Origen and the Emergence of Divine Simplicity before Nicaea

“This impressive study offers what I think is the very first genealogy of Christian usage of the idea of divine simplicity up through Origen of Alexandria.” —Andrew Radde-Gallwitz, author of Gregory of Nyssa’s Doctrinal Works

"Readers will find the discussion of Origen's relation to the Platonists of his time especially valuable in its erudition and its conceptual sophistication. This book is a contribution, not only to patristics, but to the history of philosophy." —Mark Edwards, author of Christians, Gnostics and Philosophers in Late Antiquity

"Ip’s elegant discussion of divine simplicity in pre-Nicene theology helps us to see with new clarity the diversity of ways this doctrine was articulated, and the functions it performed. By showing us this rich diversity, Ip also offers further arguments for taking the doctrine seriously as an integral and important part of the Patristic heritage. Students of Trinitarian theology, of Irenaeus, and of Origen will all need to come to terms with Ip’s work." —Lewis Ayres, author of Augustine and the Trinity

"Ip's lucid and surefooted book provides an historical and conceptual anchorage for any future discourse on divine simplicity, giving the doctrine a more human and concrete face, and enabling a new flexibility in addressing the formidable conundrums it poses." —Reviews in Religion & Theology

"The attentive reader will find in these pages persuasive, careful arguments based on detailed analyses of the relevant texts. This study... is as useful as an introduction to ancient philosophical theology and methods of its study as it is as a contribution to scholarly understandings of the numerous individual passages, figures and broader narratives it engages." —Scottish Journal of Theology