Dennis Quinn was recently published in the anthology “Suffering and Evil in Early Christian Thought,” the fourth book in the Holy Cross Studies in Patristic Theology and History series.

His essay, “The Enemies of God,” focuses on the Christian intellectual Lactantius and how his experience of the Great Persecutions formed his view of demons and God.

“Lactantius believed that the pagan rulers of the Roman Empire were being ruled by demons, particularly the persecuting emperors like Diocletian,” he says. “He saw Constantine as the savior of the empire, with God on his side. This parallels his cosmic view of the fall of the angels and Christ’s power to bring God’s peace back to the earth.”

The interim associate dean in the College of Education & Integrative Studies presented his topic at the Third Annual Conference of the Pappas Patristic Institute in 2006—ten years ago—and was originally told that the book would follow soon after. After a few bumps in the road, he received proofs last year and knew that the book was forthcoming.

“I was pleased to see such an excellent finished product with so many highly respected scholars,” Quinn says. “We had a few different editors and my paper went through a few incarnations. I am honored and humbled to have my paper included in this really fascinating and timely collection of essays.”

The volume is published by Baker Academic through a partnership with the Pappas Patristic Institute of Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology.