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Assistant Professor of Theology (History of Christianity and Social Ethics)

Dr. Brian Matz

Office
Borromeo Hall 119

Education
Ph.D. and S.T.D.    Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Social Ethics)
Ph.D.,                       Saint Louis University (Early Christian Studies)
Th.M.,                       Dallas Seminary (Historical Theology)
B.S.B.A.,                  Washington University in St. Louis (Accounting)

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Teaching
2008-                              Carroll College
Smr 2008 and 2009    Pappas Patristic Institute - Graduate Student Patristic Studies Program
Spr 2008                        K. U. Leuven (lecturer - Eastern Christianity)
2004-2005                    Saint Louis University (adjunct)

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Research Interests
Cappadocian theology, patristic social ethics, theological controversies in the ninth century, Christian social thought.

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Publications
Monographs

  • Matz, B. Patristic Sources and Catholic Social Teaching: A Forgotten Dimension. A Textual, Historical, and Rhetorical Analysis of Patristic Source Citations in the Church's Social Documents. Annua Nuntia Lovaniensia. Vol. 59. Leuven: Peeters Press, 2008. 

Books

  • Matz, B., Johan Leemans and Johan Verstraeten, eds. Reading Patristic Social Ethics: Issues and Challenges for 21st Century Christian Social Thought. CUA Studies in Early Christianity. Washington, D.C.: CUA Press, forthcoming in 2011.

Articles

  • Matz, B. "The Principle of Detachment from Private Property in Basil of Caesarea's Homily 6 and Its Context." In Reading Patristic Social Ethics: Issues and Challenges for 21st Century Christian Social Thought. Edited by B. Matz, J. Leemans and J. Verstraeten. CUA Studies in Early Christianity. Washington, D.C.: CUA Press, forthcoming in 2011.
  • Matz, B. "Alleviating Economic Injustice in Gregory of Nyssa's 'Contra Usurarios.'" Studia Patristica (forthcoming in 2010).
  • Matz, B. "Reception of the Augustinianism Debate in the Double-Predestination Debate of the Carolingian Era." In The Augustinian Controversy: 426-531. Edited by Augustine Casiday and Alexander Hwang. Forthcoming 2010.
  • Matz, B. "Learning from Patristic Preaching of Social Ethics." In Contemporary Church and the Early Church: Case Studies for Ressourcement. Edited by Paul Hartog. Pp. 131-154. ETS Monograph Series. Portland, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2010
  • Matz, B. "Greek Patristic Sources: A New Voice for Catholic Social Thought." In Wealth and Poverty in Early Church and Society. Holy Cross Studies in Patristic Theology and History. Edited by Susan Holman. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008. Pp. 287-293.
  • Matz, B. "Problematic Uses of Patristic Sources in the Documents of Catholic Social Thought." Journal of Catholic Social Thought 4.2 (2007): 459-485.
  • Matz, B. "The Kenosis as Pastoral Example in Gregory Nazianzen's Oration 12." Greek Orthodox Theological Review 49.3-4 (2004): 279-290.

Book Reviews

  • Le Museon 120 (2007): 477-482. Jostein Børtnes and Tomas Hägg, eds., Gregory of Nazianzus: Images and Reflections (Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press, 2006).
  • Louvain Studies 31 (2006): 120-122. Judith Merkle, From the Heart of the Church: The Catholic Social Tradition (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2005).

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Professional Society/Research Group Affiliations 

North American Patristics Society

  • Secretary/Treasurer and Member of the Board of Directors 

Society of Christian Ethics

  • Treasurer and Member (ex officio) of the Board of Directors

American Academy of Religion
Society of Biblical Literature
Novum Testamentum Patristicum

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Contact Information
Dr. Brian Matz
Carroll College, Dept. of Theology
1601 North Benton Ave.
Helena, MT  59625
Phone:  (406) 447-4973
Fax:  (406) 447-5476

Classes I Teach

Eastern Christian Traditions
Traces the development of Christian churches of the East, including especially those that were beyond the borders of the Roman and, later, Byzantine empires. In large part, these churches developed in response to the Christological controversies of the fourth through seventh centuries, so the course traces the development of the eastern churches as one means of understanding the broader implications of Christology. Finally, this course introduces students to the existence of other rites that fall within the purview of the Catholic Church and are in communion with those under the Latin rite. 

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Medieval Women Mystics
Explores the development of a theology of mysticism that emerged in the context of neo-platonism and its chief proponent within the Christian context, Pseudo-Dionysius. Following that, the course explores several texts by women mystical writers of the High Middle Ages as one access point to the interconnections that exist between mystical experience and lay piety. 

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Wealth and Poverty in the Bible and Early Christianity
Based upon readings of primary texts from the Bible and early Christianity, the course explores the potential contributions and limitations of early Christian social thought to contemporary socio-ethical discourse.

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History of Christian Thought
Two-semester course that (1) surveys the contours of Christian theological and intellectual formation in the patristic and medieval periods, and (2) traces the development of one particular issue throughout the patristic and medieval periods. During 2009-2010, we will focus on the grace and free will controversy.

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Research Topic in History and Religion
SPRING 2010 topic: Church and State in the Carolingian Empire