2008 March

Prof. Ann Moss
‘Blaise Pascal and the Secular Challenge’
Tues 13 May, 5:00-6:45pm
St Chad’s College, SCR
For further details, click here.

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.

We are delighted to announce the establishment within the Centre for Catholic Studies of the UK’s first permanently endowed Chair of Catholic theology within the mainstream secular, public academy – the Bede Chair of Catholic Theology.  This post has been established through the generous benefaction of four partner bodies: the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle, the Sisters of Mercy (Oaklea), the Sisters of La Retraite (Britain and Ireland) and the Ballinger Trust.  The search is now on for the most suitable inaugural holder of this exciting new post; an internationally regarded Catholic academic theologian who will act as the figurehead for the Durham Centre for Catholic Studies and who will also participate in a wide range of theological outreach activities.  More information is available in a full press release.  

We at the Durham Centre for Catholic Studies express our sincere condolences on the death on Saturday 1st March of the Rt Rev. Kevin Dunn, Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle (2004-08).  Bishop Dunn was a great supporter of the various initiatives that have been taken in recent years in service of the development of Catholic theology and Catholic studies within the Department of Theology and Religion.  He chaired the international conference in January 2006 on Catholic Learning and Receptive Ecumenism and in turn committed significant support to the subsequent three-year regional comparative research project on Receptive Ecumenism and the Local Church.  From the outset, he enthusiastically and personally backed the campaign to raise the necessary £2 million endowment to establish a Bede Chair of Catholic Theology – the first such in the UK secular academy – at Durham.  He had a clear sense of the regional, national and international significance of this development.  It is a cause of real sorrow to us that he will not share with us in seeing this project come to full fruition .  Details for the funeral as well as an obituary can be found of the web site for the Dioceses of Hexam and Newcastle: http://www.rcdhn.org.uk/index.php

A colloquium in dual celebration of the establishment of the Durham Centre for Catholic Studies and the Bede Chair of Catholic Theology

8th-10th May, 2008
Department of Theology and Religion
Durham University

Speakers include: Tina Beattie, Gavin D’Costa, Eamon Duffy, David Ford, Paul Griffiths, Karen Kilby, Michael Kirwan, S.J., Paul Lakeland, Nicholas Lash, Gerard Loughlin, Andrew Louth, John Milbank, Francesca Murphy, Paul D Murray, Peter Phillips, Marcus Pound.

For details of the recent event, including the opening speeches, a selection of papers, program of events, and photographs, please click here.