The hefty price tag, along with the philosophic content, will mean that The Cambridge History of Philosophy in Late Antiquity will escape the attention of most readers. Yet, though it will never be bedtime reading, this two volume compilation witnesses to some significant shifts in the history of philosophy.
This work was designed to be the successor of The Cambridge History of Later Greek and Early Medieval Philosophy (ed. A. H. Armstrong), a stable of students of the history of philosophy. The present work makes some interesting departures from its predecessor. First is the inclusion of an essay on Gnosticism, covering both Sethian Gnosticism and so-called “Christian Gnosticism” (such as the systems of Basilides and Valentinus). The inclusion of such an essay points to the shift in the study of Gnosticism that has occurred over the last few decades. Gnosticism, whilst previously regarded as a largely mythologically based religious grouping, has now been recognised to be heavily involved in metaphysics, engaging particularly with Platonic philosophy (if in a more colourful way). Modern understandings of the phenomenon of Gnosticism will require acknowledgement of the breadth over which Gnostics cast their net in gathering sources for their ideas. This only heightens the challenge faced by those early Christians who sought to base their faith on Scripture alone, and so were rightly concerned by the excesses of Gnostic speculations.
The inclusion of another essay underscores the difficulty of trying to separate philosophy and religion in this period. Justin Martyr has sometimes been regarded as only casually acquainted with philosophy – a Christian with pretensions of grandeur. In this compilation, Justin takes his place as one of the first Christian philosophers. In his essay, Denis Minns restores Justin’s philosophic credentials, asserting that his knowledge of Plato comes from engagement with the texts, not only handbooks (2:259). The two “hats” of Justin – both Christian and Platonic – are important to understand his writings. It is Justin who for the first time enumerates God, Jesus and the Spirit as first, second and third. His precedents for this enumeration are [pseudo-]Plato’s Second Epistle and Numenius (2:265).
All in all, a worthy reference work, but perhaps the two essays noted are the only ones of immediate value to readers of EJ.
Review of “The Early Earth” by John Whitcomb (1972)