Patristics Confined in a Cocoon: Where Did We Go Wrong?

Abstract

This article is a personal reflection on the current state of Patristics in Australia, focusing on its debatable effectiveness in both Church and society. It discusses the manner in which the subject of Patristics functions as a specialized subset of knowledge within theological colleges and in a very limited number of universities, meaning that its accessibility is almost exclusively via formal educational providers. The more specialized the mode of delivery becomes, however, the more the role and relevance of Patristics appears to be diminishing over time. While that is not an Australian characteristic alone, the author argues that the purely tertiary nature of Patristic learning today is a feature of the local landscape that ought to be surveyed. As it currently stands, the subject is disconnected from preceding levels of education and indeed from other possible means of popularizing the subject for a broader audience who, otherwise, are not likely to encounter the Church Fathers in any meaningful way. This implies a fundamental question about how such a situation arose in the first place and became part of the status quo. The discussion is broadened through a presentation of certain key features of Patristics in the Eastern tradition.

Keywords

• Church Fathers
• secondary schooling
• tertiary theological education
• Gregory the Theologian
• Photios the Great
• patristic translations