J. Warren Smith

J. Warren Smith

Associate Professor of Historical Theology

(919) 660-3415
wsmith@div.duke.edu
047 Langford

Duke Divinity School
Box 90968
Durham, NC 27708-0968











Biography


J. Warren Smith, Associate Professor of Historical Theology, is interested in the history of theology broadly conceived from the apostles to the present, but his primary focus is upon patristic theology. His book, Passion and  Paradise: Human and Divine Emotion in the Thought of Gregory of Nyssa (Crossroad, 2004) is a study of Nyssen’s ascetic theology as the intersection of his anthropology, soteriology, and eschatology. Central to this project is Nyssen’s view of the sublimation and transformation of human emotions and their role in his theory of epectacy, i.e. the soul’s eternal movement into God’s infinite and eternal being.The impetus behind the book was Dr. Smith’s concern for the question of realized eschatology:how can we in the present age live into the eschatological reality inaugurated by Christ’s resurrection?; The study examines Nyssen’s account of the Christian’s proleptic participation in Christ’s eschatological Kingdom through a life of asceticism that disciplines the body with its appetites and of contemplation that focuses the intellect upon God’s self-revelation in the divine economy.


Dr. Smith’s current project centers on the theological foundation of Ambrose of Milan’s teachings on the life of virtue. While a pervious generation of Ambrosian scholars have focused their study on the question of Ambrose’s sources, pagan (e.g. Cicero, Plotinus) and Judeo-Christian (Philo and Origen), this project builds upon and yet presses the horizon of that scholarly investigation to examine how Ambrose’s theological commitments influenced his appropriation and adaptation of his philosophical and exegetical sources. Specifically, this book explores how Ambrose understands the work of grace in baptism to heal the corruption of sin upon human nature and empowers that nature for a greater degree of virtue than the training of non-Christian philosophers by itself. The theological concern behind this project is a critique of Kant’s reduction of religion to ethics such that theology and dogma (often the source of division and conflict) can be dismissed. For Ambrose, by contrast, one’s understanding of the divine economy changes how one understands the life of virtue and the character of the cardinal virtues, wisdom, justice, temperance, and fortitude. Having laid out Ambrose’s anthropology, view of Law and grace, and the transformation of baptism, the study ends with a comparison of Aristotle’s account of the supremely virtuous individual, the Magnanimous Man, and Ambrose’s presentation of magnanimity manifest in the lives of Israel’s patriarchs and Christ.


Research projects on the horizon include studies of 1) Ante-Nicene Christology with particular emphasis upon Irenaeus, Tertullian, Origen, 2) the significance of the patristic Christian Platonist tradition for Christianity in a “post-modern” age, and 3) the appropriation of classical theories of oratory in patristic preaching.


Dr. Smith is also a United Methodist minister from the North Georgia Annual Conference. He lives in Durham with his wife, Kimberly Doughty who is a school social worker, and their children, Katherine and Thomas. His interests outside of Duke Divinity School include hiking, studying the American Civil War and 19th century British history, and ACC basketball (men’s and women’s).




    
Degrees

    
B.A., Emory University 
M. Div., S.T.M., Ph.D., Yale University








	
Curriculum Vitae

	
Download CV: 
application/pdf iconcv-jsmith.pdf

    




    
Publications

    
    

  • "Youth Ministry in American  Methodism's Mission," Methodist History vol.19,  no.4 (July 1981) pp.224-230.
    • 

  • "Macrina, Tamer of Horses and  Healer of Souls:Grief and Hope in Gregory of Nyssa's De Anima et Resurrectione," Journal of Theological Studies, NS, Vol. 52, pt. 1 (April 2001)  pp.37-60.
    • 

  • “Suffering Impassably’: Christ’s Passion in Cyril of Alexandria’s  Soteriology,” Pro Ecclesia Vol. 11, no. 4 (Fall 2002) pp.463-83.
    • 

  • “John Wesley’s  Growth in Grace and Gregory of Nyssa’s Epectasy: A Conversation in Dynamic  Perfection,” Bulletin of the John   Rylands UniversityLibrary of Manchester 85.2-3 (Summer and Autumn 2003) 347-58.
    • 

  • "'A  Just and Reasonable Grief': The Death and Function of a Holy 'Woman' in Gregory of Nyssa's De Vita Macrinae" Journal  of Early Christian Studies 12.1 (Spring 2004) pp.57-84.
    • 

  • Passion  and Paradise: Human and Divine Emotion in the Thought of Gregory of Nyssa (New York: Crossroad  Publishers, 2004)
    • 

  • “Martyrdom: Self-Denial or  Self-Exaltation? Motives for Self-Sacrifice from Homer to Polycarp A Theological Reflection,” Modern Theology 22.2 (April 2006) pp.169-96.
    • 

  • “The Body of Paradise  and the Body of the Resurrection: Gender and the Angelic Life in Gregory of Nyssa’s De hominis  opificio” Harvard Theology  Review (forthcoming in April 2007)
    • 

  • “Augustine  and the Limits of Pre-emptive and Preventive War,” Journal of Religious  Ethics (forthcoming, Spring 2007)
    • 

  • “Justification  and Merit before the Pelagian Controversy: The Case of Ambrose of Milan” Pro Ecclesia (forthcoming Spring 2007)
    • 



Papers at Academic  Conferences


    

  • Aug.  2006  “In or Out of  the Body: Ambrose’s Account of Paul’s  Mystical Ascent on the Third Heaven” at the Boston College  Colloquy in Historical Theology
    • 

  • May  2006 “Natural Capacity or Gift of Grace: Ambrose’s  Conception of Fides in the Patriarchal Treatises and De Paradiso” at North American Patristics Society
    • 

  • Nov.  2004  “Augustine and the Limits of Pre-emptive and Preventive  War,” American Academy  of Religion, San Antonio, Texas
    • 

  • June  2003 “John Wesley’s  Growth in Grace and Gregory of Nyssa’s Epectasy: A  Conversation in Dynamic Perfection,” at John Wesley: Life, Legend, and Legacy, (Wesley Tercentenary Conference, University of Manchester, Manchester, England)
    • 

  • Nov. 2002 “The Body of the Resurrection and the Body of Paradise: Gender, Sexuality, and the Angelic Body in Gregory of Nyssa’s De Hominis Opificio”  at The American Academy of Religion, Toronto,   Canada
    • 

  • Aug. 2002 “The Hope of Holiness: The New Creation according to Gregory of Nyssa and John Wesley,” Oxford Institute of Methodist Studies, Christ Church, Oxford
    • 

  • Nov. 2001 “Impassible Suffering: Christ’s Passion and Divine Impassiblity in Cyril of Alexandria,” at American Academy of Religion, Denver, CO.
    • 

  • May 2001 “Augustine’s Reading of Psalm 51 and the Transmission of Concupiscence,” at The North American Patristics Society, Chicago, IL.
    • 

  • May 1998 “Macrina, A Breaker of  Horses: The Problem of Grief in Gregory of Nyssa’s De Anima et Resurrectione” at North American Patristics Society, Chicago, IL.
    • 



Book Reviews


    

  • Learning  Theology with the Church Fathers by Christopher A.   Hall Church History 72.3 (Spring 2003) pp.645-7.
    • 

  • Ambrose’s Patriarchs Ethics for the  Common Man by Marcia L. Colish, Pro Ecclesia 15.3 (Summer 2006) pp.358-62.
    • 

  • Nicaea and its Legacy: An  Approach to Fourth-Century Trinitarian Theology by Lewis Ayres, Modern  Theology (Spring 2007)
    • 



Other Publications  (non-academic)


    

  • “Too Racy for Bible Study” Christian History Issue 80 (2003)
    • 

  • “The Lion,  the Witch, and the Wardrobe: Evangelical Propaganda?” United Methodist Reporter,  December 2005
    • 

  • “New  Life through Resurrection” in Youth and  Faith ed. Fred Edie (forthcoming)
    • 









    
Courses

    
    

  • HistTheo 399 “The Moral Theology of Ambrose of Milan”
    • 

  • HistTheo 220 “Virtue and Virility: Christian and Non-Christian Conceptions of Masculinity”
    • 

  • CH 13 “Early and Medieval Christianity”
    • 

  • HistTheo 215 “History of the Alexandrian School: Philo to Cyril”
    • 

  • HistTheo 308 “Greek Patristic Texts”
    • 

  • HistTheo 223 “Theology of the Cappadocians”
    • 

  • HistTheo 318 “Topics in Patristic Theology: Latin Trinitarian Theology in 4th and 5th Centuries”
    • 









    
Additional Information

    
Links


In October 2003, Crossroad Publishing Co. released, Passion and Paradise: A Study of Theological Anthropology in Gregory of Nyssa, by J. Warren Smith. Visit Amazon.com to purchase Smith's book.


North American Patristic Society


Recommendations


    

  • Elizabeth Clark, The Origenist Controversy The Cultural Construction of an Early Christian Debate.
    • 

  • Brian Daley, The Hope of the Early Church: a Handbook of Patristic Eschatology.
    • 

  • Rowan A. Greer, Christian Hope and Christian Life Raids on the Inarticulate
    • 

  • Johannes Zachhuber, Human Nature in Gregory of Nyssa Philosophical Background and Theological Significance
    • 

  • Lewis Ayres, Nicaea  and Its Legacy
    • 

  • Michel Barnes, The  Power of God: Dynamis in Gregory of  Nyssa’s Trinitarian Theology
    • 

  • John Behr, The Nicene  Faith
    • 

  • David Dawson, Christian  Figural Reading and the Formation of Identity
    • 

  • Paul L. Gavrilyuk, The  Suffering of The Impassible God: The Dialectics of Patristic Thought
    • 

  • Martin Laird, Gregory  of Nyssa and the Grasp of Faith: Union, Knowledge, and Divine Presence
    • 

  • Margaret M. Mitchell, The  Heavenly Trumpet: John Chrysostom and the Art of Pauline Interpretation
    • 

  • Robert Wilken, The  Spirit of Early Christian Thought
    • 

  • Frances M. Young, Biblical  Exegesis and the Formation of the Christian Culture
    • 



Recommended Reading on Ambrose:


    

  1. Marcia Colish, Ambrose’s       Patriarchs Ethics for the Common       Man
    2. 

  2. John Moorhead, Ambrose       Church and Society in the Late Roman World
    3. 

  3. Craig Satterlee, Ambrose of Milan’s       Method of Mystagogical Preaching 
    4. 

  4. Daniel Williams, Ambrose and the End of the Nicene-Arian Conflict
    5.