ABSTRACT
Modern theology often treats patristic doctrine as static on the grounds that it dealt in ontological categories, while modem historical scholarship traces the story of doctrinal development in the patristic period. One might expect the 'static ontological categories' to dominate. The significant point here is that this account of doctrine was vital for the confrontation with what was indeed a static and limited view of truth. The notion of dogma as a set of propositions or a fixed credal formula is entirely foreign to Gregory's thought, though the language of scripture and traditional belief is important for guidance on the journey. The clue to Prima facie perspective is the realization that dogmata are simply teachings, and that teaching involved a whole process of education, a paideia, ascetic training in a spiritual way of life which involved both moral and intellectual progress. It might seem obvious that Origen's teachings were meant to be such a paideia.
