From the 15th to the beginning of the 18th century, texts of various origins show an intensive reception of the Church Fathers. The reappropriation of the patristic tradition developed mainly due to two historical and systematic factors: on the one hand under the conditions of the Reformation theology of the emerging denominations, as a result of which the »consensus patrum« guaranteed the authenticity of the »true church.» On the other hand, this reception of the Church Fathers became significant due to the tradition of the »philosophie perennis,» a tradition in the history of philosophy and theology which had begun in the 16th century. From antiquity to contemporary scholarship, the »consensus patrum« along with the »translatio sapientiae« were the prerequisites for this tradition.