Biography
Dr. Christopher Veniamin was born and raised in London, England, of Greek Cypriot parents. A love for the Church and a desire to learn more about the Orthodox faith came as a direct result of growing up in the spiritual climate of the Holy Patriarchal and Stavropegic Monastery of St. John the Baptist (Tolleshunt Knights, Essex, England), founded by his spiritual father, Archimandrite Sophrony Sakharov.
His formal training in theology began at the School of Theology in the University of Thessalonica (Greece). Following the successful completion of his studies in Thessalonica, he undertook doctoral studies at Pembroke College, Oxford, under the aegis of the Most Rev. Dr. Kallistos T. Ware, Metropolitan of Diokleia. His thesis, The Transfiguration of Christ in Greek Patristic Literature: From Irenaeus of Lyons to Gregory Palamas, was a diachronic study of the meaning of the Transfiguration in patristic theology. He was also a founding member and the first president of the Patristic and Byzantine Society, based at Oxford.
Dr. Veniamin is also a keen cantor and holds the four-year Degree in Byzantine Music from the celebrated School of Greek Ecclesiastical Music in Thessalonica.
Dr. Veniamin has been a resident faculty member of St. Tikhon's since Fall 1994, offering courses in Patristic Theology, and has served as Chair of the Faculty Development Committee and as Faculty Representative to the Library Committee.
He has most recently edited and translated the homilies of Saint Gregory Palamas, for which he also wrote the introduction and detailed notes. Forthcoming publications include a reworked version of his doctoral dissertation, and a study on St. Augustine and the Patristic Tradition.
During its October 2005 meeting, the Board of Trustees of St. Tikhon's Seminary voted unanimously to promote Dr. Veniamin to the rank of full Professor of Patristics, in recognition of his outstanding service to the Seminary for the past eleven years and his distinguished record of teaching, research, and publication.
