Prof. Dr. Dr. Alfons Fürst
Curriculum Vitae and Publications:
| born in 1961 | Married, three children |
| 1982–1989 | Study of Classical Philology and Catholic Theology at the University of Regensburg; scholarship of the Bayerische Begabtenförderung (scholarship of the Free State of Bavaria) |
| 1989–1992 | PhD visit to the University of Freiburg/Breisgau; scholarship of the German National Academic Foundation |
| 1996 | PhD in Classical Philology (Dr. phil.) with Prof. Dr. Dr. Klaus Thraede (University of Regensburg): Streit unter Freunden. Ideal und Realität in der Freundschaftslehre der Antike (Beiträge zur Altertumskunde 85), Stuttgart/Leipzig 1996 |
| 1998 | Postdoctoral lecture qualification in Catholic Theology (Dr. theol. habil.) with Prof. Dr. Norbert Brox for Ancient Church History and Patrology (University of Regensburg: Augustins Briefwechsel mit Hieronymus (Jahrbuch für Antike und Christentum. Erg.-Bd. 29), Münster 1999 |
| 1998–2000 | Substitute at the Chair of Church History with a focus on Ancient Church History and Patrology at the Department of Catholic Theology of the University of Bamberg |
| since 2000 | University professor of Ancient Church History, Patrology and Christian Archaeology at the Roman Catholic Theology of WWU Münster |
| 2003–2007 | Executive director of the Roman Catholic Theology institute |
| 2004–2009 | Co-founder and member of the board of directors of the “Centrum für Geschichte und Kultur des östlichen Mittelmeerraumes” (centre of the history and culture of the Eastern Mediterranean; GKM) at WWU Münster |
| 2006–2008 | Vice dean of the Roman Catholic Theology institute |
| since 2007 | Principal Investigator of the cluster of excellence “Religion and Politics in Modern and Pre-Modern Cultures” |
| 2008–2010 | Dean of the Roman Catholic Theology institute |
| 2008 | Founder and head of the “Forschungsstelle Origenes” (Origen research centre) at the Roman Catholic Theology institute |
| 2009 | Co-founder, member of the board of directors and deputy speaker (until 2010) of the “Zentrum für Textedition und Kommentierung” (centre of text edition and annotation; ZETEK) at WWU Münster |
| since 2009 | Member of the international “Scientific Advisory Board” of the Courant Research Centre “Education and Religion: From Early Imperial Roman Times to the Classical Period of Islam” at Göttingen University |
| 2010–2011 (1.9.10–31.8.11) | Visiting Fellow at the Department of Classics of the University of Princeton, NJ, USA |
Research interests:
- Rhetoric of monotheism and rhetoric of violence
- Religion and politics in ancient Christianity
- Origen and his effective history
- History of theology of ancient Christianity
- Ancient Christian epistolography
Function within the cluster/Membership in projects and groups:
- Principal Investigator
- Head of project D4 Images of the Other: Analyses of the Rhetoric of Violence in Late Antiquity
- Cooperation with project A6 Kantian and Post-Kantian Normativity in Intercultural Human Rights Discourse (Conferences: Natur und Normativität. Naturrecht und Begriff der Natur im interdisziplinären Diskurs, 16.-17.10.2009 Autonomie und Menschenwürde – Origenes in der Philosophie der Neuzeit, 10.-11.02.2010)
- Head of the study group Rhetoric of Violence (winter semester 2008/09– summer semester 2009)
- Member of the study group Political Platonism in modern Christianity (since winter semester 2009/10): study group of the project A6, organisation: Christian Hengstermann und Ulrike Weichert.
Courses (selected; all in German):
Summer semester 2008
- Pamphilus, Apologie pro Origene (reading and interpretations): Origen’s doctrine of God from the perspective of the trinity theological discussions of the 3rd and 4th century
- Augustinus, De civitate dei: Reading of selected sections and interpretation
Winter semester 2008/2009
- Augustine’s correspondence with Jerome: reading (Latin/German) and interpretation
Summer semester 2009
- Origen and the invention of Christian theology
- Alexandria and Rome in Late Antiquity
Winter semester 2009/2010
- Man between animal and God – nature and substantiation of norms in the ethics of Origen
- Summer semester 2010
- Origen’s commentary on John
- Formation and meaning of Christian conceptions of God (also held in summer semester 2008)
Publications (Selection):
- Paz na terra? As religiões universais entre a renúncia e a disposição à violência, Aparecida 2009; darin: Ética da paz e disposição à violência. Sobre a ambivalência do monoteísmo cristão em seus primórdios, 65–125 = portugiesische Übersetzung von: Friede auf Erden? Die Weltreligionen zwischen Gewaltverzicht und Gewaltbereitschaft, Freiburg/Basel/Vienna 2006
- Paganer und christlicher „Monotheismus“. Zur Hermeneutik eines antiken Diskurses, in: Jahrbuch für Antike und Christentum 51 (2008) 5–24
- Monotheism between cult und politics. The themes of the ancient debate between pagan and Christian monotheism, in: Stephen Mitchell/Peter van Nuffelen (ed.), One God. Pagan Monotheism in the Roman Empire, Cambridge 2010, 82–99
- Gewaltlose Konfliktregelung in der Alten Kirche (forthcoming)
- Christliche Friedensethik von Augustinus bis Gregor dem Großen. Religion, Politik und Krieg am Ende der Antike, in: Pax et terror, bellum et crudelitas. Reflexionen christlicher Friedensethik im Übergang von der Spätantike zum Mittelalter (forthcoming)
- Natur und Normativität (Pontes), Münster u.a. 2010 (im Druck) (ed. with Klaus Müller).
- Autonomie und Menschenwürde. Origenes in der Philosophie der Neuzeit (Adamantiana 2), Münster (forthcoming) (ed. with Christian Hengstermann)
- Εἷς Θεός. Antike Monotheismen in heidnischen, jüdischen und christlichen Texten (Adamantiana 4), Münster (forthcoming)
Contact
Prof. Dr. Dr. Alfons FürstRoman Catholic Theology
Department of Ancient Church History
Johannisstraße 8-10
Room 127 a
D-48143 Münster
Germany
Tel.: +49 251 83-25053
Fax: +49 251 83-25050
afuerst@uni-muenster.de
Consultation hours : nach Vereinbarung
