Marsilio Ficino was an Italian scholar and Catholic priest who was one of the most influential humanist philosophers of the early Italian Renaissance. Dan Attrell is a PhD candidate in the department of history at the University of Waterloo. Brett Bartlett is an independent scholar of Latin. David Porreca is an associate professor in the Department of Classical Studies at the University of Waterloo. Dan Attrell is a PhD candidate in the department of history at the University of Waterloo. Brett Bartlett is an independent scholar of Latin. David Porreca is an associate professor in the Department of Classical Studies at the University of Waterloo.
Marsilio Ficino's On the Christian Religion is a counterpart to the Florentine humanist's more famous Platonic Theology, also written in the mid-1470s. In this text Ficino reveals himself as the priest and theologian demonstrating how Christ's Incarnation fulfils the 'ancient theology' (prisca theologia) shared by the Old Testament prophets and pagan sages, and how the Christian religio refutes contemporary Judaism and Islam. This elegant translation and commentary enriches our understanding of the multifaceted Ficino in many ways. - Bernard McGinn, Professor Emeritus of Historical Theology and of the History of Christianity, Divinity School, University of Chicago The translators of this complex work have contributed significantly to our understanding of the mind of Renaissance Florence by making Ficino's text available in accessible, effective prose and explicating his many, often obscure, sources. Ficino was a central figure in the culture patronized by the Medici, and his role was diverse: translator, philosopher, priest, and physician. His ambition was to reconcile the thought of the ancients with Christian doctrine, and the translators' introduction explicates this intention clearly. - Kenneth R. Bartlett, Professor of History and Renaissance Studies, University of Toronto