Dr Pui Him Ip

Biography

I am a Christian theologian working at the intersection between Patristics and Modern Theology. My work is partly inspired by the project of ressourcement theology initiated by figures such as Henri de Lubac, Hans Urs von Balthasar, and Jean Daniélou. I work on Greek Patristics, focusing mainly on the third and the fourth century. I have a special research interest in the Alexandrian exegete and philosopher Origen (c.185-c.253).

Currently, I am Tutor and Research Fellow at the Faraday Institute for Science and Religion. In 2018-19, I was the Departmental Lecturer in Patristics at the Faculty of Theology and Religion, University of Oxford, and Tutor in Theology at Christ Church, Oxford. I received my PhD in Theology from this Faculty under the supervision of Rowan Williams with a dissertation tracing the development of the doctrine of divine simplicity in the ante-Nicene period up to Origen of Alexandria. Before that, I did my MA in Philosophy and Christian Theology at Heythrop College, University of London, with a dissertation on Basil of Caesarea's Apophaticism supervised by Johannes Hoff. My initial academic formation was in the natural sciences as I read for a MSci in theoretical physics at Imperial College London.

I am originally from Hong Kong but I have lived in the United Kingdom since 2002.

Research

Patristics
Origen of Alexandria and his Reception
Ressourcement (Protestant, Roman Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox)
Science and Religion (especially in Late Antiquity)

Publications

Key publications:

‘“Arianism”Ante-Litteram in Origen’s Peri Archōn 4.4.1’, Journal of Theological Studies (forthcoming 2020)

‘Divine Simplicity in Athenagoras of Athens’ Legatio pro Christianis’, Studia Patristica 100 (forthcoming Dec 2019)

‘On the Patristic faithfulness of Christos Yannaras’ Prosopo-centric Ontology: A Methodological Exploration’ in Christos Yannaras: Philosophy, Theology, Culture, ed. by Andreas Andreopoulos and Demetrios Harper (London: Routledge, 2019), 41-55.

‘Reimagining Divine Simplicity in Trinitarian Theology’, International Journal of Systematic Theology, 18:3 (July 2016), 274-89. (Winner of the 2016 Colin Gunton Memorial Essay Prize)

‘Back to the Fathers: The Nature of Historical Understanding in 20th Century Patristic Ressourcement’, Reviews in Religion and Theology 23:1 (January 2016), 4-13.

Work in Progress

Divine Simplicity Before Nicaea: Origen of Alexandria’s Trinitarian Theology in its Ante-Nicene Context (Monograph under Review at the University of Notre Dame Press)

‘Rethinking Origen’, a special journal issue to be published in Modern Theology.