"Wherefore my destiny? Why do I possess such a thirst for eternity?" For Spanish existentialist philosopher, Miguel de Unamuno, awareness of these two fundamentally human questions is to possess a "tragic sense of life." By understanding it, we find the answers to our lives, navigating the conflict between faith and reason, our longing for immortality, and the interplay of faith, hope, and love in the tragicomic nature of life itself.
David Novak, one of the most distinguished Jewish theologians in the world, offers a new interpretation of how the Jewish people and the Jewish tradition talk about God. What does the Torah say about God? How does the God of the Torah talk about Godself? And how does the God of the Torah talk about human beings? The book traces the history and theology of God-talk in Judaism, and how it remains relevant, now more than ever, and speaks directly to contemporary issues such as human rights.
Christian Faith proclaims that we are saved by divine Grace. What is “grace” and how do we experience it? What is special about the Catholic understanding of grace? What major controversies have clarified the understanding of grace? This class will draw on Scripture, short autobiographical accounts, and film to show the transformative power of grace in the lives of men and women such as Paul of Tarsus, Augustine of Hippo, Ignatius of Loyola, Edith Stein, Dorothy Day, and Bernard Nathanson who were enabled by grace to flourish beyond what they could "ask or imagine" .
"Wherefore my destiny? Why do I possess such a thirst for eternity?" For Spanish existentialist philosopher, Miguel de Unamuno, awareness of these two fundamentally human questions is to possess a "tragic sense of life." By understanding it, we find the answers to our lives, navigating the conflict between faith and reason, our longing for immortality, and the interplay of faith, hope, and love in the tragicomic nature of life itself.
One of St. Thomas Aquinas's very last projects was a treatise on angels. With a more historical approach than that of either Summa on the subject, it addresses such topics the immateriality of angels, their origin, their knowledge, and the distinctions among them, including the distinction between the good ones and the bad ones. Along the way, it offers some of Thomas’s most sophisticated discussions of the metaphysics of creation, hylomorphism, and participation.
Take a journey with us through the vibrant streets of New Orleans' French Quarter as we read A Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole's masterpiece of humor and a character study of one of the giants of literature, Ignatius J. Reilly. In this group, we will explore the book's cadre of distinctive characters and Toole's synthesis of New Orleans' contradictory gumbo of vice, race, and French Catholicism. We hope we'll be able to balance the belly laughs with the thoughtful insights the book offers into the absurdity of the modern world, the struggle to live an authentic life, and whether a Medieval tome works better as a guide to living a good life or a doorstop.
St. Jerome's Latin translation of the Bible was used exclusively by the Western Church for centuries; its significance for the Roman Catholic tradition cannot be overstated. In this group, we will work through sections of the Vulgate in order to appreciate its beauty and practice our Latin. For the first session, no preparation is necessary; we will decide together which texts we will read. Please come with a desire to grow in Latin Bible knowledge with St. Jerome and friends!
Christian Faith proclaims that we are saved by divine Grace. What is “grace” and how do we experience it? What is special about the Catholic understanding of grace? What major controversies have clarified the understanding of grace? This class will draw on Scripture, short autobiographical accounts, and film to show the transformative power of grace in the lives of men and women such as Paul of Tarsus, Augustine of Hippo, Ignatius of Loyola, Edith Stein, Dorothy Day, and Bernard Nathanson who were enabled by grace to flourish beyond what they could "ask or imagine" .
What was college life like at the University of Chicago at mid century? Atomic fission was being achieved under Stagg Field; the intensive four-year Core Curriculum was in full swing; and world-historical scholars like Friedrich Hayek, Leo Strauss, and Hannah Arendt were on faculty. The eminent political philosopher (AB '47) Ralph Lerner and renowned theologian David Novak (AB '61) will reflect on their undergraduate years at the college, the role the University played in their intellectual journeys, and the place of religious belief in the life of the mind.
What did Maimonides say about Christianity and Islam? How would Averroes or Thomas Aquinas have responded to him? This symposium will be a thought-experiment in interreligious dialogue. David Novak (University of Toronto) will begin by explicating Maimonides’ position. Yousef Casewit (University of Chicago) will put on the persona of Al-Ghazali to reply. And Matthew Levering (University of St. Mary of the Lake) will reply as if he were Thomas Aquinas. A conversation moderated by James Robinson (University of Chicago) and an audience Q-and-A will follow.
Take a journey with us through the vibrant streets of New Orleans' French Quarter as we read A Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole's masterpiece of humor and a character study of one of the giants of literature, Ignatius J. Reilly. In this group, we will explore the book's cadre of distinctive characters and Toole's synthesis of New Orleans' contradictory gumbo of vice, race, and French Catholicism. We hope we'll be able to balance the belly laughs with the thoughtful insights the book offers into the absurdity of the modern world, the struggle to live an authentic life, and whether a Medieval tome works better as a guide to living a good life or a doorstop.
St. Jerome's Latin translation of the Bible was used exclusively by the Western Church for centuries; its significance for the Roman Catholic tradition cannot be overstated. In this group, we will work through sections of the Vulgate in order to appreciate its beauty and practice our Latin. For the first session, no preparation is necessary; we will decide together which texts we will read. Please come with a desire to grow in Latin Bible knowledge with St. Jerome and friends!
The Judeo-Christian tradition has long grappled with how man speaks of God and how God speaks of of himself. In his new book, God-Talk, the distinguished Jewish philosopher David Novak offers a new perspective on how the Jewish people and tradition talk about God. What does the Torah say about God? How does the God of the Torah talk about himself? And how does God talk about human beings?
Christian Faith proclaims that we are saved by divine Grace. What is “grace” and how do we experience it? What is special about the Catholic understanding of grace? What major controversies have clarified the understanding of grace? This class will draw on Scripture, short autobiographical accounts, and film to show the transformative power of grace in the lives of men and women such as Paul of Tarsus, Augustine of Hippo, Ignatius of Loyola, Edith Stein, Dorothy Day, and Bernard Nathanson who were enabled by grace to flourish beyond what they could "ask or imagine" .
In his well-known and influential essay, Leisure: The Basis of Culture, Josef Pieper claims that we in modern western society have come to inhabit a “world of total work,” and that an essential precondition for escape is recapturing a more ancient notion of “leisure” (in Greek: scholê, in Latin: otium). While much has been said in support of this claim, especially in Catholic intellectual circles, the focus has typically centered on the nature of leisure, which much of this dialogue takes as the starting point. In this lecture, Prof. Blaschko, who studies the philosophy of work at Notre Dame, will proceed in a different direction, asking “What kind of culture, and what kind of work culture, would we create if we wanted to incorporate genuine leisure into our lives?”
One of St. Thomas Aquinas's very last projects was a treatise on angels. With a more historical approach than that of either Summa on the subject, it addresses such topics the immateriality of angels, their origin, their knowledge, and the distinctions among them, including the distinction between the good ones and the bad ones. Along the way, it offers some of Thomas’s most sophisticated discussions of the metaphysics of creation, hylomorphism, and participation.
Take a journey with us through the vibrant streets of New Orleans' French Quarter as we read A Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy Toole's masterpiece of humor and a character study of one of the giants of literature, Ignatius J. Reilly. In this group, we will explore the book's cadre of distinctive characters and Toole's synthesis of New Orleans' contradictory gumbo of vice, race, and French Catholicism. We hope we'll be able to balance the belly laughs with the thoughtful insights the book offers into the absurdity of the modern world, the struggle to live an authentic life, and whether a Medieval tome works better as a guide to living a good life or a doorstop.
St. Jerome's Latin translation of the Bible was used exclusively by the Western Church for centuries; its significance for the Roman Catholic tradition cannot be overstated. In this group, we will work through sections of the Vulgate in order to appreciate its beauty and practice our Latin. For the first session, no preparation is necessary; we will decide together which texts we will read. Please come with a desire to grow in Latin Bible knowledge with St. Jerome and friends!
St. Jerome's Latin translation of the Bible was used exclusively by the Western Church for centuries; its significance for the Roman Catholic tradition cannot be overstated. In this group, we will work through sections of the Vulgate in order to appreciate its beauty and practice our Latin. For the first session, no preparation is necessary; we will decide together which texts we will read. Please come with a desire to grow in Latin Bible knowledge with St. Jerome and friends!
This event is open to graduate students and faculty. For more information and to receive the registration link contact gzokal@lumenchristi.org This forum invites graduate students and scholars of patristics to reflect on the nature of the craft and its relationship to contemporary theological studies, the academy, and church today. A panel of scholars will speak to this topic in reference to the teaching of Nicaea in commemoration of the 1700th anniversary. What does the teaching of this council, its creed, its attendant historical context and reception, communicate about the essential character of the Patristic theologian? This reception and forum, following the annual meeting of the North...