- patristics
- The study of the works of the Christian Fathers (theologians from c.100 to 700 CE). Their theological data were in the Bible; but the task of giving coherence and credibility fell to the following generations as they confronted contemporary philosophies and religious speculations. They tried to do justice to the complex data of the NT, to the felt necessity of offering worship to Jesus, while maintaining his authentic humanity. A further task was to preserve continuity of Christian belief with the OT and Jewish monotheism while also being open to the contemporary intellectual scene in the Hellenistic world. The Apologists (120–220 CE) made bold use of the Logos [[➝ logos]] concept and argued that Christ, the Logos of the Johannine Prologue (John 1:14), was himself the Reason at the heart of the cosmos and a kind of Omega point of all intellectual aspirations.
Dictionary of the Bible.