--On Fri, Feb 13, 1998 11:31 AM "Bill East" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Augustine is searching for clarity particularly in relation to the
Arians,
> who were saying that the Son was a 'creature' of the Father. The
> ambiguity of the terms 'creator, creare' gave some colour to their
> opinion. 'Creator' can mean 'begetter'; Ovid uses it to mean 'Father'
> (Metamorphoses, 8,309). 'Creatrix' regularly means 'mother'. There were
> obviously occasions in which it was better to avoid 'creator' in favour
of > 'conditor'.
Thanks to Bill for some interesting posts. I am wondering, with regard to
the difference between 'creator' and 'conditor' whether there is also a
simple matter of stylistic preference for what might have seemed a word
with more formal, high-classical, even historiographic associations (as in
'ab urbe condita') than were possible with 'creator'. Ambrose was
certainly alive to the nuances of style, which of course embraces matters
of semantics. I haven't the time to check the databases--this is merely a
hunch.
Best wishes,
MW (feeling very unsupple today)
Mark F. Williams
Department of Classics Phone: (616) 957-6293
Calvin College FAX: (616) 957-8551
Grand Rapids, MI 49546 Internet: [log in to unmask]
USA http://www.calvin.edu/academic/clas
"Professor Williams appears to be a human as well as a teacher."
-from a student evaluation
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