Byzantine Philosophy and Greek Patristics

A condensed, point-by-point summary of the module, for reviewing right before a test or exam.

1. The Cappadocian Fathers: Basil, Gregory of Nyssa, and Gregory of Nazianzus. The three Cappadocians fused Greek philosophical vocabulary with Nicene Trinitarian doctrine.
2. Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite and Christian Neoplatonism. An anonymous late-5th-century author fused Proclean Neoplatonism with Christian mystical theology.
3. Maximus the Confessor and the Synthesis of Cosmos and Christ. Maximus united cosmology and Christology, defending two wills in Christ against Monothelitism.
4. John of Damascus and the Systematization of Orthodox Doctrine. John of Damascus produced the first comprehensive summa of Orthodox Christian doctrine, the Fount of Knowledge.
5. Byzantine Aristotelian Commentary: Photius and Michael Psellos. Photius and Psellos revived secular Greek learning and Aristotelian-Platonic scholarship in Byzantium.
6. The Hesychast Controversy: Gregory Palamas and Barlaam. Palamas defended hesychast contemplative practice through the essence–energies distinction against Barlaam.
7. Byzantine Humanism and the Transmission of Greek Texts to Italy. Byzantine scholars such as Bessarion and Chrysoloras carried Greek manuscripts and learning to Renaissance Italy.
8. Byzantium's Legacy in the Fall of Constantinople and Renaissance Learning. The 1453 fall of Constantinople closed Byzantine history while its scholars reshaped Renaissance learning.