Aims

Introduction to critical analysis of texts by Fathers of the Church from the historical, literary and doctrinal points of view.

Main themes

Exposé of a special question; different every year.

Content and teaching methods

2002-2003 :

The Letter and the Spirit. the Fathers, Interpreters of Scripture
"To ignore the Scriptures is to ignore Christ". Saint Jerome's formula strongly expresses the central place the Bible occupied in the life and theological reflection of the ancient Church. Interpretation of the holy books left an indelible mark on the dogma, ethics, spirituality, catechetics and liturgy of the primitive Church, because, from its beginnings, formulation of the Christian faith has drawn from the Bible as from a reservoir of images, concepts and figures. So it is that the first Christian theology set itself the fundamental task of interpreting the Scriptures.
The course will try and make students enter into the "spirit" of ancient exegesis, by letting the Fathers themselves speak as much as possible and, especially, Origen (185-253). We will not try to write a list of the procedures of patristic exegesis, but to situate this exegesis in its proper place. We should like to show how exegesis of the Fathers even today offers a powerful paradigm, not as an exegetical method, but as an original perception of what Christian means in biblical terms.
Time will be left for introduction to Greek textual data bases (introduction to the Thesaurus linguae graecae sur CD-Rom).

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