Theology of Arithmetic
Subtitle: Number Symbolism in Platonism and Early Christianity
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Published: 2013
Language: eng
Number of pages: 250
ISBN-13: 9780674073302
Subjects: Arithmetic
Description: "In the second century, Valentinians and other gnosticizing Christians used numerical structures and symbols to describe God, interpret the Bible, and frame the universe. In this study of the controversy that resulted, Joel Kalvesmaki shows how earlier neo-Pythagorean and Platonist number symbolism provided the impetus for this theology of arithmetic, and explains how gnosticizing groups attempted to engage both the Platonist and Christian traditions. He explores the rich variety of number symbolism then in use, among both gnosticizing groups and their orthodox critics, showing how those critics developed an alternative approach to number symbolism that would set the pattern for centuries to come. Arguing that the early dispute influenced the very tradition that inspired it, Kalvesmaki explains how in the late third and early fourth centuries numbers became increasingly important to Platonists, who engaged in arithmological constructions and disputes that mirrored the earlier Christian ones"--P. [4] of cover.