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On Saturday, October 4, from 7:30 – 9 p.m., join the Albert M. Wolters Centre for Christian Scholarship for a lecture by Dr. Megan DeVore, Proclaiming Christ: Second to Fourth Century Christian Art. This Wolters Centre Lecture is free and open to the general public. Registration is strongly encouraged.

While scholars today often examine texts for theological perspectives related to Nicaea – parsing the repository of ancient creeds, Athanasian and Cappadocian volumes, or second and third century tomes – early Christian visual communication is largely neglected. This lecture shifts our focus to material culture by attending to catacomb frescoes, carved inscriptions, and sarcophagi scenes from the third and fourth centuries. It quickly becomes evident that these visual works do not merely serve as decoration or illustration. Rather, they communicate complex and deliberate Christological affirmations, for which they noticeably employ the hermeneutical methods of their textual counterparts.  That is, the iconographic programs of early Christian painting and stonework prevailingly align with the Scriptural scenes and figures invoked in patristic writings to convey Christological assertions. This lecture’s examination of visual patterns found in early Christian art suggests that material production is a form of theological discourse. This connection between patristic texts and material expression deserves closer attention, especially in conversations about historical theology and hermeneutics. The integration of patristic visual culture into conversations about Nicene Christology may offer a valuable counterbalance to the text-centered approaches that often characterize theological scholarship and, furthermore, might enrich contemporary discussions on theological continuity and retrieval.

This lecture is both part of the Wolters Centre Lecture Series and the Defending Christ: Celebrating 1700 Years of Nicaea conference.

Dr. Megan DeVore (PhD, University of Wales) is professor of church history and Early Christian studies at . Dr. DeVore’s academic work particularly centres on the late second through fourth centuries. Her current research examines patristic hermeneutics, early Christian art, martyr accounts and spiritual formation. In addition to teaching at CCU, she serves as a spiritual and professional mentor at , serves on the editorial board of the , and is a fellow at .