Patristics
This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
|
Patristics or patrology is the study of the
Eras
The Church Fathers are generally divided into the
There were also Church Fathers who wrote in languages other than Greek or Latin, such as
Locations
The major locations of the early Church fathers were Rome, Constantinople, Alexandria, Antioch, and the area of western north Africa around Carthage. Milan and Jerusalem were also sites.[5]
Key theological developments
Major focuses for these theologians during the period are, in chronological order,
Key persons
|
|
|
|
|
Obstacles to 21st-century understanding
Alister McGrath notes four reasons why understanding patristics can be difficult in the early 21st-century:[8]
- Some of the debates appear to have little relevance to the modern world
- the use of classical philosophy
- the doctrinal diversity
- the divisions between East and West, i.e., Greek and Latin methods of theology, the extent of use of classical philosophy.
The terms neo-patristics and post-patristics refer to recent theologies according to which the Church Fathers must be reinterpreted or even critically tested in light of modern developments since their writings reflected that of a distant past. These theologies, however, are considered controversial or even dangerous by orthodox theologians.[9][10]
Patrology vs. patristics
Some scholars, chiefly in Germany, distinguish patrologia from patristica. Josef Fessler, for instance, defines patrologia as the science which provides all that is necessary for the using of the works of the Fathers, dealing, therefore, with their authority, the criteria for judging their genuineness, the difficulties to be met within them, and the rules for their use. But Fessler's own Institutiones Patrologiae has a larger range, as have similar works entitled Patrologies, for example, that of Otto Bardenhewer (tr. Shahan, Freiburg, 1908). Catholic writer Karl Keating argues that patrology is the study of the Early Fathers and their contemporaries as people, and the authenticity of the works attributed to them. Patristics, on the other hand, is the study of their thought.[11]
On the other hand, Fessler describes patristica as that theological science by which all that concerns faith, morals, or discipline in the writings of the Fathers is collected and sorted. The lives and works of the Fathers are also described by a non-specialized science: literary history. These distinctions are not much observed, nor do they seem very necessary; they are nothing else than aspects of patristic study as it forms part of fundamental theology, of positive theology, and of literary history.[12]
Availability of patristic texts
A vast number of patristic texts are available in their original languages in
English translations of patristic texts are readily available in a variety of collections. For example:[citation needed]
- The Ante-Nicene Fathers: The Writings of the Fathers Down to A.D.325 (Edinburgh: T&T Clark).
- A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church (Edinburgh: T&T Clark).
- The Works of Saint Augustine, A Translation for the 21st Century (New York City Press).
- The Fathers of the Church (Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press).
- Ancient Christian Writers (New York: Paulist Press).
- The Early Church Fathers (London; New York: Routledge-Taylor & Francis Group).
- The Popular Patristics Series (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press).
A range of journals cover patristic studies:[citation needed]
- Augustinian Studies
- Church History (journal)
- The Journal of Ecclesiastical History
- Journal of Early Christian Studies
- Studia Patristica
- Vigiliae Christianae
See also
- Armenian studies
- Coptology
- Early Christianity
- Ethiopian Studies
- First seven ecumenical councils
- Historiography of early Christianity
- Nag Hammadi library
- Papyrology
- Popular Patristics Series
- Syriac studies
- Women in the patristic age
- List of Christian women of the patristic age
Notes
- Church Of The East, wrote in Chinese.
References
- ISSN 2589-7993.
- ISBN 978-90-04-36356-4. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
- ISSN 0042-6032.
- ISBN 0-631-20843-7.
- ^ McGrath. op.cit. pp. 20–22.
- ^ McGrath. op.cit. Ch. 1.
- ^ McGrath. op.cit. pp. 27–37.
- ^ McGrath. op.cit. pp. 23.
- ^ Dr. Triantafyllos Sioulis, «Πατερικός φονταμενταλισμός» ή «μετα-πατερική θεολογική θολούρα» Archived 2011-11-01 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Metropolitan of Nafpaktus ΝΕΟΠΑΤΕΡΙΚΗ ΚΑΙ ΜΕΤΑΠΑΤΕΡΙΚΗ "ΘΕΟΛΟΓΙΑ"
- ISBN 9780898701951.
- ^ "Patrology". Catholic Answers. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
- ^ Polakowski, Betsy. "Research and Course Guides: Patristics / Patrology – The Early Church Fathers & Their Writings: Primary Sources --Original Languages". libguides.stthomas.edu. Retrieved 5 July 2023.
Sources
- "Patrology". Catholic Encyclopedia. 1911.
- Gérard Vallée (1999). The shaping of Christianity. New York: Paulist Press. ISBN 978-0809138678.
External links
Audio
- "Patristics for Busy Pastors by Dr J Ligon Duncan". Archived from the original on 13 May 2008.
- "Church History 1: Dr Gerald Bray". Archived from the original on 19 May 2008.
- Patristics: The Fathers of the Church. Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.
Online collections
- "Early Church Fathers: Ante-Nicene and Post-Nicene". Christian Classics Ethereal Library.
- "Early Church Fathers: Additional Texts". The Tertullian Project.
- "Large collection of patristic texts that outline the cardinal doctrines of the Catholic faith". cin.org.
- J. P. Migne. "Patrologia Latina". and "Patrologia Graeca". free digital edition of almost all the texts.
- "The comprehensive Patrologia compiled by J. P. Migne". Faulkner University Patristics Project. Archived from the original on 18 July 2012. English translations of patristic texts and high-resolution scans.
- J. P. Migne (1864). Patrologiae cursus completus (in Latin).
- "Free digital bilingual edition of patristic texts, studies, meditations, prayers" (in French, Latin, and Greek).
- "A 38 volume set containing most of the major works of the first 800 years of Christian patristic writings".
- "Ecole Initiative". Archived from the original on 28 December 2005. Online collection of patristic texts, images, and information.
Others
- "Search tool for Patrologia Graeca". Archived from the original on 20 January 2021. Retrieved 1 October 2016.
- "Roger Pearse: Thoughts on Antiquity and Patristics". 7 March 2024.
- "Website of the North American Patristics Society".
- "Website of the International Association of Patristics Studies". Archived from the original on 4 February 2007.