The social morality of John Chrysostom : the contribution of Adalbert Hamman (1910-2000)

Abstract

While reflecting on the enormous contribution of Jacques-Paul Migne (1800-1875) on the centenary of his death, Adalbert Hamman (1910-2000) praises the perennial usefulness of "returning to the Fathers". He affirms that far from being "une excursion archeologique", such a retrieval of patristic texts has led to a far-reaching appreciation of dimensions in early Church life and in early theology which had been neglected for many centuries. Indeed, the patristic era of theology has been described by Henri de Lubac (1896-1991) as one possessing "une vitalite explosive". Despite the controversies which erupted from time to time and the sprouting of heretical movements, it is an age of enormous theological fertility. The "actualite des Peres", de Lubac insists, is indeed "une actualite de fecondation".