patristics
1
9.9
- noun
- /pəˈtrɪstɪks/
- Specialized
- In my M.A. and Ph.D. work, I focused on the study of patristics, reading in the Greek church Fathers with an Irish Catholic priest/scholar, and writing my doctoral thesis on the thought of the fourth-century Cappadocian church Father, Gregory of Nazianzus.
- patristics scholars
Examples
-
The traditional home for the study of patristics was, and in many places still is, the seminary.
Academic text (2005) -
More than once, Clark asserts that we should now study the writings of the Fathers not as documents, as in the sacred doctrinal science of patristics, but as texts.
Academic text (2005) -
Considering that Tim was pursuing a doctorate in patristics, I trusted that he knew what he was talking about, so I ordered the book.
Blog text (26) -
Before the 1980s, scholars of ancient Christianity, if they were not trained in patristics programs mostly at Catholic universities, received one of two kinds of education.
Academic text (2002) -
The professor specialized in patristics and often referred to the writings of early Church Fathers in his lectures.
-
Studying patristics helps us understand the foundational beliefs of the early Christian Church.
-
Many theological seminaries include patristics as a crucial part of their curriculum to ensure comprehensive religious education.
Synonyms
1
9.9
The study of the lives, writings, and teachings of early Christian leaders
Surface Forms
Morphology
patristics = patristic (opaque) = patrist + ic + s
The adjective 'patristic' is a specialized theological term and adding '-s' forms the academic discipline; an average B1 learner would not reliably infer the field meaning from the components.
Etymology
Patristics comes from the Greek root patēr meaning 'father', the same root you see in patriarch. So, patristics is the study of the early Christian 'Fathers', their lives, writings, and teachings.