Mathematical Theologies Nicholas of Cusa and the Legacy of Thierry of Chartres
Produktdetaljer
Biographical note
David Albertson studies medieval and early modern Christianity as Assistant Professor of Religion at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. After finishing degrees at Stanford University and the University of Chicago, he has held research fellowships at the University of Cologne and The Huntington Library.This is the most insightful and learned monograph on Nicholas of Cusa to appear in the last decade. Cusanus scholars will have to grapple with his new reading of the Chartrian lines of influence, including his brilliant insight into Nicholas's alleged forgery. Even more exciting is the new sketch for the pre-history of today's debates about science and theology. Are the intellectual presuppositions of our spiritual a-cosmism only to be found within the age of Galileo or can the ancient and medieval synthesis of arithmetic and Incarnation still speak to us? Albertson adds considerable depth and light to that pressing discussion.
Peter Casarella, University of Notre Dame and President, American Cusanus Society
The heritage of Pythagoras has influenced Western thought for two-and-a-half millennia. One of the neglected aspects of this tradition was the development of Christian Neopythagoreanism in Late Antiquity and its rebirth in the twelfth century with the early scholastic Thierry of Chartres. David Albertson's wide-ranging and impressive book uncovers the significance of Thierry's mathematical theology and demonstrates its powerful influence on the Renaissance Cardinal and speculative thinker Nicholas of Cusa. Mathematical Theologies is a ground-breaking study in the history of Western theology and a major new interpretation of Cusanus.
Bernard McGinn, University of Chicago
Mathematization is usually regarded as the central element in the transition from medieval theology to modern science. David Albertsons genealogical study of the roots of Nicholas of Cusas thought in the Christian Neopythagoreanism of Thierry of Chartres demonstrates that theology and mathematics did not always go separate ways. What if, in our age of unprecedented quantification, Word and Number could be made to meet once again? That is the provocative question of this brilliant book.
Philipp W. Rosemann, University of Dallas
This book is a brilliant example of how much the history of ideas can still add to the history of practices, especially scholarly practices.
Richard J. Oosterhoff, Isis