Searching on Holiness - Christian Community of Acts to Nicene Fathers
I'm writing a paper on a comparison of holiness/perfection, not only a state of being, but doctrinally (there should always be a connection), with the Christian community of Acts and either the ante-Nicene Fathers or Nicene Fathers (Patristic period). I want to write about the development/evolution of holiness between the two periods - how the Christian community of Acts understood holiness and what that understanding was during the Patristic period. I've tried quite a few different searches but I'm striking out - getting way too much, or near or nothing at all. I'm certain the material is there (I have the largest library). I think I need some counsel on searching. Any suggestions?
Searches I've tried:
(spirituality OR holiness OR perfection) WITHIN 100 WORDS (patristic, nicene, ante-nicene, Acts, Synoptics, desert, ascetic)
{Speaker <Person Jesus>} WITHIN {Section <LiteraryType Quotation, Old Testament>}
(Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts) WITHIN 20 WORDS (kingdom, God, holiness, perfection, heaven) - This doesn't work very well because the results include the names of the authors - how do I specify to look only in the Synoptics or Acts, without having to specify the names of those particular gospels?
("Apostolic Fathers", justin martyr, irenaeus, clement, mathetes, polycarp, ignatius, barnabus, papias, tatian, theophilus, athenagoras, tertullian, origen, cyprian, caius, novation, dinoysius, hippolytus, "apostolic teaching", augustine, ambrose, jerome) WITHIN 50 WORDS (holiness, perfection, heaven, spiritual)
[And why does this search return stuff with the word "within"?]
Any counsel from the search gurus is most appreciated.
Comments
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Some starting points:
- How Did the Early Church Fathers View "Holiness?"
- Catholic Topical Index in Topic Guide
- Need some help with understanding "theosis"
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theosis_%28Eastern_Orthodox_theology%29
from there you should have some references to follow and have the appropriate vocabulary to find what you need.
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
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You showed me research I didn't even know existed! This is great! My paper will be great too, thanks to you. Blessings!
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