Demetrios S. Katos

Dean and Associate Professor of Religious Studies

BA,  New York University
MDiv,  Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology
MA and PhD,  The Catholic University of America

Demetrios S. Katos is Dean of Hellenic College and Associate Professor of Religious Studies. Since 2002 he has been teaching at the College courses in Orthodox Christianity, historical theology, and world religions. In the classroom, he guides students in learning how to read theology within a historical context, and how to use critical, interpretive strategies that render meaning and applications appropriate to contemporary circumstances. In addition to his responsibilities here at Hellenic College, he is a lecturer in the Department of Theology at Boston College, where he teaches courses in Eastern Orthodox theology. Prof. Katos is a Board Member of the Stephen and Catherine Pappas Patristics Institute of Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology, and he has served as Vice-President of the Orthodox Theological Society in America.

Prof. Katos devotes his research to the theology, history, and intellectual culture of Christian antiquity, and he specializes in early Christian spiritual and mystical traditions. His work and promise in the field was recognized by the academy in 2008 when he was named a Henry Luce III Fellow in Theology, and granted one of the premier fellowship awards for theological scholarship. His book, Palladius of Helenopolis: The Origenist Advocate (Oxford University Press), is the first monograph devoted to the life, work, and thought of a little-known Christian bishop and author, Palladius of Helenopolis (ca. 362-420). Palladius is a key source for our knowledge of early Christian asceticism, spirituality, and pilgrimage, and for the lives of John Chrysostom, Theophilus of Alexandria, and Evagrius of Pontus. Prof. Katos offers a new reading of Palladius’ widely influential Dialogue on the Life of St. John Chrysostom and his Lausiac History by incorporating recent scholarship on late antique rhetoric and the Origenist tradition. He demonstrates that Palladius’ advocacy of his associates and their shared theology renders him an important Christian writer at the turn of the fifth century who has influenced Christian historiography and devotion for nearly 1600 years. 

Curriculum Vitae pdf

Courses:

• Introduction to Orthodoxy
• Great Christian Thinkers
• World Religions
• Learning Theology with the Church Fathers
• On the Priesthood
• Christians in the Roman Empire
• Seminar: Deification
• Seminar: Spiritual Classics
• Honors Seminar: Christianity in Late Antiquity