TY - JOUR
T1 - John Italos on the eternity of the world
T2 - A new critical edition of Quaestio 71 with translation and commentary
AU - Kraft, András
AU - Perczel, István
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston.
PY - 2018/9/1
Y1 - 2018/9/1
N2 - The paper discusses John Italos' (d. after 1082) position on the eternity of the world. Italos was condemned for a series of heretical views including the thesis that the visible world was eternal. However, a treatise of Italos has been transmitted, in which he refutes the idea of an eternal kosmos and argues for its createdness in the beginning of time. The present study provides a critical edition of the Greek text of Italos' treatise (Quaestio 71 of his Quaestiones quodlibetales), provided with a first English translation and followed by a commentary that develops Italos' main arguments and identifies some of his sources. It is argued that Italos sincerely defended an anti-eternalist standpoint by adopting arguments, first and foremost, of the sixth-century philosopher John Philoponos. Moreover, Italos seems to react in Quaestio 71 to specific charges that had been brought up against him during his repeated synodal investigations in 1076/77 and 1082. His treatise against the eternity of the world appears to be a comprehensive apology of his orthodoxy.
AB - The paper discusses John Italos' (d. after 1082) position on the eternity of the world. Italos was condemned for a series of heretical views including the thesis that the visible world was eternal. However, a treatise of Italos has been transmitted, in which he refutes the idea of an eternal kosmos and argues for its createdness in the beginning of time. The present study provides a critical edition of the Greek text of Italos' treatise (Quaestio 71 of his Quaestiones quodlibetales), provided with a first English translation and followed by a commentary that develops Italos' main arguments and identifies some of his sources. It is argued that Italos sincerely defended an anti-eternalist standpoint by adopting arguments, first and foremost, of the sixth-century philosopher John Philoponos. Moreover, Italos seems to react in Quaestio 71 to specific charges that had been brought up against him during his repeated synodal investigations in 1076/77 and 1082. His treatise against the eternity of the world appears to be a comprehensive apology of his orthodoxy.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85054391530&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1515/bz-2018-0018
DO - 10.1515/bz-2018-0018
M3 - Review Article
AN - SCOPUS:85054391530
SN - 0007-7704
VL - 111
SP - 659
EP - 720
JO - Byzantinische Zeitschrift
JF - Byzantinische Zeitschrift
IS - 3
ER -