Divine Infinity in Greek and Medieval Thought
This volume was inspired by Etienne Gilson's query, made in the early 1950s, as to why medieval authors spoke of God's being as infinite, a statement found neither in Judaeo-Christian scriptures nor in Greek philosophy. Divine Infinity in Greek and Medieval Thought deals with Hellenic and Hellenistic philosophers such at the Presocratics, Plato, Aristotle, Plotinus, and Proclus, as well as with Eastern Church fathers such as Gregory of Nyssa and John Damascene. The book also draws on the works of Augustine and such medieval authors as Peter Lombard, Richard Fishacre, Bonaventure, and Aquinas. It concludes that infinity is predicated of God not only extrinsically, but also intrinsically: His very being is infinite - a predication resting on an Aristotelian theory of act/potency or on a Platonic version of participation.