Course Curriculum

  • 1

    Introduction to Theology as a Discipline

  • 2

    Roman & Jewish Religion

    • Roman Religion & Christianity

    • The Inheritance of Israel

    • Theological Account of History
  • 3

    The Gospels and the Formation of the New Testament

  • 4

    Earliest Church Writings

    • The Didache

    • Advice from Rome
  • 5

    Ante-Nicene

    • Ignatius of Antioch

    • Justin Martyr

    • Irenaeus

    • The Crisis of 215

    • Persecution and Purity

    • Alexandria Before Athanasius
  • 6

    Post-Nicene

    • The Constantinian Century

    • Athanasius for the Defense

    • Nestorius & Cyril of Alexandria
  • 7

    Augustine

    • Augustine & the Manichees

    • Augustine & the Donotists

    • Augustine & Pelagianism
  • 8

    On the Way to 700

    • Goths, Iconoclasm, & Islam

    • What Happened on the way to 700

About this Course

An introductory course on the theological tradition of the West as taught by such great witnesses and scholars as the Apostolic Fathers, St. Justin, St. Irenaeus, St. Augustine, and others until about AD 700.

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Topics Include:

  • The Greek & Roman culture inherited by Christianity
  • The formation of the Gospels & the Canon
  • The Apostolic Fathers, what they thought and why
  • The Early Church and doctrinal development
    And Much More!

About the instructor

Chancellor Emeritus The College of St. Thomas More

Dr. James Patrick

James Patrick is a theologian, teacher, and sometime apologist. He received his doctorate in theology from Trinity College in Toronto and taught and served in administrative positions at the University of Tennessee and the University of Dallas before founding in 1981 the College of Saint Thomas More in Fort Worth, Texas. His writings include Architecture in Tennessee: 1768–1897, The Magdalen Metaphysicals: Idealism and Orthodoxy at Oxford, 1900–1945, The Beginning of Collegiate Education west of the Appalachians, and Andrew of Bethsaida and the Johannine Circle. Most recently he was author of the biographical chapter, “The Oxford Man,” in the new edition of R. G. Collingwood’s Autobiography and a collection of short essays entitled Essays on Modernity.