Woodstock Theological Library is pleased to participate with the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace & World Affairs in Theology Without Borders: Celebrating the Legacy of Peter Phan, a two day conference gathering together international theologians and scholars of religious studies in order to acknowledge the work of Peter C. Phan, the Ignacio Ellacuria Chair of Catholic Social Thought at Georgetown University’s Department of Theology.  This blog entry, therefore, is meant to shine a light on Peter’s scholarship that ranges broad and wide across all areas of theology and religious studies including, but not limited to, eschatology, missiology, liberation, liturgy, and ecclesiology.

Peter started at the beginning. That is to say, his first scholarly publication was a compilation of Patristic texts which are the foundation to the development of Christian social thought, entitled Social Thought (Wilmington, DE: Michael Glazier, 1984). From this point forward, Peter has produced a body of literature that has impacted and, indeed, shaped the direction of theological studies the world over.

In the festschrift entitled World Christianity: Perspectives and Insights: Essays in Honor of Peter C. Phan (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis Books 2016) , theologian Gerard Mannion, notes in his article:

“Peter C. Phan: A Person of the World Church” that Peter is “passionately committed to dialogue – among Christians, among people of differing faiths and religions and between those who follow religious pathways and those who do not do so. Peter’s overall work can collectively be lauded as helping to enhance understanding and dialogue across many differing divides – cultural, ethnic, religious, even political. Peter Phan, then, is a person and servant of the world church. And the test of time will also hopefully demonstrate that, in fact, he has been among its most creative and inspiring theological prophets for our times.”

Peter’s most recent editorial collaboration with Bradford E. Hinze resulted in the work Learning from All the Faithfull: A Contemporary Theology of Sensus Fidei. This collection of essays reflect Peter’s “deep influence upon ecclesiology in recent times.” Again, as Gerard Mannion has noted, it is the result of Peter’s own leading scholarship which has brought about the “turn toward a much greater and wide-reaching focus on world Christianity or, better still, as the man himself has said, a turn to the realization that in truth we must today speak about and study world Christianities in the plural.” (Gerard Mannion, “Peter C. Phan: A Person of the World Church” in World Christianity: Perspectives and Insights: Essays in Honor of Peter C. Phan.)

Woodstock Theological Library is proud that Peter is our patron, colleague, and friend. In fact, he has brought us  much “business” –  so to speak. When searching in our catalog, you will find that almost all of the books he has authored or edited are all checked out!