Maureen Tilley (1948–2016) was

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

Early Christian Early Christianity, otherwise called the Early Church or Paleo-Christianity, describes the historical era of the Christian religion up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325. Christianity spread from the Levant, across the Roman Empire, and be ...

History History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

in the

Theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

Department of

Fordham University Fordham University is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in New York City, United States. Established in 1841, it is named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its origina ...

. She was an expert on

Augustine of Hippo Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced the development of Western philosop ...

, martyrdom, women in late antiquity, scripture, and

Donatism Donatism was a schism from the Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Carthage from the fourth to the sixth centuries. Donatists argued that Christianity, Christian clergy must be faultless for their ministry to be effective and their prayers and ...

. She was known as one of the world's most accomplished scholars of Christianity in North Africa.

Education

Tilley received an undergraduate degree from the

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit university in San Francisco, California, United States. Founded in 1855, it has nearly 9,000 students pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees ...

. She completed her doctoral studies under Elizabeth A. Clark at

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

in 1989. Her PhD thesis was ''The Use of Scripture in Christian North Africa: An Examination of Donatist Hermeneutics.''

Research and career

Tilley took her position at Fordham University in 2006. She had previously held positions at

Florida State University Florida State University (FSU or Florida State) is a Public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preeminent university in the s ...

(1989–1998) and the

University of Dayton The University of Dayton (UD) is a Private university, private, Catholic research university in Dayton, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1850 by the Society of Mary (Marianists), Society of Mary, it is one of three Marianist universities in the U ...

(1998–2006). In 2011, she was as the Thomas F. Martin St. Augustine Fellow at

Villanova University Villanova University is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded by the Order of Saint Augustine in 1842 and named after Thomas of Villanova, Saint Thom ...

. In the same year she was promoted to full professor. Tilley published more than 70 articles and an influential monograph, ''The Bible in Christian North Africa'' (1997). She also published two books of translations (''Donatist Martyr Stories'' and ''The Donatist Controversy'') and co-edited a volume of essays with Susan A. Ross. Tilley was President of the North American Patristics Society (2005–6), the fifth woman to lead the Society, following Clark,

Patricia Cox Miller Patricia Cox Miller is an American religion academic. She is the (Bishop) W. Earl Ledden Professor Emerita of Religion at Syracuse University. She researches religious imagination in late antiquity, religion and aesthetics in late antiquity, early ...

Susan Ashbrook Harvey Susan Ashbrook Harvey (born 1953) is the Royce Family Professor of Teaching Excellence and the Willard Prescott and Annie McClelland Smith Professor of History and Religion at Brown University. She specializes in late antique and Byzantine Chri ...

, J. Rebecca Lyman. According to Tilley's colleague, Professor of Theology Elizabeth Johnson, Tilley was part of the first generation of women scholars who brought a contemporary perspective to issues of systematic theology.

Death and reception

Tilley died at the age of 66 on 3 April 2016. She had pancreatic cancer. In honour of Tilley, the volume ''Colours and Textures of Roman North Africa: Essays in Memory of Maureen A. Tilley'' was published by the Catholic University of America Press in 2023, edited by Elizabeth A. Clark and Zachary B. Smith.

Bibliography

* 'The Ascetic Body and the (Un)Making of the World of the Martyr', ''Journal of the American Academy of Religion'', Volume LIX, Issue 3, Fall 1991, 467–480 * ''Donatist Martyr Stories (Translated Texts for Historians)'' (1996) * ''The Bible in Christian North Africa. The Donatist World'' (Fortress Press, 1997) * (co-edited with Susan A. Ross) ''Broken and Whole. Essays on Religion and the Body'' (1995) * ''The Donatist Controversy. The Works of Saint Augustine, a Translation for the 21st Century'' (Augustinian Heritage Institute, 2019)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tilley, Maureen Women classical scholars Duke University alumni 1948 births 2016 deaths 20th-century theologians Historians of the United States Patristic scholars