Courtesy Yale University

Father John Behr is Dean of St Vladimir’s Seminary, Professor of Patristics at St Vladimir’s Seminary and Distinguished Lecturer in Patristics at Fordham University. Behr completed his undergraduate studies at Thames Polytechnic, in London. He earned his Master of Philosophy in Eastern Christian studies and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in theology from Oxford University. While working on his doctorate, Behr was invited to be visiting lecturer at St Vladimir’s Seminary in 1993, where he has been a permanent faculty member since 1995, tenured in 2000, and ordained in 2001. Before becoming Dean in 2007, he served as the editor of St Vladimir’s Theological Quarterly, and still edits the “Popular Patristics Series” for SVS Press. Presently, he teaches courses in patristics, dogmatics and scriptural exegesis at the Seminary. His early work was on issues of asceticism and anthropology, focusing on St. Irenaeus of Lyons and Clement of Alexandria. After spending almost a decade in the second century, Behr began the publication of a series on the ‘Formation of Christian Theology’, and has now reached the fifth and sixth centuries. He has recently completed a new study of St Irenaeus of Lyons for Oxford University Press, and is beginning a new edition and translation of Origen's On First Principles, also for Oxford. He has also published a synthetic presentation of the theology of the early centuries, focused on the mystery of Christ. His publications include: The Case against Diodore and Theodore: Texts and Their Contexts (2011); The Mystery of Christ: Life in Death (2006); The Nicene Faith (Formation of Christian Theology, V.2) (2004); The Way to Nicaea (The Formation of Christian Theology, V. 1) (2001) and Asceticism and Anthropology in Irenaeus and Clement (2000).