Life and patrology

  1. Lemma
  2. Viaţă şi patrologie
  3. Romanian
  4. Stavinschi, Alexandra
  5. Orthodox theological tradition and practice > Patristic studies - Scientific theories and disciplines > Religious studies - Orthodox theological tradition and practice > Status of theology - Ecumenism and dialogue - Culture and national identities - Concepts of knowledge and modes of reasoning - Ecumenism and dialogue > Westernism and anti-westernism - Key thinkers
  6. 25-1-2017
  7. Bădiliţă, Cristian [Author]. Life and patrology.
  8. Stiinta dragoste credinta. Convorbiri cu patrologi europeni. [Science faith love. Conversations with European patrologists]
  9. Methodological issues - patristic tradition - Early Church Fathers - faith and knowledge
    1. 5-13

    1. Life and patrology. The characters, the story and the purpose of this book is the introductory chapter of the volume Science love faith, which gathers sixteen conversations that the author, Cristian Badilita, held during the last decade with major European experts in the patristic studies.

      Those who testify about tradition, patristic stories, translation and commentaries on the Septuagint are: Monique Alexandre, Marguerite Harl, Enrico Norelli, Juan José Ayan Calvo, Attila Jakab, Alain Le Boulluec, Giovanni Filoramo, Jean-Noël Guinot, Lucian Turcescu , Î.P.S. Nicolae Corneanu, Ysabel de Andia, Marie-Hélène Congourdeau, Marius Cruceru, Paul Géhin, Sfameni Gasparro and Lorenzo Perrone.

      It is a fascinating reading which has the merit of presenting a variety of authoritative perspectives on a topic which is central for Orthodoxy. They come from different religious, cultural, scholarly and historical traditions and, in addition to bringing out a vast array of underexplored aspects, they shed more light on the relationship between east and west, between different Christian confessions, as well as between religious and non-religious approaches to the patristic literature.

      Badilita followed two main lines of discussion: on the one hand, he sought to give a presentation of the current patristic studies in various environoments (Spain, France, Italy, Canada, Romania), with a focus on outstanding personalities, such as Daniélou, Marrou, Orbe, Coman, Hamman, Bianchi, De Lubac etc.; on the other, he tried to examine in depth the thinking of some of the Church Fathers (Irenaeus, Justin, Theodorus of Cyrus, Gregory of Nyssa, Dionysius, Palamas etc.), as well as a number of topics related to each interviewee’s expertise: the origins of Alexandrian Christianity, Apocrypha, Eastern mysticism, prayer of the heart, demonology, heresies, the canon law etc. Last but not least, the interlocutors discussed methodology issues, or simply the "strategy" of reading the patristic texts.

      In Romania, the transition has also involved patristics. On the one hand, there is a fragile and improvised trend seeking a re-appropriation of the Fathers according to scientific, philological and historical norms, which do not rule out the spiritual or theological approach. In the West, this is a self-evident. There, the risk is to lose sight of the theological and existential key to understanding the text. However, Badilita believes that in the West scholars usually know where to stop. This volume does not aim to give lessons from a superior position, but to present a range of methods, traditions, characters and exciting topics, through conversations with patrologists from many countries, who have dedicated their lives to the reading and deciphering of patristic writings with different instruments, with varied skills and often with contradictory interests. The book is therefore conceived as a "journey together", at the end of which there is the very beginning: science / gnosis, love and faith.