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Late Antique Sources for Social Ethics in a Postmodern Era: An Investigation into the Potential Influence of PatristicThought on Catholic Social Thought
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Project Description
Post-modern social ethics is nowadays not exclusively based on universal rational models of thought (such as developed by John Rawls and Jürgen Habermas), but also revalorises the contribution of particular traditions of thought (cf. Alasdair MacIntyre and Richard Rorty). An eminent example of such a particular tradition in which social ethics plays a crucial role is Catholic Social Thought, which over the centuries also has had a real historical influence. This tradition of thought comprises a complex corpus of texts. On the one hand it is based on documents promulgated by the magisterium of the Church (the Pastoral Constitution Gaudium et spes of Vatican Council II, encyclicals, texts from general synods of bishops, texts from regional or national synods of bishops). On the other hand there are also the texts from theologians and social movements. Together they constitute a living tradition of thought which as permanent learning process (Nell Breuning) has to reactualise itself continuously in the light of new problems. This tradition is inspired by three sorts of sources: the Bible, the theological tradition and the actual theological reflection in dialogue with science (sociology, economics, anthropology, philosophy, politology). In this research project we will focus on the second of these sources, the theological tradition and, more in particular, the Church Fathers. We will aim at examining the influence of patristic thinking on Catholic Social Thought, with a particular emphasis on the eventual marginalisation of this influence . In short, the project answers this question: whither the influence Greek patristic texts in Catholic social thought of the past, the present, and the future?
Research Method
The evaluation of late antique social ethics both in their own historical context and in the contemporary Catholic social context demand separate treatment. Evaluation of the historical context will involve first an identification of relevant socio-ethical texts by a careful reading of the homilies and treatises of the Greek Church Fathers. Next, those texts will be evaluated in conjunction with the major secondary literature in the fields of archaeology, economics, and church history for an accurate assessment of the original audience, authorial intent, and the issues at stake in each. This will yield a better knowledge of the meaning and genesis of Christian social ethics in late antiquity.
Such knowledge may then be applied to the contemporary Catholic social context into which some of the Church Fathers’ social teaching has been incorporated. Evaluation of this new context will involve first a comprehensive listing of the patristic citations and allusions in the text and footnotes of the Catholic social thought documents. Following that, we will elucidate in what regard and to what extent the Latin and Greek Church Fathers have had an influence on the social documents of the Catholic Church. We will investigate, for example, whether the original, often radical character of the patristic texts has been changed or weakened in this new context. The diagnosis will enable us to investigate basic conditions for a renewal of Catholic Social Thought.
On a deeper level the research will lead to exploring the possibilities of a different, more parenetic and narrative style of Christian social ethics. A reading of patristic texts devoted to social problems, combined with insights from narrative ethics, enables us to demonstrate that an ecclesial social ethics can be elaborated in a way which is different from a purely abstract rational discourse. This is particularly relevant in the context of the contemporary conversation on the relationship between 'thick' and 'thin' concepts in ethics and particularly on the problem of a loss of meaning through abstracting rational ethics from its original contexts of meaning.
Structure
The project has four distinct parts.
(1) There is a diagnostic portion. We will elucidate and evaluate the influence that the Church Fathers have had on the social thought of the Catholic Church. We will investigate in what regard the late antique texts have, in fact, been used in the official social documents of the Catholic Church. It is our aim to provide an exhaustive survey of references to patristic writings (citations and allusions) in the socio-ethical texts of Vatican II, in the social encyclicals of popes and in the texts of general synods of bishops, as well as in a selection of texts from regional and national bishops’ conferences which have played a significant role in the development of Catholic Social Thought since the CELAM conference at Medellin in 1968 (such as the Puebla and Santo Domingo texts, the letters of the USCCB on peace and economic justice for all).
(2) There is a pro-active portion. We will prepare a compendium of Greek patristic texts that address matters of social ethics. In order to make the project efficient and workable, we will limit the compendium to Greek patristic writers from the Apostolic Fathers till the Council of Chalcedon. The compendium will be original for the following reasons: (i) In comparison with other florilegia it offers a more exhaustive collection of texts; (ii) there will be a more clear focus on socio-ethical questions; (iii) the only compendium available which meets our criteria is Spanish, old and not very accessible (iv) Moreover, in our compendium, all texts will be in English which makes them accessible on a global scale; (v) for each selected text, the late antique historical and theological context will be elucidated, bibliographical references will be given and suggestions for recontextualisation will be made. Finally, a detailed index will facilitate the access to the work. The compendium will be useful to experts in both patristics and social ethics and it will foster a transdisciplinary conversation.
(3) There is a dialogical component. We will host in 2007 at the K.U.L. an expert seminar with invited speakers of both patristics and CST on the real changes that can and should be made in Catholic social thought when the voices of the Greek patristic world are taken seriously.
(4) There is an analytical component. We will prepare a monograph summarizing the work of the research project and the reflections emerging out of the expert seminar. In particular, it will integrate the conclusions of the expert seminar on the hermenutical questions surrounding the use of Greek patristic source materials, the issue of theological style and, related to this, the possible contribution of narrative ethics.
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MATZ BRIAN
Faculty of Theology
Doctoral Programme in Theology
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Project number:
3H060022
Duration of the project:
01.10.2004 - 01.10.2008
Funded research
Nederlands
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