Nicaea and Augustine, Antidotes for Our Age

Are we living at the Hour of the Fathers? Today, talk of early church theologians and ancient church wisdom is all around us. One could argue this has been the case for some time. In the orthodox Protestant world, the late Thomas Oden pioneered a form of theology that listened carefully to patristic voices. The recovery by Reformed theologians over the last decade of orthodox Trinitarianism and a classical understanding of God’s attributes has largely resulted from a careful reading of ancient and medieval sources. Something patristic has been stirring even in Protestantism for some years. But 2025 has intensified this interest, partly because it is the 1700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea, and now because the newly elected pope comes from the Augustinian Order (something he shares, of course, with the great Martin Luther). This institutional allegiance has provoked speculation on how much Augustinian thought will shape papal policy. When my colleague Francis X. Maier expresses hope with regard to the Augustinian connection in his Christendom College commencement address, something significant is afoot.