3 March, 2025
We are deeply honoured to welcome Reverend Professor Gabrielle Thomas, Assistant Professor of Early Christianity and Anglican Studies at Candler School of Theology, Emory University, USA, to lead a session of the Eastern Christianity in Interfaith Contexts Reading Group.
Here are the details of this fascinating event.
Title: Basil of Caesarea and Gregory of Nazianzus on the Problem with the Devil
Abstract: The aim of this paper is to consider the role of the devil in early Christian approaches to evil and suffering, using as a case study theological reflection on this theme by Basil of Caesarea and Gregory of Nazianzus. Through a close reading of three texts concerned with the origins of evil, suffering, and the continued presence of the devil on earth after Christ’s victory, I propose the devil’s existence contributes to the mystery of evil for Basil and Gregory. Put simply, the devil does not serve as a strategy to solve problems of evil and suffering. The devil himself is a problem.
Speaker: Revd Prof Gabrielle Thomas, Assistant Professor of Early Christianity and Anglican Studies, Candler School of Theology, Emory University, USA
Speaker’s Biography: Revd Dr Gabrielle Thomas is an Assistant Professor of Early Christianity and Anglican Studies, at the Candler School of Theology, Emory University, USA. Prior to that, she served as a lecturer in early Christianity and Anglican studies at Yale Divinity School. She spent two years as a post-doctoral research associate at Durham University in the United Kingdom. An ordained priest in the Church of England, she has served churches as both a lay and an ordained leader. She completed her PhD in Historical Theology at the University of Nottingham while working in full-time parish ministry. Revd Prof Thomas is a member of the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Theological Reflection Group, a small group of academic theologians who gather with the archbishop for an extended visit twice a year to reflect theologically on pressing issues in the church and the world. In addition to authoring a significant number of journal articles, book chapters, and reviews, she has published three books: The Image of God in the Theology of Gregory Nazianzus (monograph, Cambridge, 2019), Women and Ordination in the Orthodox Church: Explorations in Theology and Practice (co-edited, Cascade, 2020), and For the Good of the Church: Unity, Theology and Women (monograph, SCM Press, 2021). Thomas is a reviewer for Religious Education and SCM Press. She is a member of the American Academy of Religion and the Society of Biblical Literature, among others.
Chair: Professor Sebastian Brock, FBA, University of Oxford, UK.
Date: 3 March, 2025
Time: 17:00-18:00 GMT | 9:00-10:00 PT | 12:00-13:00 ET
Venue: online
If you would like to join the Eastern Christianity in Interfaith Contexts Reading Group, please sign up here.
Revd Dr Thomas’ Publications:
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