But ammonius was a modest man, and called himself merely a philalethian, or lover of truth. On the latter view there was a christian origen as well as a platonist origen who. During the last two centuries a remarkable similarity between the philosophical system of plotinus 205 270 a. The details of his life are unknown, insomuch that he has frequently been confused with a christian philosopher of the same name. Because it was his inspiration that began something of a fire in the minds of those in alexandria at the time, where a smorgasbord of philosophy was to be had. The latter departed from alexandria in 243, joining an illfated expedition possibly as a court philosopher of.
This book addresses the possibility of any direct influence of indian thought upon plotinus and his teacher ammonius saccas 185 250 a. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading ammonius coming to understanding 2010. While the church of rome held up the jewish bible as the sole authority upon every subject, the gnostic schools of alexandria and ephesus had turned out thousands of students who recognized the absurdity of such a claim. Later authors applied the nickname of saccas to ammonius. Thought originally to have been a porter, he taught rhetoric and an eclectic and esoteric form of platonism at alexandria. The overarching mission of the ammonius foundation is to stimulate renewed appreciation for systematic philosophy, by funding excellent research on foundational themes in traditional metaphysics and philosophical theology. Ammonius coming to understanding 2010 kindle edition by the ammonius foundation press. Porphyry asserts that he was born of christian parents, and returned to the heathen religion. Early neoplatonist school greek philosopher of alexandria, often called the founder of the neoplatonic school. Ammonius was born under the learned emperor and legal codifier theodosius ii, and was an adolescent when rome fell to the vandal army. Origen read his textual authority, scripture, in light of platonism. He was undoubtedly the biggest influence on plotinus in his development of neoplatonism, although little is known about his own philosophical views. Ammonius saccas 1911 encyclopedia britannica bible. The objects which ammonius saccas had in view were the same as those of h.
Ammonius founded the eclectic theosophical school in alexandria in 193 ce, which according to helena p. Blavatsky in founding the theosophical society in 1875. Ammonius himself was distinguished by the epithet niceph. Being of unusual stature, he and his brothers dioscorus, eusebius, and euthymius were called the tall brothers soz. The city of alexandria is interesting to the theosophical student, for there, just fifteen hundred years ago, existed the last great theosophical school in history the school which was begun by ammonius saccas, called theodidaktos, or godtaught, and ended with the death of hypatia. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Blavatsky, was the precursor of the modern theosophical society ts. Ammonius saccas 3rd century ad, neoplatonist philosopher and teacher of plotinus. Siemons, then the date of birth of ammonius saccas would go back to 156 a. Pdf ammonius of alexandria, eusebius of caesarea, and the. Ammonius, a disciple of pambo, and one of the most celebrated of the monks of nitria. Ammonius lithotomos 3rd century bc, alexandrian greek lithotomist. James santucci, editor of theosophical history, in.
He was undoubtedly the biggest influence on plotinus in his development of neoplatonism, although little is known. He is mainly known as the teacher of plotinus, whom he taught for eleven years from 232 to 243. He was undoubtedly the biggest influence on plotinus in his development of neoplatonism. Ammonius author of in aristotelis categorias commentarius.
This study situates origen of alexandria within the platonic tradition, presenting origenas a christian philosopher who taught and studied philosophy, of which theology was part and parcel. Religions free fulltext origen and the platonic tradition. The influence of the great alexandrian schools had not helped the early christians in their work of propaganda. Find, read and cite all the research you need on researchgate. Ammonius of alexandria, stadion ammonius 2 a minister of alexander balas, king of syria 14942 ammonius murders laodice and other members of the syrian royal family. Sermone vulgari saccarium significat, quod nomen opinationibus nonnullis locum dedit. This includes data values and the controlled vocabularies that house them. Ammonius saccas pdf ammonius, while giving a critique of previous discussions. I n september 2016, after a careful analysis of the state of the esoteric movement worldwide, a group of students decided to form the independent lodge of theosophists, whose priorities include the building of a better future in the different dimensions of life. Ammonius is the author of in aristotelis categorias commentarius 0. Ammonius saccas 3rd century ad, alexandrian neoplatonist philosopher and teacher of plotinus. Ammonius coming to understanding 2010 kindle edition by. This is, according to this interpretation, supported by the fact that ammianus marcellinus refers to him as saccas ammonius, thus as the sacian ammonius, which makes any reading as denoting sakkos impossible.
From early childhood, however, he was repelled by the extreme dogmatism that characterized the vociferous alexandrian christian movement. That ammonius saccas taught both origen and plotinus is accepted by most. Edwards points out that in fact neither eusebius nor porphyry in the passage cited by eusebius asserts that origens ammonius was ammonius saccas who taught plotinus. Access to the complete content on oxford reference requires a subscription or purchase. A significant feature of the situation of ammonius saccas, leiden.
He criticized false philosophies as well as heresies, but not the philosophy of plato. The ammonius foundation is a politically nonpartisan entity. Of humble origin, he appears to have earned a livelihood as a porter. He studied philosophy at the academy in athens for many years from about 460 under proclus of lydia scholarch there from 437 to 485, among whose students ammonius is said to have excelled in mathematics and. Ammonius of alexandra victor in the stadion race at the olympic games, 256 b. Ammonius of alexandria christian philosopher 3rd century ad, christian writer confused with ammonius saccas. Inspired by the teachings of plato, and pythagoras. Information on ammonius of alexandria he is credited with the first gospel synopsis, a work that placed parallel passages from the other three canonical gospels against the gospel of matthew. Pdf origen and the platonic tradition researchgate. It may be, as elizabeth digeser has recently argued, that ammonius saccas.
His work was the basis of the eusebian canons, a division of the gospels into numbered sections that crossreferences the parallels to each other. Ammonius may refer to ammonius lithotomos 3rd century bc, greek lithotomist. Ammonius saccas, of alexandria lc linked data service. James santucci, editor of theosophical history,in 1994, and the original paper was.
As noted by eleanor dickey, scholarship in this sense refers to any type of work concentrating on the words, rather. Ammonius of alexandria, eusebius of caesarea and the. Ammonius saccus by stefan carey theosophy downunder. When ammonius died circa 242 ce, plotinus had been his pupil for a decade. The cognomen sakkas therefore referred to india as a marker of ethnic identity.
The linked data service provides access to commonly found standards and vocabularies promulgated by the library of congress. Ammonius of athens 1st century ad, philosopher and teacher of plutarch. The book of revelation written under spirit control by apollonius. As required by law and adopted by principle, our notforprofit organization does not support or otherwise endorse any political candidate, party, campaign, or interest. Some scholars supporting the view of the indian origins of ammonius saccas have also. The philosophy of ammonius saccas on23xd036pl0 idocpub. A man who introduced universal philosophy lay the foundation of neo platonism. Ammonius a dictionary of early christian biography.
Neo or the new platonism, was expounded by porphyry in the third century ad, after being a student of plotinus, a student of. Public users are able to search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter without a. His pupils included origen, plotinus the famous neoplatonist, and a pagan origen. Among his pupils was origen, who is widely considered as perhaps the greatest biblical scholar and church father. Why bother with someone like ammonius saccus from so long ago. Datasets available include lcsh, bibframe, lc name authorities, lc classification, marc codes, premis vocabularies, iso language codes, and more. He started the neoplatonic school in alexandria in the year 193 a. Ammonius saccas was an egyptian philosopher from alexandria who was often referred to as. It is argued that ammonius was an independent thinker who, though a platonist, had a weaker commitment to plato than most of his contemporary platonists, and hence was uninterested in interschool polemics. The pagan biographer porphyry claimed that learning made ammonius reject his christian upbringing for traditional.