John Fotopoulos

Faculty Profiles

John Fotopoulos

John Fotopoulos

Associate Professor
Religious Studies and Theology
155 Spes Unica Hall
(574) 284-4071
fotopoul@saintmarys.edu
Education

PhD, Loyola University, Chicago
MDiv, Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology
BA, Hellenic College
 

Research Interests
  • New Testament
  • Pauline Studies
  • Historical Jesus
  • Orthodox Biblical Hermeneutics
Courses Recently Taught
  • RLST 101: Search for the Divine in Ancient Mediterranean Religions
  • RLST 199: Greco-Roman World and Christian Origins (taught on-site in Greece)
  • RLST 232: Introduction to the New Testament
  • RLST 304: Historical Jesus
  • RLST 308: Paul and His Times
Professional Experience
  • Archon of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople with the o!kion (“rank”) Διδάσκαλος τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου (“Teacher of the Gospel”) bestowed by His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople.
Creative and Scholarly Work
  • (Co-Editor with E.J. Pentiuc and B.N. Beck) Studies in Orthodox Hermeneutics: A Festschrift in Honor of Theodore G. Stylianopoulos. Brookline, MA:  Holy Cross Orthodox Press, 2016.
  • (Editor) The New Testament and Early Christian Literature in Greco-Roman Context: Studies in Honor of David E. Aune.  Supplements to Novum Testamentum 122.  Leiden:  Brill Academic Publishers, 2006.
  • (Author of Modern Greek Translation of book Food Offered to Idols)  Τα Θυσιαστήρια Δείπνα στη Ρωμαική Κόρινθο. Μία Κοινονικο-Ρητορική Ανάλυση της Α᾽ Κορ. 8:1- 11:1.  Μετα. Μ. Γκουτζιούδις.  Βιβλική Βιβλιοθίκη 37.  Θεσσαλονίκη: Πουρναράς, 2006.
  • (Author)  Food Offered to Idols in Roman Corinth:  A Social-Rhetorical Reconsideration of 1 Corinthians 8:1-11:1.  Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 2/151. Tübingen:  Mohr Siebeck, 2003.                       
  • (Online Article) “Dealmaking or Gift Giving? On St. Phanourios and Phanouropita Cakes.”  Public Orthodoxy, Fordham University. August 2025. Online: https://publicorthodoxy.org/2025/08/27/st-phanourios-and-phanouropita-cakes/
  • (Online Article) “Crushing the Heads of Dragons and the Jordan Turning Back.” Public Orthodoxy, Fordham University. January 2025. Online: https://publicorthodoxy.org/2025/01/06/crushing-the-heads-of-dragons/
  • “Orthodox Christianity, Patristic Exegesis, and Historical Criticism of the Bible.” Pages 322–333 in Oxford Handbook of the Bible in Orthodox Christianity. Edited by Eugene J. Pentiuc. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2022.
  • “Bishop Gerasimos, Elder of America, as Spiritual Father.” In Θυόεσσα Μνημοσύνη. A Fragrant and Sacred Remembrance: The Memorial Conference Papers for Bishop Gerasimos and the Testimonials to His Life and Spiritual Legacy. Edited by Peter C. Chamberas. Brookline, MA: Holy Cross Orthodox Press, 2021.
  • “Non guardate a ciò che vi sta alle spalle, tutti protesi al fine della chiamata celeste di Dio in Cristo Gesù (Fil 3,13-14)” (Fil 3,13-14) (“Don’t Focus on What’s Behind You: In Hot Pursuit of the Goal of God’s Heavenly Call in Christ Jesus [Phil 3:13-14]”). Pages 75-88 in Chiamati alla Vita in Cristo. Edited and translated by Lisa Cremaschi, Adalberto Mainardi, and GianMarco Tondello.  Magnano, Italy:  Edizioni Qiqajon (2021).
  • (Online Article) “Some Common Misperceptions about the Date of Pascha/Easter.” Public Orthodoxy, Fordham University. March 2021. Online: https://publicorthodoxy.org/2018/03/15/easter-date-2018/
  • (Article with Original English Translation of Ancient Greek Text):  “The Catechetical Sermon on Holy Pascha of St. John Chrysostom:  A Preliminary Critical Assessment and English Translation.”  Pages 190-211 in Evangelist, Shepherd, and Teacher: Studies in Honor of Archbishop Demetrios of America.  Edited by James Skedros, Maximos Constas, Vasiliki M. Limberis; Brookline, MA: Holy Cross Press, 2020.
  • (Essay Review) “An Appraisal of Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev’s Jesus Christ: His Life and Teaching, Vol. 1, The Beginning of the Gospel. Journal of Orthodox Christian Studies 3.1 (2020): 89-98.
  • (Online Article) “Christmas’s Great Conjunction.”  Public Orthodoxy, Fordham University. December 2020. Online: https://publicorthodoxy.org/2020/12/24/great-conjunction-christmas/
  • (Online Article) “Was Mary, the Mother of Jesus, the First Person to See the Risen Lord Outside the Empty Tomb?.”  Public Orthodoxy, Fordham University. April 2020. Online: https://publicorthodoxy.org/2020/04/20/mary-empty-tomb/
  • “Herodian-Roman Domination, Violent Jewish Peasant Resistance, and Jesus of Nazareth.”  Pages 85-124 in Orthodox Christian Perspectives on War.  Edited by Perry T. Hamalis and Valerie A. Karras.  Notre Dame, IN:  University of Notre Dame Press, 2017.
  • “‘Let Us Exercise in the Field of Scripture’:  The Correspondence between Jerome and Augustine of Hippo for Insights into Contemporary Issues in Orthodox Biblical Scholarship.”  Journal of Eastern Christian Studies 69.1-4 (2017): 223-247.
  • (Online Article) with Aristotle Papanikolaou. “Women and the Creed: “For Us Humans and for Our Salvation.”  Public Orthodoxy, Fordham University. June 2017. Online: https://publicorthodoxy.org/2017/06/19/women-and-the-creed-for-us-humans-and-for-our-salvation/
  • “The Holy Spirit in Paul from an Orthodox Perspective.”  Pages 173-186 in The Holy Spirit and the Church according to the New Testament.  Edited by Predrag Dragutinovic, Karl-Wilhelm Niebuhr, and James Buchanan Wallace. Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament I/354. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2016.
  • “Orthodox Christianity and Historical Criticism of the Bible.” Pages 57-79 in Studies in Orthodox Hermeneutics: A Festschrift in Honor of Theodore G. Stylianopoulos. Edited by Eugene J. Pentiuc, John Fotopoulos, and Bruce N. Beck. Brookline, MA: Holy Cross Orthodox Press, 2016.
  • (Online Article) “New Testament Codex 1424 Returned to the Care of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.” Public Orthodoxy, Fordham University. November 2016. Online: https://publicorthodoxy.org/2016/11/17/codex-1424/
  • “Paul’s Curse of Corinthians: Restraining Rivals with Fear and Voces Mysticae (1 Cor 16:22).”  Novum Testamentum 56.3 (2014):  275-309.
  • “Ορθόδοξος Χριστιανισμός και Ιστορική Κριτική της Βίβλου.” (Orthodox Christianity and Historical Criticism of the Bible). Δελτίον Βιβλικών Μελετών 29 (2011) [appeared 2014]:  63-78.
  • “Cristianesimo Ortodosso e Lettura Storico-Critica della Bibbia.” La Parola di Dio nella Vita Spirituale. Edited by Sabibo Chialà, Lisa Cremaschi, and Adalberto Mainardi. Bose, Italy: Edizioni Qiqajon, 2012.
  • “Traveling with Paul the Apostle.” Pages 47-72 in In the Footsteps of Saint Paul: An Academic Symposium. Papers Presented at the Pauline Symposium, Oct 11-16, 2008. Edited by Archbishop Demetrios of America and John Chryssavgis. Brookline, MA: Holy Cross Orthodox Press, 2011.
  • “1 Corinthians.”  Pages 413-433 in The Blackwell Companion to the New Testament. Edited by David E. Aune.  Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2010.
  • “Greco-Roman Dining, the Lord's Supper, and Communion in the Body of Christ.” Pages 141-160 in Paul et l'unité des chrétiens. Colloquium Oecumenicum Paulinum 19. Edited by Jacques Schlosser. Leuven: Peeters, 2010.
  • “The Kingdom of God:  Paul the Apostle's Message in its First Century C.E. Context.” Pages 19-42 In Thinking Through Faith: New Perspectives from Orthodox Christian Scholars. Edited by Aristotle Papanikolaou and Elizabeth Prodromou.  Crestwood, NY:  St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2008.
  • “The Misidentification of Lerna Fountain at Corinth:  Implications for Interpretations of the Corinthian Idol-Food Issue (1 Cor 8:1-11:1).”  Pages 37-50 in The New Testament and Early Christian Literature in Greco-Roman Context:  Studies in Honor of David E. Aune. Edited by John Fotopoulos. Supplements to Novum Testamentum 122. Leiden: Brill Academic Publishers, 2006.
  • “Encomium to David E. Aune.”  Pages xi-xv in The New Testament and Early Christian Literature in Greco-Roman Context: Studies in Honor of David E. Aune. John Fotopoulos, ed. Supplements to Novum Testamentum 122.  Leiden:  Brill Academic Publishers, 2006.
  •  “Arguments Concerning Food Offered to Idols:  Corinthian Quotations and Pauline. Refutations in a Rhetorical Partitio (1 Cor 8:1-9).” Catholic Biblical Quarterly 67.4 (2005):  611-631
  • “The Rhetorical Situation, Arrangement, and Argumentation of 1 Cor. 8:1-13.”  Pages 165-198 in Orthodox Biblical Perspectives:  A Festschrift in Honor of Savas Agrourides. Edited by Theodore Stylianopoulos.  Brookline, MA:  Holy Cross Orthodox Press, 2005.
  • “Τροφή, οίνος, και σεξουαλικες σχέσεις. Η ελληνορωμαικη παράδοση δείπνου ως κάτι περισσότερο από ένα απλό γεύμα για την ερμηνεία της 1 Κορ. 8.1.” (“Food, Wine, and Sexual Relations: The Greco-Roman Tradition of the Supper as Something More Than a Simple Meal for the Interpretation of 1 Cor. 8:1”) ΔελτίονΒιβλικών Μελετών 23 (2005): 53-75.
  • “Apuleius.”  Pages 56-57 in The Westminster Dictionary of the  New Testament and Early Christian Literature and Rhetoric. Edited by David E. Aune.  Louisville: Westminster John Knox Press, 2003.
  • “Graffiti.”  Page 206 in The Westminster Dictionary of the New Testament and Early Christian Literature and Rhetoric. Edited by David E. Aune.  Louisville:  Westminster John Knox Press, 2003.
  • “The Rhetorical Situation, Arrangement, and Argumentation of 1 Cor. 8:1-13.” Greek Orthodox Theological Review  47:1-4 (2002): 165-198.
  • (Article and Original English Translation of Ancient Greek Text) “John Chrysostom:  On Holy Pascha.”  The Greek Orthodox Theological Review 37.1-2 (1992):  123-34.

     
Professional Memberships
  • Catholic Biblical Association of America
  • Colloquium Oecumenicum Paulinum
  • Society of Biblical Literature