Samuel Pomeroy | University of Tennessee Knoxville (original) (raw)

Books by Samuel Pomeroy

Vigiliae Chrisianae Supplements, 2021

*Winner of Lautenschlaeger Prize for Theological Promise* To what extent and to what purposes did... more *Winner of Lautenschlaeger Prize for Theological Promise* To what extent and to what purposes did John Chrysostom engage previous models of Biblical exegesis? In this systematic study of his Homilies on Genesis, new light is shed on the precision of his adaption of works by Basil, Origen, Eusebius of Emesa, and Eusebius of Caesarea, findings set against a wider ‘web’ of parallels with various other exegetes (e.g. Ephrem, Diodore, Didymus). The cumulative picture is a network of shared knowledge across geographical and ecclesial boundaries which served as creative cache for Chrysostom’s discourses. With the metaphors of textual obscurity and word-depth, he prioritized name and word interpretations as a means of producing multiple layers of ethical evaluation.

Chapters by Samuel Pomeroy

Bible and Patristics, eds. Agnethe Siquans and Mark Elliott, 2025

[DRAFT]

Fresh Perspectives on St John Chrysostom as an Exegete, 2024

[DRAFT] To resolve certain exegetical difficulties, John Chrysostom regularly appealed to a disti... more [DRAFT] To resolve certain exegetical difficulties, John Chrysostom regularly appealed to a distinction between οἰκείωσις (familiarity) and δημιουργία (creation). This distinction helped him respond to biblical texts that seemed to suggest that God belonged only to a particular location or with a particular people. This chapter uncovers the apologetic background of this problem in Greek Christian authors of the third through sixth centuries and explores the various ways Chrysostom applies it across his oeuvre. Figures around Chrysostom’s time like Gregory of Nyssa adopted the Stoic doctrine of οἰκείωσις as a description of the Christian life growing in assimilation and “familiarity” with God. Chrysostom shared this idea but discovers a fruitful tension when placing it in dialogue with the problem of God’s universality over all creation. He identifies these two poles as “doctrine” (logos), suggesting a well-established tradition of reflection on the topic. Chrysostom’s innovation lies in applying it to homiletic contexts and folding it into moral paraenesis.

The twentieth-century renaissance of Origen studies was directly paralleled by a renaissance in t... more The twentieth-century renaissance of Origen studies was directly paralleled by a renaissance in the Christian theological discipline broadly construed as the "theology of history". With flagship entries by Russian émigré Nicholas Berdaiev in 1936, the German Jesuit and historian Hugo Rahner in 1947, and the American ethical realist Reinhold Niebur in 1949, 1 books, articles, and conferences on this topic proliferated with remarkable verve from roughly 1930-1960, with a concentration between 1943-1958. 2 Embracing topics such as the theology of tradition, realist vs pacificst political ideals, and the salvation of the Jews, this theological movement may be understood as a series of responses to the domination of Enlightenment rationalist approaches to explaining the "meaning" of history in terms of its evolutionary progression. 3 Certain corners of twentieth-century Origen scholarship felt the impact of this concern directly. During the formative years of the late 1930s, Henri de Lubac and his students Jean Daniélou and Hans urs von 1

(Re)Visioning John Chrysostom: New Theories and Approaches , 2019

While renowned for his prolific biblical exegetical output, John Chrysostom began his literary ca... more While renowned for his prolific biblical exegetical output, John Chrysostom began his literary career with apologetic treatises.1 De sancto Babyla contra Iulianum et gentiles (378),2 Comparatio regis et monachi (378/ 9),3 Quod Christus sit deus (c. 381-3),4 De virginitate (382),5 Adversus oppugnatores vitae monasticae (c. 383-6),6 and the homiletic series Adversus Judaeos (386/ 7)7 were 1 This research is made possible by fwo-Flanders. 2 (Henceforth Bab.). Critical edition is SC 362, ed. Schatkin; English translation in FC 73, trans.

Light on Creation: Ancient Commentators in Dialogue and Debate on the Origin of the World, 2017

Journal Articles by Samuel Pomeroy

Political Theology, 2024

Erik Peterson is primarily known for his 1935 rebuttal to Schmitt’s Political Theology. Readers l... more Erik Peterson is primarily known for his 1935 rebuttal to Schmitt’s Political Theology. Readers like Agamben have raised the need to investigate whether Peterson himself tried to extend or substantiate his critique. Albeit in scattered reflections, Peterson developed a genealogy of the nation-state through the ambiguity of the angelic and its relation to empire. This article presents these reflections according to the systematic connections Peterson discerns across three categories: the denial of God, the claim of human rights, and linguistic unity. Throughout, attention is paid to how Peterson’s ideas resemble those in Schmitt’s works, though he often adds his own accents through the concepts of Trinitarian and eschatological thought. The result is a nuanced conception of Peterson’s appreciation of Schmitt’s genealogical methodology. It clarifies how Peterson’s envisaged the Trinity as a political-theological paradigm becomes more intelligible. His insistence on openness to the transcendent can be linked to negative political theology.

Modern Theology, 2023

The figures associated with nouvelle théologie were shaped by, and in turn gave shape to, their o... more The figures associated with nouvelle théologie were shaped by, and in turn gave shape to, their own chapter of the modernist crisis, which Étienne Fouilloux defines as "the rereading of the foundational message [of the gospel] in the light of [nineteenthcentury] scientific advancements." 1 Insofar as this crisis of dogmatic authority and religious experience called into question the relationship of human action to spiritual versus temporal spheres, the "politics" of the nouvelle théologie has often been construed along the lines of Blondelian genealogical critique. 2 As one prominent text puts it, their advocacy for a "return to mystery" includes the diagnosing of the modern division of sacred and secular, as well as the posing of philosophical and theological resources with which to overcome such a division. 3 Their various attempts at conciliating the Catholic theological heritage with the epistemological and existential concerns of their day, however, earned them the unhappy label "new" from their contemporaries-it should also be borne in mind that they used the label against their adversaries as well-producing several overlapping layers of controversy amidst ecclesiastical circles in France-Belgium and Rome. Thus, many approaches 1

Modern Theology, 2020

The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Biblical Interpretation (2019) should be viewed as a defin... more The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Biblical Interpretation (2019) should be viewed as a definitive new tool for understanding the contextual concerns, literary genres, and shifting ideological principles that generated Early Christian biblical exegesis. This review essay explains why the new Handbook is distinct among tools of its kind, and highlights some of its major benefits for encountering and engaging the ancient resources of Christian theologies on their own terms. This collection of essays may be fruitfully used to nuance and expand contemporary trends in hermeneutical and analytic theology (This research is made possible by Research Foundation-Flanders [F.W.O.]).

Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses , 2016

Proceedings of the American Catholic Philosophical Association, 2014

In this paper I argue that Aquinas’s doctrine of prophecy develops from the early period (De uer.... more In this paper I argue that Aquinas’s doctrine of prophecy develops from the early period (De uer. q. 12, a. 1, prophecy is a habit) to his more mature articulation (ST IIa-IIae q. 171, a. 2, prophecy is not a habit) as a result of his complex handling of the metaphysical thought of Avicenna. Aquinas subtly distances himself from the implication of Avicenna’s emanationist framework for prophecy, namely that prophetic knowledge is acquired through perfected natural intellectual habit. Yet at the same time he accommodates this aspect insofar as it aligns with Augustine’s biblical neo-Platonism. He does so, as I shall demonstrate, with Augustine’s notion of prayer (orandi) as a kind of inquiry (disputatio) that disposes the soul to aptly receive the prophetic light by the extension of divine grace. In this, Aquinas incorporates Avicenna’s notion of prophetic habit without committing to the emanationist model from which it arises.status: publishe

Conferences by Samuel Pomeroy

Early Christianity and the Political Theology of International Order" is a two-day event composed... more Early Christianity and the Political Theology of International
Order" is a two-day event composed of an invited keynote
lecture by renowned international political theorist William
Bain (National University of Singapore) and an Expert
Response Panel including Marco Rizzi (Milan), Elisa Coda (Pisa), and Samuel Pomeroy (Münster).

Early Christianity and the Political Theology of International Order" is a two-day event composed... more Early Christianity and the Political Theology of International Order" is a two-day event composed of an invited keynote lecture by renowned international political theorist William Bain (National University of Singapore) and an Expert Response Panel. T

This conference takes place at the WWU Muenster, February 2023. Contributors assess appeals to th... more This conference takes place at the WWU Muenster, February 2023. Contributors assess appeals to the demonic as a force of political organization in various contexts. The theme thereby connects disparate authors and texts, from Origen of Alexandria to Tronti’s operaismo.

Abstract for conference held in Muenster, February 2023.

Held in May 2022, University of Cambridge. The Beierwaltes Seminars on Christian Platonism, hoste... more Held in May 2022, University of Cambridge. The Beierwaltes Seminars on Christian Platonism, hosted by the Cambridge Centre twice a year, revolve around key concepts of Platonism and their transformation in Christian philosophy from the Alexandrians Clement and Origen to the present day. After reading and discussing excerpts from the work of the eminent German scholar Werner Beierwaltes (translated into English for the first time), both PhD students and postdocs give papers on their current research on Origen and Christian Platonism. Everyone interested in and working on Platonism is cordially invited to take part.

Book Reviews by Samuel Pomeroy

Journal of Anglican Studies, 2023

Dionysius the Areopagite was not much of an eschatological thinker. In one of the only passages w... more Dionysius the Areopagite was not much of an eschatological thinker. In one of the only passages where he reflects on final union with God, he mentions an obscure 'Christoform feast' by which we shall be filled up with a light that is 'above' intellect, above illumination itself (Divine Names, 1.4, 592b-c). Instead of eschatology per se, Dionysius loved to play with the term 'hyper', prefixing it in odd places and wedding it to already charged philosophical terms like 'being'. The 'beyond' and the possibility of its processing out to meet human intellects was essential to the Dionysian task of describing our naming of the Divine as altogether inadequate. Further, in the Dionysian idiom, 'beyond' initiates an approach to the dialectical (a word we should now use with extreme caution after reading this book) that is a process of speaking about, or as he characteristically puts it, 'hymning' God. Hope in a Secular Age brilliantly reclaims this process as an ethical exercise. In using names that refer always imperfectly to God, there is an engagement with self-critical responsibility. Newheiser thereby grasps the temporal dimension in religious epistemology, that is, faith-affirmations, because they are inherently tenuous given their object, open to the possibility that things might be different in the future. The twentieth century undoubtedly witnessed a remarkable new chapter in the rich history of the reception of the Pseudo-Dionysian corpus, for it became a landmark among deconstructionist thinkers like John Caputo, Jean-Luc Marion, and Jacques Derrida. This latter constitutes the nodal point through which Newheiser reads Dionysius. Newheiser addresses the concern that despite claiming that God is beyond being, Dionysius nonetheless secures access to God and therefore to the possibility of a secret political authoritarianism (pp. 100-101). After all, the same Dionysius who wrote that the light of God is beyond intellect also spent chapters of his work describing the theurgic process that initiates cooperation with this divinity who gives substance to legal hierarchy and society (see Eccles. Hier., 429c-d). If there is a weak point to this monograph, it is in the lack of engagement with this latter element of Dionysius's own thought, influenced as it was by an Iamblichan-Proclan doctrine of securing synchrony with the divinity through ritual.

Journal of Anglican Studies, 2023

Revue d’histoire ecclésiastique, 2021

Journal of Theological Studies, 2021

Vigiliae Chrisianae Supplements, 2021

*Winner of Lautenschlaeger Prize for Theological Promise* To what extent and to what purposes did... more *Winner of Lautenschlaeger Prize for Theological Promise* To what extent and to what purposes did John Chrysostom engage previous models of Biblical exegesis? In this systematic study of his Homilies on Genesis, new light is shed on the precision of his adaption of works by Basil, Origen, Eusebius of Emesa, and Eusebius of Caesarea, findings set against a wider ‘web’ of parallels with various other exegetes (e.g. Ephrem, Diodore, Didymus). The cumulative picture is a network of shared knowledge across geographical and ecclesial boundaries which served as creative cache for Chrysostom’s discourses. With the metaphors of textual obscurity and word-depth, he prioritized name and word interpretations as a means of producing multiple layers of ethical evaluation.

Bible and Patristics, eds. Agnethe Siquans and Mark Elliott, 2025

[DRAFT]

Fresh Perspectives on St John Chrysostom as an Exegete, 2024

[DRAFT] To resolve certain exegetical difficulties, John Chrysostom regularly appealed to a disti... more [DRAFT] To resolve certain exegetical difficulties, John Chrysostom regularly appealed to a distinction between οἰκείωσις (familiarity) and δημιουργία (creation). This distinction helped him respond to biblical texts that seemed to suggest that God belonged only to a particular location or with a particular people. This chapter uncovers the apologetic background of this problem in Greek Christian authors of the third through sixth centuries and explores the various ways Chrysostom applies it across his oeuvre. Figures around Chrysostom’s time like Gregory of Nyssa adopted the Stoic doctrine of οἰκείωσις as a description of the Christian life growing in assimilation and “familiarity” with God. Chrysostom shared this idea but discovers a fruitful tension when placing it in dialogue with the problem of God’s universality over all creation. He identifies these two poles as “doctrine” (logos), suggesting a well-established tradition of reflection on the topic. Chrysostom’s innovation lies in applying it to homiletic contexts and folding it into moral paraenesis.

The twentieth-century renaissance of Origen studies was directly paralleled by a renaissance in t... more The twentieth-century renaissance of Origen studies was directly paralleled by a renaissance in the Christian theological discipline broadly construed as the "theology of history". With flagship entries by Russian émigré Nicholas Berdaiev in 1936, the German Jesuit and historian Hugo Rahner in 1947, and the American ethical realist Reinhold Niebur in 1949, 1 books, articles, and conferences on this topic proliferated with remarkable verve from roughly 1930-1960, with a concentration between 1943-1958. 2 Embracing topics such as the theology of tradition, realist vs pacificst political ideals, and the salvation of the Jews, this theological movement may be understood as a series of responses to the domination of Enlightenment rationalist approaches to explaining the "meaning" of history in terms of its evolutionary progression. 3 Certain corners of twentieth-century Origen scholarship felt the impact of this concern directly. During the formative years of the late 1930s, Henri de Lubac and his students Jean Daniélou and Hans urs von 1

(Re)Visioning John Chrysostom: New Theories and Approaches , 2019

While renowned for his prolific biblical exegetical output, John Chrysostom began his literary ca... more While renowned for his prolific biblical exegetical output, John Chrysostom began his literary career with apologetic treatises.1 De sancto Babyla contra Iulianum et gentiles (378),2 Comparatio regis et monachi (378/ 9),3 Quod Christus sit deus (c. 381-3),4 De virginitate (382),5 Adversus oppugnatores vitae monasticae (c. 383-6),6 and the homiletic series Adversus Judaeos (386/ 7)7 were 1 This research is made possible by fwo-Flanders. 2 (Henceforth Bab.). Critical edition is SC 362, ed. Schatkin; English translation in FC 73, trans.

Light on Creation: Ancient Commentators in Dialogue and Debate on the Origin of the World, 2017

Political Theology, 2024

Erik Peterson is primarily known for his 1935 rebuttal to Schmitt’s Political Theology. Readers l... more Erik Peterson is primarily known for his 1935 rebuttal to Schmitt’s Political Theology. Readers like Agamben have raised the need to investigate whether Peterson himself tried to extend or substantiate his critique. Albeit in scattered reflections, Peterson developed a genealogy of the nation-state through the ambiguity of the angelic and its relation to empire. This article presents these reflections according to the systematic connections Peterson discerns across three categories: the denial of God, the claim of human rights, and linguistic unity. Throughout, attention is paid to how Peterson’s ideas resemble those in Schmitt’s works, though he often adds his own accents through the concepts of Trinitarian and eschatological thought. The result is a nuanced conception of Peterson’s appreciation of Schmitt’s genealogical methodology. It clarifies how Peterson’s envisaged the Trinity as a political-theological paradigm becomes more intelligible. His insistence on openness to the transcendent can be linked to negative political theology.

Modern Theology, 2023

The figures associated with nouvelle théologie were shaped by, and in turn gave shape to, their o... more The figures associated with nouvelle théologie were shaped by, and in turn gave shape to, their own chapter of the modernist crisis, which Étienne Fouilloux defines as "the rereading of the foundational message [of the gospel] in the light of [nineteenthcentury] scientific advancements." 1 Insofar as this crisis of dogmatic authority and religious experience called into question the relationship of human action to spiritual versus temporal spheres, the "politics" of the nouvelle théologie has often been construed along the lines of Blondelian genealogical critique. 2 As one prominent text puts it, their advocacy for a "return to mystery" includes the diagnosing of the modern division of sacred and secular, as well as the posing of philosophical and theological resources with which to overcome such a division. 3 Their various attempts at conciliating the Catholic theological heritage with the epistemological and existential concerns of their day, however, earned them the unhappy label "new" from their contemporaries-it should also be borne in mind that they used the label against their adversaries as well-producing several overlapping layers of controversy amidst ecclesiastical circles in France-Belgium and Rome. Thus, many approaches 1

Modern Theology, 2020

The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Biblical Interpretation (2019) should be viewed as a defin... more The Oxford Handbook of Early Christian Biblical Interpretation (2019) should be viewed as a definitive new tool for understanding the contextual concerns, literary genres, and shifting ideological principles that generated Early Christian biblical exegesis. This review essay explains why the new Handbook is distinct among tools of its kind, and highlights some of its major benefits for encountering and engaging the ancient resources of Christian theologies on their own terms. This collection of essays may be fruitfully used to nuance and expand contemporary trends in hermeneutical and analytic theology (This research is made possible by Research Foundation-Flanders [F.W.O.]).

Ephemerides Theologicae Lovanienses , 2016

Proceedings of the American Catholic Philosophical Association, 2014

In this paper I argue that Aquinas’s doctrine of prophecy develops from the early period (De uer.... more In this paper I argue that Aquinas’s doctrine of prophecy develops from the early period (De uer. q. 12, a. 1, prophecy is a habit) to his more mature articulation (ST IIa-IIae q. 171, a. 2, prophecy is not a habit) as a result of his complex handling of the metaphysical thought of Avicenna. Aquinas subtly distances himself from the implication of Avicenna’s emanationist framework for prophecy, namely that prophetic knowledge is acquired through perfected natural intellectual habit. Yet at the same time he accommodates this aspect insofar as it aligns with Augustine’s biblical neo-Platonism. He does so, as I shall demonstrate, with Augustine’s notion of prayer (orandi) as a kind of inquiry (disputatio) that disposes the soul to aptly receive the prophetic light by the extension of divine grace. In this, Aquinas incorporates Avicenna’s notion of prophetic habit without committing to the emanationist model from which it arises.status: publishe

Early Christianity and the Political Theology of International Order" is a two-day event composed... more Early Christianity and the Political Theology of International
Order" is a two-day event composed of an invited keynote
lecture by renowned international political theorist William
Bain (National University of Singapore) and an Expert
Response Panel including Marco Rizzi (Milan), Elisa Coda (Pisa), and Samuel Pomeroy (Münster).

Early Christianity and the Political Theology of International Order" is a two-day event composed... more Early Christianity and the Political Theology of International Order" is a two-day event composed of an invited keynote lecture by renowned international political theorist William Bain (National University of Singapore) and an Expert Response Panel. T

This conference takes place at the WWU Muenster, February 2023. Contributors assess appeals to th... more This conference takes place at the WWU Muenster, February 2023. Contributors assess appeals to the demonic as a force of political organization in various contexts. The theme thereby connects disparate authors and texts, from Origen of Alexandria to Tronti’s operaismo.

Abstract for conference held in Muenster, February 2023.

Held in May 2022, University of Cambridge. The Beierwaltes Seminars on Christian Platonism, hoste... more Held in May 2022, University of Cambridge. The Beierwaltes Seminars on Christian Platonism, hosted by the Cambridge Centre twice a year, revolve around key concepts of Platonism and their transformation in Christian philosophy from the Alexandrians Clement and Origen to the present day. After reading and discussing excerpts from the work of the eminent German scholar Werner Beierwaltes (translated into English for the first time), both PhD students and postdocs give papers on their current research on Origen and Christian Platonism. Everyone interested in and working on Platonism is cordially invited to take part.

Journal of Anglican Studies, 2023

Dionysius the Areopagite was not much of an eschatological thinker. In one of the only passages w... more Dionysius the Areopagite was not much of an eschatological thinker. In one of the only passages where he reflects on final union with God, he mentions an obscure 'Christoform feast' by which we shall be filled up with a light that is 'above' intellect, above illumination itself (Divine Names, 1.4, 592b-c). Instead of eschatology per se, Dionysius loved to play with the term 'hyper', prefixing it in odd places and wedding it to already charged philosophical terms like 'being'. The 'beyond' and the possibility of its processing out to meet human intellects was essential to the Dionysian task of describing our naming of the Divine as altogether inadequate. Further, in the Dionysian idiom, 'beyond' initiates an approach to the dialectical (a word we should now use with extreme caution after reading this book) that is a process of speaking about, or as he characteristically puts it, 'hymning' God. Hope in a Secular Age brilliantly reclaims this process as an ethical exercise. In using names that refer always imperfectly to God, there is an engagement with self-critical responsibility. Newheiser thereby grasps the temporal dimension in religious epistemology, that is, faith-affirmations, because they are inherently tenuous given their object, open to the possibility that things might be different in the future. The twentieth century undoubtedly witnessed a remarkable new chapter in the rich history of the reception of the Pseudo-Dionysian corpus, for it became a landmark among deconstructionist thinkers like John Caputo, Jean-Luc Marion, and Jacques Derrida. This latter constitutes the nodal point through which Newheiser reads Dionysius. Newheiser addresses the concern that despite claiming that God is beyond being, Dionysius nonetheless secures access to God and therefore to the possibility of a secret political authoritarianism (pp. 100-101). After all, the same Dionysius who wrote that the light of God is beyond intellect also spent chapters of his work describing the theurgic process that initiates cooperation with this divinity who gives substance to legal hierarchy and society (see Eccles. Hier., 429c-d). If there is a weak point to this monograph, it is in the lack of engagement with this latter element of Dionysius's own thought, influenced as it was by an Iamblichan-Proclan doctrine of securing synchrony with the divinity through ritual.

Journal of Anglican Studies, 2023

Revue d’histoire ecclésiastique, 2021

Journal of Theological Studies, 2021

Zeitschrift für Antikes Christentum / Journal of Ancient Christianity, 2021

Journal of Anglican Studies, 2022

Journal of Anglican Studies, 2021

Austin Farrer's thought may be viewed as an unfolding of Paul's assertion that 'We have the mind ... more Austin Farrer's thought may be viewed as an unfolding of Paul's assertion that 'We have the mind of Christ'. Or, to situate this text in a true 'Farrerian' light, we might gloss, 'We have been given the mind of Christ'. This givenness of finite nature as already graced, or as Farrer might put it, 'packaged' with the fundamental orientation towards the infinite opens key perspectives on his seminal contributions both to his time and ours. In metaphysics, Farrer offers a modified Blondelian-Thomism that paves the way for a unitive substantial philosophy of matter; in ethics and ontology, a concept of divine-human double-agency vis-à-vis the personalism of John Macmurray; in biblical studies, a 'consolidation' hermeneutic that permits literary craft, sacramental typology and form-criticism to speak on the same plane as it would have for the Cappadocian fathers; in preaching, the development of a unique format that spontaneously combined prayer, poetry and the exploration of some of his own major philosophical positions, transforming the mundaneperhaps Farrer alone could successfully liken the Holy Spirit to a genie in a bottle for a Pentecost sermonby casting it dialectically into relation with the infinite. This volume, edited by Harries and Platten, offers detailed explorations into all of these 'offers'. As editors, they have done an admirable job delivering the thesis of Farrer's propheticthat is, anticipatorystanding towards important trends in the various academic cultures in which his peculiar genius fermented. Throughout the volume a mosaic coalesces: gospel as literary product (pp. 18, 33); neo-Thomist personalist metaphysics (pp. 54-55); voluntarism and Anglican ethics (p. 61); denial of Irenaean pedagogical providence in theodicy (p. 79); the possibility of a reformed analytical (doctrinal) theology as a counter to logical positivism (pp. 84, 96); conceiving the Holy Spirit as the 'ground' of the human heart as in the Surnaturel debates (p. 149)-Farrer commands all these position with an ingenuity and independence that later thinkers would retrace, often unknowingly. Marilyn McCord Adams, for instance, addressed horrendous evils in a manner similar to that of Farrer, and as Leigh Vicens argues in this volume, while she does so with a more satisfying conclusion about intimacy with the divine as consolation, their approaches are mirror images of one another (pp. 78-79). But prophets do more than anticipate the future. In a bid for a people to heed their message, they recapitulate the past. To cast previous events and words into new light, they discover piercing metaphors to aid comprehension, and, as Farrer would Book Reviews 261

Journal of Early Christian Studies , 2016

Journal of Ecclesiastical History , 2019

Janet Sidaway argues that the originality of Hilary of Poitiers's De trinitate rests with his nov... more Janet Sidaway argues that the originality of Hilary of Poitiers's De trinitate rests with his novel interpretation of how believers 'become God'. Hilary emphasises Christ's perfect human nature as the means of the believer's transformation or glorification. The word used by Sidaway to describe this process is anthropophany. Becoming God, deification, means that believers progressively become the perfect human that they were intended to be. Sidaway demonstrates this by showing Hilary's use of the exchange formula, which she expresses in the more familiar words of Gregory of Nazianzus and Irenaeus/Athanasius: 'the unassumed is the unhealed' and 'God became man so man could become God'. Hilary linked these two phrases of the formula with his original exegesis of Philippians ii.-,  Corinthians xv.- and the Transfiguration, as especially seen in book XI of De trinitate. The Fatherhood of God secures the coequality of the Son and the brotherhood of Christ secures our identity with him. Believers 'become God' by sharing in the glorified human body of the ascended Christ and collectively become the Kingdom of God returned to God, who becomes 'all in all'. Sidaway further argues that Hilary has cleverly embedded the notion of progress (profectus) into the very structure, imagery, vocabulary and style of De trinitate. For Sidaway the autobiographical narrative in book I introduces Hilary as a spiritual 'Everyman', leading the reader through difficult theological arguments in the 'carefully crafted progression of the whole twelve books of De trinitate' (p. ). In other words, Hilary is both author and actor, progressively explaining and exhibiting our anthropophany throughout De trinitate. Sidaway's reading of De trinitate book XI and her explanation of Hilary's understanding of deification is convincing and complements other scholarship on Hilary's Christology (Burns, Ladaria, Scully among others). I am less convinced by her claim that De trinitate is 'not in fact about the Trinity per se' (p. ) but is rather a carefully crafted twelve books on the transformation of the believer. Sidaway exhibits a broad knowledge of the scholarship on Hilary and acknowledges the long-standing scholarly debates on the structure of De trinitate. Since we know that Hilary combined two distinct works to form De trinitate, and revised his early books in light of his mature pro-Nicene theology, more needs to be said about the structure of De trinitate if we are to believe that Hilary wrote these twelve books to explain and exhibit our anthropophany.

The notion of a transcendent principle before which man is responsible for his acts belongs to th... more The notion of a transcendent principle before which man is responsible for his acts belongs to the platonic-spiritualist reaction to materialistic determinism, and as such played a prominent role in Christian apologetics (e.g. Origen Cels III 11; IV 71-3 Theodoret Graec XI 67-8). At the same time, because a series of biblical texts ascribed the act of judgment to God (ψ 73,22; 80,1; Isa 63,7; II Tim 4,8), and sometimes specifically to the Son (e.g. Jo 5,22; 9,39; Apoc 1,7), the questions of to whom did judgment properly belong and how judgement functioned among trinitarian relations featured prominently in exegetical debates throughout fourth-century controversies. This essay plots the development of early subordinationist approaches to this problem in Origen and Eusebius to later communalist theories of the Cappadocian fathers and Cyril of Jerusalem. It pays attention to the introduction of polemical labels relating to specific positions on the Son's judgment, notably the seemingly anachronistic charge of third-century 'Sabellianism' within later fourth-century Trinitarian theology.

In this lecture delivered at the Institute for Human Ecology in November 2022, I attempt to asses... more In this lecture delivered at the Institute for Human Ecology in November 2022, I attempt to assess the relevance of early Christian studies for 20th-century conceptions of national pluralism and the problem of war. I triangulate the positions of Erik Peterson and Jean Daniélou with those of Gaston Fessard. Any comments about the effectiveness of the approach and how to sharpen it would be welcome!

This work-in-progress attempts to assess the historical-philosophical significance of Origen's us... more This work-in-progress attempts to assess the historical-philosophical significance of Origen's use of the reciprocity of the virtues tradition. I welcome any insights as to how it might be developed: either expanded to cover the whole of Origen's works or placed into conversation with more contemporary discussions.

Public lecture given at the Honors Residential College, Baylor University, October 2022.

Delivered at Beierwaltes Seminar VI: Concepts of Divine and Human Subjectivity., University of Ca... more Delivered at Beierwaltes Seminar VI: Concepts of Divine and Human Subjectivity., University of Cambridge, February 2020

Delivered at Theos and Polis: Political Theology as Discernment. LEST XII. Leuven, 2019

Delivered at From Rebellion to Reconciliation: Anglican-Catholic Relations from 1569 to the Prese... more Delivered at From Rebellion to Reconciliation: Anglican-Catholic Relations from 1569 to the Present. St. Chad’s College, Durham University, September 2019

Delivered at North American Patristics Society, annual meeting Chicago, May 2017

Delivered at Theosis/Deification: Christian Doctrines of Divination East and West. Leuven, 2015

Delivered at British Patristics. Birmingham, UK, September 2016

Delivered at The Oxford University Byzantine Society’s 20th International Graduate Conference, Ox... more Delivered at The Oxford University Byzantine Society’s 20th International Graduate Conference, Oxford, February 2018

[Baylor Undergraduate Research Thesis] The last century of patristic scholarship has seen a strik... more [Baylor Undergraduate Research Thesis] The last century of patristic scholarship has seen a striking revival in the study of the Cappadocian Fathers, with particular attention given to Origen of Alexandria, Gregory of Nyssa, and Maximus the Confessor. These figures are unique thinkers in and of themselves; yet, their thoughts follow the same kind of theological trajectory, each drawing upon preceding figures to extend their contribution with characteristic insight and philosophic acuity. As Christian theology and practice developed, so too did the meaning, purpose, and forms of prayer; how Christians prayed has always been intimately connected to what they profess as doctrine, particularly in regard to christology. An examination of the theological contours of the three aforementioned figures reveals that for their vein of thought (largely associated with the content of Cappadocian theology), prayer was largely concerned with man's deification through the reception of the Logos of God. Origen offers an emphasis on receiving the Word through the letter of Scripture; Gregory expounds upon the fact that man is made in the "image of God" to explain how man receives the True Man, Christ, through contemplative prayer and virtuous living; finally, Maximus takes us through three stages of contemplation with the end to know the Unknowable insofar as human nature is permitted. Through this study, I shall demonstrate that each figure unites in a common thread to emphasize that receiving the nature of Christ is to partake in His kenōsis love, a love of self-emptying, in order to receive the Divine Nature. Deification, then, is the embodiment of God in the individual, insofar as God is love and man is a creature innately possessing the way to love. For the Cappadocians, contemplation is a recovery of the εἰκών [image] of God by which the human is made, and the restoration—also the radical expansion—of man’s original state: spiritually attuned living amidst a corporeal world