T9291 – St John Chrysostom: Patristic Profile

Unit Code

T9291

Unit Name

Patristic Profile: St John Chrysostom (postgraduate)

Unit Weighting

9  Credit Points

Type of Unit

Specialised

Prerequisites, corequisites or exclusions

9 credit points in Theology unit (i.e “Introduction to Theology” or “Church Fathers: An Introduction”)

Academic Staff

Very Rev. Dr Doru Costache, BTh (Bucharest 1993), PhD (Bucharest 2000), Associate Professor

Curriculum Objectives

This graduate course unit advances the study of the patristic phenomenon within a complex framework, theological, spiritual, and exegetical. It enables students to appreciate, by way of a detailed study of the available sources, the personality and legacy of Saint John Chrysostom.

Learning Outcomes

At the end of this unit students will be able to:

1. Appraise Saint John Chrysostom within his historical, cultural, and theological context 
2. Display awareness of his writings, together with the relevant scholarship
3. Critically analyse his writings within the framework of relevant scholarship
4. Evaluate the place of Saint John Chrysostom within the patristic tradition
5. Assess his relevance to contemporary Christian experience

Content:

1. The “school of Antioch,” whatever that might mean
2. Saint John Chrysostom: Life and works
3. Chrysostomian “third sophistic” rhetoric and exegesis
4. Chrysostom the ascetic psychagogue
5. Chrysostom and Alexandria
6. Chrysostom and the Byzantine tradition
7. Contemporary Chrysostomian studies