Comments on: Honey Boo Boo, Hypatia, and David Bentley Hart

By: Fred

Fred — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 00:16:08 +0000

Faith, I don’t know enough about Hypatia to speculate on the probability of her being Christian, but I do know that the fact that she taught and admired philosophers like Plato, Plotinus, and Aristotle hardly counts as evidence that she wasn’t. Augustine was profoundly influenced by Plotinus, and Aquinas called Aristotle “The Philosopher.”

By: Faith

Faith — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 19:34:46 +0000

It’s highly unlikely Hypatia was a Christian (as in professing the belief that Jesus died on the cross for our sins and was resurrected.) The sources mention that Hypatia taught Plato, Aristotle, and Plotinus (all connected with Neo-Platonism.) Neo-Platonists believed a person could know the transcendent One (God) from which the rest of the universe emanated, but not through logic or reason alone—only through deep meditation to achieve an ecstatic state. Hypatia’s best known student, Synesius, mentions they studied the Chaldean Oracles, as well as some Christian texts, and compares Hypatia’s lectures to a religious experience. He writes to a fellow student, “For my part I am and I advise you also to be, a more careful guard over the mysteries of philosophy.” He called Hypatia “divine guide” and “the most holy and revered philosopher.”

In 409, the people of Ptolemais asked Synesius to be their bishop. This had more to do with war than religion. As a Neo-Platonist, he didn’t believe in the Christian dogma, including the resurrection, which he considered “nothing for me but a sacred and mysterious allegory, and I am far from sharing the views of the vulgar crowd thereon.” His extensive correspondence with Hypatia shows his frank adoration of her and it’s likely he shared her views on Christianity. He dithered for over six months, before agreeing to take on the Bishopric, but only with several conditions, including keeping his beloved wife. You can read his remaining papers translated here: http://www.livius.org/su-sz/synesius/synesius_cyrene.html

By: Benighted Savage

Benighted Savage — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 17:27:32 +0000

Tim O’Neill, at his blogsite Armarium Magnum (http://armariummagnus.blogspot.com/), has been exposing the “scholarly” nonsense which underlies the Hypatia myth for some time now.

By: Mary

Mary — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 00:37:21 +0000

“Hypatia herself had many Christian admirers. ”

Heck, she may have been Christian herself. No contemporary record claims she was pagan; that claim first appears in accounts much later. Given that all of her known students were Christian, it was compatible with her studies. Plus, of course, the Christians who killed her did so because of claims of her association with the governor — another Christian — and his Christian faction.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 22:02:42 +0000

Much similar to today too, Christians also often find themselves determined by the dominant mentality–not at First Things though, thank all that is good.