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God Visible: Patristic Christology Reconsidered
God Visible: Patristic Christology Reconsidered considers the early development and reception of what is today the most widely professed Christian conception of Christ. The development of this doctrine admits of wide variations in expression, understanding, and interpretation that are as striking in authors of the first millennium as they are among modern writers. The seven early ecumenical councils and their dogmatic formulations were crucial facilitators in defining the shape of this study. Focusing primarily on the declaration of the Council of Chalcedon in AD 451, Brian E. Daley argues that previous assessments that Christ was one Person in two natures - the Divine of the same substance as the Father and the human of the same substance as us - can sometimes be excessively narrow, even distorting our understanding of Christ's person. Daley urges us to look beyond the Chalcedonian formula alone, and to consider what some major Church Fathers - from Irenaeus to John Damascene -
say about the person of Christ.
say about the person of Christ.
314 pages, Hardcover
Published March 25, 2018
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68 people want to read
About the author
Brian E. Daley
25 books12 followersBrian Edward Daley, S.J. (born in 1940) is an American Catholic priest and theologian. He is currently the Catherine F. Huisking Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame and was the recipient of a Ratzinger Prize for Theology in 2012.
Daley's primary academic field is Patristics, the study of the Fathers of the Church. The Patristic topics on which he has published include Christology, eschatology, Mariology, philanthropy, and scriptural exegesis.
In addition to his academic commitments, Daley is active in ecumenical dialogue and serves as the executive secretary of the North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation.
Background and education
Daley was born in 1940 in Orange, New Jersey, USA.[citation needed] He attended the Jesuit-run St. Peter's Preparatory School and did his first undergraduate degree at Fordham University, where he received a B.A. in Classics in 1961. Daley was the first Fordham alumnus to receive a Rhodes Scholarship, which he used to read Literae Humaniores (also known as "Greats") at Merton College, Oxford. While there, he was tutored by the philosopher J. R. Lucas. He obtained a B.A. in 1964 and entered the Society of Jesus the same year.
After receiving a Ph.L. at Loyola Seminary (Shrub Oak, New York) in 1966, Daley returned to Oxford and obtained an M.A. in 1967.[6] He was ordained a priest in 1970 and then traveled to Frankfurt, where he studied at the Sankt Georgen Graduate School of Philosophy and Theology and worked as the research assistant of Aloys Grillmeier, S.J. In 1972, he earned a Lic.theol. from Sankt Georgen, after which he returned to Oxford again to pursue a D.Phil. at Campion Hall under the supervision of Henry Chadwick.[8] He defended his thesis, entitled "Leontius of Byzantium: A Critical Edition of his Works, with Prolegomena," in 1978. His examiners were Kallistos Ware and Lionel Wickham.
Professional and ecumenical work
From 1978 to 1996, Daley taught at the Weston School of Theology. In 1996, took a position at the University of Notre Dame, where he is currently the Catherine F. Huisking Professor of Theology. He was president of the North American Patristics Society from 1997 to 1998.
Daley has long been committed to ecumenical dialogue and was one of the signatories of the 2003 "Princeton Proposal for Christian Unity," which was sponsored by the Center for Catholic and Evangelical Theology. He is also the current executive secretary for the North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation, which is co-sponsored by SCOBA, the USCCB, and the CCCB.
Honors and awards
A Festschrift was published in Daley's honor in 2008.Notable contributors include Lewis Ayres, John Anthony McGuckin, and Rowan Williams.
Daley received the Ratzinger Prize for Theology on October 20, 2012.
At the conferral ceremony, Pope Benedict XVI praised Daley for his ecumenical work with the following words: "Father Daley, through his in-depth study of the Fathers of the Church, has placed himself in the best school for knowing and loving the one and undivided Church, though in the richness of her diverse traditions; for this reason, he also performs a responsible service in relations with the Orthodox Churches." The other recipient of the Ratzinger Prize in 2012 was the French philosopher Rémi Brague.
In 2013, Daley was awarded the Johannes Quasten Medal by the School of Theology and Religious Studies of the Catholic University of America
Daley's primary academic field is Patristics, the study of the Fathers of the Church. The Patristic topics on which he has published include Christology, eschatology, Mariology, philanthropy, and scriptural exegesis.
In addition to his academic commitments, Daley is active in ecumenical dialogue and serves as the executive secretary of the North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation.
Background and education
Daley was born in 1940 in Orange, New Jersey, USA.[citation needed] He attended the Jesuit-run St. Peter's Preparatory School and did his first undergraduate degree at Fordham University, where he received a B.A. in Classics in 1961. Daley was the first Fordham alumnus to receive a Rhodes Scholarship, which he used to read Literae Humaniores (also known as "Greats") at Merton College, Oxford. While there, he was tutored by the philosopher J. R. Lucas. He obtained a B.A. in 1964 and entered the Society of Jesus the same year.
After receiving a Ph.L. at Loyola Seminary (Shrub Oak, New York) in 1966, Daley returned to Oxford and obtained an M.A. in 1967.[6] He was ordained a priest in 1970 and then traveled to Frankfurt, where he studied at the Sankt Georgen Graduate School of Philosophy and Theology and worked as the research assistant of Aloys Grillmeier, S.J. In 1972, he earned a Lic.theol. from Sankt Georgen, after which he returned to Oxford again to pursue a D.Phil. at Campion Hall under the supervision of Henry Chadwick.[8] He defended his thesis, entitled "Leontius of Byzantium: A Critical Edition of his Works, with Prolegomena," in 1978. His examiners were Kallistos Ware and Lionel Wickham.
Professional and ecumenical work
From 1978 to 1996, Daley taught at the Weston School of Theology. In 1996, took a position at the University of Notre Dame, where he is currently the Catherine F. Huisking Professor of Theology. He was president of the North American Patristics Society from 1997 to 1998.
Daley has long been committed to ecumenical dialogue and was one of the signatories of the 2003 "Princeton Proposal for Christian Unity," which was sponsored by the Center for Catholic and Evangelical Theology. He is also the current executive secretary for the North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation, which is co-sponsored by SCOBA, the USCCB, and the CCCB.
Honors and awards
A Festschrift was published in Daley's honor in 2008.Notable contributors include Lewis Ayres, John Anthony McGuckin, and Rowan Williams.
Daley received the Ratzinger Prize for Theology on October 20, 2012.
At the conferral ceremony, Pope Benedict XVI praised Daley for his ecumenical work with the following words: "Father Daley, through his in-depth study of the Fathers of the Church, has placed himself in the best school for knowing and loving the one and undivided Church, though in the richness of her diverse traditions; for this reason, he also performs a responsible service in relations with the Orthodox Churches." The other recipient of the Ratzinger Prize in 2012 was the French philosopher Rémi Brague.
In 2013, Daley was awarded the Johannes Quasten Medal by the School of Theology and Religious Studies of the Catholic University of America
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 13, 2024
An excellent introduction to patristic christology by one of the best in the field. Clear, engaging, well-argued, and insightful. While theological debates may seem obscure and irrelevant to some, I think Daley shows through his engagement with many different early church figures that what we have to say about Christ is absolutely related to what we have to say about everything else. Good for scholars and non-scholars alike.
May 31, 2025
Now this really is a find: a scholarly, yet readable book on patristic theology: a paradox almost as indescribable as the Word-Flesh God-Man that is the subject of the study. For those of us who struggled through chapters of J.N.D. Kelly's monumentally dry, yet exhaustive, study of the first 500 years of Christian theology, God Visible - albeit dealing with only one aspect of the field - is a welcome relief.
The first chapter, in which Daley sets out the scope of the study and engages with a few other writers does not seem to bode well, having the characteristics of the internal academic conversation that blight so many such books, but it picks up marvellously from there in. Each chapter outlines the particular Christological approach or controversy that leads up to the Chalcedon formula of 451 and then takes us briefly beyond that to the iconoclasm crisis of the seventh and eighth centuries. The chapters are an appropriate length with helpful subdivisions and the leading thinkers are briefly introduced before their contributions are outlined and assessed. I don't think I've read a clearer chapter on the, still murky, controversies of the Alexandrians and the Antiochians. The chapter on Maximus the Confessor and John of Damascus, frequently forgotten from teaching because post-Chalcedon was also helpful.
Not that anyone can really make Greek theological thought of the early centuries comprehensible to modern minds. What are we to make of Maximus' thought that 'God is one substance, three hypostases: a try-hypostatic singleness of substance and consubstantial triad of hypostases; a monad in a triad and a triad in a monad; a monad by its structure of substance or being, but not by synthesis or conflation or confusion of any kind; a triad by the structure of how it exists and concretely comes to be, but not by separation or alienation or any kind of division..." which makes the Chalcedon definition a contender for the Plain English Award. Nor is John of Damascus' super-substantial substance much better.
Daley helpfully sums up some key questions that the controversies ask of us: (1) how do we speak of God; (2) how do we study Scripture; (3) how does God save us; and (4) what is the relation between God and the created order. The book addresses these questions extremely well.
The first chapter, in which Daley sets out the scope of the study and engages with a few other writers does not seem to bode well, having the characteristics of the internal academic conversation that blight so many such books, but it picks up marvellously from there in. Each chapter outlines the particular Christological approach or controversy that leads up to the Chalcedon formula of 451 and then takes us briefly beyond that to the iconoclasm crisis of the seventh and eighth centuries. The chapters are an appropriate length with helpful subdivisions and the leading thinkers are briefly introduced before their contributions are outlined and assessed. I don't think I've read a clearer chapter on the, still murky, controversies of the Alexandrians and the Antiochians. The chapter on Maximus the Confessor and John of Damascus, frequently forgotten from teaching because post-Chalcedon was also helpful.
Not that anyone can really make Greek theological thought of the early centuries comprehensible to modern minds. What are we to make of Maximus' thought that 'God is one substance, three hypostases: a try-hypostatic singleness of substance and consubstantial triad of hypostases; a monad in a triad and a triad in a monad; a monad by its structure of substance or being, but not by synthesis or conflation or confusion of any kind; a triad by the structure of how it exists and concretely comes to be, but not by separation or alienation or any kind of division..." which makes the Chalcedon definition a contender for the Plain English Award. Nor is John of Damascus' super-substantial substance much better.
Daley helpfully sums up some key questions that the controversies ask of us: (1) how do we speak of God; (2) how do we study Scripture; (3) how does God save us; and (4) what is the relation between God and the created order. The book addresses these questions extremely well.
July 24, 2025
A few of the most important conclusions at the end of Daley’s impressive account of early patristic christology: 1. Christology is about God—his nearness to man through the incarnation; 2. It is about the world in relationship to God; 3. Metaphysical categories are always used analogously of God and humanity; 4. (!) the incarnation is a mode of the Son of Gods being (Maximus/Sinai/pt.3); 5. Christ himself is the beginning of salvation; and fittingly, 6; Christ the mystery
Turns on 3&4
Turns on 3&4
October 6, 2020
A great great work.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews