One of the more impressive things I have seen - right up there with the CIL - is the massive authoritative edition of the Church Fathers' writings in the Patrologia. Thanks to the diligent labour of 19th century scholars (and nobody did diligent labour quite like 19th century scholars), the entirety of the early church's literary and theological heritage was available to study in printed format and translated - provided you read Latin.
Now, this got me thinking. The late 19th century is the time at which especially among Protestant theologians, but also among many catholics, a fashion for studying the earliest church takes hold. Many developments in church communities of the twentieth century - some good, some bad, some deeply affecting, some silly - are comprehensible only through this often unreflected and fairly uninformed pursuit of a rose-tinted vision of the widely unknown and largely unknowable Urgemeinde that, in some respects, feels surprisingly close to popular Salafism.
But what if the Patrologia project had included a translation into modern languages? One of the great advantages of studying the apostolic and Pauline church is that the Acts and Letters are available for everyone who cares to read them in translation (however inaccurate and opaque). Would an increased accessibility of the (much more securely authenticated, much less ambiguous and far greater) patristic body of texts hae been enough to shift the focus more towards an episcopal church, away from the idealisation of the worship circle and the close-knit spiritual band of brothers and towards greater emphasis on the societal role of the institutional church? If not, what POD might do that? And what consequences do you envision?
Now, this got me thinking. The late 19th century is the time at which especially among Protestant theologians, but also among many catholics, a fashion for studying the earliest church takes hold. Many developments in church communities of the twentieth century - some good, some bad, some deeply affecting, some silly - are comprehensible only through this often unreflected and fairly uninformed pursuit of a rose-tinted vision of the widely unknown and largely unknowable Urgemeinde that, in some respects, feels surprisingly close to popular Salafism.
But what if the Patrologia project had included a translation into modern languages? One of the great advantages of studying the apostolic and Pauline church is that the Acts and Letters are available for everyone who cares to read them in translation (however inaccurate and opaque). Would an increased accessibility of the (much more securely authenticated, much less ambiguous and far greater) patristic body of texts hae been enough to shift the focus more towards an episcopal church, away from the idealisation of the worship circle and the close-knit spiritual band of brothers and towards greater emphasis on the societal role of the institutional church? If not, what POD might do that? And what consequences do you envision?