%0 Journal Article %1 ludlow_science_2009 %A Ludlow, Morwenna %D 2009 %J Journal of Theological Studies %K 2010_1 ByzZ Gregor Nyssa %P 467--489 %R 10.1093/jts/flp067 %T Science and Theology in Gregory of Nyssa's De anima et Resurrectione: Astronomy and Automata %U http://jts.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/60/2/467 %V 60 %X This article examines two sections of Gregory of Nyssa's De anima et resurrectione which introduce scientific phenomena: from astronomy (eclipses and the phases of the moon) and physics (a water-device). Each passage is set in its intellectual context and possible sources are suggested. I argue that the water-device was part of an automaton, not a water-organ as previously argued. The primary importance of these passages, however, lies in their role in Gregory's dialogue as a whole: far from being merely illustrative or designed for rhetorical display, they drive the argument onwards. The first example establishes a general epistemological principle (knowledge requires the cooperation of reason and sense-experience) which is applied to the second example's argument for the existence of the soul. Gregory uses these examples to emphasize the importance of matter as part of God's good creation: this reinforces his later emphasis on the human body (especially its resurrection). Furthermore, the structure of each example mirrors a general movement in Gregory's dialogue from a rejection of materialism to an affirmation of the soul, and then to an emphasis on the co-dependence of the immaterial and material in creation. Each is thus a microcosm of the treatise's main argument.

@article{ludlow_science_2009, abstract = {This article examines two sections of Gregory of Nyssa's De anima et resurrectione which introduce scientific phenomena: from astronomy (eclipses and the phases of the moon) and physics (a water-device). Each passage is set in its intellectual context and possible sources are suggested. I argue that the water-device was part of an automaton, not a water-organ as previously argued. The primary importance of these passages, however, lies in their role in Gregory's dialogue as a whole: far from being merely illustrative or designed for rhetorical display, they drive the argument onwards. The first example establishes a general epistemological principle (knowledge requires the cooperation of reason and sense-experience) which is applied to the second example's argument for the existence of the soul. Gregory uses these examples to emphasize the importance of matter as part of God's good creation: this reinforces his later emphasis on the human body (especially its resurrection). Furthermore, the structure of each example mirrors a general movement in Gregory's dialogue from a rejection of materialism to an affirmation of the soul, and then to an emphasis on the co-dependence of the immaterial and material in creation. Each is thus a microcosm of the treatise's main argument.}, added-at = {2009-10-02T10:47:51.000+0200}, author = {Ludlow, Morwenna}, biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/2ce88923ffc51b600f6689a928a78c3ef/avs}, doi = {10.1093/jts/flp067}, interhash = {ef7d133d04e26959157d80f49782f25c}, intrahash = {ce88923ffc51b600f6689a928a78c3ef}, journal = {Journal of Theological Studies}, keywords = {2010_1 ByzZ Gregor Nyssa}, pages = {467--489}, shorttitle = {Science and Theology in Gregory of Nyssa's De anima et Resurrectione}, timestamp = {2009-10-02T10:47:51.000+0200}, title = {Science and Theology in Gregory of Nyssa's De anima et Resurrectione: Astronomy and Automata}, url = {http://jts.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/60/2/467}, volume = 60, year = 2009 }