J. Patout Burns
Edward A. Malloy Professor of Catholic Studies
Professor of Religious Studies

B.A., M.A., Spring Hill (1963, 1964)
M.Div., Regis [Canada] (1970)
M.Th., University of St. Michael's College [Canada] (1971)
Ph.D., Yale (1974)

Email: patout.burns@vanderbilt.edu

Curriculum Vitae

Course Information Webpage

Patout Burns has taught in the Divinity School and Theology Department of Loyola University of Chicago, at the University of Florida, and Washington University in St. Louis before coming to Vanderbilt. He is co-editor of the Journal of Early Christian Studies. His research has focused on Christianity in Roman Africa; current work may be reviewed at http://people.vanderbilt.edu/~james.p.burns/.

Curriculum Vitae
JAMES PATOUT BURNS, JR.

ADDRESS AND CONTACT INFORMATION:
4400 Belmont Park Terrace, # 236
Nashville, TN 37215
615-322-3543 Vanderbilt Divinity School

411 21st Avenue S
Nashville, TN 37240
615-383-6029
Patout.Burns@vanderbilt.edu.

EDUCATION
B.A. 1963 Spring Hill College, Mobile, Alabama
M.A. 1964 Spring Hill College, Mobile, Alabama
M.Div. 1970 Regis College, Toronto
M.Th. 1971 University of St. Michael's College, Toronto
Ph.D. 1974 Yale University

TEACHING EXPERIENCE:
1964-66   Instructor in Mathematics, Jesuit High School, Shreveport, Louisiana
1966-67   Instructor in Philosophy, Spring Hill College, Mobile, Alabama
1974-80   Assistant Professor of Historical Theology, Jesuit School of Theology in Chicago; 1979, Associate Professor
1980-86   Associate Professor of Theology, Loyola University of Chicago
1986-90   Professor of Religion, University of Florida
1990-99   Thomas & Alberta White Professor of Christian Thought, Washington University in St. Louis
1999-       Edward A. Malloy Professor of Catholic Studies, Vanderbilt Divinity School

PUBLICATIONS:

Books:
Editor of: Bernard Lonergan. Grace and Freedom: Operative Grace in the Thought of St. Thomas Aquinas. New York: Herder, 1971.  Italian translation of this edition by Natalino Spaccapelo.  Rome:  Editrice Universita Gregoriana, 1970.

The Development of Augustine's Doctrine of Operative Grace.  Paris: Etudes Augustiennes, 1980.

Theological Anthropology.  Editor and translator.  Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1981.

The Holy Spirit.  With Gerald M. Fagin.  The Message of the Fathers of the Church, vol. 3.  Wilmington: Michael Glazier, 1984.

Christians and the Military: The Early Experience.  With John Helgeland and Robert Daly.  Philadelphia:  Fortress Press, 1985.  Japanese edition, 1986.  London: SCM Press, 1987.

Enrollments, Finances and Student Aid at Catholic Colleges and Universities 1982-84.  With David M. Johnson.  Washington: Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities, 1986.

War and its Discontents:  Pacifism and Quietism in the Abrahamic Traditions.  Edited with an introduction and concluding essay.  Washington:  Georgetown University Press, 1996.

Articles and Chapters:
"Action in Suarez,"  The New Scholasticism, 38 (1964), 453-472.

"Maréchal's Approach to the Existence of God,"  The New Scholasticism, 43 (1968), 72-90.

"Spiritual Dynamism in Maréchal,"  The Thomist, 32 (1968), 528-539.

"The Concept of Satisfaction in Medieval Redemption Theory,"  Theological Studies, 36 (1975), 285-304.

"The Economy of Salvation: Two Patristic Systems," Theological Studies, 37 (1976), 598-619.  Reprinted in, Why the Church.  Edited by Walter Burghardt.  New York: Paulist Press, 1977.

"Augustine's Role in the Imperial Action against Pelagius,"  Journal of Theological Studies, 30 (1979), 67-83.

"The Interpretation of the Epistle to the Romans in the Pelagian Controversy," Augustinian Studies, 10 (1979), 43-54.

"The Influence of Augustine's Pastorate on his Religious Development,"  Proceedings of the First Institute on the Augustinian Spiritual Tradition.  Olympia Fields: 1981.

Response to Peter Brown, "Augustine and Sexuality," Colloquy 46, Center for Hermeneutical Studies, Berkeley, 1983.

"Variations on a Dualist Theme: Augustine on the Body and the Soul," in Interpreting the Tradition, Annual Publication of the College Theology Society, vol. 29.  Ed. J. Kopas.  Chico: Scholars Press, 1984, pp. 13-26.

"A Change in Augustine's Doctrine of Operative Grace in 418," in Studia Patristica XVI (1985), 490-496.

"Grace:  The Augustinian Foundation," in Encyclopedia of World Spirituality, vol. 16:  Christian Spirituality, Origins to the Twelfth Century.  Ed. Bernard McGinn and John Meyendorff.  New York: Crossroad, 1985, pp. 331-349.

"Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions Nostra Aetate, 28 October, 1965," in The Vatican II Documents: An American Perspective.  Ed. T. O'Connell and W. Prist.  Wilmington: Michael Glazier, 1985, pp. 108-121.

"Trends in Enrollments and Finances in Catholic Colleges and Universities," with David Johnson, Current Issues in Catholic Higher Education, vol. 7, # 1 (Summer, 1986), 8-19.

"How is the University Catholic?" Current Issues in Catholic Higher Education, vol. 8, # 2 (Winter, 1988), 10-14.

"Confessing the Glory of God:  Augustine's Theology of Divine Election,"  in The Linguistic Turn and Contemporary Theology.  Ed. George Kilcourse.  Macon:  Mercer University Press, 1987, pp. 133-143.

"Augustine on the Origin and Progress of Evil,"  The Journal of Religious Ethics, 16 (1988), 9-27.  Reprinted in The Ethics of St. Augustine.  Ed. William S. Babcock.  JRE Studies in Religion, # 3.  Atlanta:  Scholars Press, 1991, pp. 67-85.

"Predestination," "Prevenient Grace," and "Traducianism," in Encyclopedia of Early Christianity.  Ed. E. Ferguson et alii. New York:  Garland Press, 1990, pp. 750-754, 910-911.

"Ambrose Preaching to Augustine:  The Shaping of Faith,"  in Collectanea Augustiana, ed. J. C. Schnaubelt and F. Van Fleteren, (New York:  Peter Lang, 1990), pp. 373-386.

"The Unicorn and the Rhinocerus:  A Response to Matthew Fox," in An Ecology of Spirit, Annual Publication of the College Theology Society, vol. 36. Ed. Michael Barnes.  Lanham: University Press of America, 1990, pp. 75-82.

"St. Augustine: the Original Condition of Humanity," in Studia Patristica XXII, ed. E.A. Livingstone, (Leuven: Peeters Press, 1989), pp. 219-222.

"La condition original de la humanidad segun san Augustin,"  Augustinus 36 (1991), 53-57.

"Christ and the Holy Spirit in Augustine's Theology of Baptism," in Augustine:  From Rhetor to Theologian, ed. Joanne McWilliam, (Waterloo:  Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 1992), pp. 161-171.

"The Ethics of Warfare:  Muslim, Jewish and Christian Religious Traditions:  Conference Report,"  Journal of Religious Pluralism, 2 (1993), 83-96.

"On Rebaptism:  Social Organization in the Third Century Church,"  Journal of Early Christian Studies, 1 (1993), 367-403.

"The Atmosphere of Election:  Augustinianism as Common Sense,"  Journal of Early Christian Studies, 3 (1994), 325-339.

"Delighting the Spirit:  Augustine's Practice of Figurative Interpretation," in De doctrina christiana:  A Classic of Western Culture, ed. Duane W.H. Arnold and Pamela Bright, (Notre Dame:  University of Notre Dame Press, 1995), pp. 182-194.

"The Holiness of the Churches," in The Unbounded Community, ed. William Caferro and Duncan Fisher, (New York:  Garland Publishing, 1996), pp. 3-15.

"The Role of Social Structures in Cyprian's Response to the Decian Persecution," Studia Patristica XXXI, ed. E.A. Livingstone, (Leuven, Peeters Press, 1997), pp. 260-267.

"Cyprian's Eschatology:  Explaining Divine Purpose," in The Early Church in its Context:  Essays in Honor of Everett Ferguson,  ed. Abraham J. Malherbe, Frederick W. Norris and James W. Thompson, (Leiden: Brill, 1998), pp. 59-63.

“Grace,” in Augustine through the Ages, ed. Allan D. Fitzgerald, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999), pp.391-398.

“The Eucharistic Liturgy in Hippo’s Basilica Major at the Time of Augustine,” with Robin M. Jensen, in Augustine through the Ages, ed. Allan D. Fitzgerald, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1999), pp.335-338.

Academic Papers
"A Change in Augustine's Doctrine of Operative Grace in 418."  International Conference on Patristic Studies, Oxford, 1975.

"Augustine:  Heresy and the State."  Annual Convention of the American Society of Church History, Atlanta, 1975.

"Changes in Augustine's Use of the Notion of Concupiscence."  Conference on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, 1976.

"The Interpretation of Romans in the Pelagian Controversy."  Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion, St. Louis, 1976.

"The Spirit and the Flesh in Augustine's Confessions."  Conference on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, 1977.

"The Function of Christ in Ambrose of Milan's Interpretation of the Command Given to Adam."  International Conference on Patristic Studies, Oxford, 1979.

"The New Adam:  The Reversal of the Effects of Sin in the Theology of Ambrose of Milan."  Midwest Regional Meeting of the American Academy of Religion, Chicago, 1980.

"The Allegorical Interpretation of the Fall in Genesis."  National Meeting of the North American Patristics Society, Chicago, 1981.

"Soteriology and the Local Church." Convention of the Catholic Theological Society of America, Cincinnati, 1981.

"The Influence of Augustine's Pastorate on his Religious Development." Augustinian Spirituality Institute, Olympia Fields, 1981.

"The Development of Augustine's Thought on the Relation of Soul and Body."  Midwest Patristics Seminar, Chicago, 1982.

"The Vatican II Declaration on the Relationship of the Church to Non-Christian Religions:  An American Perspective."  Center for Pastoral Ministry, Chicago, 1982.

"Ambrose and Augustine on War and Peace."  Convention of the Catholic Theological Society of America, New York, 1982.

"Ambrose's Influence on Augustine's Interpretation of Genesis." National Meeting of the North American Patristics Society,    Chicago, 1983.

"Variations on a Dualist Theme:  Augustine on the Body and the Soul."  Plenary Session, National Convention of the College Theology Society, Radnor, 1983.

"Augustine on the Body and the Mind:  The Aesthetic Judgment."  National Meeting of the American Society of Church History, Chicago, 1984.

"The Ambiguity of the Use of Force in Augustine's Theology."  National Meeting of the North American Patristics Society, Chicago, 1986.

"The Fall of the Soul in Augustine," National Meeting of the American Academy of Religion, Atlanta, 1986.

"The Influence of Ambrose's Preaching on Augustine's Early Christianity."   Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Region of the American Academy of Religion, Atlanta, 1987.

"Christ and the Holy Spirit in Augustine's Theology of Baptism,"  Conference to Mark the Sedecentennial of Augustine's Baptism, Toronto, 1987.

"Confessing the Glory of God:  Augustine's Theology of Divine Election,"  Annual Meeting of the Catholic Theological Society of America, Philadelphia, 1987.

"St. Augustine:  The Original Condition of Humanity,"  International Conference on Patristic Studies, Oxford, 1987.

"Ambrose on Romans and Galatians or A Surprise for Simplician," National Meeting of the North American Patristics Society, Chicago, 1988;  also presented at Southeastern Regional Meeting of the College Theology Society, Tampa, 1988.

"Christ and the Law according to Ambrosiaster's Commentary on Romans,"  National Meeting of the North American Patristics Society, Chicago, 1989.

"Magic and Morality:  Christianity in the Roman World,"  The Edward Weltin Lecture, Washington University, St. Louis, 1990.

"The Fall of Humanity according to Augustine,"  Faculty Seminar, Candler School of Theology, Emory University, Atlanta, 1990.

"The Rejection of Ritual in Ambrosiaster's Commentary on Paul,"  National Meeting of the North American Patristics Society, Chicago, 1990.

"The Unicorn and the Rhinoceros:  A Response to Matthew Fox,"  Plenary Session of the Annual Meeting of the College Theology Society, New Orleans, 1990.

"Delighting the Spirit:  Augustine's Practice of Figurative Interpretation," Conference on De doctrina christiana: A Classic of Western Culture, University of Notre Dame, April 1991.

"Social Context in the Conflict between Cyprian and Stephen,"  International Conference on Patristics Studies, Oxford, August 1991.

"Augustinianism as Common Sense,"  Presidential Address, Annual meeting of the North American Patristics Society, Chicago, 1993.

"Pacifism in Judaism, Christianity and Islam:  A Comparison," Workshop sponsored by the United States Institute of Peace, Washington, July 1993.

"Cyprian of Carthage on the Holiness of the Church,"  Conference to honor Jaroslav Pelikan on his seventieth birthday, New Haven, April 1994.

"Agere paenitentiam et satisfacere Deo:  Social Significance in Cyprian's Practice,"  Annual meeting of the North American Patristics Society, Chicago, May 1994.

Internet Seminar on, "The Origin of the Soul in St. Augustine's Later Works," by Robert J. O'Connell.  With J.J. O'Donnell.  I provided a series of postings reviewing and evaluating the argument of the book and responded to discussion.  Spring, 1995.

"The Role of Social Context in Cyprian's View of the Episcopal Office," International Conference on Patristics Studies, Oxford, August 1995.

"Cyprian's Eschatology:  Explaining Divine Purpose," National Meeting of the North American Patristics Society,  Chicago, May 1996.

"Death and Burial in Christian Africa:  The Literary Evidence,"  National Meeting of the North American Patristics Society,  Chicago, May 1997. This paper is published on the Website: http://divinity.library.vanderbilt.edu/burns/chroma/.  

"Marriage and Society in the City of God,"  Conference on the City of God, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C., September 1997.

"Marking and Crossing of a Social Boundary: Christian Initiation in Roman Africa," Round Table Session; American Academy of Religion, November 1997. This paper is published on the Project’s Website: http://divinity.library.vanderbilt.edu/burns/chroma

“Authority and Power:  The Role of the Martyrs in the African Church in the Fifth Century,” National Meeting of the North American Patristics Society,  Chicago, May 1998.  This paper is published on the Project’s Website: http://divinity.library.vanderbilt.edu/burns/chroma

“The Parallel Development of Augustine’s Doctrine of Original Sin and Predestination,” Smits Lecture, Truman State University, Kirksville, Missouri, October 22, 1998.

“The Eucharistic Ritual in the Writings of Augustine,” and “The Eucharistic Presence of the Body of Christ according to Augustine,” Seminar on the Practice of Christianity in Roman Africa, Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion, Orlando, November 1998.  This paper is published on the Project’s Website: http://divinity.library.vanderbilt.edu/burns/chroma

“Confessing the Church: Cyprian on Repentance,” International Conference on Patristic Studies, Oxford, August 1999.  This paper is published on the Website of the Project on the Practice of Christianity in Roman Africa: http://divinity.library.vanderbilt.edu/burns/chroma

“Clerical Purity and Power in the Third Century,” Seminar on the Practice of Christianity in Roman Africa, Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion, Orlando, November 1999.  This paper is published on the Project’s Website: http://divinity.library.vanderbilt.edu/burns/chroma