Brendan A. Baran, O.P.
Primary Area: History of Christianity
Biography
Rev. Brendan A. Baran, O.P. is a priest and a friar of the Order of Preachers (the Dominicans). His scholarly interests focus on patristic theology, especially of the Latin tradition. Within this field he is interested in how the early Christians interpreted pedagogical themes, such as the role of the memory, the metaphysics of Christ as a teacher, and the ecclesiological implications of church as the schola Christi.
Prior to entering the Dominicans, he spent more than a decade teaching history and Latin in secondary schools, earning a Master’s degree in education from Columbia (Teachers College). As part of his formation as a Dominican he studied the theology of Thomas Aquinas and other medieval scholastics. He originates from Alexandria, Virginia.
Research Interests
Patristics, Augustine, Medieval theology, pedagogy, material culture
Representative Publications
“Knocking on the Doors of Scripture: Matthew 7:7c (Par. Luke 11:9c) in Augustine’s Sermones Ad Populum.” Augustinian Studies 54, no. 2 (2023): 203–30. Available Here
“The Bishop as Condiscipulus in Augustine’s Preaching.” Journal of Early Christian Studies 34.1 (Spring 2026): Forthcoming.
Education
- A.B., Brown University
- M.A., Columbia University (Teachers College)
- M.Div., Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception
- S.T.L., Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception