Deus moliens, conditor, figulator. I volti del divino tra filosofia e cristianesimo. I a.C. - III d.C.

This research outlines some features attributed to the godly action of creation and developed between the first century B.C. and the third century A.D. in the Latin-speaking West. The study focuses on the terminology used to explain the action of God in relation to cosmos and man and tries to assess if there is a peculiar conceptuality behind the chosen vocabulary. The research consists of four chapters: the first chapter frames the historical-philological background, while the other three survey the relevant texts. In the first chapter I try to define the value of biblical Latin as a factor of change in late Latin and to describe the origin of the first biblical translations into Latin (Old Latin). The second chapter deals with the analysis of the Latin translation of the Timaeus of Cicero. Cicero’s Demiurge differs from the Platonic one. In Cicero’s Timaeus are emphasized in particular the Demiurge’s personal and providential traits. The third chapter deals with the cosmogenesis and anthropogenesis in the Old Latin. The analysis begins from the translation of the first two chapters of Genesis: a point of reference for the translations of Bible’s other books. The theme of the creation of cosmos and man is then examined in some parts of the Old and the New Testament. It results a need to change the image of God as a craftsman in order to enhance the act of creation through the Word. Besides, Wisdom/Christ as collaborator of creation becomes a central figure. The fourth chapter analyses cosmogenesis and anthropogenesis in Tertullian’s works. The action of God in this case is different according to the recipient: God transcendence is underlined in the creation of cosmos, while in the creation of man God is represented as a craftsman. The precedent chapters show how the vocabulary used to define the action of God in Latin becomes richer and richer, maintaining a certain tension between the necessity of transcendence and the human need to think God as near.