Weekly Gathering
Dead Theologians Society
We get together every week to read through the ancient saints so we can hear their message and apply it to our Christian practice even now.
Join Us“It is a good rule, after reading a new book, never to allow yourself another new one till you have read an old one in between.”
C.S. Lewis
About
What is the Dead Theologians Society?
At Dead Theologians Society, we come together to read and seriously engage with the great thinkers of the Christian tradition. We read slowly, we discuss, sometimes argue (respectfully), and we take seriously the idea that people who lived centuries ago still have something to say to us today.
Each semester we work through a classic text together, Augustine's Confessions, Athanasius' On the Incarnation, Julian of Norwich's Revelations, and more. We read a chapter each week, then gather to discuss.
DTS is often the first place people encounter Cranmer House. It's low commitment, intellectually stimulating, and deeply formative.
When We Meet
Tuesdays & Thursdays
Tuesdays at 12:30 PM in the GC at Oral Roberts University, and Thursdays at 11:30 AM in the Seminar Room of Sharp Chapel at the University of Tulsa.
Who Can Come
You. No theological prerequisites. We aren't going to quiz you at the door, so just come and join the conversation.
Currently Reading
Lectures on the Christian Sacraments
by St. Cyril of Jerusalem
This Week
Introduction
Next Week
TBD
“God, who has presented you as living from the dead, is the power making you able to walk in newness of life”
St. Cyril of Jerusalem, Lectures on the Christian Sacraments, II, 8
Previous Semesters
What We've Read
5th Century
Enchiridion
St. Augustine
4th Century
On the Holy Spirit
St. Basil the Great
4th Century
On the Incarnation
St. Athanasius
7th Century
On the Ecclesiastical Mystagogy
St. Maximos the Confessor
17th Century
The Country Parson and The Temple
George Herbert
2nd Century
On the Apostolic Preaching
St. Irenaeus of Lyons
4th Century
Hymns on Paradise
St. Ephrem the Syrian
On Both Campuses
Where We Meet
At Oral Roberts University, DTS meets every Tuesday at 12:30 PM in the GC.
At the University of Tulsa, DTS meets every Thursday at 11:30 AM in the Seminar Room of Sharp Chapel.
Both campuses are praying the same prayers, reading the same works, and deepening their faith together. Some grew up in other Christian traditions. Some didn't grow up in church at all. Turns out St. Athanasius doesn't care. What he said to his flock 1,500 years ago still resonates.
Our Conviction
Why Read the Church Fathers?
We live in an age of spiritual amnesia.
Most Christians today have never heard of Augustine, Athanasius, or the great cloud of witnesses who shaped our faith. We've lost touch with our own history.
The Dead Theologians Society exists to reconnect us with that history, not because the past is perfect, but because we need more than just our own generation's wisdom to navigate the challenges of faith.
Your questions aren't new. Anxiety about suffering, doubting God's existence, the struggle to live rightly in a complicated world. St. Augustine wrestled with this. So did Sts. Athanasius, John Chrysostom, and the Desert Fathers. They didn't always have easy answers, but in their writings you find honest ones, written for those of us who want a living faith.
Questions
Common Questions
Your First Night
What to Expect
We open in prayer before diving into the text. Fr. Thom gives a little context, then we go through the text in depth for an hour. We ask questions, challenge answers, and come together at the end as brothers and sisters in Christ.
Ready to Join?
We'd Love to See You
DTS meets Tuesdays at ORU and Thursdays at TU. Check the calendar for this week's time and reading. We'd love to see you there.