Tag Archives: neo platonism

Edwards and the metaphysics of Sin, God, and Creation

Posted on November 15, 2018 by J. B. Aitken

This is a review of two of Oliver Crisp’s works on Jonathan Edwards.  They are quite technical but open the door for more reflection on Edwards.  In other words, almost everything you have heard from the Young, Restless, and Reformed … Continue reading →

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Edmund Spenser Reviews, Faerie Queene

Posted on July 20, 2018 by J. B. Aitken

Edmund Spenser structured his allegory around the Aristotelian virtues. Fierce Wars and Faithful Loves This is a modernized version of Book 1 of the Faerie Queene. Roy Maynard ought to be commended for aiding us in reading Spenser. Personally, I … Continue reading →

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Review: Arius: Heresy and Tradition

Posted on February 3, 2018 by J. B. Aitken

by Rowan Williams Date: January 2014 Being faithful to church teachings does not mean merely chanting former slogans, but critically receiving the church’s witness and faithfully putting it into a new context in response to a new crisis.  Rowan Williams … Continue reading →

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Athanasius, Orations Against the Arians

Posted on February 3, 2018 by J. B. Aitken

This work is a step up from Athanasius’s smaller treaty on the Incarnation.  Here we begin to see a fully worked-out theological ontology.  This review, however, will not deal with the controversies concerning Proverbs 8 in the Nicene world.  That … Continue reading →

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Union and Distinction in Maximus (Review)

Posted on March 18, 2017 by J. B. Aitken

Melchisidec Toronen gives us a useful snapshot and handbook for Maximus the Confessor. While the back has some drawbacks, it is clear and to the point (almost to a fault). Toronen gives a lucid summary of his own argument: “The … Continue reading →

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Chain of Being (Review)

Posted on October 20, 2016 by J. B. Aitken

Arthur Lovejoy analyzes a powerful if flawed concept’s “control” over Western mind since Plato. The chain of being is the continuum of “substance/essence/stuff” beginning with God (or Plato’s Good) and ending with either inorganic life or nothingness itself. The chain … Continue reading →

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Self-Love and Augustine: Analytical Outline

Posted on October 3, 2016 by J. B. Aitken

This is an outline of Oliver O’Donovan’s The Problem of Self-Love in St Augustine. Thomas Aquinas identified three different froms of self-love: friendly, hostile, neutral. Augustine’s own use of it identifies with the eudaimonist tradition (O’Donovan 2). Four Aspects of … Continue reading →

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Call him not Pseudo-Dionysius

Posted on May 21, 2016 by J. B. Aitken

In terms of the developing Christian-Platonic tradition, this book is Plato at his near-finest. It marks a watershed in Christian reflection and will dominate Christian metaphysics for the next thousand years. In terms of authorship, it is certainly not Paul’s … Continue reading →

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