McGuckin, John Anthony 1952–

(John A. McGuckin)

PERSONAL: Born June 21, 1952, in Wallsend, England; son of Francis (a rope manufacturer) and Theresa McGuckin; married Eileen Groark (an artist), August 25, 1990; children: Maria, Elizabeth, Anna. Ethnicity: "Irish." Education: Heythrop College, London, B.D. (with first class honors), 1975; University of Durham, Ph.D., 1980; University of Southampton, M.A., 1986. Politics: Socialist. Religion: Eastern Orthodox Christian.

ADDRESSES: Home—New York, NY. Office—Union Theological Seminary, 3041 Broadway, New York, NY 10027. E-mail—jam401@columbia.edu.

CAREER: University of Leeds, Leeds, England, reader in Patristic and Byzantine Theology, 1989–97; Union Theological Seminary, New York, NY, professor of early church history, 1997–2003; Columbia University, New York, NY, professor of Byzantine Christian studies, 2003–. Also serves as Romanian Orthodox priest.

MEMBER: Royal Historical Society (fellow), Royal Society of Arts (fellow), Society for the Promotion of Byzantine Studies, American Theological Society.

WRITINGS:

Symeon the New Theologian: Chapters and Discourses, Cistercian Studies (Kalamazoo, MI), 1982.

The Transfiguration of Christ in Scripture and Tradition, Edwin Mellen (Lewiston, NY), 1987.

Byzantium and Other Poems, Black Gate Press (Cramlington, England), 1990.

(As John A. McGuckin) St. Cyril of Alexandria and the Christological Controversy, E.J. Brill (Leiden, Netherlands), 1994.

(Translator and author of introduction) St. Cyril of Alexandria: On the Unity of Christ, SVS Press (New York, NY), 1995.

At the Lighting of the Lamps: Hymns from the Ancient Church, Morehouse (Wilton, CT), 1997.

(As John A. McGuckin) St. Gregory of Nazianzus: An Intellectual Biography, SVS Press (New York, NY), 2000.

(Translator and author of introduction) The Book of Mystical Chapters: Meditations on the Soul's Ascent, from the Desert Fathers and Other Early Christian Contemplatives, Shambhala (Boston, MA), 2003.

(Editor) The Westminster Handbook to Patristic Theology, Westminster John Knox Press (Louisville, KY), 2004.

(Editor) The Westminster Handbook to Origen, Westminster John Knox Press (Louisville, KY), 2004.

(Translator) Enzira Sebhot: Ethiopian Hymn to the Virgin Mary, SVS Press (New York, NY), 2007.

(Editor) We Believe in Christ, Inter-Varsity Press (Downers Grove, IL), 2007.

Contributor to scholarly journals.

SIDELIGHTS: John Anthony McGuckin once told CA: "I was born in the small garrison town that marked the northern European limit of the Roman Empire: what was originally the fort at the end of Hadrian's great defensive wall that stretched across Britain. In the modern era the place was renamed 'Wallsend' with that stroke of imaginative brilliance typical of the region. From early youth I have been obsessed with Roman history, especially its intersection with the Early Christian movement, and almost all of my writings (apart from a small volume of poems) have been devoted to the scholarly investigation of that field. I have an overwhelming interest in the arts, especially poetry, music, and graphic art. One of my most inspired moves was to set up house with an artist, who has added color to an otherwise monochromatic existence, and peopled my life with extraordinary new characters, some of whom claim genetic relationship. I am purported to be a sociable character, but am rarely more delighted than when standing boot-deep in mud on a lonely mountainside."