Golden Calf: Philosophy and Theology in the Early Church – Faith and Reason | West Suburban Catholic Culture Series

The West Suburban Catholic Culture Series returns in 2024 to continue its series on
“Faith and Reason as the Two Wings:
The History and Enduring Importance of Catholic Philosophy“

(Business casual attire encouraged. For questions, please email Marial Corona at mcorona@lumenchristi.org).

Schedule: 6:30 p.m. Drinks | 7:00 p.m. Dinner, Lecture, & Q&A | 8:30 p.m. End

Sep 13:
Golden Calf: Philosophy and Theology in the Early Church
Kenneth Calvert (Hillsdale College)

The Greek and Roman world was, to say the least, immensely religious. The early Christians did not have not to convince their contemporaries of the existence of the divine, but to proclaim the nature and work of the incarnate God. The ideas and language of philosophy offered them many possibilities. As St. Justin Martyr wrote, “Whatever things were rightly said among all men are the property of us Christians.” Christians found great use of Greek and Roman philosophy, but they also found significant obstacles. The “gold” that was philosophy both clarified and confused Christians and their detractors.

In this lecture, Prof. Calvert will walk us through the fascinating exchange and enrichment that occurred between philosophy and theology in the early Church, allowing us to discover possibilities to better engage today’s world with the tools that philosophy affords us.

SERIES DESCRIPTION

In his 2006 Regensburg Address, Pope Benedict XVI argued that “it is necessary and reasonable to raise the question of God through the use of reason, and to do so in the context of the tradition of the Christian Faith.”

Christianity shared a sense of “reason” with Greek philosophy. Jesus himself was the Word (Logos), the Greek word for reason and speech.  St. Paul himself reminded us that Christian worship is “reasonable worship” (logike latreia) (Rom. 12:1), and while love “transcends” knowledge and can perceive more than thought alone, it remains the love of the God who is Logos (Eph. 3:19).

Faith and reason support one another; however, many have tried to tear them asunder. The Reformation tried to get to a “pure” faith without reason; modern atheism has claimed that nothing can be “known” about God. When faith and reason are pulled apart, we lose sight of God and of ourselves, since we are made to know and love God.

In this year’s WSCCS, we will challenge the all-too-common assumption that the Church’s faith stands in opposition to reason. Join us as we examine the philosophical, monastic, and artistic geniuses who have borne the Church aloft through their engagement and enrichment of worldly wisdom.

Each month, we will gather at Ruth Lake Country Club. Over dinner, we will listen to a sophisticated yet accessible lecture offered by accomplished academics. The lectures will introduce insights from the treasure house of the Church’s intellectual tradition and their bearing on contemporary themes and issues, presenting faithful Catholic teaching in a way that avoids the acrimony of the culture wars.

CALENDAR

September 13: Golden Calf: Philosophy and Theology in the Early Church
Kenneth Calvert (Professor of History, Director of the Oxford Program, Hillsdale College)

October 4: The One Thing Necessary: Monasticism and Philosophy
Prior Peter Funk, OSB (Monastery of the Holy Cross)

November 9: Integrity, Creation, and a Restless Heart: Augustine’s Contribution to Philosophy
Jared Ortiz (Professor of Theology, Founder and Executive Director of the St. Benedict Institute, Hope College)

March 20: Catholic Women in the Arts and Sciences: An Underappreciated Tradition
Bronwen McShea (Professor of History, Augustine Institute)

April 10: Is Free Will an Illusion? St. Thomas Aquinas and Human Action
Fr. Stephen Brock (Professor of Medieval Philosophy, Pontifical University of the Holy Cross)

May 15: The Bond of All Creation: Renaissance Humanism and the Incarnate Word
Matthew Gaetano (Professor of History, Hillsdale College)

SEPTEMBER SPEAKER

Kenneth Calvert