- WWU Münster
Seminar für Alte Kirchengeschichte
Domplatz 23
48143 Münster
Samuel Pomeroy
Universität Münster, Katholische Theologie, Department Member
- I am an Honorary Research Fellow at the Exzellenzcluster "Religion und Politik", WWU Münster, working on the connecti... moreI am an Honorary Research Fellow at the Exzellenzcluster "Religion und Politik", WWU Münster, working on the connections between early Christianity and the political theology of the modern nation-state. Drawing on themes like ancient angelology, I make connections across Abrahamic traditions for gaining fresh perspectives on concepts that are crucial to our sense of history, collectivity, and belonging. My work brings together modern sources such as Erik Peterson and with ancient sources such as Origen of Alexandria.edit
*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... 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.
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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... 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.
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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... 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.]).
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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... 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
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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... 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).
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).
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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... 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
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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... 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.
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Abstract for conference held in Muenster, February 2023.
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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... 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.
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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... 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.
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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... 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!
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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... 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.
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Public lecture given at the Honors Residential College, Baylor University, October 2022.
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Delivered at Beierwaltes Seminar VI: Concepts of Divine and Human Subjectivity., University of Cambridge, February 2020
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Delivered at Theos and Polis: Political Theology as Discernment. LEST XII. Leuven, 2019
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Delivered at From Rebellion to Reconciliation: Anglican-Catholic Relations from 1569 to the Present. St. Chad’s College, Durham University, September 2019
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Delivered at North American Patristics Society, annual meeting Chicago, May 2017
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Delivered at Theosis/Deification: Christian Doctrines of Divination East and West. Leuven, 2015
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Delivered at British Patristics. Birmingham, UK, September 2016
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Delivered at The Oxford University Byzantine Society’s 20th International Graduate Conference, Oxford, February 2018
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[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... 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