The mind-body relation was at the forefront of philosophy and theology in late antiquity, a time of great intellectual innovation. This volume, the first integrated history of this important topic, explores ideas about mind and body during this period, considering both pagan and Christian thought about issues such as resurrection, incarnation and asceticism. A series of chapters presents cutting-edge research from multiple perspectives, including history, philosophy, classics and theology. Several chapters survey wider themes which provide context for detailed studies of the work of individual philosophers including Numenius, Pseudo-Dionysius, Damascius and Augustine. Wide-ranging and accessible, with translations given for all texts in the original language, this book will be essential for students and scholars of late antique thought, the history of religion and theology, and the philosophy of mind.

This authoritative study explores Eustathius of Antioch's theological anthropology, offering insight into one of the most important thinkers of the early Arian controversy. Sophie Cartwright situates Eustathius' thought in relation to the early 'Arian' controversy, the Constaninian Revolution, the theological legacies of Irenaeus and Origen, and the philosophical commentary tradition. She also locates Eustathius within his historical context and provides a detailed overview of the sources for his complex and fragmented corpus. Eustathius' anthropology is indebted to a tradition shaped by the theology of Irenaeus, that had already come into conversation with Origen. Dr Cartwright suggests that Origen's own thought was indebted to Irenaeus but that he had a radically different cosmology; this shaped subsequent engagement with both thinkers. Eustathius' theology of embodiment draws on Irenaeus, in opposition to what he perceives as the Origenist and Platonist anthropology which, in his anti-Arian works, he associates with Eusebius of Caesarea. However, he is deeply indebted to Origen for his doctrine of Christ's human soul and, consequently, his wider psychology. He places humanity at a great distance from God and seeks to give humanity autonomous value, especially in his discourse on God's image. This represents one logical negotiation of the rejection of Origen's eternal intelligible world. Eustathius' divisive Christology offers a picture of Christ as the perfect human being that echoes Irenaeus' Adam-Christ typology, fleshed out by an Origenian discourse on Christ's human soul and infused with a keen awareness of the chasm between God and humankind. He proffers a doctrine of inherited sinfulness as an alternative to Origen's doctrine of the fall and looks to a corporeal eschatological kingdom ruled over by the human Christ; this eschatology probably reflects discomfiture with Constantine's role in the church.

The mind-body relation was at the forefront of philosophy and theology in late antiquity, a time of great intellectual innovation. This volume, the first integrated history of this important topic, explores ideas about mind and body during this period, considering both pagan and Christian thought about issues such as resurrection, incarnation and asceticism. A series of chapters presents cutting-edge research from multiple perspectives, including history, philosophy, classics and theology. Several chapters survey wider themes which provide context for detailed studies of the work of individual philosophers including Numenius, Pseudo-Dionysius, Damascius and Augustine. Wide-ranging and accessible, with translations given for all texts in the original language, this book will be essential for students and scholars of late antique thought, the history of religion and theology, and the philosophy of mind.