Fr Bogdan Bucur was born in Romania. He is married to Cristina and they are the parents of Irina (21), Andrei (10), and Miruna (6). After studying at the Faculty of Orthodox Theology in Bucharest (1994-1999), Fr Bogdan left for the USA, where he earned his MA (2002) and PhD (2007) in Religious Studies at Marquette University under the direction of (now Archbishop) Alexander Golitzin. Between 2007 and 2020, he was Assistant and then Associate Professor of Theology at Duquesne University, in Pittsburgh, where he worked in the areas of Early Christian Studies and Reception History of the Bible. In 2010 he was ordained a priest in the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese and served as the pastor of St Anthony Orthodox Church in Butler, PA (2010-2020). Fr Bogdan and his family came to St Vladimir's at the beginning of the Fall term 2020.

 

Educational Background

Ph.D. in Religious Studies, Marquette University (2007)
M.A. in Theology, Marquette University (2002)
Ph.D. Coursework in Patristics, University of Bucharest (1998–2000)
M.A. in Biblical Studies, University of Bucharest (1998–1999)
Studies in Orthodox Theology, University of Bucharest (1995–1998)

Teaching Interests

Fr Bogdan is a scholar of early Christianity, with a special interest in the link between reception history of the Bible and doctrinal developments in early Christianity and the Byzantine tradition. He views it as important to study how early Christians articulated their religious identity by reworking doctrines, imagery, and practices inherited from the many currents of Second Temple Judaism. His academic interests were shaped significantly by participation in the interdisciplinary Seminar on the Jewish Roots of Christian Mysticism, and the "Theophaneia School", both led by Professor Andrei Orlov and Archbishop Dr. Alexander Golitzin at Marquette University.

Current Projects and Research Interests

Jewish Roots of Early Christology and Pneumatology; Biblical Exegesis and Doctrinal Developments in Early Christianity; Byzantine Theology and Hymnography.

Fr Bogdan's first book dealt with the use of angelic imagery in early Christian pneumatology. His second is the first volume of a projected three-part study of the early Christian interpretation of biblical theophanies.

Selected Publications

For a complete listing, see the c.v. [LINK]

Scripture Re-Envisioned: Christophanic Exegesis and the Making of a Christian Bible. The Bible in Ancient Christianity 13. Leiden/ Boston: Brill, 2019. [LINK]

Angelomorphic Pneumatology: Clement of Alexandria and Other Early Christian Witnesses. Vigiliae Christianae Supplements 95. Leiden/ Boston: Brill, 2009. [LINK]

"The Lord Himself, One Lord, One Power: Jewish and Christian Perspectives on Isaiah 63:9 and Daniel 7:13," in Jewish Roots of Eastern Christian Mysticism: Studies in Honor of Alexander Golitzin (Leiden: Brill, 2020), 240-263.

[with Vladimir Ivanovici] "The Image of Adam's Glory": Observations on the Early Christian Tradition of Luminosity as Iconic Garment, RIHA Journal: Journal of the International Association of Research Institutes in the History of Art 0224 (2019).

"Réflexions sur la tradition mystique du christianisme orthodoxe et sa filiation avec le judaïsme," in Juifs et chrétiens dans l'Antiquité. Histoires parallèles, ed. Dan Jaffé (Paris: Cerf, 2019).

"Condescension, Anticipation, Reciprocal Ecstasies: Theological Reflections on the Early Christian Reading of Isaiah 6 and Daniel 3," Scottish Journal of Theology 71 (2018): 425-440.

"Scholarship on the Old Testament Roots of Trinitarian Theology: Blind Spots and Blurred Vision," in The Bible and Early Trinitarian Theology, ed. Christopher Beeley and Mark Weedman (Washington, DC: CUA Press, 2018), 29–49.

"A Blind Spot in the Study of Fourth-Century Christian Theology: The Christological Exegesis of Theophanies," Journal of Theological Studies 69 (2018): 588-610.

"God Never Appeared to Moses": Eusebius of Caesarea's Peculiar Exegesis of the Burning Bush Theophany," Journal of the Bible and its Reception 5 (2018): 235-258.

"Scholarly Frameworks for Reading Irenaeus: The Question of Theophanies," Vigiliae Christianae (2018): 250–282.
Ὁ ὤν εὐλογητὸς Χριστὸς ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν: Observations On the Early Christian Interpretation of the Burning Bush Scene," Judaïsme ancien / Ancient Judaism 6 (2018): 41-86.

"Anti-Jewish Rhetoric in Byzantine Hymnography: Exegetical and Theological Contextualization," Saint Vladimir's Theological Quarterly 61 (2017): 39–60.

Recent Conference Presentations and Activities

For a complete listing, see the c.v. [LINK]

"I am the Image of Your Glory: Exegesis and Theology in a Byzantine Funeral Hymn" (Oxford Patristics Conference, Oxford, August 2019).

"Exegesis, Intertextuality, and the Transformative Gaze: The Vision of Isaiah in Cod. Vatop. 760, fol. 280 v." (Society of Biblical Literature International Meeting in Rome, July 2019).

"Missing the (Theophanic) Point: A Blind Spot in Patristic Scholarship and Its Consequences for Understanding Anti-Jewish Texts in Byzantine Festal Hymns" (The Byzantine Liturgy and the Jews International Conference, Sibiu, Romania, July 2019).

"Exegesis and Theological Interpretation in the Patristic Reception of the Emmaus Story" (IOTA: International Orthodox Theological Association, Iasi, Romania, January 2019).

"A Blind Spot in the Study of Fourth-Century Christian Theology: The Christological Exegesis of Theophanies" (North American Patristics Conference, Chicago, May 2018).

"The Christophanic Exegesis of Isaiah 6 and Daniel 3: Condescension, Anticipation, Reciprocal Ecstasies" (Society for Biblical Literature, Boston, November 2017).

"God Never Appeared to Moses: Eusebius of Caesarea's Interpretation of the Burning Bush Theophany" (North American Patristics Conference, Chicago, May 2017).