Christopher D. Denny

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Professor
Theology and Religious Studies
St. John's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Ph.D., 2004, The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC, Catholic Theological Tradition, Religion and Culture, SpiritualityM.A., 1998, The Catholic University of America, Washington, DC, Religion and Culture, Hermeneutics, Religion and AestheticB.A., 1993, St. John’s College, Annapolis, MD, and Santa Fe, NM, Philosophy, History of Mathematics and Science, Classics

Christopher Denny is a Professor in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies in New York, where since 2004 he has taught as a historical theologian in undergraduate and graduate classes. Denny is the author of A Generous Symphony: Hans Urs von Balthasar's Literary Revelations (Fortress, 2016), and the co-editor of three books: A Realist's Church (with Patrick Hayes and Nicholas Rademacher--Orbis, 2015); Empowering the People of God: Catholic Action before and after Vatican II (with Jeremy Bonner and Mary Beth Fraser Connolly--Fordham UP, 2014); and Finding Salvation in Christ (with Christopher McMahon--Wipf and Stock, 2011). His published essays have appeared in the Journal of Interreligious Studies, Christianity and Literature, and the Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies. Denny has been an Associate Editor of the College Theology Society journal Horizons since 2016, after a previous term as a book review editor for the journal. He has also served on the board of the American Academy of Religion and as the Executive Director of the AAR's Mid-Atlantic Region. In 2017, he was a distinguished visiting professor at the University of Dayton. Denny is the recipient of best-article awards from the College Theology Society, the Catholic Press Association, and the Conference on Christianity and Literature. Since 2020, he has served as the president of the Faculty Association at St. John's University, a union representing a collective bargaining unit of over 1300 full-time and part-time faculty members.

Research Interests

Dr. Denny’s research examines the connection between Christian theology and vernacular literatures from the late medieval period to the modern era. He also works in the field of comparative theology, with a special interest in cross-cultural understandings of sacrifice and hermeneutics. 

Books
A Generous Symphony: Hans Urs von Balthasar’s Literary Revelations. Minneapolis: Fortress, 2016.

A Realist’s Church: Essays in Honor of Joseph Komonchak, eds. Christopher Denny, Patrick Hayes, and Nicholas Rademacher. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 2015

Empowering the People of God: Catholic Action before and after Vatican II, eds. Jeremy Bonner, Mary Beth Fraser Connolly, and Christopher Denny. Catholic Practice in North America. New York: Fordham University Press, 2014.

Finding Salvation in Christ: Essays on Christ and Soteriology in Honor of William Loewe, eds. Christopher Denny and Christopher McMahon. Eugene, OR: Pickwick, 2011.

Articles and Essays

"Theoretical Absence, Practical Mediation: From Eco-Theory to Sacrificial Praxis.” In Theology and Media(tion): Rendering the Absent Present, edited by Stephen Okey and Katherine G. Schmidt, 115-29. College Theology Society Annual Volume 69. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2024.

“Revisiting Bellah's Sheila in a Religiously Pluralist Century.” In Theology without Walls: The Transreligious Imperative, ed. Jerry L. Martin, 25-34. New York: Routledge, 2020.

“Revisiting Dante’s Promised End: Eschatological Implications of Péguy’s Jeanne d’Arc Mysteries,” Christianity and Literature, 62/4 (Summer 2013): 533—63.

“Christians and Vedic Sacrifice: Comparing Communitarian Sacrificial Soteriologies,” Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies 26 (2013): 55-66.

“‘All Will Be Well’: Julian of Norwich’s Counter-Apocalyptic Revelations.” Horizons: The Journal of the College Theology Society 38/2 (Fall 2011): 193-210.

"Which Holy Child? German Romantic Rivals to Balthasar’s Theology of Youth." Communio: International Catholic Review 36/4 (Winter 2009): 673-93.

“Iconoclasm, Byzantine and Postmodern: Implications for Contemporary Theological Anthropology," Horizons 36/2 (Fall 2009): 187-214.

“Interreligious Reading and Self-Definition for Raimundo Panikkar and Francis Clooney,” The Journal of Ecumenical Studies 44/3 (Summer 2009): 409-31.

"The Imitation of Christ's Spiritual Interiority Dramatized in Elckerlijc/Everyman." In Everyman: Actes des Colloques de Janvier 2009 à Nancy-Université et à Toulouse-Le Mirail, edited by Elise Louviot, Colette Stévanovitch, Philippe Mahoux et Dominique Hascoët, 237-58. Collection GRENDEL, vol. 10. Nancy: L'AMAES, 2009.

“Discarded Woman, Cherished Icon: The Peaceful Silence of Browning’s Duchess.” In Making Peace in Our Time, edited by Joan F. Hallisey and Mary-Anne Vetterling, 65-76. Proceedings of the Northeast Regional Conference on Christianity and Literature. Weston, MA: Peace Press, 2008.

“The Laity and Catholic Action in John Courtney Murray’s Church of the Future.” In Vatican II Forty Years Later, edited by William Madges, 55-77. College Theology Society Annual Volume 51. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books, 2006.

“Greek Tragedies: From Myths to Sacraments?” Logos: A Journal of Catholic Thought and Culture, 9/3 (Summer 2006): 45-71.

Reviews and Encyclopedia Entries

Review of The Life of Humberto Medeiros of Boston: Whatever God Wants, Richard Gribble. Church History: Studies in Christianity and Culture 91/4 (December 2022): 972-74.
 
Review of Cross and Creation: A Theological Introduction to Origen of Alexandria, Marc E. Therrien. Catholic Books Review (October 4, 2022): https://catholicbooksreview.org/2022/Therrien.html?fbclid=IwAR1SYSH3n5lfYWYr_EA5LTBsXlHvS-b0je3FEgrsHwxRhN-tDU5WiJ1A-zA
 
Review of Beyond the Self: Virtue Ethics and the Problem of Culture, ed. Raymond Hain. Journal of Moral Theology (June 16, 2020): https://jmt.scholasticahq.com/article/13364-review-of-raymond-hain-ed-beyond-the-self-virtue-ethics-and-the-problem-of-culture.
 
Review of The Achievement of Hans Urs von Balthasar: An Introduction to His Trilogy, Matthew Levering. Catholic Books Review (October 28, 2019): http://www.catholicbooksreview.org/2019/levering.html.
 
Review of Experiments in Buddhist-Christian Encounter: From Buddha-Nature to the Divine Nature, Peter Feldmeier. Catholic Books Review (June 10, 2019): http://www.catholicbooksreview.org/2019/feldmeier.html.
 
Review of God as Sacrificial Love: A Systematic Exploration of a Controversial Notion, Asle Eikrem. Catholic Books Review (September 20, 2018): http://www.catholicbooksreview.org/2018/eikrem.html.
 
Review of Sacrifice in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, David L. Weddle. Journal of the American Academy of Religion 86/3 (September 2018): 872-75.
 
Review of Martyrdom, Self-Sacrifice, and Self-Immolation: Religious Perspectives on Suicide, ed. Margo Kitts. Reading Religion (September 12, 2018):
Review of Love Itself Is Understanding: Hans Urs von Balthasar’s Theology of the Saints, Matthew A. Rothaus Moser. Catholic Books Review (July 10, 2017): http://www.catholicbooksreview.org/2017/moser.html.
 
“The Story of a Soul”; “The Cloud of Unknowing”; “The Steps of Humility.” 100 Books to Read before the Four Last Things: The Essential Guide to Catholic Spiritual Classics, ed. Marie I. George. Kettering, OH: Angelico, 2017.
 
Review of Many Yet One? Multiple Religious Belonging, eds. Peniel Jesudason Rufus Rajkumar and Joseph Prabhakar Dayam. Reading Religion (February 3, 2017): http://readingreligion.org/books/many-yet-one.
 
Review of Christ’s Descent into Hell: John Paul II, Joseph Ratzinger, and Hans Urs von Balthasar on the Theology of Holy Saturday, Lyra Pitstick. Catholic Books Review (August 7, 2016): http://catholicbooksreview.org/2016/pitstick.html.
 
Review of The Anatomy of Misremembering: Von Balthasar’s Response to Philosophical Modernity, Cyril O’Regan. Horizons: The Journal of the College Theology Society 42/2 (December 2015): 508-10.
 
Review of The Legacy of Vatican II, eds. Massimo Faggioli and Andrea Vicini. The Living Church (October 18, 2015): 21-22.


Review of Stoicism in Early Christianity, eds. Tuomas Rasimus, Troels Engberg-Pedersen, and Ismo Dunderberg. Catholic Books Review (May 17, 2012): http://catholicbooksreview.org/2012/rasimus.htm.

Review of The Command of Grace: A New Theological Apologetics, Paul D. Janz. Horizons: The Journal of the College Theology Society 38/1 (Spring 2011): 138-39.

“Chaucer, Geoffrey”; “Dante Alighieri”; “Langland, William”; “Péguy, Charles.” Encyclopedia of Christian Literature, eds. George T. Kurian and James D. Smith III. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow, 2010.

Review of Late Medieval Mysticism of the Low Countries, eds. Rik Van Nieuwenhove, Robert Faesen, and Helen Rolfson. Catholic Books Review (October 19, 2009): http://www.catholicbooksreview.org/2009/nieuwenhove.htm.

“Unifying Knowledge for a Changing Culture.” Review of The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville, ed. and trans. Stephen A. Barney, W. J. Lewis, J. A. Beach, and Oliver Berghof. International Catholic History Discussion List (May 2007), http://h-net.msu.edu/cgi-bin/logbrowse.pl?trx=vx&list=h-catholic&month=0705&week=e&msg=Slegzpzlc8/eNNRohjGABQ&user=&pw=.

Review of Theological Aesthetics: A Reader, ed. Gesa Elsbeth Thiessen. Horizons: The Journal of the College Theology Society 33/1 (Spring 2006): 156-58.

Courses Taught at St. John’s University

Theology 1000C, G357: Theology in the Middle Ages

Theology 1000C: Perspectives on Christianity: A Catholic Approach

Theology 2210: Perspectives on the Church

Theology 2500/2600: History of the Church

Theology 3210: The Human Mystery

Theology 3250: The Church, the Churches, and World Religions

Theology 3270: Theology in Literature

Theology 3550: Theology in the Middle Ages

Theology G355: The First Six Centuries

Theology G357: Theology in the Middle Ages

Theology 3530:  Religion and the Rise of Modern Culture