Patristics 601 Dr. Paul Gavrilyuk

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Patristics 601Dr. Paul Gavrilyuk

• Is history a science?
• What (sort of an animal) is a historian?
• Methodological issues in historical theology.
• Patrology chronological boundaries.
• Why study the early Church Fathers?
• Two theological temptations to avoid.
• Various theories of doctrinal development.
• Bonus Gavrilyuks own theory.
• The syllabus and other necessary evils...

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Is History a science or...?
Positivists v. idealists
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If historian is not a scientist,who is she?
Perhaps an eyewitness...
(Disney Monsters. Reproduced without permission.)
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Someone who interviews several eyewitnesses...
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A detective?
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Perhaps, a cryptologist...
Carved on the wall of a private house in
Pompei... (before 79 A. D.)
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What in the world does this mean?
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The Magic Square
Arepo the sower holds the wheels at work.
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It could mean...
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Tales from the Crypt of Lucina
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Or someone who restores ancient artwork?
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Methodological issues

• Is historical theology an objective discipline?
• All history is written from the standpoint of
  the present. John Dewey (1859-1952).
• Is historical theology a confessional discipline?
• The role of belief/ unbelief.
• The role of a particular confessional stance.
• Perspectival relativism.
• Is historical/ theological objectivity attainable?

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Non-theological methods

• Psychology of religion
• Sociology of religion
• Classical and post-classical studies

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Chronological boundaries of Patrology

• According to Johannes Quasten
• In the West, all authors up to Gregory the Great
  (d. 604) or Isidore of Seville (d. 636) somewhat
  artificial.
• In the East, all authors up to John of Damascus
  (d. 749)very artificial.

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Why study Patristics?
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Two temptations

• Apologists temptation history as means of
  justifying the present beliefs.
• Reformers temptation history as means of
  changing the present beliefs.

Duccio, The Temptation of Christ (1308-11).
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Some preliminary conclusions

• Historical findings make a difference for
  theology.
• Historical theology is informative, but not
  necessarily normative.

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Theories of the Development of Dogma

• The dogma is immutable. All developments are
  deviations.
• Theories of the Fall.
• Martin Luther Doctrinal Fall.
• Philip Spener Moral Fall.
• Adolf von Harnack Philosophical Fall.
• Pre-modern/ modern worldviews. Rudolf Bultmann/
  Maurice Wiles.
• Gavrilyuks theory of dialectical development.

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The Christ of the Seven Ecumenical Councilsor
Gavrilyuks theory of dialectical christology

• Caution all grand theories fail to fully
  describe the complexities of underlying
  historical reality...