John P. Reilly
Education
B.A., University of Chicago; M.T.S., Harvard Divinity School.
Year of Matriculation
2021
Contact
Areas of Interest
Context and reception of Pseudo-Dionysius; Syriac and Greek Christianity; early Islam; late antiquity and the study of religion.
Profile
My research focuses on religion in the late antique Near East, with interests in Syriac and Greek Christianity and early Islam. I primarily study the development and transformation of so-called apophatic or negative theology between the 4th and 7th centuries and its relation to the theological debates and conflicts of those times. I am particularly interested in questions around religious knowledge, epistemic conflict, and interreligious dialogue. Beyond my immediate scholarly work, I am interested in the relationship between religious knowledge and other forms of knowing in Western intellectual history.
Recent Scholarly Activity
- "Bridging the Gap: Ephrem the Syrian and Dionysius on Language, Praise, and Love." In Dionysius the Areopagite and the Christian Tradition, ed. Dimitrios Pallis (Leiden: Brill, forthcoming).
- "Order, Paradox, and Wonder: Pseudo-Dionysius as a Reader of Ephrem," North American Patristics Society, May 23, 2025.
- Religions in Dialogue in Late Antiquity (RLST 101, Spring 2025), St Mary's College, Notre Dame, IN, instructor of record.
- “Polemic and Peace in Ephrem, Philoxenos of Mabbug, and Jacob of Serugh,” Oxford Patristics Conference, August 9, 2024.
- "Against Inquiry: Avoiding Christology in Jacob of Serugh and Pseudo-Dionysius," North American Syriac Symposium, June 13, 2023.