Tarmo Toom

Tarmo Toom is a leading scholar in patristics and hermeneutics, currently serving as a Visiting Research Fellow (0.25-0.50 positions) at the University of Tartu (Faculty of Arts and Humanities, School of Theology and Religious Studies) from 2024 to 2026. Previously, he was an Associate Professor of Patristics (2022–2024), Research Fellow in Patristics (2022), and held faculty roles at Georgetown University (2019–2022) and The Catholic University of America (2008–2015). He has also served as an Acting Academic Dean (2008) and Fulbright Scholarship Coach (2016–2022).

Education:

• PhD (2001) in Patristics from The Catholic University of America, supervised by Robin Darling Young
• Master of Divinity (1995) from Richmond Baptist Seminary
• International Baptist Seminary in Rüschlikon, Switzerland (1992–1994)

Research Interests: Toom specializes in patristic philosophy of language and hermeneutics, particularly Augustine’s works. His studies span ancient creeds, Trinitarian theology, Constantine’s legacy, and patristic commentaries on Scripture. He explores how early Christian thinkers like Tyconius, Junillus, and Cassiodorus shaped exegetical traditions and ecclesiological frameworks.

Publications & Projects: His recent works focus on patristic biblical interpretation, including analyses of Augustine’s De doctrina Christiana, Junillus’ Instituta, and Tyconius’ Liber regularum. He led the project Patristic Introductions to the Bible (2022–2024, €118,920 funding) and serves as a Section Editor for the Brill Encyclopedia of Early Christianity (2015–).

Academic Service: Toom has been an anonymous reviewer for Cambridge University Press and Brill (2015–), editorial board member of Usuteaduslik Ajakiri (2008–), and a regular contributor to Reviews in Religion and Theology (2007–).