CURRICULUM VITAE
September 2024
I. PERSONAL
James J. Buckley
Loyola University Maryland
Department of Theology
410‑ 617- 2657
jbuckley@loyola.edu
II. EDUCATION
Ph.D. Yale University Graduate School (Department of Religious Studies) 1977.
M.A., M.Phil. Yale University Graduate School (Department of Religious Studies) 1975.
Graduate Theological Union (Berkeley, California), 1971 – 1973.
Kenrick Seminary (St. Louis, Missouri), 1969 - 1971
B.A. Cardinal Glennon College (St. Louis, Missouri) 1969
III. EMPLOYMENT
1980 ‑ 2018: Professor, Loyola University Maryland, Theology Department; Chair 1988 -1995; 1997 - 2000; Dean, Loyola College of Arts and Sciences 2000 – 2010 & (interim) 2014-2015.
1977‑1980: Assistant Professor of Historical and Systematic Theology, University of Detroit, Department of Religious Studies; Chair 1979 ‑ 1980.
2018. Retired as professor emeritus
IV. PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES
A. Memberships in Professional Organizations
Academy of Catholic Theology, 2011 to present.
American Academy of Religion, 1977 to present.
Catholic Theological Society of America, 1977 to present.
The Center for Catholic and Evangelical Theology, Board, 2006 to present.
College Theology Society, 1981 to 2019.
St. Mary’s Ecumenical Institute of Theology, St. Mary’s Seminary and University, Executive Board 2000 – present.
Karl Barth Society of North America, 1981 to present.
Yale-Princeton Theology Group, 1981 to present.
Center of Theological Inquiry, Resident 1995 – 1996.
The Children of Abraham Institute, 2002 – 2010.
Wabash Center for the Teaching and Learning of Theology and Religion Advisory Board 2008 – 2012.
B. Publications
1. Books, authored
Seeking the Humanity of God. Practices, Doctrines, and Catholic Theology (Collegeville, MN.: The Liturgical Press, 1992).
Catholic Theology. An Introduction, with Frederick Bauerschmidt (Wiley Blackwells, 2017)
2. Articles, and Chapters in Books
"On Being a Symbol: An Appraisal of Karl Rahner," Theological Studies 40 (#3, September, 1979), pp. 453‑73.
"Karl Rahner as a Dogmatic Theologian," The Thomist 47 (#3, July, 1983), pp. 364‑94.
"A Dialogue with Barth and Farrer on Theological Method" (with William McF. Wilson), Heythrop Journal XXVI (#3, July, 1985), pp. 274‑93.
"Christological Inquiry. Barth, Rahner, and the Identity of Jesus Christ," The Thomist 50 (#4, October, 1986), pp. 568‑98.
"Barth, Schleiermacher, and Theological Decisions," Barth and Schleiermacher. Beyond the Impasse, James Duke, ed. (Fortress Press and T. & T. Clark, 1988), pp. 178‑86.
"The Hermeneutical Deadlock Between Revelationalists, Functionalists, and Textualists," Modern Theology 6 (#4, July, 1990), pp. 325 - 39 [Slightly revised as “Beyond the Hermeneutical Deadlock” in Theological Method after Liberalism, eds. George Schner and John Webster (Blackwells, 2000).]
"The Doctrine of God in the Post Conciliar Church," in The Church in the Nineties: Its Legacy, Its Future, ed. Pierre Hegy (The Liturgical Press,1992), c. 3 (pp. 32 - 39).
"Contemporary Issues in Religious Thought," The Reader's Adviser. A Layman's Guide to Literature, 14th ed. volume IV, The Best in the Literature of Philosophy and Religion (New York: R.R. Bowker, 1993), chapter 18. [A bibliographical essay initiating non-academic readers into academic “religious thought”.]
"A Field of Living Fire. Karl Barth on the Holy Spirit and the Church," Modern Theology 10 (#1, January, 1994), pp. 81 - 102.
"Liberal and Conservative -- or Catholic and Evangelical?," Pro Ecclesia III (#3, Summer, 1994), pp. 324 - 333 [A debate over the significance of Erik Peterson.]
"Balthasar's Use of the Theology of Aquinas," The Thomist 59 (#4, October, 1995), pp. 517 - 545.
"Postliberal Theology: A Catholic Reading," Contours. An Introduction to North American Religious Thought, ed. Roger Badham (Westminster John Knox Press, 1998), pp. 89 - 102.
“Why go to Church?” in Why are we Here?, eds. Ronald Thieman and William Placher (Valley Forge, Pa.: Trinity Press International, 1998), pp. 84 - 97.
“The Invisible Made Visible: Angels from the Vatican,” New Blackfriars (1999), pp. 244 - 57.
“Christian Community, Baptism, and Lord’s Supper,” in The Cambridge Companion to Barth, ed. John Webster (Cambridge University Press, 2000), chapter 12 (pp. 195 - 211).
“Intimacy. The Character of Robert Jenson’s Theology,” Trinity, Time, and Church. A Response to the Theology of Robert W. Jenson, ed. Colin E. Gunton (Grand Rapids, Michigan/Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans, 2000), pp. 10 - 22.
“A Catholic and Evangelical Theology?” (with David Yeago) in Knowing the Triune God. The Work of the Spirit in the Practices of the Church, ed. James J. Buckley and David Yeago (Eerdmans, 2001), pp. 1 - 20.
“The Wounded Body. The Spirit’s Ecumenical Work on Divisions Among Christians” in Knowing the Triune God. The Work of the Spirit in the Practices of the Church, ed. James J. Buckley and David Yeago (Eerdmans, 2001), pp. 205 - 230.
“The Fullness of God. Catholics and Religious Exclusiveness,” New Blackfriars 83 (March 2002), pp. 120 - 135.
“Radical Traditions: Evangelical, Catholic, Postliberal” in The Church in a Postliberal Age by George Lindbeck, ed. James J. Buckley (London: SCM, 2002 and Grand Rapids, Mi: Eerdmans, 2003), pp. vii - xviii.
Valerie Lester Leyva, Joanne M. Greer, James J. Buckley, and Anthony F. Krisak, “Women’s Response to Terrorism: The Stability of Psychological Hope and Theological Hope,” Research in the Social Scientific Study of Religion 14 (2003) 77 – 102.
“Invocation of Saints: A Theological Interpretation,” Pro Ecclesia. A Journal of Catholic and Evangelical Theology XIII (2004), pp. 1 – 4.
“ Lectio Divina and Arguing over Jesus: An Ascetic for Christological Rebukes” in Who do you say that I am? Confessing the Mystery of Christ, ed. John Cavadini and Laura Holt (Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 2004), pp. 87 – 108.
"Revisionists and Liberals," Modern Christian Theologians. An Introduction to Christian Theology since 1918, ed. David Ford with Rachel Muers (Third Edition. Basil Blackwell, 2005), pp. 213 - 228. [Revision of similar essays in the first (1989) and second (1997) editions.]
“The End” in The Blackwell Companion to Catholicism, ed. Frederick C. Bauerschmidt, James J. Buckley, and Robert Trent Pomplun (Oxford: Blackwell, 2007), pp. 371 – 385.
“Learning How to Be Morally Divided. Evangelicals and Catholics Together in the Morally Divided Body” in The Morally Divided Body: Ethical Disagreement and the Disunity of the Church, ed. Michel Root and James J. Buckley (Wipf and Stock, 2012).
“Hans Frei and the Deflation of Revelation,” Pro Ecclesia. A Journal of Catholic and Evangelical Theology XXIV (#1, 2015), pp. 6- 23.
"Barth and Rahner ," Wiley Blackwell Companion to Karl Barth, volume 2 (Barth in Dialogue) ed. George Hunsinger and Keith Johnson (Wiley Blackwell, 2020), Chapter 49.
“The End, or Ends” in The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Catholicism, Second Edition. ed. Frederick C. Bauerschmidt, James J. Buckley, Jennifer Newsome Martin, and Trent Pomplun (Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley Blackwell, 2024), pp. 378 - 391 [A significant revision of the Blackwell Companion piece above.]
3. Books, edited
Spirituality and Social Embodiment, edited with L. Gregory Jones (Oxford: Blackwells, 1997).
Theology and Scriptural Imagination, edited with L. Gregory Jones (Oxford: Blackwells, 1998).
Knowing the Triune God. The Work of the Spirit in the Practices of the Church, edited with David Yeago (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2001)
Theology and Eschatology at the Turn of the Millenium, edited with L. Gregory Jones (Oxford: Blackwells, 2001).
The Church in a Postliberal Age by George Lindbeck (London: SCM, 2002 and Grand Rapids, Mi: Eerdmans, 2003).
The Blackwell Companion to Catholicism, with Frederick C. Bauerschmidt and Robert Trent Pomplun (Oxford: Blackwells, 2007)
Sharper than a Two-Edged Sword. Preaching, Teaching, and Living the Bible, with Michael Root (Grand Rapids, Mi.: Eerdmans, 2008).
The Morally Divided Body: Ethical Disagreement and the Disunity of the Church, ed. Michel Root and James J. Buckley (Eugene, Oregon: Cascade Books, 2012).
Christian Theology and Islam (with Michael Root) (Eugene, Oregon: Cascade Books,, 2013).
Who Do You Say That I am? Proclaiming and Following Jesus Today, ed. with Michael Root (Eugene, Oregon: Cascade Books, 2014).
Heaven, Hell, . . . and Purgatory?, ed. with Michael Root (Eugene, Oregon: Cascade Books, 2016).
Life Amid the Principalities. Identifying, Understanding, and Engaging Creaed, Fallen, and Disarmed Powers Today Eugene, Oregon: Cascade Books, 2016)
Reformation at 500 years: Commemoration, Celebration, Repentance?, ed. with Michael Root (Eugene, Oregon: Cascade Books, 2017).
4. Sample Essays and Reviews
"Letters 1961‑1969," Karl Barth in Re‑View. Posthumous Works Reviewed and Assessed, ed. H.‑Martin Rumscheidt (Pittsburgh, Pa.: The Pickwick Press, 1981), pp. 83 ‑ 93. [Anthologizing of a review of Karl Barth's Briefe 1961‑1968, by Karl Barth. Edited by Jurgen Fangmeier and Hinrich Stoevesandt. Karl Barth Gesamtausgabe, V Briefe. Zurich: Theologischer Verlag, 1975. Also translated in Verkündigung und Forschung. Beihefte zu "Evangelische Theologie." 30 (1985) 102‑108.]
Review of The Analogical Imagination. Christian Theology and the Culture of Pluralism, by David Tracy (New York: Crossroad, 1981) in The Thomist 46 (#4, October, 1982) 626‑31.
Review of Models of Revelation, by Avery Dulles, S.J. (Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1983) in Horizons. The Journal of the College Theology Society 10 (#2, Fall, 1983) 379‑380.
"Doctrine in the Diaspora," The Thomist 49 (#3, July, 1985), pp. 443‑59. [Review essay on George Lindbeck's The Nature of Doctrine (Westminster Press, 1984).]
Review of Foundational Theology. Jesus and the Church. By Francis Schüssler Fiorenza. (New York: Crossroad 1984) in The Thomist (#2, April, 1985) 288‑91.
"A Return to the Subject. The Theological Significance of Charles Taylor’s Sources of the Self,," The Thomist 55 (#2, April, 1991), pp. 497 - 509.
"Adjudicating Conflicting Christologies," Philosophy & Theology. (Marquette University Quarterly) VI (#2, Winter, 1992), pp. 117 - 135 [Review essay of Bruce Marshall's Christology in Conflict. The Idea of a Saviour in Barth and Rahner {Basil Blackwell, 1987})
Review essay of Unbaptized God. The Basic Flaw in Ecumenical Theology. By Robert W. Jenson. (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 1992.), The Thomist 58 (#4, October, 1994), pp. 677 - 682.
"Catechism of the Catholic Church: Ecumenical Despite Itself," Pro Ecclesia. A Journal of Catholic and Evangelical Theology IV (#1, Winter, 1995), pp. 59 - 67.
“A Different Doubt about the Priestly Ordination of Women,” Pro Ecclesia. A Journal of Catholic and Evangelical Theology V (#2, Spring, 1996), pp. 133 - 37. [A review of the 1996 Dubium on ordination of women.]
“The Eternal Recurrence of Modern Christian Theology,” Religious Studies Review 24 (1998), pp. 17 - 22. [A review of recent books in Protestant systematic theology by Hall, Hodgson, McClendon, McGrath, and Morse.]
“Trying Again, and Better,” Conversations on Jesuit Higher Education 16 (1999) 40 - 46 [Review essay on James Tunstead Burtchaell, C.S.C., The Dying of the Light. The Disengagement of Colleges and Universities from their Christian Churches (Grand Rapids, Michigan and Cambridge, U.K.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1998)]
Review of Fergus Kerr, Immortal Longings. Versions of Transcending Humanity (Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press and London: SPCK, 1997) in Pro Ecclesia VIII (#2, Spring, 1999), pp. 239 - 40.
Review of John Thiel, Senses of Tradition. Continuity and Development in Catholic Faith
(Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2000) in Theology Today 58 (#3, October, 2001), pp. 470 – 474.
Review of Bruce Marshall, Trinity and Truth (Cambridge University Press, 2000) in Pro Ecclesia. A Journal of Catholic and Evangelical Theology XI (2002), pp. 95 – 99.
“A New Newman?” [editor title; my title was “Is Newman Catholic?”], The Weekly Standard (May 2003) [An essay on Frank M. Turner, John Henry Newman. The Challenge to Evangelical Religion [New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2002) and Avery Dulles, Newman (London and New York: Continuum, 2002)
Review of Oliver Davies. A Theology of Compassion. Metaphysics of Difference and the Renewal of Tradition (London: SCM Press, 2001) in International Journal of Systematic Theology 5 (2003), pp. 247 – 256.
“Roger Haight’s Mediating Christology,” Modern Theology 23 (2007), pp. 107 - 112.
Review of John T. Noonan, Jr., A Church that Can and Cannot Change. The Development of Catholic Moral Teaching (Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2005) in Pro Ecclesia. A Journal of Catholic and Evangelical Theology XVII (2008), pp. 364 – 66.
“Ruminations on Modern Theology,” Modern Theology 26 (2010), pp. 21 - 26.
“Peace and War among the Orthodox and Modern [Review of Bruce McCormack, Orthodox and Modern. Studies in the Theology of Karl Barth {Grand Rapids, MI.:Baker Academic, 2008}], Karl Barth Newsletter 40 (Spring 2010), pp. 16 – 19 (précis of presentation at the Karl Barth Society of North America fall 2009.)
“The Religion Major, Liberal Education, and Religionless Theology,” Teaching Theology & Religion 14 (#1, January, 2011), pp. 51 – 56.
“Buoys for Eccentric Existence” [A review essay on David H. Kelsey, Eccentric Existence: A Theological Anthropology, two volumes (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2009). 1092 pp + xiii ] Modern Theology 27 (#1, January, 2011), pp. 14 – 25.
Review of Kathryn Tanner, Christ the Center (Cambridge University Press, 2010), Modern Theology 27 (October, 2011), pp. 698 – 701.
Review panel on “The Holy Trinity Reimagined and Rethought” [Review of R. Kendall Soulen, The Divine Names and the Holy Trinity, volume one Distinguishing the Voices (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011) in Pro Ecclesia XXIII/1 (2014), pp. 59-64.
Review of Carlos D. Colorado and Justin D. Klassen, Aspiring to Fullness in a Secular Age. Essays on Religion and Theology in the Work of Charles Taylor (Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 2014) in Augustinian Studies 46 (#2, Fall, 2015), pp. 255-257.
Review of Edward T. Oakes, S.J., A Theology of Grace in Six Controversies (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2016), The Journal of Theological Studies 68 (#1, April, 2017) 477 – 479.
Review of Hans W. Frei, Reading Faithfully. Writings from the Archives. Volume One (Theology and Hermeneutics) and volume 2 (Frei’s Theological Background), ed. Mike Higton and Mark Alan Bowald (Eugene, Oregon: Cascade Books, 2015), Scottish Journal of Theology 70 (2017), pp. 479-481.
Review of Paul J. Griffiths, The Practice of Catholic Theology. A Modest Proposal (Catholic University of America Press, 2016) in The Thomist 81 (2017), pp. 600-605.
Review of Matthew Levering, The Achievement of Hans Urs von Balthasar. An Introduction to His Trilogy (Washington, D.C.: The Catholic University of America Press, 2019), The Thomist 83 (#4, October, 2019) 639 – 642.
Review of Daniel D. Shin, Theology and the Public. Reflections on Hans W. Frei on Hermeneutics, Christology, and Theological Methods (Lanham, MD.: Lexington Books, 2019), Theology Today 77 (#1, April, 2020) 100 - 101.
Review of “David Tracy’s Fragments and Filaments: Fundamental on the Way to Systematic Theology?”, Modern Theology 37 (4, October, 2021) 1066 - 1072
Review of Khaled Anatolios, Deification through the Cross. An Eastern Christian Theology of Salvation (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2020). xxii + 464 pp. in Pro Ecclesia. A Journal for a Catholic and Evangelical Theology, 2022.
“David Kelsey’s Theology for a Faithful Agnosticism [Review essay of David H. Kelsey, Human Anguish and God’s Power (Cambridge University Press, 2021)]”, Modern Theology 38 (#3, July, 2022) 618 – 624.
Review of Joseph Ratzinger in Dialogue with Philosophical Traditions. From Plato to Vattimo, ed. Alejandro Sada, Tracey Rowland, and Rudy Albino de Assunção (London: T & T Clark, 2024). 410 pp. + xi., Modern Theology forthcoming 2025.
“Reforming Christian Wisdom about God’s Power Amidst Human Anguish,” Syndicate forthcoming, perhaps [a follow up discussion of David Kelsey {above} in an online discussion of books in religious studies and the humanities]
5. Dissertation
Karl Barth and Karl Rahner on the Christian Community. Analysis, Comparison, and Assessment (Yale University Ph.D. 1977. Directors: Hans Frei and George Lindbeck)
6. Editorial Posts
Associate Editor, Modern Theology (published by Blackwell Publishers [Oxford, England]), 2003 - present; Co-editor (with L. Gregory Jones and then Jim Fodor, 1996 – 2002; associate editor 2002 – present.
Associate Editor, Pro Ecclesia. A Journal of Catholic and Evangelical Theology. (A journal of theology published quarterly by the Center for Catholic and Evangelical Theology, in partnership with the American Lutheran Publicity Bureau.) 1992 – 2005; Center Board 2005 – present.
General Co-Editor, with L. Gregory Jones, Blackwell Readings in Modern Theology (A multi-volume set of constructive anthologies on important topics in modern theology) 1994 - 2001.)
C. College Posts: Elected Posts at Loyola College. [There are, of course, numerous other posts I have served by selection or appointment, including my current status as Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.]
Faculty Compensation Committee, 1983 ‑ 1986; Chair 1984 - 1986.
Board of Rank and Tenure, 1986 ‑ 1991; Chair 1990 - 1991.
Chair, Theology Department, 1988 ‑ 1995; 1997 -2000
Humanities Representative, College Council 1993 - 1994.
Faculty Affairs Committee, Chair, Spring - Summer 2000
Publications
- Catholic Theology. An Introduction, with Frederick Bauerschmidt (Wiley Blackwells, 2017)
- Reformation at 500 years: Commemoration, Celebration, Repentance?, ed. with Michael Root (Eugene, Oregon: Cascade Books, 2017).
- Review of Edward T. Oakes, S.J., A Theology of Grace in Six Controversies (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2016), The Journal of Theological Studies 68 ( no 1, April 2017), pp. 477 – 479.
- Review of Carlos D. Colorado and Justin D. Klassen, Aspiring to Fullness in a Secular Age: Essays on Religion and Theology in the Work of Charles Taylor (Notre Dame, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 2014) in Augustinian Studies, forthcoming 2016.
- “Hans Frei and the Deflation of Revelation,” Pro Ecclesia. A Journal of Catholic and Evangelical Theology XXIV (#1, 2015), pp. 6- 23.
- Who Do You Say That I am? Proclaiming and Following Jesus Today (Wipf and Stock, 2014).
- “The Holy Trinity Reimagined and Rethought.” Review of R. Kendall Soulen, The Divine Name(s) and the Holy Trinity, volume one. Distinguishing the Voices (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2011) in Pro Ecclesia XXIII/1 (2014), pp. 59-64.
- Christian Theology and Islam (with Michael Root) (Wipf and Stock, 2013).