Contents
Foreword by Brian E. Daley, SJ
Preface to the English Edition
Preface to the French Edition
Abbreviations
Introduction
Part One. From Yesterday to Today: The Contribution of Patristics to Christian Theology
“Fathers of the Church,” “Patrology,” “Patristics”
Reading the Fathers in the Middle Ages
From the Renaissance to the Nineteenth Century
Johann Adam Möhler and John Henry Newman
“Return to the Fathers”: The Meaning of This Expression
The Genesis of the Collection Sources Chrétiennes
From the 1950s to Vatican Council II
The Influence of the Patristic Renewal on Vatican Council II
3. The Patristic Renewal from the 1930s to the 1960s: Its Fecundity for Christian Theology
Henri de Lubac and “Our Fathers in the Faith”
From Christian Origins to Gregory of Nyssa: The Patristic Work of Jean Daniélou
Yves Congar and the Tradition of the Fathers
In the German-Speaking Sphere: Karl Rahner and Hans Urs von Balthasar, Readers of the Fathers
4. From Vatican II to Our Day
Publications and Translations
The Contribution to the History of Dogmas and Christian Theology
Patristics Questioned by Human Sciences and Philosophy
Patristics and Theology: The Present Difficulties
Some Misunderstandings to Be Dispelled
Spiritual Exegesis according to Origen
“Both Testaments”
The Real Significance of Patristic Exegesis
Patristics and Human Sciences
Philosophical Stakes
The “Authority” of the Fathers
For a Patristic Theology
7. Patristics in the Age of Globalization
Latin America, Africa, Asia
Patristics and “Contextual” Theologies
The “Story of the Fathers”: Its Importance Outside Europe
A Return to Europe
Part Two. Reading the Fathers Today: The Present Tasks of Patristic Theology
8. The Church of the Fathers
The Reading of the Scriptures
Ecclesial Practices and Institutions
The Announcement of the Gospel
Unity and Diversity
9. The Stakes of Patristic Anthropology
Athens, Rome, Jerusalem
The World of Humanity
Humanity in the World
The Belonging to Christ
The Place of Ethics in the Writings of the Fathers
The Respect for Life
The Commitment of the Citizen
The Concern for the Most Vulnerable
11. The Contribution to Christology and Trinitarian Theology
The Heritage of the Twentieth Century
The Reference to Scripture
The Contribution to Philosophical Thought
The Contribution to Dogmatic Theology
12. Patristics and Ecumenism
“Orthodoxy” and “Heresy”
The Dialogue with the Churches of the Nestorian and Monophysite Traditions
The Dialogue with Orthodoxy
The Dialogue with Protestantism
13. Patristics and the Theology of Religions
The Contribution of the Patristic Renewal of the Twentieth Century
Vatican Council II and the Post-Conciliar Years
A Response to the Present Difficulties
The Fecundity of Patristics for the Theology of Religions
14. The Fathers of the Church and Christian Spirituality
Prayer, Martyrdom, a Presence in the World: The Spirituality of the First Centuries
The Journey of the Soul toward God
The Spirituality of the Fathers of the Desert
The Experience of Augustine
Epilogue: The Future of the Fathers
Bibliography
Index