Research and teaching interests
Edition of Latin and Greek texts, of the early Byzantine and early medieval periods.
Relations between the Christian East and West, with particular emphasis on cultural and theological exchange.
Anastasius the Librarian (ninth-century Rome)
Maximus the Confessor (seventh-century East)
Pope Martin I (seventh-century West); Patristic literature, especially Augustine of Hippo
Neo-Platonism in the Western and Eastern Fathers
Current projects
Sept. 2001-Feb. 2005: postdoctoral project: the edition and translation of Anastasius Bibliothecarius' Latin version of the Commemoration of Pope Martin, seventh-century opponent of monothelitism.
International Mariology project: collating Marian epithets from various works of Augustine of Hippo, in collaboration with Leena Mari Peltomaa (Vienna) and other international scholars.
Publications List
Books
1. B. Neil, Seventh-Century Popes and Martyrs: the Political Hagiography of Anastasius Bibliothecarius, Series Antiqua Australiensia (Turnhout: Brepols, 2006).
2. B. Neil and P. Allen, eds., The Life of Maximus the Confessor – Recension 3, Early Christian Studies 6 (Sydney: St Pauls, 2003).
3. P. Allen and B. Neil, Maximus the Confessor and his Companions: Documents from Exile, Oxford Early Christian Texts (Oxford: OxfordUniversity Press, 2002)
4. P. Allen and B. Neil, eds., Scripta saeculi VII vitam Maximi Confessoris illustrantia, Corpus Christianorum Series Graeca 39 (Turnhout—Leuven: Brepols, 1999).
5. W. Mayer with B. Neil, trans., JohnChrysostom. The Cult of the Saints (New York, St Vladimir's Seminary Press, 2006).
6. B. Neil, Leo the Great, Early Christian Fathers (Routledge, forthcoming 2009).
Journal articles/Contributions to books
1. ‘Towards a Definition of Christian Culture’, in Cambridge History of Christianity 2, eds. A. Casiday and F. Norris (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007, in press).
2. ‘The Political Hagiography of Anastasius Bibliothecarius’, chapter in Text and Transmission in Early Medieval Europe, ed. C. Bishop (Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Press, accepted for publication).
3. ‘Exploring the Limits of Literal Exegesis: Augustine’s reading of Gen 1:26’ Pacifica 19 (2006) 144-155.
4. ‘The Miracles of Saints Cyrus and John: the Greek text and its transmission’, Journal of the Australian Early Medieval Association 2 (2006) 183-93.
5. ‘The Introduction of Old Church Slavonic to the First Bulgarian Empire: the rôle of Cyril and Methodius’, Philomathestatos. Studies in Greek Patristic and Byzantine Texts Presented to Jacques Noret for his Sixty-Fifth Birthday, eds B. Janssens, B. Roosen, and P. Van Deun, Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 137 (Leuven: Peeters, 2004) 455-473.
6. ‘Christians in the Early Centuries’, chapter in Foundations of Christian Faith: an Introduction for Students, eds. D. Casey, G. Hall and A. Hunt (Melbourne: Social Science Press, 2004) 27-37 .
7. "'The Blessed Passion of Holy Love': Maximus the Confessor's Spiritual Psychology", Australian E-Journal of Theology, Issue 2, February 2004, http://dlibrary.acu.edu.au/research/theology/ejournal/aejt_2/bronwen_neil.htm
8. “It is I who am a man, you who are women: Sayings of the Desert Mothers’, WomenChurch. An Australian Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion 35 (2004) 11-15.
9. ‘The Cult of Pope Clement in Ninth-Century Rome’, Ephemerides Liturgicae 117 (2003) 103-113.
10. ‘Rufinus’ translation of the Epistola Clementis ad Jacobum’, Augustinianum 43 (2003) 25-39.
11. ‘The Western Reaction to the Council of Nicaea II’, Journal of Theological Studies NS 51 (2000) 533-552
12. ‘Anastasius Bibliothecarius’ Translations of Two Byzantine Liturgical Commentaries’ Ephemerides Liturgicae 114 (2000) 329-346.
13. ‘The Lives of Pope Martin I and Maximus the Confessor: Some reconsiderations of dating and provenance’, Byzantion68(1998) 91-109.
Published contributions to academic conferences
1. ‘Commemorating Pope Martin 1: his trial in Constantinople’, Studia Patristica 39 (2006) 77-82.
2. ‘Narrating the Trials and Deaths of Martin I and Maximus the Confessor’, in Byzantine Narrative: Papers in Honour of Roger Scott, ed. John Burke Byzantina Australiensia 16 (Canberra: Australian Association for Byzantine Studies, 2006) 71-83.
3. ‘On True Humility: An Anonymous Letter on Poverty and the Female Ascetic’, Prayer and Spirituality in the Early Church 4: The Spiritual Life, eds. W. Mayer, P. Allen and L. Cross (Strathfield: St Pauls, 2006) 233-246.
4. ‘Two Views on Vice and Virtue: Augustine of Hippo and Maximus the Confessor’, Prayer and Spirituality in the Early Church 3: Liturgy and Life, proceedings of the international conference Prayer and Spirituality, Melbourne,10-14 July 2002, eds. Bronwen Neil, Geoffrey D. Dunn and Lawrence Cross (Strathfield: St Pauls, 2003) 261-271.
5. ‘The Greek Life of Maximus the Confessor (BHG 1234) and its Three Recensions’, Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Conference on Patristic Studies held in Oxford 1999, Studia Patristica 36 (2001) 46-53.
Educational Background
2001-2005 Australian Research Council Postdoctoral Fellow
1992-1999 Doctor of Philosophy, School of Religion and Philosophy, Australian Catholic University
1997-1998 Master of Arts in Theological Research (Distinction), University of Durham, UK
1991 BA First Class Honours (Latin), Classics, University of Queensland
1989 BA (Linguistics), University of Queensland
News
Conference convenors at the AEMA's fifth annual conference, "Welcoming the Stranger in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages", which will be held from 1-3 October 2008 at the Sebel Conference Suites, Charlotte Street, Brisbane, hosted by the Australian Catholic University.
Recent appointment to Burke Lectureship in Ecclesiastical Latin, McAuley Campus, ACU (2005-2009).
Recent election as President of the Australian Byzantine Studies Association (2008- )
Recent appointment to the editorial board of Early Christian Studies, a monograph series published by St Pauls, Sydney.
Links
Publications in Australian E-Journal of Theology:
Issue 2, February 2004
Issue 3, August 2004
I am currently editing the West Pacific Rim Patristics Society e-newsletter (three times a year), link to newsletter on website. If you would like to subscribe, please email me.