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Patristic  Course Home Popes on Patristics Resources |
PATRISTIC CHURCH -- HOME & SYLLABUSPurpose, Goals, and MethodThis course is an introduction to the two inseparable fields of patrology and patristics, as defined by the Congregation for Catholic Education [CCE] in its Instruction on the Study of the Fathers of the Church in the Formation of Priests. Patrology studies the life and writings of the fathers of the Church, whereas patristics focuses on the theological thought of the fathers. The goal of the course is threefold. First, students will be introduced to the lives and thought of major fathers, along with the setting and message of key texts from the early Church. Second, students will become familiar with the wider corpus of writings that have survived from the early Church, and the resources for studying them today, as a springboard for life-long learning. The third goal is articulated by the CCE: "The real crowing of the formative task is reached ... only when the student comes to make some friends among the fathers and assimilates their spirit." The CCE also provides the method of the course: "It is in fact through the professor's and the student's direct contact with the sources, particularly at an academic level and in special courses, that patristics must be taught and learned." Thus students will read primary texts from the early Church, which will be contextualized and explored through lectures and discussions in class and on Blackboard. Of the four possible organizational models for presenting this material (analytical, panoramic, monographic, and thematic), this course mainly follows the thematic, "which emphasizes some of the more representative fathers." Global Vision Goals What role does this course play in the wider task of forming seminarians to serve the Church as priests of God? In other words, why study the fathers? First, the fathers are a key source for theological knowledge; their unanimous consent is a definitive norm, and they are privileged witnesses to apostolic tradition. Second, the fathers provide models and methods for evangelizing the culture (inculturation) without compromising what is unique to Christian identity. They also constitute, alongside scripture, a key source for ecumenical dialogue, since they are a common object of study of the Latin Rite, Eastern Orthodoxy, and many Protestants. Finally, sincerely studying the lives and writings of the fathers contributes dramatically to authentic human development, particularly on the part of seminarians who will follow in the footsteps of the fathers as pastors of Christ's Church. Required Texts
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COURSE CALENDAR ______________________
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_______________________________________________________________________________ Class 5, Tuesday 9 September
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Class 6, Friday 12 September
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RECOMMENDED
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Recommended
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Class 26, Tuesday 9 December The Professor reserves the right to make substitutions, deletions, or additions to the schedule of readings.
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in te domine speravi non confundar in aeternum (c) 2008 Daniel G. Van Slyke |