Oxford University Press (OUP) has just released Irenaeus of Lyons: Identifying Christianity, by The Very Rev. Dr. John Behr, dean and professor of Patristics at St. Vladimir’s Seminary. This complete study of St. Irenaeus, the first great theologian of the Christian tradition, is set within the milieu of the second century but also references the contemporary world, and is part of OUP's Christian Theology in Context series.
“The issues addressed by St. Irenaeus are very much alive again,” notes Fr. John. In Irenaeus of Lyons, Fr. John outlines how the towering early Christian figure successfully refuted and triumphed over his opponents, thereby establishing a framework for orthodox Christian belief at a critical juncture in the Church’s history.
The new title follows on the heels of Fr. John’s 2011 release, The Case Against Diodore and Theodore—a "ground-breaking" work according to the Oxford publisher—which was a part of its Oxford Early Christian Texts series. Father John is the only author to have published books in three different series with OUP: his title Asceticism and Anthropology in Irenaeus and Clement was published in 2000 as part of the Oxford Early Christian Studies series.
Additionally, the Seminary’s own academic publication house, SVS Press, will soon release Fr. John’s book Becoming Human, which deals with issues of Christian anthropology. In this work, Fr. John asks readers to reflect on questions such as, "Who am I? What am I to become? What is the meaning of my life, and of my death?" The rich, colorful book sets historical and artistic images side by side with meditations about what it means to be human.
RELATED LINKS:
