THE CHURCH in the PATRISTIC ERA

This course will introduce the history, theology, and spirituality of the patristic period from the death of the apostles to the pontificate of Pope Saint Gregory the Great (600 ad).  This course will provide an overview of both the theological thought of the Fathers of the Church (“patristics” in the strict sense) and their life and writings (“patrology”). The rich ethnic and cultural diversity of early Christian thought will be highlighted through study of primary sources from the Jewish, Roman, Greek, Celtic, Anglo-European, Slavic, Middle-Eastern (Syriac), and Egyptian (Coptic) traditions.  In order to profit from the cultural and ethnic diversity of the student body, students are encouraged to bring to discussion forums the patristic origins of their cultural traditions: including, for example the theological, liturgical, and spiritual emphases that distinguish Western Catholicism from  Eastern traditions such as the Maronite, Chaldean, Melchite, Malabar, and Ruthenian churches.

     Selected patristic texts will be studied and discussed: the majority of these will be primary sources taken from the Office of Readings.  In this way students’ ongoing prayerful study of these texts in the liturgy will provide a deepening re-acquaintance with the early sources of Christian spirituality and doctrine.

The student will be able to identify important persons, events, and schools of thought that influenced the development of Christian doctrine and the diversity of Christian spiritual traditions. The student will learn to make use of  primary and secondary sources available in both printed and electronic formats, and will become familiar with appropriate reference tools in early church history.

1)  This course will combine downloadable lectures, directed readings, and electronic discussions. Lecture/discussion will be based on patristic primary texts which are available on the course website and should be downloaded as “Class Notes” at the beginning of the semester.  Active participation in electronic discussions is essential, and will figure into the final evaluation.

2)  Each week questions based on reading and lectures will be presented.  Weekly responses are to be submitted as part of the discussion forum or (in exceptional cases) via e-mail .

3)  Research will be undertaken using primary sources studied in class or cited in the bibliography below.  The student may write a research paper at least eight pages in length, double-spaced and including appropriate references: it will be due at the end of the class semester.  In lieu of a paper, students who prefer the medium of verbal presentation may offer the results of their research as a 15-20 minute PowerPoint or web-page presentation. If the option for an oral presentation is chosen, a recording of the verbal narrative must accompany the Powerpoint slides or webpages. Possible topics for the paper or oral presentation include: any spiritual or theological subject discussed by one of the church fathers; or a comparison of any theme in two or more fathers.   The goal of the research is to demonstrate  familiarity with patristic primary sources.

4)  Students must clearly distinguish between: (a) their own work; and (b) ideas or text they have taken from other sources, including the Internet, published texts or audio-visual materials.  The requirement to distinguish clearly between one’s own work and the research of others applies equally to written and oral presentations.  Failure to give credit to cited sources constitutes plagiarism and will result in a grade of “F” for both the material presented and the course. Please read the policy on plagiarism: http://www.csbsju.edu/catalog/2001-2003/Academic_Programs/Rights_and_Responsibilities/002.htm.

5)  The final course grade will be computed as follows:

1) Chadwick, Henry The Early Church, (Viking Penguin, June 1990), ISBN: 0140231994

2) Louth, Andrew,  The Origins of the Christian Mystical Tradition from Plato to Pseudo-Dionysius, (Clarendon, Oxford University Press, 1981), ISBN: 0198266685.

3) Pope Benedict XVI,  Wednesday Audiences on the Fathers of the Church. This text is continuously updated, and should be downloaded from Course Documents

These may be downloaded from Course Documents.  These primary texts are (sometimes-extended) document-versions of the webpages that will be reviewed in conjunction with downloadable lectures.

Bell, David N., A Cloud of Witnesses, (Cistercian Publications, Cistercian Studies Series, No 109).

Peter Brown, The Body and Society, (Columbia University Press, 1988) ISBN: 0231061013

Comby, J. How to Read Church History: From the Beginnings to the Fifteenth Century, (Crossroad, 1990) ISBN 0824507223

Cross, F. L., The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, (Oxford University Press).  

Danielou, J. and Marrou, H., The Christian Centuries, vol. 1:The First Six Hundred Years, (Darton, Longman, and Todd, 1964).

Frend, W.H.C., The Rise of Christianity, (Fortress: 1984)

Kelly, J.N.D., Early Christian Doctrine, (Harper, San Francisco, March  1991)

McGinn, Bernard, The Foundations of Mysticism, Origins to the Fifth Century (The Presence of God, A History of Western Christian Mysticism, vol. 1) (Crossroad, 1991).

Quastern, Johannes, Patrology (4 vol.)

Ante‑Nicene, Nicene, and Post‑Nicene Fathers (Eerdmans: download from Christian Classics Ethereal Library at http://www.ccel.org)

   WEEK 1

COURSE DOCUMENTS: Plato, “The Parable of the Caves” and “The Myth of Er” (Republic).

TEXTBOOKS: Louth, 1-17.

   WEEKS 2

COURSE DOCUMENTS: The Book of Enoch, Philo of Alexandria on the Therapeutae and the Essenes; Clement of Rome; The Letter of Barnabas.

TEXTBOOKS: Chadwick, 9‑32; Louth, 18-35.

   WEEK 3

COURSE DOCUMENTS: Cicero, “The Dream of Scipio”(Republic); Pliny and Trajan on the Punishment of Christians; Justin Martyr.

TEXTBOOKS: Chadwick, 32‑54.

   WEEK 4

COURSE DOCUMENTS: Ignatius of Antioch;  Polycarp of Smyrna; Abericius; The Martyrdom of Saints Perpetua and Felicity; Cyprian of Carthage.

TEXTBOOKS: Chadwick, 54‑73.

   WEEK 5

COURSE DOCUMENTS: The Didache; Irenaeus; Hippolytus; Tertullian.

TEXTBOOKS: Chadwick, 74‑93.

   WEEK 6

COURSE DOCUMENTS: Alexandria; Plotinus; Clement of Alexandria; Origen.

TEXTBOOKS: Chadwick, 74‑93; Louth, 36-74.

   WEEK 7

COURSE DOCUMENTS: Athanasius; Constantine; Arianism; Nicea; The Life of Antony (Part 1) as as a model for Christians;

TEXTBOOKS: Chadwick, 94‑158; Louth 75-80

   WEEK 8

COURSE DOCUMENTS: Basil; Gregory Nazianzen; Gregory of Nyssa.

TEXTBOOKS: Chadwick, 160-173.; Louth 80-97.

   WEEK 9

COURSE DOCUMENTS: Aphraates of Persia; Ephrem the deacon; Isaac of Ninevah; the Apostolic Constitutions.

   WEEK 10-11

COURSE DOCUMENTS: Antony (Part 2), Pachomius, Evagrius; The Sayings (Apophthegmata) and Lives of the Desert Fathers; John Cassian.

TEXTBOOKS: Chadwick, 174-183, 469-473; Louth 98-113, 125-131.

   WEEK 12

COURSE DOCUMENTS: The Councils of Constantinople, Ephesus, and Chalcedon.  Cyril of Alexandria, Leo the Great.

TEXTBOOKS: Chadwick, 192-212.

   WEEK 13

COURSE DOCUMENTS: Cyril of Jerusalem, Ambrose, Augustine, The Early Penitentials

TEXTBOOKS: Chadwick, 213-236; Louth 132-158.

   WEEK 14

COURSE DOCUMENTS: Benedict, Caesarius of Arles, Gregory the Great.

TEXTBOOKS: Chadwick, 237-257

   WEEK 15

COURSE DOCUMENTS: "Uncreated Light" and Icons of the Transfiguration; Dionysius the Areopagite; Maximus Confessor.

TEXTBOOKS: Chadwick, 258-284; Louth, 113-125, 159-178

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