Monday, October 16, 2023 | 8 p.m. (Greek time – EEST)

About the webinar:

It is no accident that the earliest developments in Christian confession emerged out of situations of need.  The moments when the early fathers most directly speak about the church’s Tradition are in apologetic contexts, viz., when they are defending catholic faith against its detractors, or when they are making declaratory statements defining the faith, viz., confessions in the forms of the Rule of faith or creeds.  Extant examples of catechesis shed further light on how Christian instruction was indebted to all the above.  The movement from confession to fourth century catechesis provide us with the most luminous descriptions of how early Christians defined themselves.

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Lecturer:

D. H. Williams, Ph.D.

Senior Distinguished Fellow, Institute of Studies in Religion
Professor of Patristics and Historical Theology (Retired)
Department of Classics and Religion
Baylor University

H. Williams (Ph.D., M.A. University of Toronto, 1991; Th.M. Princeton Seminary) is recently retired from Professor of Patristics and Historical Theology in the Departments of Religion and Classics of Baylor University. Prior to 2002 he was Associate Professor of Theology at Loyola University Chicago.  He is now Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Institute for Studies in Religion (Waco, TX).

His publications include scholarly work on early Christian thought and literature, as well as studies that seek to integrate the ancient Christian legacy with contemporary Christianity.  His books include Defending and Defining the Faith:  An Introduction to Early Christian Apologetics (Oxford University Press, 2020), The Church’s Bible:  [Patristic] Commentary on Matthew (Eerdmans,  ); Evangelicals and Tradition: The Formative Influence of the Early Church (Baker Academic Books, 2005), Retrieving the Tradition and Renewing Evangelicalism:  A Primer for Suspicious Protestants (Eerdmans, 1999), and Ambrose of Milan and the End of the Nicene‑Arian Conflicts (Oxford University Press, 1995).

Published essays can be found in the Harvard Theological Review, Journal of Ecclesiastical History, Journal of Early Christian Studies, Journal of Theological Studies, Church History, Studia Patristica, Scottish Journal of Theology, Interpretation, the Journal of Religion and Pro Ecclesia.

Williams has been active in teaching early Christian studies in China. Since 2007 he has lectured at major universities in mainland China, and in 2009 and 2012 he was Visiting Research Professor at the International Promotion of Chinese Language and Culture, People’s Republic University in Beijing. Williams has had several articles published in Chinese journals, including the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences journal, World Philosophy.  He is presently a researcher/writer for a Chinese research institution called China Academic Consortium.