About
Abraham Wu is a Canada Postdoctoral Research Fellow (funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada) in the Department of Ancient Mediterranean and Near Eastern Studies at UBC. His research interests span ancient and late antique Roman philosophy, early Christianity, and contemporary philosophical and religious ethics.
Born and raised in Vancouver, Canada, Abraham completed degrees at Simon Fraser University (BA, economics and political science), Regent College (M.Div), and the University of Cambridge (PhD) before arriving at UBC in the fall of 2025.
Research
Research Interests
- Augustine and Augustinianisms
- Ancient Roman Philosophy
- The Reception of Ancient Philosophy in Early Christianity
- Moral Psychology, Ancient and Modern
- Comparative Philosophical and Religious Ethics
Research Areas
- Early Christianity
- Reception
- Philosophy
- Culture and Identity
- Religions
Projects
My current book project, Augustine and the Limits of Memory, explores Augustine of Hippo’s account of memory and its significance for knotty contemporary debates concerning memory in philosophical and religious ethics.
At UBC, I am also starting a new project (tentatively titled Conscience after Babel) which explores late antique Roman philosophical accounts of conscience as resources for enriching contemporary reflection on conscientious disagreement, public reasoning, and responsible citizenship.
Publications
Peer-Reviewed Articles and Contributions
– Quid si falleris? Si enim fallor, sum: Augustine’s Account of Self-Deception and its Reception’, Studia Patristica [forthcoming]
– ‘Attending to our Conversation Partners: Attention as a Framework for Interreligious Dialogue, Tolerance, and Friendship’, in Christoph Schwöbel: Theology in Conversation, edited by Judith Wolfe and Margaret McKerron, Theologische Bibliothek Töpelmann (De Gruyter, 2025), pp. 179-194.
– ‘The Dynamics of Interiority and its Moral Significance in Augustine and Iris Murdoch’, Studies in Christian Ethics 37:4 (2024), pp. 890-909: https://doi.org/10.1177/09539468241285764.
– ‘The “End” of Memory: Memory, the Porous Self, and the Communion of Saints in Augustine’s Confessions’, International Journal of Systematic Theology 26:3 (2024), pp. 251-273: https://doi.org/10.1111/ijst.12680 [*Winner of the Colin Gunton/John Webster Memorial Essay Prize from the Society for the Study of Theology*]
Recent Presentations
– ‘From the Inner Sanctum to the Res Publica: Augustinian Conscience and Public Reasoning’, Augustine and Augustinianisms Unit, Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion, November 2025 (forthcoming).
– ‘Within and Without: Revelation and Reason in Late Antique Accounts of Conscience’, Religion and Philosophy in Antiquity Unit, Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature, November 2025 (forthcoming).
– ‘“A people without history is not redeemed from time”: Remorseful Recollection and the Ethics of Tragedy’, Ethics Unit, Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion, November 2024.
– ‘Oneri mihi sum: Augustinian Memory, the Wounds of Time, and Human Flourishing’, League of European Research Universities (LERU): Theology and Religious Studies Seminar, September 2024.
– ‘Quid si falleris? Si enim fallor, sum: Augustine’s Account of Self-Deception and its Theological Reception’, 19th International Conference on Patristics Studies, University of Oxford, August 2024.
– ‘Self-Deception and the Art of Fantasy in Iris Murdoch’s The Sea, the Sea’, Iris Murdoch: Literature and Philosophy in Conversation, University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, April 2024.
– ‘Timing Transformation: Habituated Sin, Memory, and the Temporal Conditions of Human Flourishing’, Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Theology, April 2024.
– ‘“What do I love when I love my God?”: Augustinian Memory, Use, and Pilgrimage as Resources for Ecotheology’, Augustine and Augustinianisms Unit, Annual Meeting of the American Academy of Religion, November 2023.
Awards
Selected Awards/Grants
– Canada Postdoctoral Research Award Fellowship, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), awarded 2025.
– Winner of the Colin Gunton/John Webster Memorial Essay Prize [*published in the International Journal of Systematic Theology*], awarded 2023.
– Trinity Studentship in Theology, University of Cambridge (Trinity College), awarded 2022.
– Doctoral Fellowship Award, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, awarded 2022.
– Board of Governor’s Prize for Proficiency in the MDiv Program, Regent College, awarded 2021.
– The New Testament Prize, Regent College, awarded 2021.