Zak Gram

Zakarias received his B.A. in Classical Studies from Brigham Young University (2019, cum laude) and his M.Phil. in Classics, specializing in Ancient Philosophy, from the University of Cambridge (2020, pass with distinction). His primary interest lies in the intersections between the Greek philosophical tradition and early Christian writings. His dissertation analyzes the similarities in methodology, purpose, and audience of Proclus’ Commentary on Plato’s Timaeus and Origen’s Commentary on John, which sheds light on how scholars in late antiquity dealt with the authoritative texts in their traditions. In other research on the reliance of early Christians on their non-Christian philosophical education, Zakarias has written about the use of the moral concept propatheia (inherited from the Stoic tradition) in Didymus the Blind’s Commentary on the Psalms, and on Gregory of Nyssa who similarly imports philosophical terminology and concepts from Porphyry’s Isagoge in his treatise defending the trinity, Ad Ablabium. His other research interests include papyrology, digital humanities (in particular 3D modelling), and women philosophers in ancient Greece and Rome.