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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture Dear Richard, I also did never go deeper than to Augustine and therefore do not know anything about Origen, but please remember: There was no conception of -0- as zero. "Nothing" did not exist except as a negation of something in a kind of negative dialectic. We have to be very cautious not to transfer later mathematical concepts, which are natural for us, in ancient forms of thinking. yours Karl, Vienna Am 13.09.2010 um 23:22 schrieb Richard Raiswell: > medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture > > Illustribus, > > A project upon which I am working has got me reading some Origen for the first time in many years. I am very intrigued with the fact that he tackles the problem of the devil, as God’s contrary, as having to be a creature of nonbeing. Obviously, he sidesteps the issue to avoid absurdity, arguing instead that while the devil's fall has stripped him of most of his being, as a creature created good by God, he was able to retain just enough being to remain irksome to creation. > > I was wondering, though, do any other premodern thinkers address the problem of the devil as God’s antithesis having to be a creature of non-being? Certainly, there are many who follow Augustine and configure evil as nothing, but can anyone point towards thinkers <1600 who take that extra step and make the personification of evil nothing as well? > > Any thoughts on this matter would be much appreciated. > > Best, > > Richard Raiswell > > Richard Raiswell > Dept. of History, Univ. of PEI > > Fellow, > Centre for Reformation and Reanissance Studies, Toronto > > CONFIDENTIAL | CONFIDENTIEL This communication is intended for the use of the recipient to whom it is addressed, and may contain confidential, personal, and/or privileged information. Please contact the sender immediately if you are not the intended recipient of this communication, and do not copy, distribute, or take action relying on it. Any communication received in error, or subsequent reply, should be deleted or destroyed. | Ce message contient des renseignements qui peuvent être confidentiels ou protégés. Il s'adresse au destinataire prévu ou à une personne autorisée à le recevoir en son nom. Si vous l'avez reçu par erreur, nous vous prions d'en informer l'auteur dans les meilleurs délais, de ne pas divulguer son contenu et de le supprimer de votre système. > > ********************************************************************** > To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME > to: [log in to unmask] > To send a message to the list, address it to: > [log in to unmask] > To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion > to: [log in to unmask] > In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: > [log in to unmask] > For further information, visit our web site: > http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html > ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html