Mathematics and the Divine : a Historical Study
Mathematics and the Divine seem to correspond to diametrically opposed tendencies of the human mind. Does the mathematician not seek what is precisely defined, and do the objects intended by the mystic and the theologian not lie beyond definition? Is mathematics not Man's search for a measure, and isn't the Divine that which is immeasurable?The present book shows that the domains of mathematics and the Divine, which may seem so radically separated, have throughout history and across cultures, proved to be intimately related. Religious activities such as the building of temples, the tellin
1 online resource (717 pages)
9780080457352, 0080457355
1058471838
Preface
List of Contributors
Contents
Introduction
The divine and mathematics
Three periods: The pre-Greek period, the Pythagorean-Platonic period and the period of the Scientific Revolution and its aftermath
The pre-Greek period and the ritual origin of mathematics
The Pythagorean-Platonic period
The Scientific Revolution and its aftermath
References
Chinese Number Mysticism
Introduction
The Hetu Diagram and the Luoshu Chart
The system of the Yijing (Book of Changes)
Daoist liturgy
Mysticism in the Chinese magic square. Popular beliefs in number mysticism and conclusions
Bibliographical comments
References
Derivation and Revelation: The Legitimacy of Mathematical Models in Indian Cosmology
Indian science, Indian religion: Ò̀rientalist'' and p̀̀ost-Orientalist'' views
The Puranas
The siddhantas
Contradiction and concession
The quest for non-contradiction
The status of siddhantas in the nineteenth century
Mathematical models in siddhantas
Conclusion
Bibliographical notes
References
The Pythagoreans
Introduction
Pythagoreanism in Plato and Aristotle. Pythagoreanism: some evidence from the Pythagoreans
Mathematics and the divine in the Pythagoreans: a suggestion
Notice for further reading
References
Mathematics and the Divine in Plato
Preliminary remarks
Introduction
The Timaeus
The Republic
Conclusion
Appendix A. The division of the stuff of the world soul (Timaeus 35b-36b)
References
Nicomachus of Gerasa and the Arithmetic Scale of the Divine
Introduction
Theologoumena Arithmetica
References
Geometry and the Divine in Proclus
Philosophy as divinisation. Mathematics in the divinisation of human nature
The nature of mathematical science
The metaphysics of geometry
St. Sophia: a geometry of the divine?
Bibliographical note
Religious Architecture and Mathematics During the Late Antiquity
Introduction
Religious architecture and heavenly measurements
Religious architecture and geometrical measurements
The building in its Earth-Heaven dialectic, or the circle above the square
References
The Sacred Geography of Islam
Introduction
The dichotomy of science in Islamic civilisation. The sacred geography of the legal scholars
The sacred geography of the scientists
The orientation of mosques and Islamic cities
Concluding remarks
References
Ǹ̀umber Mystique'' in Early Medieval Computus Texts
Introduction
The shape and scope of computus
Computus as ratio numerorum: the Irish computus of ca. 658
Computus as ratio temporum: Bede's revision of computistical ǹ̀umber mystique''
Byrhtferth's choices
Is the Universe of the Divine Dividable?
The sefirotic concept of Divinity developed in response to philosophy and rational theology
Eyn-sof, the perfectly unknowable origin of the sefirot