Theophrastus, or On the Immortality of the Psychē and Resurrection of Bodies, Dialogue by Aeneas of Gaza

Theophrastus, or On the Immortality of Souls and the Resurrection of Bodies is a philosophical dialogue composed around 485 CE by the Christian rhetorician Aeneas of Gaza. Written in Attic Greek, the work takes the form of a conversation among three characters: Theophrastus, an Athenian philosopher; Euxitheus, a Syrian; and Aegyptus, an Alexandrian. Through their exchange, which unfolds across 68 sections, Aeneas mounts a systematic defence of fundamental Christian doctrines, principally the immortality of the individual psychē and the future resurrection of the physical body. The dialogue is structured as a direct polemic against contemporary pagan philosophy, with particular criticism directed at Neoplatonic thought, especially the ideas of Proclus who had died shortly before its composition. It argues against concepts such as the eternity of the world and the transmigration of souls, advocating instead for creation from nothing and the eventual reunification of each psychē with its own glorified, immortal body. The work is a product of early sixth-century Christian apologetics, crafted to demonstrate the intellectual rigor of Christian theology to an educated audience of both believers and philosophically inclined pagans within the vibrant cultural centres of Gaza and Alexandria. The complete text has survived from antiquity; it was recovered during the Renaissance from a single manuscript and received a definitive critical edition in the nineteenth century, enabling detailed study of its arguments and its place in the transition from late antique to Christian philosophy.