John Philoponus’ monumental effort to refute the pagan philosophers’ view that the world has always existed, and to prove the Biblical view that God in the beginning created heaven and earth, provided material and inspiration for cosmological works in Greek, Arabic and Latin throughout the Middle Ages. But Philoponus was not the only Christian in Late Antiquity who thought the Biblical view could be defended by philosophical argument. In this paper I will focus on the debate between pagans and Christians in the two or three generations before Philoponus, especially the fictional debate staged in Zacharias Scholasticus’ dialogue Ammonius.
Börje Bydén is Assistant Professor of Greek at Stockholm University. His main interests lie in the history and reception of Greek thought and learning. He has published a number of articles and a lengthy monograph on the history of philosophical studies in Byzantium. He is currently preparing the editio princeps of Theodore Metochites’ commentary on Aristotle’s De anima for CAGB as well as teaching Sophocles’ Oedipus Coloneus, Plato’s Apology and Aristotle’s Categories to undergraduates and graduates.