The text and translation of In Hexaemeron, an important work by early Christian thinker Gregory of Nyssa, is accompanied by seven essays authored by international specialists, offering complementary pathways into understanding Gregory's cosmology as a philosophical theory and positioning him in relation to other contiguous philosophical theories.
This book presents Gregory of Nyssa's On the Six Days of Creation (In Hexaemeron) as a specimen of Early Christian philosophy. It comprises Gregory of Nyssa's text in its Greek original accompanied by a new English translation, and seven accompanying essays by international specialists from diverse backgrounds. Each essay focuses on a section of the text and the arising philosophical issues. The essays complement each other in offering multiple perspectives on how Gregory's text may be approached philosophically and positioned in relation to other, more or less contiguous, philosophical theories, including the early Greeks Anaxagoras and Empedocles, Aristotle, and the Stoics. Rather than presenting a definite and exhaustive state of the art study of Gregory's text, this volume aims to open new pathways for research into In Hexaemeron.
Johannes Zachhuber: Introduction
Greek Text with English translation by Andrew Radde-Gallwitz: Gregory of
Nyssa: In Hexaemeron
Benjamin Gleede: 'Simultaneous Creation' in Gregory of Nyssa's In Hexaemeron
Gretchen Reydams-Schils: God in the World: Akolouthia and Stoicism in Gregory
of Nyssa's In Hexaemeron
Andrew Radde-Gallwitz: Particles, Powers, and Natural Kinds in Gregory of
Nyssa's 'Empedoclean' Cosmogony
Jonathan Greig: The 'Bundle Theory' in Gregory of Nyssa's In Hexaemeron
Anna Marmodoro: Gregory of Nyssa's 'Stripping Away' Thought Experiment in the
In Hexaemeron
Isidoros C. Katsos: An Apology for the Apology: Gregory of Nyssa's Philosophy
of Light and Why It Matters
Johannes Zachhuber: 'Logos' in Gregory of Nyssa's In Hexaemeron
Appendix
Johannes Zachhuber holds a doctorate from the University of Oxford and a Habilitation from Humboldt University, Berlin. After completing his DPhil in 1998, he taught at Humboldt University in Berlin until 2005 when he joined the University of Oxford and was appointed Fellow of Theology at Trinity College, Oxford. In 2014, he was named Professor of Historical and Systematic Theology at the University of Oxford. His research ranges across the history of Christian theology with a special emphasis on late antiquity and the nineteenth century. His most recent monograph is The Rise of Christian Theology and the End of Ancient Metaphysics (2020).
Anna Marmodoro holds the Chair of Metaphysics in the Department of Philosophy at Durham University and she is concomitantly an Associate Member of the Faculty of Philosophy of the University of Oxford. She specializes in two main research areas: on the one hand, metaphysics, and on the other, ancient, late antique, and medieval philosophy. She has also strong research interests in the philosophy of science and the philosophy of religion. Anna has published monographs, edited books, and journal articles in all these areas. Her latest monographs are Forms and Structure in Plato's Metaphysics (2021), and Properties in Ancient Metaphysics (2023).
