Department of Philosophy
M. Rev. Prof. Mar Melchizedek, D.D., Th.D., Ph.D.
Chancellor
Prof. Edward Moore, S.T.L., Ph.D.
Dean
Doctorate
of Philosophy in Patristic Studies
Introduction
These Courses of Study, consisting of four Series of two Modules each, are designed for the
post-Master’s level student who desires a challenging program of research
leading up to the composition of a Dissertation. The student who enters this program is
required to choose at least one Series of Modules from the list below, based
upon his or her research interests.
Please keep in mind that the student may choose to complete more than one
Series as preparation for the Dissertation, depending on the intended scope of
the Dissertation.
Once the student has decided on a Series, he or she is to contact the
Dean of the Philosophy Department for consultation and approval. In the case of the student who has already
done significant work in a particular area of Patrology, and therefore wishes to
proceed directly to the Dissertation, the submission of a portfolio or list of
accessible publications will be required before permission to begin writing the
Dissertation is granted. Please
contact the Dean for more information.
Note that the Required Reading lists are not exclusive: the student is
strongly encouraged to develop a bibliography consisting of both primary and
secondary works selected by him/herself during the
research process.
Information on the guidelines for writing Research Papers and Book
Reviews are given below.
SERIES 1:
The Philosophical Background of the Fathers
The student who succcessfully
completes this series of Modules will gain expertise in the various
philosophical and esoteric currents dominant before and during the Patristic
era, and which had an undeniable influence on the thought of the Fathers.
MODULE
1-A: Christianity and Greek Philosophy (Part I)
The first Module in this series
focuses on the Classical and Early Hellenistic Greek philosophical tradition,
with which many of the Church Fathers were familiar. The figures and schools to be studied
include Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics, Pythagoreans, and others.
Successful completion of this Module
requires one Research Paper (minimum 15 pages) and one Book Review (3-5
pages).
Required
Aristotle, Metaphysics, De Anima (“On the
Soul”).
Cornford, F.M., Plato’s Cosmology: The Timaeus of Plato (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill
1937).
Grube, G.M.A., Plato’s Thought (Indianapolis: Hackett
1980).
Hatch, E., The Influence of Greek Ideas on
Christianity (New York: Harper and Row 1957).
Jaeger, W., Aristotle: Fundamentals of the History of
His Development, second edition (New York: Oxford University Press
1948).
_____, The Theology of the Early Greek
Philosophers (New York: Oxford University Press 1967).
Plato, Timaeus, Phaedrus.
Zeller, E., Outlines of the History of Greek
Philosophy (New York: Meridian 1960).
Sections 1-77.
MODULE
1-B: Christianity and Greek Philosophy (Part II)
This Module will focus on Hellenic
philosophy in the Roman era, when Christianity gradually emerged as a strong
contender among the various philosophical and mystery schools struggling to gain
adherents. Attention will be given
to philosophy from the period shortly before the birth of Christianity, up to
the end of the Roman era.
Prerequisite: Successful completion of Module
I-A.
Successful completion of this Module
requires one Research Paper (minimum 15 pages) and one Book Review (3-5
pages).
Required
Copenhaver, B. P., Hermetica (New York: Cambridge
University Press 1992). Introduction, Corpus
Hermeticum I, and Asclepius.
Dillon, J.; Gerson, L.P. (ed.), Neoplatonic Philosophy: Introductory
Jaeger, W., Early Christianity and Greek Paideia
(Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press 1961).
Mead, G.R.S. (tr.), The Chaldean Oracles (
Philo of
Zeller, E., Outlines of the History of Greek
Philosophy (New York: Meridian 1960).
Sections 78-95.
SERIES 2:
Early Christian Thinking
The earliest Christian writers were
not theologians, but pastoral counselors, apologists, preachers and
visionaries. Theology is properly
defined as the systematic approach to the fundamental questions of a religion,
and hence, involves the formulation of dogma. The first thinkers to attempt a
systematic account of Christianity were Gnostics.
MODULE
2-A: The Birth of Christian Theology (Part I)
In the first module of this series
the student will become familiar with the contours of early Christian thought
and with the theological problems that arose from Gnostic speculation. The earliest responses to Gnosticism
will also be a topic of consideration.
Successful completion of this Module
requires one Research Paper (minimum 15 pages) and one Book Review (3-5
pages).
Required
Ehrman, B.D., The New Testament and Other Early Christian
Writings: A Reader (New York: Oxford University Press
1998).
Kelly, J.N.D., Early Christian Doctrines, revised
edition (San Francisco: Harper and Row 1960, 1978). Part I, Chapter 1.
Pagels, E., The Gnostic Paul: Gnostic Exegesis of the
Pauline Letters (Philadelphia: Trinity Press International 1975).
Placher, W.C., A History of Christian Theology: An
Introduction (Philadelphia: Westminster Press 1983). Chapters 3,
4.
Schmemann, A., The Historical Road of Eastern
Orthodoxy, tr. L.W. Kesich (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press
1977). Chapter 1.
Stevenson, J. (ed.), A New Eusebius: Documents Illustrative of the
History of the Church to A.D. 337 (London: S.P.C.K 1957, 1980). Excerpts 1-174 (pp.
1-201).
MODULE
2-B: The Birth of Christian Theology (Part II)
This Module focuses mainly on Origen
and his immediate successors. The
purpose of this Module is to familiarize the student with the first
philosophically systematic effort to provide a firm intellectual foundation for
the development of Christian dogma, and to give him or her
a basic grasp of the intellectual climate of the
era.
Prerequisite: Successful completion of Module
II-A.
Successful completion of this Module
requires one Research Paper (minimum 15 pages) and one Book Review (3-5
pages).
Required
Eusebius, The History of the Church, revised edition,
tr. Williamson, G.A. (New York: Penguin Classics 1965, 1989). Book
6.
Kelly, J.N.D., Early Christian Doctrines, revised
edition (San Francisco: Harper and Row 1960, 1978). Part II, Chapter
5.
Origen, Commentary on John, tr. Menzies, A. (The Ante-Nicene Fathers 10; Michigan:
Eerdmans 1978, reprint).
_____, De Principiis (“On First Principles”),
tr. Butterworth, G.W. (New York: Harper and Row 1966).
Placher, W.C., A History of Christian Theology: An
Introduction (Philadelphia: Westminster Press 1983). Chapter
5.
SERIES 3:
The Age of the Councils
The period between the First
Oecumenical Council and the Seventh is often considered by scholars as the
‘Golden Age’ of Patristic thought.
MODULE
3-A: The Nicene Orthodoxy and its Aftermath
This Module focuses on the debates
leading up to the establishment of Nicene Orthodoxy at the First Oecumenical
Council, and on the immediate ramifications of that Creed for Christian
theology. Special emphasis will be
placed on Christology and Trinitarian doctrine.
Successful completion of this Module
requires one Research Paper (minimum 15 pages) and one Book Review (3-5
pages).
Required
Athanasius, De Incarnatione Verbi Dei (“On the
Incarnation of the Divine Word”).
Kelly, J.N.D., Early Christian Doctrines, revised
edition (San Francisco: Harper and Row 1960, 1978). Part III, Chapters 9 and
10.
Placher, W.C., A History of Christian Theology: An
Introduction (Philadelphia: Westminster Press 1983). Chapters 6 and
7.
Prestige, G.L., God in Patristic Thought (London:
S.P.C.K 1952).
Schmemann, A., The Historical Road of Eastern
Orthodoxy, tr. L.W. Kesich (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press
1977). Chapter
2.
MODULE
3-B: The Call to Philosophy
In this Module the student will focus
on the philosophical problems spawned by the Nicene Creed and the manner in
which the Church Fathers identified and dealt with the various heresies of
theologians like Arius, Eunomius, and others.
Prerequisite: Successful completion of Module
3-A.
Successful completion of this Module
requires one Research Paper (minimum 15 pages) and one Book Review (3-5
pages).
Required
Basil, De Spiritu Sancto (“On the Holy
Spirit”).
Hardy, E.R. (ed.), Christology of the Later Fathers
(Philadelphia: The Westminster Press 1954).
Kelly, J.N.D., Early Christian Doctrines, revised
edition (San Francisco: Harper and Row 1960, 1978). Part III, Chapters
11-16.
Pelikan, J., Christianity and Classical Culture: The
Metamorphosis of Natural Theology in the Christian Encounter with Hellenism
(New Haven: Yale University Press 1993).
Schmemann, A., The Historical Road of Eastern
Orthodoxy, tr. L.W. Kesich (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press
1977). Chapter
3.
SERIES 4:
The Byzantine Era
In this series of modules the student
is offered the opportunity to become familiar with the Christian philosophy and
theology of the Byzantine era, usually identified by historians of ideas as
beginning with the closing of the pagan philosophical Academy by the Emperor
Justinian in 529 A.D., and ending with the fall of Byzantium to the Turks in the
late 15th century.
MODULE
4-A: The Codification of Dogma
This Module begins with a
consideration of the revision of the prominent Origenistic theology undertaked
by Maximus the Confessor, and ends with an examination of the codification of
Christian doctrine in the writings of John of Damascus. The student is also invited to examine
the Christological implications of the Iconoclast
Controversy.
Required
Balthasar, H. U. von, Cosmic Liturgy: The
Universe According to Maximus the Confessor, tr. B.E. Daley
(
John of
Pelikan, J., The Christian Tradition: A History of the
Development of Doctrine, vol. 2: “The Spirit of Eastern Christendom
(600-1700)” (Chicago: University of Chicago Press 1974). Chapters
1-4.
Schmemann, A., The Historical Road of Eastern
Orthodoxy, tr. L.W. Kesich (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press
1977). Chapter
4.
Tatakis, B., Byzantine Philosophy, tr. N.J.
Moutafakis (
MODULE
4-B: Mysticism, Humanism, and the End of
This Module focuses on two dominant
themes in later
Required
Meyendorff, J., St. Gregory Palamas and Orthodox
Spirituality (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press
1997).
Pelikan, J., The Christian Tradition: A History of the
Development of Doctrine, vol. 2: “The Spirit of Eastern Christendom
(600-1700)” (Chicago: University of Chicago Press 1974). Chapters 5 and 6.
Schmemann, A., The Historical Road of Eastern
Orthodoxy, tr. L.W. Kesich (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press
1977). Chapter 5 and
6.
Tatakis, B., Byzantine Philosophy, tr. N.J.
Moutafakis (
Woodhouse, C.M., Gemistos Plethon: The Last of the
Hellenes (Oxford: Clarendon Press 1986).
Guidelines
Research
Papers
The guidelines for Research Papers
are the same as in the Theology Department. Please consult your Study Binder for
formatting instructions, etc. Each
Series requires one Research Paper per Module.
Book
Reviews
A Book Review is a short critical
notice on a selected book from the Required Reading list of the appopriate
Module, 3-5 pages in length. The
purpose of a Book Review is to briefly summarize the main argument of the book,
and offer a critique of the argument and its conclusion. In the case of lengthier volumes, the
student is permitted to focus on a specific chapter or chapters. Each Series requires one Book Review per
Module.