The Theology of the Fathers (CT1400A)

Content

This unit will explore the writings of the Fathers of the Church and their contribution to the formation of Orthodox Theology from the first century to the turn of the sixth. A variety of genres will be studied, including the epistle, apology, homily and martyrology. The unit may highlight the Fathers of Alexandria – Clement and Origen, Saint Athanasius and Saint Cyril – along with the Cappadocian Fathers and the Latin Fathers.

Learning outcomes

Unit sequence

No prerequisite units, co-requisite units or prohibited combinations

Pedagogy

asynchronous and synchronous lectures and tutorials

Indicative Bibliography

Anatolios, Khaled. Athanasius, The Early Church Fathers. New York, NY: Routledge, 2004.

Athanasius, and John Behr. On the Incarnation. Yonkers, N.Y.: St Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2011.

Ayres, Lewis. Nicaea and Its Legacy: An Approach to Fourth Century Theology. Oxford University Press, 2004.

Beeley, Christopher A. The Unity of Christ : Continuity and Conflict in Patristic Tradition. New Haven Conn.: Yale University Press, 2012

Behr, John. Origen: On First Principles. Oxford University Press, 2017.

Behr, John. The Formation of Christian Theology, Vol 2: The Nicene Faith Part 1 and 2. Crestwood, NY: St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2004.

Berding, Kenneth. The Apostolic Fathers : A Narrative Introduction. Eugene: Wipf and Stock, 2017

Casiday, Augustine, and Frederick W. Norris. The Cambridge History of Christianity: Volume 2. Cambridge University Press, 2014.

Cohick, Lynn H, and Amy Brown Hughes. Christian Women in the Patristic World : Their Influence, Authority, and Legacy in the Second through Fifth Centuries. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2017.

Engberg, Jakob, Anders-Christian Jacobsen, and Ulrich Jörg, eds. In Defence of Christianity : Early Christian Apologists. Early Christianity in the Context of Antiquity, Volume 15. Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang Edition, 2014.

Eusebius, and Rufinus. History of the Church. Translated by Philip R Amidon. The Fathers of the Church, a New Translation, Volume 133. Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 2016

Evans, G. R. The First Theologians: An Introduction to Theology in the Early Church. Malden and Oxford: Blackwell, 2004.

Fédou Michel. The Fathers of the Church in Christian Theology. Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 2019

McGuckin, John. Saint Cyril of Alexandria and the Christological Controversy. Crestwood, New York: St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2004.

McGuckin, John Anthony. St. Gregory of Nazianzus: An Intellectual Biography. St Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2001.

McKechnie, Paul. Christianizing Asia Minor : Conversion, Communities, and Social Change in the Pre-Constantinian Era. New York, NY, USA: Cambridge University Press, 2019.

Mitchell, Margaret M., Frances M. Young, and K. Scott Bowie. Cambridge History of Christianity: Volume 1, Origins to Constantine. Cambridge University Press, 2006.

Papandrea, James Leonard. Reading the Early Church Fathers : From the Didache to Nicaea. New York: Paulist Press, 2012.

Parry, Ken, ed. The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Patristics. Hoboken: Wiley, 2015

Rebillard Éric, ed. Greek and Latin Narratives About the Ancient Martyrs. First ed. Oxford Early Christian Texts. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017.

Thorsteinsson, Runar M. 2012. "The Literary Genre and Purpose of Justin's Second Apology: A Critical Review with Insights from Ancient Epistolography." Harvard Theological Review 105, no. 1: 91-114.

Young, Frances, Ayres, Lewis & Louth, Andrew. Cambridge History of Early Christian Literature. Cambridge University Press, 2004.

Assessment