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- St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church
- of Cleveland
- Servants Preparation Course
- 2005
- Bishoy M. Mikhail
- *References include texts by Fr. Tadros Y. Malaty, Raouf Ibrahim, and
Bishoy Mikhail
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- “When a man learns from the mouth of another, it is said that he is the
son of the person who teaches him, and the later is called his father.”
- St. Irenaeus of Lyons
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- “Speech is the sun of the soul, therefore we call those who teach us our
fathers.”
- St. Clement of Alexandria
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Patrology is the science dealing with the lives, acts, writings,
sayings, doctrines and thoughts of Orthodox writers of the early Church.- Patristics, or Patrology, deals with the study of the large body of
literature stemming from those known as the "Fathers." Most of
these were bishops or scholars of the church in the early centuries. The
majority of these fathers studied and wrote in Greek, those of the West
in Latin, although some important and influential figures wrote in one
or other of the ancient languages such as Coptic, Syriac, or Armenian,
for example, St. Shenouda the Archimandrite wrote in Coptic.
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- Historical Reasons
- The Patristic literature is the primary source material for
reconstructing the history of the church during the period with which we
are concerned. Although there is other relevant material in secular
literature, archeological evidence, etc., the Patristic literature is
the largest body of existent evidence.
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- Doctrinal Reasons
The Patristic literature is the primary source material for
reconstructing the early history of Dogma. For the Orthodox Church, the
Fathers are a major source and authority alongside Holy Scripture and
are venerated as such.
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- Liturgical Reasons
The Patristic literature is the primary source material for
reconstructing the early history of the liturgy. In addition to the
texts of the liturgies, Patristic literature gives us such things as the
descriptions of practices, quotations of early prayers, hymns, rituals,
etc.
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- Biographical Reasons
Many of the writers were outstanding personalities worth studying
in their
- own right. Patristics gives us insight
- into their character, etc.
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- Spiritual Reasons
The Fathers of the Church are saints not only because of their
vast knowledge, but also because of their deep spirituality. According
to the teachings of the Church, there can be no real separation between
theology and spirituality. The Fathers are examples to us by their
conduct, way of life, and holiness.
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- 1. The Apostolic Fathers
- The Didache, i.e., The Teachings of the Twelve Apostles
- St. Clement of Rome
- St. Ignatius of Antioch
- St. Polycarp of Symrna
- Hermas
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- 2. The Early Apologists - Include Justin Martyr, Aristides, Tatian,
Athenagoras, Theophilus, Minucius Felix and Tertullian. These were
active around AD 120-220.
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- 3. Early Western Theology - Irenaeus of Lyons (late second century),
Tertullian, Hippolytus, and Cyprian of Carthage (third century) are the
important figures.
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- 4. The Alexandrians
- St. Clement of Alexandria
- Origen
- St. Alexander of Alexandria
- St. Athanasius the Great
- St. Cyril of Alexandria
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- 5. The Period of the First Ecumenical Council at Nicea
- The early fourth century was dominated by three developments: (i) the
conversion of Constantine, the Christianizing of the empire and the
politicizing of the church; (ii) the reaction against accommodation with
the world evidenced in the flowering of the monastic movement, which was
to inspire a hagiographical literature of its own; and (iii) the Arian
controversy which occasioned the first Ecumenical Council at Nicea. The
greatest figure produced by these events was St. Athanasius, pope of
Alexandria. Many of his writings are anti-Arian treatises, but he also
produced a small classic called The Incarnation as well as another
classic, The Life of Antony, a detailed life of St. Antony the Great.
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- 6. The Cappadocians
- St. Basil the Great
- St. Gregory Nazianzen, the Theologian
- St. Gregory of Nyssa, Basil’s brother
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- 7. The Golden Age in the East -
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- 8. The Golden Age of the West – St. Jerome, St. Ambrose of Milan, St.
Augustine of Hippo
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- 1. Epistles: correspondence,
admonitions, etc…
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- 2. Homiletic works
- and Biblical commentaries
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- 3. Apologetic works – defenses of the faith against heretics and
non-believers
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- Patrology is not just a branch of theology, it is a dynamic source and
aspect of all branches. The lives
of the fathers are an open and living gospel that testifies to the
complete understanding of Christian life and doctrine.
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- The fathers not only wrote about the Bible, they were the ones who were
guided by the Holy Spirit to define once and for all the canons of the
Bible, i.e., which books of the Bible were considered authentic and
canonical.
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- All of the fathers write about issues of our core beliefs and dogmas,
for example the Holy Trinity.
Without the explanations of the fathers, such concepts are very
difficult to grasp.
- Our faith was defined by the fathers in the Ecumenical Councils, which
address the fundamental dogmas of Christianity.
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- The fathers reveal the work of the Holy Trinity in The Church. The Church is declared through
biblical, apologetic, ascetic, sacramental and spiritual writings.
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- The fathers wrote the liturgies and prayers of the Church, from them we
learn the continuation of Christ’s instructions to the Apostles and
their successors.
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- We learn from the Fathers how the Church understands the Theotokos, St.
Mary.
- St. Cyril of Alexandria was a strong defender of the title, “Theotokos,”
for the Mother of God St. Mary.
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- The sayings of the desert fathers are an important part of the study of
patristics.
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- We learn spiritual lessons from the writings, sayings, teachings and
homilies of the fathers.
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- When we study the lives of these fathers, we learn the true meaning of
ministry.
- The dedication of the Fathers, for example by the martyrdom of St.
Ignatius of Antioch, should be a lesson to all of us for how to serve
with dynamic energy for the Lord and His Church.
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- Ecumenical work seeks to return to the undivided Church of the early
centuries. Many of these fathers
lived in the time of the undivided Church, others were involved in the
controversies which resulted in the divisions. When we work to solve these problems,
we must learn about these individuals and use them and their teachings
as common ground, e.g., St. Cyril of Alexandria and Christology.
- “All Christian bodies hold the Fathers in high esteem and the study of
the Patristic writings should bring Christians to better knowledge of
Christ’s teaching and promote unity.”
- Patrick J. Hammell
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Notes
