Matthew W. Fell

I am a part time PhD Candidate working under the supervision of Dr Andrew Davison. My doctoral thesis is titled “The Confession of the Universe: Augustine on the relationship between the intelligibility of nature, mind, & the evolution of human beings.”

Modern Catholics have looked back to Augustine for a doctrine of creation and providence that can furnish a theological affirmation of Darwinian evolution. This position – endorsed by the Magisterium – extends to the evolution of the human body but not the soul with its intellectual and spiritual capacities. However, as evolutionary anthropology and zoology advance, this position becomes increasingly untenable and uninspiring. My thesis demonstrates that we can develop a comprehensive account of human evolution, which is both orthodox and generative, by drawing upon conceptual resources within Augustine’s work (principally De Genesi ad Literram and De Musica). The project situates Augustine’s theology in dialogue with insights from cultural evolution, ecological psychology, and the extended evolutionary synthesis.

I have a MA with distinction in Systematic and Philosophical Theology from the University of Nottingham (2018). During my MA I worked under Aaron Riches, Conor Cunningham and Simeon Zahl on projects that considered questions such as: the constituting relation between Christology and Christian metaphysics; how Pneumatology might inform theological reflections upon language; and the relevance of Thomas Aquinas for the current debate concerning the evolutionary origins of language. My doctorate work will build upon these projects and I intend to revise and publish some of them in the next year.

I also have a MA with distinction in Post-Colonial Studies from the University of Kent (2009). My undergraduate studies were in History and English and American Literature.

I am undertaking my PhD part time. For the rest of my working life I am the course director of a church internship program that serves a network of churches across Europe.