Dr. Lewis Ayres, a lay Catholic theologian, husband, and father of four, is currently the Bede Professor of Catholic Theology at Durham University in the United Kingdom. As holder of the Bede Chair, he is the figurehead for the newly established Durham Centre for Catholic Studies and is also involved in a wide range of outreach activities for the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle.
Dr. Ayres also maintains his position as Associate Professor of Historical Theology at the Candler School of Theology at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, from which he is on a temporary leave of absence.
The Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada (ATS) and The Henry Luce Foundation, Inc. named Lewis Ayres one of seven Henry Luce III Fellows in Theology for 2007-2008.

Biography

Lewis Ayres was born and educated in the UK, completing his M.A. at the University St. Andrews (1988) and his D.Phil. at Merton College, Oxford University (1994) under the direction of Rowan Williams

Rowan Williams

Rowan Douglas Williams FRSL, FBA, FLSW is an Anglican bishop, poet and theologian. He is the 104th and current Archbishop of Canterbury, Metropolitan of the Province of Canterbury and Primate of All England, offices he has held since early 2003.Williams was previously Bishop of Monmouth and...

, now Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury

Archbishop of Canterbury

The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...

. He has taught in the UK, in Ireland at Trinity College Dublin and most recently in the United States at Duke University and Emory University. He is married to Medi Volpe, a Catholic theologian whom many consider to be the brains of the household. Professor Ayres is also known far and wide for his expertise in the art of barbecuing, being one of only two confirmed owners of The Big Green Egg

The Big Green Egg

The Big Green Egg is the brand name of a kamado-style ceramic charcoal cooker.-History:The Big Green Egg is commonly referred to as a kamado barbecue because of the origins of the basic design that lie in southern Japan....

 in all of the United Kingdom.

Research

The core of his research has been Trinitarian theology in Augustine and in the Greek writers of the 4th century. On this theme he has published a number of articles and Nicaea and Its Legacy: An Approach to Fourth Century Trinitarian Theology (Oxford, 2004/6). Forthcoming from Cambridge is Augustine and the Trinity (2010). His next monograph in this area will be a study of Greek and Latin pneumatology between 350 and 400. He has also edited or co-edited a number of books in this area, including (with Andrew Louth and Frances Young) the Cambridge History of Early Christian Literature (2004). Besides Trinitarian theology in this pivotal period he is also interested in the later development of Trinitarian theology and in the place of Scripture in Early Christianity – both the history of Christian reading practices from the late 2nd century and the history of what can be termed the theology of Scripture itself. He also has a number of interests in modern Catholic fundamental and dogmatic theology – as will be evident from the last chapter of Nicaea and some of the articles he has published. He is interested in the modern reception of Patristic Trinitarian theology and in the modern use of post-idealist themes in the supposed "revivals" of Trinitarian theology that we have seen over the last two centuries. He also has a strong interest in the place of Scripture (and Tradition) in modern Catholic theology and the fundamental structure of Catholic theology. He is convinced that the ideological and professional divisions that have arisen between Scripture scholars, "systematic" and "historical" theologians have served Catholic theology ill. He believes that ressourcement theologians have offered us many resources that can move us beyond these divisions, but much further work is necessary for their agenda to be taken forward. In the hopes of contributing to this debate he is currently working slowly on a book for Blackwells entitled The Practice of Christian Doctrine: A Catholic Essay. With his wife (Medi Ann Volpe) he is also co-editing the Oxford Handbook of Catholic Theology (hopefully forthcoming in 2011). He is involved in co-editing a number of book series, including the Blackwells series Challenges in Contemporary Theology. He also serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Early Christian Studies and Modern Theology.

Collaboration with Michel Barnes

Together with Michel Barnes

Michel René Barnes

Dr. Michel René Barnes is Associate Professor of Historical Theology at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He focuses on Latin and Greek Patristic Theology, in particular, Gregory of Nyssa, Augustine of Hippo, and pneumatological development in the early church.-Biography:Michel Barnes...

, Associate Professor of Theology at Marquette University, and Rowan Williams

Rowan Williams

Rowan Douglas Williams FRSL, FBA, FLSW is an Anglican bishop, poet and theologian. He is the 104th and current Archbishop of Canterbury, Metropolitan of the Province of Canterbury and Primate of All England, offices he has held since early 2003.Williams was previously Bishop of Monmouth and...

, Ayres is part of a rereading of Augustine's trinitarian theology that breaks with the older neoplatonic-centered account. This new reading is referred to as "New Canon" Augustine scholarship. The basis of the New Canon reading of Augustine was worked out in the years 1995-2000, during which Ayres and Barnes conducted an almost daily common reading and discussion, via e-mail, of Augustine's trinitarian writings.