Abstract

This article offers a series of reflections on the relationship that should exist between the Church Fathers and dogmatic theology. In order not to underplay the indispensable function performed by the Fathers, a function understood in theological and not in historical terms, the dogmatic theologian must stand before them – as Irenaeus stood before the elderly Polycarp – listening and receiving from them the message that, in harmony with the Scriptures and guided by the grace of God, they ought to deepen and con-temporize.