The Bede Chair of Catholic Theology

BENEDICT XVI

GENERAL AUDIENCE

Saint Peter’s Square
Wednesday, 18 February 2009

Bede, the Venerable

The appointment process for the newly established Bede Chair of Catholic Theology took place on Sunday 20th and Monday 21st of April. Many trustees of the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle, representatives of the Sisters of Mercy (Oaklea), Ushaw College staff and students, and clergy and people of the region participated in the public presentations on the Sunday afternoon. In addition, Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Birmingham and Fr Jim O’Keefe of the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle were full participants throughout the entire appointment process as invited representatives (by Canon Seamus Cunningham) of the interests of the Diocese and the other sponsors.

The successful candidate was Prof. Lewis Ayres, an English lay Catholic theologian, currently teaching at Emory University in Georgia, USA. Prof. Ayres is a world-regarded, leading expert in patristic theology (particularly Christology and Trinity) with a strong constructive/contemporary dimension to his work, with a very well developed understanding of what it means to live between academy and church, and with a strong vision and passion for the further development of Catholic theology and the Centre for Catholic Studies within the Department of Theology and Religion at Durham University.

Archbishop Nichols noted the enviable position in which this appointment and associated developments – in tandem with the existing resources of Ushaw College – place the region in relation to Catholic theological scholarship, formation and understanding. Rev Dr. Fergus Kerr, O.P., who acted as the External Assessor for the appointment process, referred to Prof. Ayres as a quite remarkable theological talent of exceptional promise and potential. The staff of the Department of Theology and Religion and, within that, of the Centre for Catholic Studies at Durham University are immensely grateful for the generous financial sponsorship and vision that have made this unique development possible, for the prayerful support that has carried it and in which it will unfold to full potential, and for the participation of so many clergy and people of the Diocese in the presentations on Sunday 21st April.

I will be arriving in Durham in May 2009 to take up the Bede Chair. Although I was born and educated in the UK I have taught for most of my career in Ireland and most recently in the US.  The core of my research has been Trinitarian theology in Augustine and in the Greek writers of the fourth century. On this theme I have published a number of articles and Nicaea and Its Legacy: An Approach to Fourth Century Trinitarian Theology (Oxford, 2004/6). Forthcoming from Cambridge is Augustine and the Trinity (2009). Although I have published quite a few articles on Augustine the writing of this book has pushed me to new conclusions in a number of areas. My next Monograph in this area will be a study of Greek and Latin pneumatology between 350 and 400.

I have also edited or co-edited a number of books in this area, including (with Andrew Louth and Frances Young) the Cambridge History of Early Christian Literature (2004). Besides Trinitarian theology in this pivotal period I am also interested in the later develoment of Trinitarian theology and in the place of Scripture in Early Christianity – both the history of Christian reading practices from the late second century and the history of what can be termed the theology of Scripture itself. I would welcome students wishing to undertake work in any of these areas and beyond.

I also have a number of interests in modern Catholic fundamental and dogmatic theology – as will be evident from the last chapter of Nicaea and some of the articles I have published. I am interested in the modern reception of Patristic Trinitarian theology and in the modern use of post-idealist themes in the supposed “revivals” of Trinitarian theology that we have seen over the last two centuries. I also have a strong interest in the place of Scripture (and Tradition) in modern Catholic theology and the fundamental structure of Catholic theology. I am convinced that the ideological and professional divisions that have arisen between Scripture scholars, “systematic” and “historical” theologians have served Catholic theology ill. Ressourcement theologians have offered us many resources that can move us beyond these divisions, but much further work is necessary for their agenda to be taken forward. In the hopes of contributing to this debate I am currently working slowly on a book for Blackwells entitled The Practice of Christian Doctrine: A Catholic Essay.

With my wife (Medi Ann Volpe) I am also co-editing the Oxford Handbook of Catholic Theology (hopefully forthcoming in 2011). I would also welcome graduate students interested in these areas. I am involved in co-editing a number of book series, including the Blackwells series Challenges in Contemporary Theology. I also serve on the editorial boards of the Journal of Early Christian Studies and Modern Theology.

For a list of my publications and current projects please click here.