Patristic Thought for the Good Life (AP9610Y)

Content

What does it mean to confess God as triune? What difference does this make to understanding the world as God’s creature, to salvation as the healing of all things, and to talking about human purpose within God’s who makes creatures flourish together? How does faithful thinking function when there has been a variety of Christian perspectives on each of these issues? The unit encourages the development of skills in thinking and believing, including understanding contextualising texts and theological reasoning, and it will facilitate those through the understanding of key doctrinal issues and questions in the critical study of many of the traditions’ most significant early theologians. Topics may include: the doctrine of God and apophaticism, christology and soteriology, the good life, and redemption.

Learning outcomes

Unit sequence

1xAP or CT unit This unit precludes Patristic Thought for Christian Life CT2/3/9610Y

Pedagogy

synchronous and asynchronous lectures and text-based tutorials

Indicative Bibliography

• Popular Patristics Series (NY: SVS Press).
  
• Adamson, Peter. Classical Philosophy. A History of Philosophy Without any Gaps, Volume 1. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014.
• Ayres, Lewis and Behr, John (eds.). Selected Essays, Volume I: Studies in Patristics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2023.
• Davison, Andrew. The Love of Wisdom: An Introduction to Philosophy for Theologians. London: SCM Press, 2013.
• Gilbert, Jess. The Mystical Tradition of the Eastern Church: Studies in Patristics, Liturgy, and Practice. Gorgias Press, 2020.
• Ierodiakonou, Katerina (ed.). Byzantine Philosophy and its Ancient Sources. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2002.
• Karamanolis, George. The Philosophy of Early Christianity. Acumen Press, 2013.
• Reeve, CDC & Miller, Patrick Lee (eds.). Introductory Readings in Ancient Greek and Roman Philosophy. Hackett, 2006.
• Tatakis, B.N. Christian Philosophy in the Patristic and Byzantine Tradition. Orthodox Research Institute, 2007.
• Vasiliou, I. Aiming at Virtue in Plato. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008.
• Waterfield, Robin. The First Philosophers: The Presocratics and Sophists. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000..
• Zachhuber, Johannes. The Rise of Christian Theology and the End of Ancient Metaphysics: Patristic Philosophy from the Cappadocian Fathers to John of Damascus. Oxford: Oxford University Press (2020).

Assessment