Johann Scottus Eriugena

Too much a philosopher for the theologians, too much a theologian for the philosophers.


Eriugena (800-877) was almost unique in his day for 'having the Greek', and indeed some access to the Greek theological tradition, he knew Gregory of Nyssa (almost unknown in the Latin West), Denys the Areopagite (whom he translated) and Maximus the Confessor.


Eriugena has been called 'the last great Neoplatonist' of the West, and in his "Periphyseon" (The Divisions of Nature) attempted a synthesis of Christian Neoplatonist metaphysics from Eastern and Western sources, drawing on Basil, Gregory of Nyssa, Denys and Maximus, as well as Cicero, Martianus Capella, Augustine and Boethius.


What marks Eriugena as supremely relevant today is that he drew a primary division between what is seen and what is unseen, not founded purely on a cosmological hierarchy, but rather determined by the observing intellect.


In Periphyseon, the first and highest cosmic principle is called ‘nature’ (natura) and is said to include both God and creation.


His metaphysic was too conceptually advanced for his contemporaries, The Treatise on Divine Predestination caused quite a stir and lost him more than a few friends. Periphyseon was popular among the philosophers of Chartres and St. Victor (e.g. Hugh of St. Victor refers to it) but was condemned in the thirteenth century, for promoting pantheism, which recently has been questioned and rejected. He enjoyed a clandestine influence on Christian Neoplatonists, including such notables as Meister Eckhart and Nicholas of Cusa.


In the last century or so, he has been called a forerunner of speculative idealism, a ‘Proclus of the West’ (Hauréau) and the ‘Father of Speculative Philosophy’ (Huber).


I own up to being a huge if amateur fan, and will be looking at some of his ideas here.

And God saw all the things that he had made, and they were very good.

So says Genesis (1:31). It's worth recalling that God worked for six days, creating things. Without doubt, man was the cherry on the cake, as it were, but one should not forget that God made everything else, too.

Which begs the question: Where is Christian cosmology, these days?

Our Greek and Russian Orthodox brothers and sisters would cast a sideways glance at this, I think. In their eyes, Christian cosmology is alive and well, whereas it would seem that 'the cosmic dimension' has been lost in the West. I must admit, I am inclined to agree, but then if the Orthodox trace their cosmology back to the Patristic Fathers, and they are our common heritage, then it would appear the fault does seem to lie with us Catholics for letting this light go out.

In my own small way, I hope to address that issue.

Cosmology will form a considerable component of this blog, and will shape many of the posts I make here. My primary reference will be St Maximus the Confessor, a bright star in the Patristic firmament, and to my mind a Doctor of the Tradition. He has bequeathed us a complete and luminous cosmological theology, and I will be referring to it often.

Watch this space.