STOTS students present papers at Patristics Conference
Three Saint Tikhon’s Seminary students—Deacon Mikel Hill, Marshall Goodge, and Jonathan Lincoln—presented academic papers at the 12th Annual Archbishop Iakovos Graduate Student Conference in Patristic Studies at Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, Brookline, MA March 3-5, 2016.
Sponsored by the Pappas Patristic Institute, the conference attracted Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant scholars.
Deacon Mikel delivered a paper titled “Hierarchy as Revelation: The Contribution of the Corpus Dionysium to the Appreciation of the Hierarchal Structure of the Liturgical Assembly,” while Seminarian Goodge spoke on “The Nestorian Implications of Severan Christology.” Seminarian Lincoln’s topic was “Universal Salvation: Saint Gregory of Nyssa in Light of Saint Mark of Ephesus.” All three seminarians also offered responses to other presentations.
“For the Saint Tikhon’s students who participated, the conference was an opportunity for bridge-building, both within Eastern Orthodoxy and with those representing other Christian traditions,” said Archpriest Dr. Steven Voytovich, STOTS Dean. “First, the conference afforded the opportunity to share unique perspectives on the writings of the Fathers with the conference’s participants, specifically, the biblical-patristic mindset that is acquired through the Church’s services, discussed in the classroom, and lived in the Orthodox Christian life.
The relationship between the spiritual life and academic study was brought into focus during the course of the conference as participants considered how the academic study of the Fathers not merely informs, but transforms, us at the core union and communion with Christ.
“The seminarians sought to witness this transformative power of a relationship with Christ, experienced in the Church of the Fathers, now in the present with those to whom they presented their academic work, those who prayed with them in the chapel, and those with whom they shared their meals,” Father Steven added.
A photo gallery can be viewed here.