CHRYSSAVGIS, John 1958-

PERSONAL:

Born April 1, 1958, in Australia; immigrated to the United States, 1995; married Sophie Antoniadou, April 29, 1959; children: Alexander, Julian. Education: Greek Conservatorium of Music, Athens, diploma, 1979; University of Athens, B.D., 1980; Oxford University, D. Phil., 1983.

ADDRESSES:

Home—50 Goddard Ave., Brookline, MA 02445-7415. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

St. Andrew's Theleological College, Sydney, Australia, subdean, 1985-95; Sydney University, Sydney, Australia, lecturer, 1986-95; Holy Cross School of Theology, Boston, MA, professor, beginning 1995, acting dean, 1997-98; Hellenic College, Boston, director of religious studies, beginning 1995. Greek Orthodox Church in Australia, protodeacon, 1984-95; Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, deacon, beginning 1995. Member of standing committee of Liturgical Translations, member, 1997; Faith and Science Exchange, Boston, member, 1996. Member of Institute for Theology and the Arts, advisor 1990-95.

MEMBER:

North American Patristics Society.

WRITINGS:

Persons and Events: Historical Moments in the Development of Orthodox Christianity, Archdiocese of Australia, 1985.

Fire and Light: The Theology of the Human Person, Light and Life (Minneapolis, MN), 1989.

Ascent to Heaven: The Theology of the Human Person according to Saint John of the Ladder, Holy Cross Orthodox Press (Brookline, MA), 1989.

(With wife, Sophie Chryssavgis) The World My Church, David Lovell (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia), 1990.

The Desert Is Alive: Dimensions of Australian Spirituality, Joint Board of Christian Education (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia), 1990.

Repentance and Confession in the Orthodox Church, Holy Cross Orthodox Press (Brookline, MA), 1990.

Love, Sexuality, and the Sacrament of Marriage, Holy Cross Orthodox Press (Brookline, MA), 1996.

The Way of the Fathers: Exploring the Patristic Mind, Patriarchal Institute for Patristic Studies (Thessaloniki, Greece), 1998.

Beyond the Shattered Image, Light and Life (Minneapolis, MN), 1999.

Soul Mending: The Art of Spiritual Direction, Holy Cross Orthodox Press (Brookline, MA), 2000.

In the Footsteps of Christ: The Ascetic Teaching of Abba Isaiah of Scetis, SLG (Oxford, England), 2001.

(Translator and author of introduction, with Pachomios Penkett) Abba Isaiah of Scetis Ascetic Discourses, Cistercian (Kalamazoo, MI), 2002.

In the Heart of the Desert: The Spirituality of the Desert Fathers and Mothers, World Wisdom (Bloomington, IN), 2003.

(Translator and author of introduction) Letters from the Desert: A Selection of Questions and Responses, St. Vladimir's Seminary Press (Crestwood, NY), 2003.

(Editor) Cosmic Grace and Humble Prayer: The Ecological Vision of the Green Patriarch Bartholomew I, W. B. Eerdmans (Grand Rapids, MI), 2003.

John Climacus: From the Egyptian Desert to the Sinaite Mountain, Ashgate (Burlington, VT), 2004.

Light through Darkness: The Orthodox Tradition, Orbis Books (Maryknoll, NY), 2004.

Also contributor of papers and chapters to numerous books, including Religion and Ethnic Identity: An Australian Study, by A. W. Ata, Spectrum, 1988; Humanity and the After Life, by G. Moses and N. Ormerod, Philosophical Association, 1991; Grace and Disgrace, by N. Ormerod, E. J. Dwyer, 1992; Human Beings and Nature, by G. Moses and N. Ormerod, Philosophical Association, 1992; New Song in an Ancient Land, NLMC Publications, 1993; You Shall Be My Witnesses, by G. Lemopoulos, Terios Publications, 1993; Living Ecumenism, edited by D. C. Sullivan, Joint Board of Christian Education, 1995; Can Theology Be Done in Sydney? A Symposium, by A. Murray, Catholic Institute of Sydney, 1995; The Sixth Century: End or Beginning?, by P. Allen and E. Jeffreys, Australian Association for Byzantine Studies, 1996; Christianity and Ecology: Seeking the Well-Being of Earth and Humans, edited by D. Hessel and R. Radford, Harvard University Press, 1999; Inner Way: Toward a Rebirth of Eastern Christian Spiritual Direction, by J. Allen, Holy Cross Press, 2000; Marriage: A Theology, Domos Publications, 2001; Jesus Christ—Life of the World, edited by S. Fotiou, Nicosia, 2000; Freedom As Love: Theological Texts on the Life of the Church, edited by S. Fotiou, Larnaca, 2001; and Paths to the Heart: Sufism and the Christian East, edited by J. Cutsinger, World Wisdom Books, 2002.

SIDELIGHTS:

Theologian John Chryssavgis, a deacon in the Greek Orthodox Church, helped found St. Andrew's Theological College in Sydney, Australia, where he served until 1995. He then came to the United States to teach at Holy Cross School of Theology in Boston. In addition to his academic and Church duties, Chryssavgis has written a number of books on Orthodox spirituality and on the Church Fathers, as well as on other topics ranging from Orthodox perspectives on the environment to the early monastic tradition.

Ascent to Heaven: The Theology of the Human Person according to Saint John of the Ladder is based on Chryssavgis's doctoral dissertation on "trinitarian and christological themes, of St. John Klimako's anthropological and soteriological thought," according to Patrick Viscuso in the Religious Studies Review. Viscuso found the work to be "scholarly and well-documented." With his 1996 book, Love, Sexuality, and the Sacrament of Marriage, Chryssavgis "relates marriage, sexuality, and monasticism to traditional patristic teachings on love," as Catharine P. Roth noted in another Religious Studies Review article. Though Roth thought that the lay reader "may find the book difficult in style," she still found that the "message is sublime." And writing in Spirituality and Health, Frederic and Mary Ann Brussart felt that Chryssavgis's "treatise on passionate love is refreshingly free of the moralism and legalism of much theological thought on sex."

Chryssavgis deals with ecology and early Church history in other titles. He seeks to reconcile theology and environmentalism in Beyond the Shattered Image. This book "aims to present the full ecological significance of the Orthodox Christian worldview in its deepest, widest and highest sense," according to Vincent Rossi on the Greek Orthodox Young Adult League Web Site. For Rossi, this means to "experience the world as sacrament," and Chryssavgis provides three elements that provide the basis for such a sacramental ecology: "the sacred, the sacrament, and the symbol."

Chryssavgis introduces readers to the lives and thoughts of some of the early Church leaders in his 2003 title In the Heart of the Desert: The Spirituality of the Desert Fathers and Mothers. Here he explores the times of the hermits and premonastics of the Egyptian desert, presenting a picture of the austere lives these people led as well as some of their important sayings. This book is a "well-informed and sensitive study," according to Library Journal critic Graham Christian, who further dubbed the work "outstanding."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Library Journal, May 1, 2003, Graham Christian, review of In the Heart of the Desert: The Spirituality of the Desert Fathers and Mothers, p. 122.

Religious Studies Review, October, 1993, Patrick Viscuso, review of Ascent to Heaven: The Theology of the Human Person according to Saint John of the Ladder, p. 356; October, 1997, Catharine P. Roth, review of Love, Sexuality, and the Sacrament of Marriage, p. 382.

ONLINE

Greek Orthodox Young Adult League Web Site,http://www.yalchicago.org/ (June 18, 2004), Vincent Rossi, review of Beyond the Shattered Image.

Spirituality and Health,http://www.spiritualityhealth.com/ (November 11, 2003), Frederic and Mary Ann Brussart, review of Love, Sexuality, and the Sacrament of Marriage.

World Wisdom,http://www.worldwisdom.com/ (June 18, 2004), "Author: Chryssavgis, Rev. Dr. John."