Patristics WT-DTE-PAT1C
Course content:
1. Introductory issues (subject and tasks of patrology; chronology and divisions; terms: Fathers of the Church, Church's writers, Early Christian writers, Doctors of the Church).
2. Apostolic Fathers: Didache, Clement of Rome, Ignatius of Antioch, Polycarp of Smyrna, Shepherd of Hermas.
3. Witnesses of faith (literature about martyrdom).
4. Early Christian apologists.
5. Irenaeus of Lyon against the background of heterodox gnosis.
6. African environment: Tertullian, Cyprian of Carthage.
7. School of Alexandria: Clement of Alexandria.
8. Origen and allegorical exegesis.
9. The beginnings of monasticism: St. Anthony, Pachomius, apophthegmata.
10. Eusebius of Caesarea and the development of Church's historiography.
11. Arianism. The origins and course of the Council of Nicaea - 325
11. Athanasius the Great. The struggle for orthodoxy.
13. Cappadocian Fathers: Basil the Great, Gregory of Nazianzus, Gregory of Nyssa. Council of Constantinople I.
14. Ephrem and Syriac theology.
15. Cyril of Alexandria and the Council of Ephesus - 431
16. Pope Leo the Great.
17. Council of Chalcedon - 451.
18. Cyril of Jerusalem. Catechesis.
19. John Chrysostom. Preaching.
20. Ambrose. Church-state relations.
21. Jerome and Rufinus of Aquileia. Translation works.
22. Augustine.
23. Pope Gregory the Great and the development of Catholic missions.
24. John Damascene and the theology of the cult of images.
(in Polish) Dyscyplina naukowa, do której odnoszą się efekty uczenia się
(in Polish) E-Learning
(in Polish) Grupa przedmiotów ogólnouczenianych
Subject level
Learning outcome code/codes
Type of subject
Preliminary Requirements
Course coordinators
Learning outcomes
1. The student knows:
- definition, subject, chronological divisions, basic bibliography of patrology
- biographies of the indicated fathers of the Church, titles of their most important works and theological views
- history and main theological problems of the patristic era
2. The student is able to:
- find an edition of the patristic text and an existing translation into a modern language
- subject to a theological analysis the content of selected passages of the patristic writings
- indicate the type of exegesis of biblical texts used by Church's Fathers
- compare the positions of the Fathers of the Church on a selected topic and indicate their ideological similarities and differences
Assessment criteria
Final grade from the lecture:
1. Active participation in lectures (presence, participation in discussions) - 20%
2. Average grade from quizzes during the semester - 20%
3. Oral final exam - 60%.
Final grade of the exercises:
1. Active participation in the exercises (presence, public presentation) - 30%
2. Average grade from quizzes during the semester - 20%
3. Final written work on an approved topic (12,000 characters) - 50%.
Additional information
Information on level of this course, year of study and semester when the course unit is delivered, types and amount of class hours - can be found in course structure diagrams of apropriate study programmes. This course is related to the following study programmes:
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