Questioning the World - Greek Patristic and Byzantine Question-and-Answer Literature - Grand Format

This volume discusses cosmological issues in Greek Patristic and Byzantine question-and-answer literature. By adopting this focus, it yields novel insights into both the (theological / philosophical) content and the (literary) form of the texts under scrutiny. How did Greek Patristic and Byzantine authors understand the cosmos of which they were a part and the world in which they lived ? And what literary forms did they use to express their questions and answers on these issues ? This collection of studies shows that, in order to bring out the important intellectual contribution of the authors under discussion, both ‘cosmology' and ‘question-and-answer literature' should be defined more broadly than expected.
Several papers deal with the crucial corpora by Pseudo-Justin and Maximus the Confessor. Other authors under discussion include Philoponus, Pseudo-Caesarius, Michael Psellus, Severian of Gabala, and Nilus Doxopatres. Attention also goes to the critical edition of question-and-answer literature, as well as to the Greek Patristic and Byzantine reception of cosmological questions and answers from Antiquity (i.c.
Aristotle, Philo of Alexandria, Plutarch, and Iamblichus).