FINALITÀ
General Objectives:
To introduce the Church Fathers and early Christian Writers
in the period between the Council of Nicaea and the Seventh
Century, presenting them with a broad overview within their
specific contexts.
To indicate the main features of their teachings and their
significance for the history of theology and the development of dogma (Trinity, Christology, Ecclesiology, etc.).
To consider also the Fathers’ contribution to the development of the Church’s spiritual life (mystical theology, monasticism and liturgical mystagogy).
To foster a love for the Fathers as spiritual guides and models of theological activity and to encourage students to acquire their “mind”, so that theology may be a contemplative encounter with the Lord in his mysteries.
ARGOMENTI
Course Outlines:
1. General introduction to patristic literature in the period.
2. The Fourth Century transformations in the Church, the
first two Ecumenical Councils, and Trinitarian theology
definitions. 3. The four Great Latin Fathers (St Gregory
the Great, St Ambrose of Milan, St Augustine of Cartage,
St Jerome). 4. The four Great Greek Fathers (St John
Chrysostom, St Basil the Great, St Gregory of Nazianzus, St Athanasius the Great). 5. The monastic movement in Egypt, Syria, Palestine, and the west. 6. Patristic liturgical theology. 7. Patristic mystical theology and teaching on prayer.
TESTI
Textbook:
Drobner, Hubertus. 2007. The Fathers of the Church:
A Comprehensive Introduction. Translated by Siegfried
Schatzmann. Grand Rapids: Baker Publishing House.
Bibliography:
Aquilina, Mike. 2013. The Fathers of the Church: An
Introduction to the First Christian Teachers. Huntington: Our Sunday Visitor; Benedict XVI. 2010. Church Fathers and Teachers: From Leo the Great to Peter Lombard. San Francisco: Ignatius Press; Di Berardino, Angelo, ed. 1992. Encyclopedia of the Early Church. 2 vols. Translated by Adrian Walford. Cambridge: James Clarke; Fortescue, Adrian. 2007. The Greek Fathers: Their Lives and Writings. San Francisco: Ignatius
Press; Quasten, Johannes. 1995. Patrology: Vol. 3: The Golden
Age of Greek Patristic Literature from the Council of Nicaea to
the Council of Chalcedon. Notre Dame: Christian Classics;
Quasten, Johannes. 1995. Patrology: Vol. 4: The Golden Age
of Latin Patristic Literature from the Council of Nicaea to the
Council of Chalcedon. Notre Dame: Christian Classics; Schaff,
Philip, and Henry Wallace, eds. 2007. Nicene and Post-Nicene
Fathers: Second Series. 14 vols. New York: Cosimo Classics;
Schaff, Philip, ed. 2007. Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers:
First Series. 14 vols. New York: Cosimo Classics; Simonetti,
Manlio. 2001. Biblical Interpretation in the Early Church: An Historical Introduction to Patristic Exegesis. Translated by John Hughes. Edinburgh: T & T Clark; Willis, John, ed. 2002. The Teachings of the Church Fathers. San Francisco: Ignatius Press.