Dr. Matthew John Paul Tan is Dean of Studies at Vianney College Seminary, the Wagga Wagga campus of the Catholic Institute of Sydney. He is also an Adjunct Senior Lecturer in Theology at the University of Notre Dame Australia. He received his Doctorate in Theology from the Australian Catholic University, and his License in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome. His research output has covered political theology, theology and entertainment, and theology and postmodern culture, which has appeared in both scholarly journal and book form, as well as in a number of Australian and international popular outlets like ethos, Humanum Review and Church Life Journal. He blogs at Awkward Asian Theologian and co-hosts the podcast Awkward Asian Theologians.
Qualifications
Licence in Theology (Pontifical University of St Thomas Aquinas) – 2011
PhD (Australian Catholic University) , Bodies of Christ in Seas of Change: the Relationship Between Ecclesiology, Politics and Practice in the Conditioning of Twentieth Century Roman Catholic Responses to Violence – 2010
BASHons (University of Queensland) – 2004
BA/LLB (University of Queensland) – 2003
Field of Research
TheologyBooks
-
2026
- Tan, M. (2026). A Theological Engagement with Pornography. Routledge. | External link
-
2016
- Tan, M. (2016). Redeeming Flesh: The Way of the Cross with Zombie Jesus. Cascade. | External link
-
2014
- Tan, M. (2014). 3. Justice, Unity & the Hidden Christ: The Theopolitics of the Social Justice Approach to Ecumenism in Vatican II. Pickwick. | External link
Book Chapters
-
2023
- Tan, M. (2023). The Net & the Pneumatic Body of Christ In Wagner, K.; McGregor, P. J. & Naumann, M. I., Pneumatology at the Beginning of the Third Millennium (pp. 331-343). Pickwick.
-
2021
- Tan, M. (2021). Revelation and Politics In Mezei, B.M.; Murphy, F.A. & Oakes, K.R., The Oxford Handbook of Divine Revelation (pp. ). Oxford University Press.
-
2020
- Tan, M. (2020). Christ in Hyperreality: Cultural Marxism, Kulturkritik & Fake News In Gourlay, T.V. & Matthys, D., 1968: Culture & Counterculture - A Catholic Critique (pp. 103-115). Pickwick.
-
2017
- Tan, M. (2017). Marian Epistemology In Wagner, K.; Naumann, M.I.; McGregor, P.J. & Morrissey, P., Mariology at the Beginning of the Third Millennium (pp. 194-208). Cascade.
- Tan, M. (2017). The Love of Many Lands: Theology, Multiplicity & Migrant Identity In Budde, M., Scattered and Gathered: Catholics in Diaspora (pp. 96-111). Cascade.
- Tan, M. (2017). Bobblehead Church: The Ecclesiological Effects of Catholic Online Celebrity In Bosch, M. D.; Soukup, P.; Sans, J.L.M. & Zsupan-Jerome D., Authority and Leadership: Values, Religion and Media (pp. 69-77). Blanquerna Observatory.
-
2016
- Tan, M. (2016). Sarah Coakley and the Prayers of the Digital Body of Christ In McCrandal, J., Sarah Coakley and the Future of Systematic Theology (pp. 159-186). Fortress.
-
2015
- Tan, M. & Hodge, J. (2015). Conversion in Dexter In Cowdell, S.; Fleming, C. & Hodge, J., Mimesis, Movies and Media: Violence, Desire and the Sacred (pp. 201-210). Bloomsbury.
Journal Articles
-
2024
- Tan, M. (2024). Loss in Light of the Last Things: Christianity, Eschatology & Grief in Inside Out. Religions, 15(8) 897.
- Tan, M. (2024). The Liturgical Transformation of Political Community. Political Theology, 25(4) 320-337.
-
2021
- Tan, M. (2021). Towards a Kenotic Identity Politics: Migration, Transformation & the Eucharist. Religions, 12(6) 380-386.
-
2020
- Tan, M. (2020). Being Someplace Else: the Theological Virtues in the Anime of Makoto Shinkai. Religions, 11(3) 109-116.
- Tan, M. (2020). Pornography and Christology. Australasian Catholic Review, 97.3 312-319.
-
2015
- Tan, M. (2015). Faith in the Church of Facebook. Journal of Moral Theology, 4:1 25-36. | External link
-
2014
- Tan, M. (2014). Christian Prayer as Political Theory. Politics, Religion & Ideology, 15:3 366-379.
-
2013
- Tan, M. (2013). Abortion in/as a Consumer Structure. Solidarity: the Journal of Catholic Social Thought and Secular Ethics, 4:1:7. | External link
-
2012
- Tan, M & Tyson, P. (2012). Ecological Disaster and Jacques Ellul’s Theological Vision. Solidarity: the Journal of Catholic Social Thought and Secular Ethics, 2:1:3. | External link
- Tan, M. (2012). Reason, Politics and Evanelization. Heythrop Journal, 53:3 567-578.
If you’d like to contact Matthew, you can use the form below.
If you’d like a reply, please include your return email address in the box provided.