January 31, 2013 R.R. Reno: "Catholic Theology after Karl Rahner"

An honorary lecture was given on Jan. 31, 2013 by Dr. R. R. Reno on "Catholic Theology after Karl Rahner" at the Dominican House of Studies.  Dr. Reno, the editor of First Things Magazine, spoke about the effects that the theology of Karl Rahner had on the Church after the Second Vatican Council.

Reno spoke about the tremendous influence that Rahner had soon after the Council. This was because he retained the more traditional and more familiar form of doing theology, which was based on the scholastic method. However, Rahner changed the matter, or content, of theology in an effort to draw in the contemporary culture. By introducing new terms and ideas, Rahner ended up falling short of his goal and actually caused more problems in the end, Reno articulated.

The lecture, given to one of the largest crowds that the Thomistic Circles has ever seen, was both well delivered and deeply insightful.

October 5-6, 2012 Fall Thomistic Circles Conference: "Jesus Christ, True God and True Man: The Promise of Chalcedonian Christology"

 

"Jesus Christ, True God and True Man:

The Promise of Chalcedonian Christology"

Fall Thomistic Circles Conference, Fri. and Sat., October 5-6, 2012

On Friday and Saturday, October 5-6, 2012, the Thomistic Institute hosted a theological symposium on Chalcedonian Christology.  In 451 A.D. the Council of Chalcedon affirmed the article of faith that is central to traditional Christology. Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, truly God by virtue of his divinity, truly human by virtue of his humanity. Thus the Word incarnate is one person existing in two natures. This doctrine is essential to Christianity, but it has also been at the center of a great deal of controversy and dispute in modernity.  This symposium gathered together experts in patristic, medieval and modern theology to study the perennial truth of this core doctrine of the faith.

The following papers were delivered:  

Dr. Khaled Anatolios “The Soteriological Grammar of Conciliar Christology.” 

Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P.  “The Promise of Chalcedonian Christology for the Poor.” 

Dr. Corey Barnes “Aquinas's Chalcedonian Christology and its Reception.”

Fr. Brian E. Daley, S.J. “Unpacking the Chalcedonian Formula: from Studied Ambiguity to Saving Mystery.” 

Dr. Boyd Taylor Coolman “‘The Sum Total of our Faith: To Know Christ in the Father, Christ in the Flesh, and Christ in the Participation of the Altar’ (Baldwin of Ford): Insights from High Medieval Christology.”

Dr. Bruce D. Marshall “The Grammar of the Two Natures.”

In response to the papers, panel discussions were led by Dr. James F. Keating, Dr. Michael Root and Fr. Thomas Joseph White, O.P.

April 14, 2012 Spring Thomistic Circles: "Creation and Modern Science."

Spring Thomistic Circles 2012:

Creation and Modern Science

On Saturday, April 14, 2012, the Thomistic Institute hosted its Spring Thomistic circles conference.  This conference focused on issues concerning the intersection between modern science and theological accounts of creation.  Speakers included William E. Carroll (Blackfriars, Oxford), Nicanor Austriaco, O.P. (Providence College) and Edward Feser (Pasadena City College). 

The following synopsis of the conference was composed by Bro. Raymund Synder, O.P.

"On Saturday, April 14th the Thomistic institute hosted a conference on "Creation and Modern Science".  The three speakers both clarified the terms of and entered into some of the hottest topics of debate concerning physics, creation, evolution, human origins, original sin, human thought and neuroscience.

William Carroll delivered an enlightening paper that offered a Thomistic response to the contemporary debates concerning physics and creation.  Carroll argued that since the natural sciences are only concerned with change, it is the concern of metaphysics to indicate the necessity of a creator.  Cosmology can point to the need for an origin of motion, but one can only arrive at a radical foundation for existence (i.e. creation) through arguments that are properly metaphysical.  He proposed that it is a mistake to use arguments from the natural sciences to deny creation (as do Stephen Hawking and Lawrence Krauss) but it is also a mistake to use arguments from the natural sciences to argue for creation (as do Robert Spitzer and William Craig).

Fr. Nicanor Austriaco, O.P. gave a lively presentation that attempted to show the harmony of magisterial teaching and recent developments in human genomics.   All human beings may have descended from a small population in Africa that survived after the eruption of a supervolcano in Indonesia.  Fr. Austriaco argued that it is not inconsistent with faith to suppose that God directly infused such a group with rational souls and grace but that this same population quickly fell into sin.

Edward Feser offered an informative paper outlining several different arguments to show that human thought is not explainable simply in terms of material processes.  He opened with some arguments from neo-scholastic authors but focused on an argument from Sir David Ross based on the determinacy of formal thinking.  Feser was careful to note that thought has both material and immaterial aspects.  To acknowledge the material aspects of thought (e.g. the use of a mental image as formed by the brain) is not a desperate concession to modern science, but an unsurprising consequence of hylomorphism."

*If you are interested in receiving email updates about programming offered by the Thomistic Institute, please email: infoti@dhs.edu. 

January 26, 2012 Russell Hittinger: Modern Thomism on the Social Character of Human Existence

                                 Prof. Russell Hittinger

 Can You be the Imago Dei on Your Own?
Modern Thomism on the Social Character of Human Existence

On January 26, 2012, Professor Russell Hittinger gave a lecture sponsored by the Thomistic Institute titled, "Can You be the Imago Dei on Your Own?  Modern Thomism on the Social Character of Human Existence."  Dr. Hittinger spoke on the social implications of St. Thomas' theory of Deification in grace, focusing on the two-fold division of charity, arguing that perfection in the Divine image necessarily connects us to both God and neighbor.  Dr. Hittenger explained the social and cultural ramifications of this teaching. 

Dr. F. Russell Hittinger is the Warren Professor of Catholic Studies in the Department of Philosophy and Religion at the University of Tulsa, where his research is focused on the intersection of philosophy, law, and theology. He holds advanced degrees from the University of Notre Dame and St. Louis University. Dr. Hittinger has the unique distinction of being one of only two people in the world appointed to multiple Pontifical Academies: the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.

A prolific scholar, Dr. Hittinger is the author of numerous books and articles including: The First Grace: Rediscovering the Natural Law in a Post-Christian World and A Critique of the New Natural Law Theory. His newest book, Paper Wars: Catholic Social Doctrine and the Modern State (forthcoming from Yale University Press) examines the development of Catholic social theory and doctrine during the 19th and 20th centuries.

*If you are interested in receiving email updates about programming offered by the Thomistic Institute, please email: infoti@dhs.edu.

December 1, 2011 Jean Bethke Elshtain: Augustine on Modern Culture

Prof. Jean Bethke Elshtain

Christian Realism:

Augustinian Reflections on Modern Public Culture

On December 1, 2011, Professor Jean Bethke Elshtain of the University of Chicago gave an honorary lecture hosted by the Thomistic Institute.  Her lecture was titled, "Christian Realism: Augustinian Reflections on Modern Public Culture." In the City of God, St. Augustine famously proposed the heavenly city as the model for the political goals and social governance of the Earthly City.  Professor Elshtain spoke about the relevance of St. Augustine's political theory even in a contemporary secular society, and sought to defend Augustine from those modern scholars who would list him as one of the originators of political realism in the West, a precursor to Hobbes, Hume and even Machiavelli.  Elshtain believes that this is made possible by a deeper reading of certain features of St. Augustine's Christian theology, such as the concept of Charity.

Professor Elshtain has has been a leading American intellectual for decades, and has consistently made insightful contributions at the intersections between theology, culture and anthropology.  She is the author of numerous books, including Augustine and the Limits of Politics (Notre Dame, 1996). She has also written over five hundred articles and has lectured extensively in the United States and internationally.  Dr. Elshtain has been a Fellow at Princeton's Institute for Advanced Study, and has served on the Council of the National Endowment of the Humanities at the request of President George W. Bush.  Jean Bethke Elshtain is currently the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Professor of Social and Political Ethics in the Divinity School, University of Chicago. 

To see pictures from the event, click here.