patristic

American  

[puh-tris-tik] / pəˈtrɪs tɪk /

Sometimes patristical

adjective

1. of or relating to the fathers of the Christian church or their writings.

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patristic British  

/ pəˈtrɪstɪk /

adjective

1. of or relating to the Fathers of the Church, their writings, or the study of these

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Other Word Forms

• patristically adverb
• patristicalness noun
• patristics noun
• unpatristic adjective
• unpatristical adjective
• unpatristically adverb

Etymology

Origin of patristic

First recorded in 1830–40; patr(i)- + -istic

Example Sentences

The author, the Rev. George J. Dyer, is a professor of patristic theology at St. Mary of the Lake Seminary near Chicago.

From Time Magazine Archive

In these ecumenical times, argued Father Walter J. Burghardt, S.J., professor of patristic theology at the Jesuit Seminary in Woodstock, Md., theologians are obliged to look harder at the issues that divide Christians.

From Time Magazine Archive

And, you know, none of the early, really patristic Christians anticipated that.

From Time Magazine Archive

Spiolus, patristic hagiography among the Slavs, Emily Dickinson or whatever.

From Time Magazine Archive

They would rely on their rosary every night, while in another room I read patristic theology.

From "Hunger of Memory" by Richard Rodriguez