[cornelis]

You have a point. I suggest that even in Clement has a horse in your race. But allowing that Clement can be faulted for his apologetic, the word "Fathers" could be used less broadly than you propose. :)

[stripes1776]

But allowing that Clement can be faulted for his apologetic, the word "Fathers" could be used less broadly than you propose.

Okay, how about St Theophilus of Antioch, St Irenaeus, St Athansius, St Basil, St Gregory of Nazianzus, St Gregory of Nyssa, St Epiphanius of Cyprus, St John Chrysostom, St Cyril of Alexandria, St Macarius, St Dionysius the Areopagite, St Maximus the Confessor, St John Damascene. That would take us up to about the 7th or 8th Century. Is that defined narrowly enough?

[StJacques]

Regarding the brief back and forth on the early Church Fathers and the "clear distinction between the created world and the uncreated" who stated that "there is no similarity between the two whatsoever" I would like to suggest that the viewpoint stripes has expressed denoting a distinction between eastern and western Christianity and the role of Augustine is, in my opinion, right on the mark and is well supplemented by the additional names he brings to the table after introducing the idea. I also do not believe this dispute originates with anything that is included in this inspiring essay -- good work betty -- but may in fact originate in something that is outside of it, which is directly related to the concepts of "the created world and the uncreated," namely, the distinct ways in which western and eastern Christianity viewed the separation of the sacred and the secular, which is much more important in the west due to Augustine's influence.

I've only just finished the essay and I would like to ponder a thing or two it introduces, but I want to return later to put up an additional post on something I think can help to inform its content, namely; the intellectual ferment within the Hellenistic and Roman world during the period of the rise of Christianity and specifically its integration of Greek philosophical ideas between the time of St. Paul and up to Augustine. The manner in which that ferment was resolved had tremendous implications for the development of scientific thought and the vestiges of this resolution remain with us today.

I don't have the time to put this up now, but I'll be back later to expand on what I have just stated.

This was a thought-provoking essay betty.