most prolific of the Cambridge Origenists. It also contains major excerpts from his influential Latin writings first translated into English. More extolled Origen as a “holy sageö and “that miracle of the Christian worldö. He subscribed to the Origenian notions of universal divine goodness and libertarian human freedom which he expounded in dialogue with the early modern philosophies of Thomas Hobbes, René Descartes and Baruch de Spinoza. More’s philosophy is the crowning attainment of the early modern rediscovery of Origen as well as a neglected rationalist system in its own right.
The present collection of essays is devoted to the Christian philosophy of the most prolific and most speculatively ambitious of the Cambridge Origenists, Henry More. Not only did More revere Origen, whom he extolled as a “holy sageö and “that miracle of the Christian worldö, but he also developed a philosophical system which hinged upon the Origenian notions of universal divine goodness and libertarian human freedom. Throughout his life, More subscribed to the ancient theology of the pre-existence of souls and took issue with the early modern philosophies of Thomas Hobbes, René Descartes and Baruch de Spinoza. His vision of God’s goodness, experienced in his early school years at Eton, became the cornerstone of an Origenist rationalism which envisaged an extended world animated by divine thought and inhabited by self-moving rational agents. More’s philosophy is the crowning attainment of the early modern rediscovery of Origen as well as a neglected major rationalist system in its own right which went on to exert decisive influence upon all subsequent western metaphysics.
The essays collected in the first part provide a detailed introduction to More’s voluminous writings. After a comprehensive general overview of his metaphysical and ethical system, the essays expound More’s historical context and his philosophical development from his early poetry in the 1640s to his mature philosophical and theological prose works of the 50s, 60s and 70s. In addition, the reception of More and Origen in the later Cambridge Origenists and in Isaac Newton is outlined. The second part contains several excerpts from More’s influential Latin works first translated into English by the editor.
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