Read an excerpt from Michael Haykin's Rediscovering the Church Fathers
There is a clear connection between the simplicity of Ambrose’s hymns and his people’s ability to communicate theological truth. “They all have become teachers,” says Ambrose. He composed hymns as a means of instructing his people in a way that they would appreciate and understand; he wrote hymns which they could sing, as heretics had already done before him. This last observation is important as the reader must first understand that Ambrose did not invent the Christian hymn itself, just a particular form of hymnody.
Because historical scholarship has held sway in Hebrews studies, Wirkungsgeschichte or Rezeptionsgeschichte may contribute to fresh readings of Hebrews and “uncover a forgotten interpretive insight that would survive the acids of critical methods”. This volume, although selective, devotes multiple chapters to the history of interpretation and how Hebrews affected interpreters in pre-critical and critical eras.
Join us on April 17, 2015 in Louisville, KY for "A Study in Ancient Christianity." This event features two plenary presentations from scholars in the field as well as opportunities for student presentations. Students currently enrolled in M.A., Th.M., and Ph.D. programs are encouraged to submit papers to the following study groups: Second Temple Judaism, New Testament, and Patristics. Student presentations are limited to 10 minutes in the style of TED talks with a short time of Q&A following.
Click here to register and submit paper proposals.
Dr. Gregory Hillis
Bellarmine University, Associate Professor; Director, Master of Arts in Spirituality Program
Paper Title: “Deification and Divine Filiation in Cyril of Alexandria’s Soteriology”
Dr. Clayton Jefford
St. Meinrad Seminary & School of Theology, Professor of Scripture
Paper Title: “Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Evolving Didache”
Register and call for student presentations by April 1 – http://bit.ly/1xH9Jtm
Questions and additional information: ancientchristianstudies@gmail.com
The past thirty years of Patristic scholarship has surely seen a revival among broader critical scholarship and among prominent Evangelical thinkers. In 1990, Charles Kannengiesser delivered the North American Patristics Society presidential address entitled “Bye, Bye Patristics” in which he stirred waters for a potential name change for the academic society.
