Dr. David Wagschal
Born and raised in western Canada, Dr. Wagschal received his bachelor degree from the University of Toronto in 1999 with specialization in medieval church history and classical Greek. After completing his M.Div. at St Vladimir's Seminary in 2002, he worked for two years at the Department of External Affairs and Interchurch relations at the Orthodox Church in America. He began his doctoral work on church law in 2005 at the University of Durham, England, supervised by Professor Andrew Louth. He submitted his doctorate in May 2010, and earned his doctoral degree November 2010. He is now Assitant Professor of Church History and Canon Law. His research interests include Eastern Orthodox canon law, late antique and early medieval church history, late antique and Byzantine legal history, legal theory, legal anthropology, and inter-Christian (ecumenical) relations.
Hon. B.A. in Religion and Greek, University of Toronto, 1999
M.Div., St. Vladimir's Orthodox Theological Seminary, 2002
Thesis title: "Ten Sermons on the Cross: Translation and Commentary"
Ph.D., University of Durham (Professor Andrew Louth), 2010
Doctoral Fellow, Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada, 2005–2008
United Kingdom Overseas Research Scholarship, 2005–2008
Dissertation title: "The Nature of Law and Legality in the Byzantine Canonical Collections AD 381-883"
"Ecclesia de Eucharistia: Orthodox Reflections" Pro Ecclesia 12.4 (2003), pp. 400–405.
"The Common Statement Revisited: An Orthodox Critique of the Form and Formation of Ecumenical Convergence Texts" Ecclesiology 2.1 (2005), pp. 53–70.
Review: Richard Price and Michael Gaddis, The Acts of the Council of Chalcedon, 3 vols, in Sobornost, 28:2 (2006), pp. 77–82.
Ancient Laws in a Modern World: An Introduction to Orthodox Canon Law, masters level distance–learning course (MTHOS0720), Orthodox Studies Program, University of Wales at Lampeter. (August 2008)
Review: Caroline Humfress, Orthodoxy and the Courts in Late Antiquity, in Sobornost 30:2 (2008), pp. 97–100.
Translation of the Synodical Tomos of Autocephaly of the Church of Greece (1850), and accompanying patriarchal acts. Commissioned by Grigorios Papathomas, Nomokanoniki Bibliothiki, Athens: Editions Epektasis, expected 2010.
"Canon Law without Gratian: the View from Byzantium", Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Congress of Canon Law, Ezstergom-Budapest, August 3–9 2008, Monumenta iuris canonici. Series C, Subsidia, vol. 14, expected 2010.
"Canon Law", chapter in The Orthodox World, ed. Augustine Casiday, Routledge, expected 2011.
"The Shape and Experience of Orthodox Canon Law", Orthodox-Jewish Colloquium, Department of Theology, Cambridge University, May 22 2007.
"The Law Continued? The Literary Appropriation of the Mosaic Torah in the Byzantine Canonical Tradition", The Giving of the Torah at Mt. Sinai, Themes in Biblical Narratives Symposium, University of Durham, June 6 2007.
"The Nature of Law and Legality in the Byzantine Canonical Tradition: problems and issues for research", Eighteenth Conference of the Society for the Law of the Eastern Churches, Cluj-Napoca, Romania, September 11–15 2007.
"Canon Law or Sacred Canons?", Ecclesiastical History Reading Group, University of Durham, February 1 2008.
"Order and Imagination in Byzantine Canon Law", Patristics Seminar, Department of Theology, University of Durham, February 28 2008.
"Systematization and Rationalization in the Byzantine Canonical Collections: Patterns, Principles, and Problems", International Medieval Congress, Leeds, July 7–10 2008.
"'The Servant of the Servants of God': Imaging Primatial Authority and Power in Late Antiquity", Orthodox Theological Society in America, June 3–5 2010.
"The Sacred Order: the Patristic Doctrine of the Church in the Canonical Corpus", Florovsky Society Symposium, February 10-11, 2012.
Member, Church, Law and Society in the Middle Ages
Member, Ecclesiastical History Society
Member, Orthodox Theological Society in America
Member, Society for the Law of the Eastern Churches
Member, Society for the Promotion of Byzantine Studies
Governing Board, Canadian Council of Churches, 2001–2005
Secretary for the Department of External Affairs and Interchurch Relations, Orthodox Church in America, 2002–2005
Professional development leave at Bossey Ecumenical Institute, Geneva 2002 (fall)
Board of Directors, Church World Service, 2002–2005
Christian Churches Together in the United States, 2002–2005
