Patristic Thought for the Good Life (DT9610Y)

Content

Students will be introduced to the nature of moral inquiry and the theological content of moral traditions through focusing on key ancient philosophical and theological texts. The unit will explore the ways in which the development of Christian beliefs emerged in conjunction with reflections on the good life, the life lived with others as creatures of the gracious God. What difference does ancient theological and philosophical thinking make to understanding the way moral decisions are made, and how are those given a theopolitical form when God’s life makes creatures flourish together. Topics may include: the imminent eschaton, poverty, the good life as a just life, military service, the politics of the imperium.

Learning outcomes

Unit sequence

1xAP or CT or DT unit This unit precludes Patristic Thought for Christian Life CT2/3/9610Y and Patristic Thought for the Good Life AP2/3/9610Y

Pedagogy

synchronous and asynchronous lectures and text-based tutorials

Indicative Bibliography

• Popular Patristics Series (NY: SVS Press).
  
• Adamson, Peter. Classical Philosophy. A History of Philosophy Without any Gaps, Volume 1. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014.
• Ayres, Lewis and Behr, John (eds.). Selected Essays, Volume I: Studies in Patristics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2023.
• Davison, Andrew. The Love of Wisdom: An Introduction to Philosophy for Theologians. London: SCM Press, 2013.
• Gilbert, Jess. The Mystical Tradition of the Eastern Church: Studies in Patristics, Liturgy, and Practice. Gorgias Press, 2020.
• Ierodiakonou, Katerina (ed.). Byzantine Philosophy and its Ancient Sources. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2002.
• Karamanolis, George. The Philosophy of Early Christianity. Acumen Press, 2013.
• Leemans, Johan; Matz, Brian J.; and Johan Verstraeten (eds). Reading Patristic Texts on Social Ethics: Issues and Challenges for Twenty-First-Century Christians. Catholic University of America Press, 2011.
• Matz, Brian. Patristics and Catholic Social Thought: Hermeneutical Models for a Dialogue. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 2014.
• Schaefer, Jame. Theological Foundations for Environmental Ethics: Reconstructing Patristic and Medieval Concepts. Washington D.C.: Georgetown University Press, 2009.
• Vasiliou, I. Aiming at Virtue in Plato. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008.
• Waterfield, Robin. The First Philosophers: The Presocratics and Sophists. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000..
• Zachhuber, Johannes. The Rise of Christian Theology and the End of Ancient Metaphysics: Patristic Philosophy from the Cappadocian Fathers to John of Damascus. Oxford: Oxford University Press (2020).

Assessment