VIRTUAL THEOLOGY SUMMIT
You Will Be My Witnesses:
Evangelization and Teaching in the Early Church

Seeds of the Church: Martyrdom and Evangelization
Dr. Elizabeth Klein

Early Christian martyrdom has been described by scholars as a “public liturgy,” because the martyr witnesses to the truth in word and deed in a particular way. Come learn more about the way in which the martyrs saw their own death as a work of evangelization, and how we can understand that same call for all of us in the eucharistic liturgy today.  

Responding to Heresy in the Early Church
Dr. Christopher Mooney

Very quickly, Christians applied the term haeresis to any teaching that departed from the written and oral teaching of the apostles—that is, Scripture and Tradition—and that thus divided the one mind and body of Christ. In this breakout session we’ll look at the issue of heresy and authority in the 2nd century, especially through the eyes of St. Irenaeus of Lyons in his response to Gnosticism, Against the Heresies. We’ll consider not only why Irenaeus found the ideas of Gnosticism so threatening but also why, more fundamentally, the very idea of haeresis is contrary to the nature of the Church. 

Teaching the Faith with the Fathers
Dr. Jeffrey Lehman

In this breakout session, Dr. Jeffrey Lehman will focus on St. Augustine’s On Christian Doctrine, one of the most influential works in the Catholic tradition on how to read Sacred Scripture attentively and to discern its meaning for the sake of applying it to our daily lives. Originally intended for priests in the Diocese of Hippo Regius (now Annaba, Algeria), where Augustine served as bishop, On Christian Doctrine has since become a classic text on biblical hermeneutics and semiotics (i.e., the study of signs and symbols). The session will consider such themes as signs and how we recognize them, the difference between literal and figurative interpretations, and the way Sacred Scripture speaks to us, weaving together wisdom and eloquence.