Brian Yong Lee

Assistant Professor, Department of Theology

Brian Yong Lee is Assistant Professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at Loyola University Chicago. He received a PhD in Theology from Notre Dame (2018) and has an MA in Philosophy from Boston College. Before arriving at Loyola, he was Associate Professor of Sacred Scripture and MA Director at Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology in Hales Corners, WI. His research interests encompass Pauline letters, Hellenistic Judaism, Greco-Roman philosophy, and political theology, and focuses on understanding the origins of early Jewish and Christian theological concepts and practices in their ancient cultural contexts. He is currently working on two monographs. The first, Askesis, the Sage, and the Invention of Religious Conversion: Jewish Philosophy and Gentile Conversion in 1 Corinthians, explores the centrality of Hellenistic Jewish use of philosophical traditions in Paul’s thought to construct and negotiate a notion of gentile conversion in a world in which religion was typically not chosen but ethnically inherited. The second, The Origins and Future of Christian Forgiveness, traces the surprising development of interpersonal forgiveness within the covenantal theology of Second Temple Judaism and early Christianity, offering a historically situated account of foundational elements of Christian ethics in dialogue with political theory. With the help of a Hank Center course development grant, he has developed an interdisciplinary seminar that explores the role of forgiveness within Catholic tradition from antiquity to today’s pluralistic liberal democracies: THEO 280 Forgiveness in the Catholic Tradition. He has also been actively engaged in Catholic lay ministry with the Community of Sant’Egidio for more than 25 years.