While Roman civilization collapsed around him, Benedict a fifth-century monk and abbot authored his Rule for monks and set forth a way of life for the monasteries that would become one of the few lights of wisdom and civility in an age of increasing darkness and social isolation. Benedict taught those who lived in these dark ages how […]
Co-sponsored by the Templeton Foundation and The Philosophy Department Abstract: For Aquinas, ethics is nothing other than the study of human psychology insofar as it flourishes or fails to flourish. Consequently, his thought on emotion is crucial to his account of virtue. This lecture will discuss Aquinas's theory of the emotions and its implications for his virtue […]
The continuing success of the books of Ayn Rand, even among Catholics, reveals the influence of her thought in debates on the role of the individual, community, market, and state in modern societies. At the same time, Rand's success may have obscured fundamental flaws in her thought. A closer look at her philosophical, moral, political, and […]
Many people find that they cannot reconcile belief in the existence of God with the reality of evil; for if an all powerful and perfectly good God exists, then why is there so much suffering and injustice? Brian Davies, in his most recent book, Thomas Aquinas on God and Evil, argues that Aquinas gives us the […]
Presented by the Committee on Social Thought and the Department of Philosophy. Co-sponsored by the Lumen Christi Institute. In his most recent book, A Case for Irony, Jonathan Lear argues that becoming a human being is a difficult task, and that developing a capacity for irony is essential to doing it well. He claims that ironic […]
Co-sponsored by The Nicholson Center for British Studies, The American Chesterton Society, and the Literature and Philosophy Workshop Chesterton regarded comedy as important an art form as tragedy. He thought humor was integral to Christianity as opposed to paganism, and it was an essential part of his philosophy of wonder.
Often called the Father of the Second Vatican Council, Newman both anticipated a number of its teachings and, through his recovery of the thought of the early Church, provides a hermeneutic of continuity for interpreting the Council's documents.
Co-sponsored by the Department of History and The Early Modern Workshop In his latest book, The Unintended Reformation, Brad Gregory identifies the unintended consequences of the Protestant Reformation and traces how it has shaped the modern condition. He argues that hyperpluralism, an absence of a shared sense of the common good, and the triumph of consumerism […]
Registration Required. RSVP to info@lumenchristi.org. About the Lecture: John Cassian, a monk with broad experience of Greek, Latin and Coptic monasticism, wrote his most important works, The Institutes and The Conferences to assist the Pope in establishing the monastic tradition of the Desert Fathers in fifth-century Europe. Since Cassian maintains that the monastic life is simply the life of the apostolic church, his […]
Co-sponsored by the St. Thomas More Society The roots of modern ideas of religious freedom are as much religious as they are political and philosophical. The American political leaders who first championed these ideas were well aware of the religious sources supporting their views. This lecture explores how early Christian thinkers developed a theological understanding […]
Co-sponsored by the Medieval Studies Workshop The Summa Theologiae of Thomas Aquinas stands among the finest expressions of the Catholic “understanding of faith” (intellectus fidei). Over a thousand commentaries have been written on it. A leading historian of Medieval Christian thought, Bernard McGinn explores Thomas’s reason for writing the Summa and its principles, structure, and originality.
Lecture, 7:00pm Informal Dinner, 6:30pm Intended for University students, faculty, and recent graduates. Others interested in attending, contact info@lumenchristi.org. May 24 “John Climacus: Cleansing, Death, and Resurrection in his "The Ladder of Divine Ascent” Perry Hamalis (North Central College) Co-sponsored by the Orthodox Christian Fellowship John Climacus (ca. 579-ca. 659) uses a number of analogies to describe the […]
