This Wednesday, Professor Georgios Mantzarides, Emeritus Professor of the School of Theology at the Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki, will give a keynote speech in St Andrew’s College Patristic Symposium 2010.

I’ve read his books, and now I’m wanting to meet the man.

St Andrew’s College Registrar Dr Philip Kariatlis said he is looking forward to hearing what Professor Mantzarides has to say in his speech, ‘Knowledge of the Human Person and God According to St Gregory the Theologian.’

“I’ve read his books, and now I’m wanting to meet the man,” Dr Kariatlis said.

Professor Mantzarides has written several books, including Time and Man, and The Deification of Man: St. Gregory Palamas and the Orthodox Tradition.

“He’s dedicated his life to the Fathers,” Dr Kariatlis said.

Dr Kariatlis said the speech will be delivered in Greek, but a translation will be available up on the screen simultaneously, so it will be accessible to a broad Sydney audience.

He said they’re expecting around 100 people, including members of the college as well as the wider theological community.

“This theological college is a member of the Sydney College of Divinity, so all of the other colleges know about it,” he said.

The speech will also be available online after the event, as will all speeches in St Andrew’s second annual Patristic Symposium.

The symposium runs every Wednesday until October 6, featuring a series of six lectures dedicated to a common Saint.

This year’s focus is on St Gregory, whom Dr Kariatlis said is one of the more well-known Saints in the church.

“He was a fourth century father, who played a decisive role in articulating our doctrine of God in the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, and his doctrine remains decisive to this day,” Dr Kariatlis said.

One of only three Saints named ‘The Theologian,’ St Gregory is understood by scholars through a long poem he wrote about his own life.

Dr Kariatlis said St Gregory’s poem is painfully honest, detailing the deaths of his brother and close friend, and finally asking, “Is God asleep?”

He said St Gregory remains one of the most relevant and interesting Saints because he questioned the existence of God.

“The beauty is, here is a Saint, yet he’s not shying away from how he feels, so it’s something we can relate to and take courage and strength,” he said.

Wednesday, September 22 at 7pm, 242 Cleveland Street, Redfern, in the Main Hall.

For enquiries, contact the Registrar on (02) 9549 3100.

For audio of all speeches go to http://www.sagotc.edu.au/downloads