Dr David O'Brien

Teaching & Research

• Melbourne College of Divinity Senior Research Scholar in Church History
• Early Church History, TCTS Online Dip. Min.
• Genesis, TCTS Online Dip. Min.
• Gospel of John, TCTS Online Dip. Min.
• Theological Issues of the Early Church (UFT)
• Early Alexandrian Christianity (UFT)
• New Testament Greek (Grad Dip & MDiv)
• Formative Christian Thinking (GradDip & MDiv)

Administrative

• Academic Registrar at the Theological School
• Coordinator of Theology ONLINE
• Member of UFT Senatus

Church and Community

• Lay reader in the Diocese of Bendigo
• Soccer coach Strathfieldsaye Colts
• Cricket coach Strathfieldsaye Jets
• Executive member of Australian Society of Classical Studies
• Australian representative of International Association of Patristic Studies
• Member of North American Patristics Society

Research Interests

• Judaism and Early Christianity in the Graeco-Roman Period
• Clement of Alexandria and the Shepherd of Hermas
• Early Christian Philosophy

Publications

• D.P.O'Brien, "The Pastoral Function of the Second Repentance for Clement of Alexandria," Studia Patristica. Proceedings of the XIVth International Patristics Conference in Oxford (2005).
• Book Review on "Imperialism and Jewish Society, 200 BCE to 640 CE" by Seth Schwartz" Journal of Early Christian Studies, 12:3 (2004).
• D.P.O'Brien, "Christianity's love-hate relationship with a manic woman: the figure and function of the Pagan Sibyl as a revelation-bearer to the Church," Iris, (Vol 15 nos 1 and 2 2002).
• Book Review on "Clement d'Alexandrie, Les Stromates, Stromate VI" by Mgr. Patrick Descourtieux in Journal of Early Christian Studies 9:1 (2001) 136-7.
• D.P.O'Brien, "A comparison between Early Jewish and Christian interpretations of the Jubilee Year," Studia Patristica. Proceedings of the XIIIth International Patristics Conference in Oxford (Vol I, 2000).
• D.P.O'Brien, Essays on "Flavius Josephus," "Sadducees," and "Pharisees" in Reader's Guide to Judaism, (Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishings, 2000).
• Book Review on "Palestine in the time of Jesus" by Hanson/Oakman in Reviews in Religion and Theology July 1999.
• Book Review on "The Jewish Bible and the Christian Bible" by J.Trebolle Barrera in Reviews in Religion and Theology Feb 1999.
• Book Review on "The Spirit in First Century Judaism" by J.R.Levison in Journal of Jewish Studies Dec 1998.
• Book Review on "The Nations that Know Thee Not" by R.Goldenberg in Reviews in Religion and Theology July 1998.
• D.P.O'Brien, "The Cumaean Sibyl as the Revelation-bearer in the Shepherd of Hermas," Journal of Early Christian Studies 5:4 (1997) 473-496.
• D.P.O'Brien, "Is this the time to accept ...?" (2 Kings v 26b): Simply Moralizing (LXX) or an Ominous Foreboding of Yahweh's Rejection of Israel (MT)? Vetus Testamentum XLVI, 4 (1996) 448-457.

Conference Papers

• An early Christian adaptation of the Stoic doctrine of oikeiosis as a solution to the problem of friendship with God, Australian Society of Classical Studies XXV, La Trobe University, Bendigo, Australia, February 2004.
• The Pastoral Function of the Second Repentance for Clement of Alexandria, XIV International Patristic Conference, Oxford University, UK, August 2003.
• The Social World of John Chrysostom. Joint paper with Dr Wendy Mayer at the ÔAncient Studies, New Technology II: The World Wide Web and Scholarship in Ancient, Byzantine and Medieval Studies' conference at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, December 2002.
• Christianity's love-hate relationship with a manic woman: the figure and function of the Pagan Sibyl as a revelation-bearer to the Church, Paper given at ÔChrist on Olympus' Conference, La Trobe University, Bendigo, April 2002.
• Rhetorical function of friendship in the account of St John and the young brigand, Words and Pictures Conference, Australian Catholic University, Brisbane, July 2001.
• The Rhetorical functions of friendship in Quis Dives Salvetur, Paper given at North American Patristic Society conference, Loyola campus of University of Chicago, USA, May 23-26, 2001.
• Poor Patrons and Rich Clients in Quis Dives Salvetur, Paper given at North American Patristic Society conference, Loyola campus of University of Chicago, USA, May 25- 27, 2000.
• Early Christian Interpretations of the Jubilee Year, XIII International Patristic Conference, Oxford University, UK, August 1999.
• The Jubilee Year in Late Second Temple and Early Rabbinic Judaism with implications on NT Research, Evangelisch -Theologisches Seminar der Universitat Bonn, Abteilung fur Kirchengeschichte, Germany, September 29- October 4, 1997.
• The Jubilee Year in Late Second Temple and Early Rabbinic Judaism, Colloquium on Early Rabbinic Judaism, Yarnton, Oxford, UK, September 22-26, 1997.