John Behr - Gregory of Nyssa: On the Human Image of God

OnScript

Episode: In this episode we welcome back Fr John Behr! Long-time listeners will be familiar with Fr John's delightful live two-part episode on Origen of Alexandria (Part 1 & Part 2). In this episode co-host Amy Hughes speaks with Fr John about his new translation of Gregory of Nyssa's On the Human Image of God (aka On the Making of Humanity). The conversation ranges from discussing what it's like to work on a translation to nerding out about Gregory - for this we will not apologize! This work is the first theological anthropology where Gregory muses on the mundane (yet fascinating) like, why do humans sleep or yawn or eat. He also considers big questions about the image of God, evil, the resurrection, the body, etc. Fr Behr's translation centers this wonderful text again with its uncanny relevance for current questions and delightfully weird diversions.

Guest: Fr. John Behr was appointed to the Regius Chair in Humanity at the University of Aberdeen in the summer of 2020, having taught at St Vladimir’s Seminary since 1995, serving there as Dean from 2007–17. His early work was on asceticism and anthropology, focusing on St Irenaeus of Lyons and Clement of Alexandria (OUP 2000). He is currently writing a series of books on “The Formation of Christian Theology”, two volumes of which have already appeared: vol. 1, The Way to Nicaea (SVS Press 2001) and vol. 2 The Nicene Faith (SVS Press 2003). On the basis of these two volumes, he published a synthetic work, The Mystery of Christ: Life in Death (SVS 2006). This was followed by an edition and translation of the fragments of Diodore of Tarsus and Theodore of Mopsuestia, setting them in their historical and theological context (OUP 2011). More recently he published a more poetic and meditative work entitled Becoming Human: Theological Anthropology in Word and Image (SVS Press, 2013) and a full study of St Irenaeus: St Irenaeus of Lyons: Identifying Christianity (OUP, 2013). He also completed a new critical edition and translation of Origen’s On First Principles, together with an extensive introduction, for OUP (2017), and John the Theologian and His Paschal Gospel: A Prologue to Theology (OUP 2019). Most recently, he published a new translation of Gregory of Nyssa's On the Human Image of God (aka On the Making of Humanity). (adapted from the University of Aberdeen website).

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