Durheim, Benjamin

Visiting Assistant Professor

B.A., College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University, 2007
M.A., Saint John's School of Theology and Seminary, 2009
Ph.D., Boston College, 2014


Email: [email protected] 
Areas of Teaching and Research
  • Liturgical and Sacramental Theology
  • Social Ethics and Christian Worship
  • Sytematics 
  • Ecumenism 
  • Philosophical Theology 
Biography
  • Benjamin Durheim is a visiting assistant professor of theology at the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University in Minnesota, where he teaches courses in liturgical and sacramental theology, ethics, and systematics. Ben's publishing has centered on the intersection between liturgy and ethics, including his book Christ's Gift, Our Response (Liturgical Press). Ben has also published articles on ecumenism, liturgical and sacramental practice, and social ethics. He lives in Avon, MN with his wife Tara, daughter Aria, and son Kaj. When not teaching or writing, Ben enjoys woodworking, fishing, and good conversation over freshly made lefse. 
Publications
Books: 
  • Christ's Gift, Our Response. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2015. 
Peer-Reviewed Articles
  • “Symbolized Reality: Liturgy and Tabletop Roleplaying Games." Forthcoming in Liturgy. 
  • "Epicletic Advance? Viewing Eucharistic Fellowship Through Critical Relaism and the Epiclesis." Proceedings of North American Academy of Liturgy (2020). 87-101
  • "Converting Consumerism: A liturgical-Ethical Application of Critical Realism." Religions 10.5 (May 2019). 1-13.
  • "Just Liturgy: Connecting Theological Ethics and Liturgical Practice.”  Proceedings of the North American Academy of Liturgy (2018). 79-93.
  • "Bridging the Divide: Connecting Liturgy and Ethics in an Era of Polorization." Worship 91.5 (September 2017). 435-449.
  • "Divinizing the Community: Implications for Luther's Social Ethics for the Finnish School of Luther Interpretation." Currents in Theology and Mission 43.1 (2016)
  • "Tactical Ecumenism." Theological Studies 76.2 (June 2015): 311-329 (Written with David Turnbllom) 
  • "Having Patience with the Practice: A Response to Michael Tuck Regarding Communion Without Baptism." Worship 87.3 (May 2013). 212-225. (Written with David Turnbloom)
  • "The Possibility of Eucharistic Sharing: An Application of John Zizioulas's Theology." Worship 85:4 (July 2011). 290-305.
Other Published Works
  • Essential Ethics: Theory and Practice. Forthcoming as an online, open-access textbook and D2L Brightspace shell for Saint Cloud Technical Community College. Written with Robert Kaptizke and George Backen. 
  • Review of Brett Salkeld, Transubstantiation: Theology, History, and Christian Unity (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 2019). Forthcoming in Worship. 
  • Review of Timothy Gabrielli, One in Christ: Virgil Michel, Louis-Marie Chauvet, and Mystical Body Theology (Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2017). Forthcoming in Woriship. 
  • Various posts for the blog Daily Theology (https://dailytheology.org/). 2016-2020. 
  • "Lessons on the Reformation: Faith and Certainty." Abbey Banner (Spring 2017): 14-15. 
  • Review of Merold Westphal, Kierkegaard as a Christian Thinker (Grand Rapids. MI: Eerdmans, 2014). Theological Studies 76 (September 2015): 603-605.
  • "Kierkegaard as Evangelist and Ethicist." Lutheran Forum 47:3 (Fall 2013). 60-63.
  • "Liturgy in the 21st Century." In Kevin J. Ahern, ed., Visions of Hope: Emerging Theologians and the Future of the Church. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis 2013. 21-25. 
  • "The Human as Encounter: Karl Barth's Theological Anthropology and Barthian Vision of the Common Good." Lumen et Vita 1:1 (2011), Boston College School of Theology and Ministry. 
  • "Symbolic Exchange and the Gift: Louis-Marie Chauvet and Jacques Derrida in Dialogue." Obsculta 4 (2011). SaintJohn's School of Theology and Seminary. 
  • "All the World is Church: The Christian Call in Henri de Lubac." Obsculta 2 (2009): 38-42. Saint John's School of Theology and Seminary. 
Research Presentations
  • “Labor and Liturgy: Virgil Michel and a Liturgical Theology of Meaningful Work.” Paper presented at the 75th Annual Convention of the Catholic Theological Society of America, online, June 2021. 
  • “Epicletic Advance? Viewing Eucharistic Fellowship Through Critical Realism and the Epiclesis.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the North American Academy of Liturgy, Atlanta, GA, January 2020. 
  • “Crafting Justice: Worship and a Spirituality of Engaging.”  Keynote Address at the Fall Theological Conference of the Southwestern Minnesota Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.  Alexandria, MN, 2018. 
  • “Salted Ground? Toward Newly Appropriating the Benediction Fusion of Liturgy and Justice.” Paper presented at the 73rd Annual Convention of the Catholic Theological Society of America, Indianapolis, IN, 2018. 
  • “The Curse of Certainty: Ritual, Ethics, and Epistemological Entrenchment.” Paper presented at the 64th Annual Convention of the College Theology Society, Saint Paul, MN, 2018. 
  • “Just Liturgy: Connecting Theological Ethics and Liturgical Practice.”  Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the North American Academy of Liturgy, Vancouver, BC, CA, January 2018. 
  • “Millennials and Meaning: A Theological-Anthropological Shift.”  Paper presented at the 63rd Annual Convention of the College Theology Society, Newport, RI, June 2017. 
  • “Works of Worship: Toward Connecting Liturgy and Social Justice in the 21st Century.” Paper presented at the 62nd Annual Convention of the College Theology Society, Kansas City, MO, June 2016. 
  • “Bridging the Divide: Liturgy and Ethics in an Era of Polarization.”  Paper presented at the Lutheran Caucus of the Annual Meeting of the North American Academy of Liturgy, Houston, TX, January 2016.  Also given at the Collegeville Institute for Ecumenical and Cultural Research, Collegeville, MN, January 2016. 
  • “Christ, Alien and Native: Drawing Implications from Spivak for Christ Present in Faith.” Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the North American Academy of Liturgy, Minneapolis, MN, January 2015. 
  • “The Virtual Body as Locus of Mediation: Louis-Marie Chauvet Meets Online Gaming.”  Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion, San Diego, CA, November 2014. 
  • “To Speak and to Listen: Louis-Marie Chauvet and the Receptivity of the Christian Liturgical Assembly.”  Paper presented at the 59th Annual Convention of the College Theology Society, Omaha, NE, May 2013.  
  • “The Body and the Self: Is There any Distinction?  A Critique of Louis-Marie Chauvet.”  Paper presented at the Meeting of the Mid-Atlantic Regional American Academy of Religion, Baltimore, MD, March 2013.
  • "Giving Ourselves: Sacrifice in Jewish and Christian Liturgy.”  Paper presented at Engaging Particularities X, Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA, March 2012. 
Special Committees/Organizations
    • North American Academy of Liturgy
    • Catholic Theological Society of America
    • College Theology Society
    • Ecumenical and Interfaith Advisory Board, Diocese of Saint Cloud, MN
    Saint John's School of Theology and Seminary
    • Committee Member, “Pathways to Tomorrow,” A Lilly-funded grant. (2021-Present)
    • Online Learning Faculty Coordinator (2019-Present)
    College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University
    • Participant Researcher, “White Privilege and Theological Pedagogy,” a Wabash-funded grant. (2021-Present)
    • Dialogue Group Facilitator, “Strong Center, Open Door: Benedictine Approaches to Transformative Inclusion,” Becoming Community: Pursuing Transformative Inclusion. (2019-2021)
    • Planning Committee Member, “Here We Stand: Reforming Anew, a commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the symbolic start of the Reformation." (2016-2017)