Author Description

This study focuses on certain prominent Christian writers and examines their use of the literary and cultural remains from Greco-Roman antiquity. The primary aim of this collection of essays is to clarify the factors which motivated these Christians in their use of the non-Christian classical heritage. Although the essays consider writers from late antiquity to Romantic Neo-Hellenism - from Basil and Augustine to Hegel - this study is not primarily historical; nor does it attempt to be exhaustive in its treatment of Christian writers who deal with this issue. Rather, it aims at a clear statement of representative positions, and an examination of the motivations of Christians in their use of the classics. Contributors discuss the writers in their historical context and examine the classical heritage as it was understood in the various periods.