Oh Turtullian and Justin Martyr - you're going way back smile
emoticon I tend to skip the "threads of influence" and go to the
collective bodies. Prior to the Ecumenical Councils, it was a
bit of a hodge-podge of competition. But when you get to the
point where there was some true organization taking place and
issues were raised that were strong enough that the church body
as a whole had to get together to resolve them, that's when you
start seeing progress (or backwardness, depending on your take
of them, but I see them as progressive). Ecumenical councils
would be the equivalent of the United Nations meeting or having
important scientific/philosophical conferences (like the one
that was just held the other week to discuss the future of
Science and, in particular Physics - between Philosophers and
Theoretical Physicists over a three day period. [they were
bringing up issues of whether or not the newer theories in
Theoretical Physics are properly a Science and should, instead,
be considered Metaphysics perhaps, or whether the very
definition of Science needs to change in order to incorporate
ideas that have no practical hope of testing] I'd have to look
back at Turtullian and Justin Martyr again but it's been a while
since I looked at the individuals and their contributions. I
made a rare exception for Gemistus Pletho because I've been
looking for him for a VERY long time now. I knew there was a
very important "link" between Byzantium and Latin West and the
start of Humanism, but there was always a missing piece in the
tales I would hear. I could never find that missing piece, but I
tripped over him the other week and it was rather exciting to
me.
