The Christianity of the Philosopher Christianos

Abstract

The alchemical philosopher “Christianos” (late 6th [?] – 8th cent. CE) demonstrates that alchemical knowledge is a gift of God and describes the virtues that a philosopher-alchemist must possess to receive it. These and other Christian elements should not be considered as a Christian gloss on alchemical ideas. As a result of his exposure to the Neoplatonic mathematization of philosophical ideas, Christianos develops a precise method for defining and classifying alchemical productions on a mathematical basis. This mathematization intends to legitimize alchemy as a licit philosophical field, by presenting it as sharing similar traits with the sciences of the quadrivium. Christianos appears to have regarded this mathematical approach as a path illuminated by God through which a worthy philosopher-alchemist could partake in divine knowledge. The virtuous conduct and the mathematical method serve as two intertwined prerequisites in the pursuit of alchemical knowledge, facilitating at the same time the demarcation between true and false pursuers of knowledge.