Once again the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin and the Polish Patristic Section organise an international conference. The theme in 2016 will be the Church Fathers in the polemics against heresies. The conference will be held from the 17th till 19th of May 2016 at the John Paul II Catholic University of Lublin.
The history of the development of Christian doctrine in the patristic time can be described as the history of the formation of orthodox doctrine in a continuous discussions with heterodox views. The aim of the conference is to look at how the early Christian heretic thought influenced the orthodox Christian doctrine not only by crystallizing and clarifing it, but also how influenced the development of theological argumentation and an understanding of the most important dogmatic and moral issues of the thought of the various Church Fathers. From speakers – researchers on the Christian antiquity – we expect the widest as possible perspectives on the phenomenon of polemic against heresies in the early Christian literature and considering issues such as: relation between the concepts of “heresy” and “schism” in the Christian antiquity; genesis of heretical movements; conservatism and innovation in the doctrines of the heretics; assessment of credibility of the descriptions of the various heresies in the writings of the Church Fathers; philosophical influence on the formation of heretics’ views and on orthodox theologians involved in polemics agains them; antiheretic polemics latent in the works of the Fathers that are not written directly against a particular heresy; some solutions proposed by heretics that become inspiration in patristic theology.
A paper title followed by an abstract in English (max 300 words) should be submitted to the Organizing Committee: Rev. Marcin Wysocki, Faculty of Theology, Aleje Raclawickie 14, 20-950 Lublin, Poland or: patristic@kul.lublin.pl by October 31, 2015. The Organizing Committee will meet in November 2015 to evaluate the applications, and will inform of their decision as soon as possible thereafter.