Top Scholar of Early Christianity to Give Talk at Princeton Theological Seminary in September
Peter Brown, the Rollins Professor Emeritus of History at Princeton University, will give a lecture at the new library at Princeton Theological Seminary on Sept. 24 on the topic “Alms, Labor, and the ‘Holy Poor’: Early Monasticism between Syria and Egypt.”
The lecture, which will take place at 7 p.m. in the Theron Room at the new library on Mercer Street, is free and open to the public. A reception and tours of the new library will take place after Brown’s talk.
A graduate of the University of London and the University of California at Berkeley, Brown joined the Princeton University faculty in 1986. He is renowned for his scholarship on the rise of Christianity and the transition from the ancient to the early medieval world. He has written several books, including “Augustine of Hippo: A Biography”, “The Rise of Western Christendom: Triumph and Diversity, A.D. 200-100” and “The Body and Society.”
Among his many honors, Brown is a fellow of the British Academy, of the Royal Historical Society, and of the American Philosophical Society. He was awarded the Kluge Prize of the Library of Congress in 2008 .
Brown is currently working on the problems of wealth, poverty, and the shift from an ancient to a medieval view of society.
“We are delighted to welcome Peter Brown, distinguished historian and good neighbor to the Seminary, as we also welcome the community to our new library,” Seminary President M. Craig Barnes said. “His lecture concerns an historical era he himself helped define, namely, ‘late antiquity,’ to mark the crucial transition from early to medieval church history.”
Krystal Knapp is the founding editor of Planet Princeton. Follow her on Twitter @krystalknapp. She can be reached via email at editor AT planetprinceton.com. Send all letters to the editor and press releases to that email address.
Professor Brown is an amazing scholar and teacher and well worth the time of anyone interested in history or early Christianity.