The Letters of St. Ignatius of Antioch Reading Group
Saint Ignatius, the second-century Bishop of Antioch, is known as a martyr, an “Apostolic Father,” and the first writer to call the church “catholic.” However, much like Saint Paul, who served as his literary model, Ignatius did not compose theological treatises, summas, or tractates but seven epistles sent to the churches in Rome and Asia Minor. They represent some of the earliest Christian writings apart from the New Testament itself and are an invaluable resource for theologians and historians alike. This reading group will journey with Ignatius to his eventual martyrdom in Rome, encountering along the way his sophisticated musings and instructions on topics like the nature of Christ, the role of the bishop, the canon of scripture, and the meaning of martyrdom. We will find in him an author who, in addition to being a portal into the early church, is remarkably personal and prescient and an expert guide to thinking about Christianity today.
The Thought of René Girard
Apply here Description: One of the most influential 20th century Catholic thinkers, René Girard transformed our understanding of culture, religion, and human desire. Through an intensive reading of Girard’s works, in conjunction with the fiction of the greatest writers, this five-day seminar will explore imitation, conflict, and scapegoating, connecting them to central themes of Christian theology. The seminar is co-sponsored by the Nova Forum for Catholic Thought. Location and Format: This seminar will be held at University of Southern California in Los Angeles. Students will meet twice daily during 2.5 hr sessions in seminar style lecture and discussion. Students will…
Non-Credit Course | The Bible and the Big Bang
What is the relation between the Bible and the Big Bang? To many, it seems natural to connect the physical beginning of the cosmos with the Abrahamic doctrine of creation, but this association of science with philosophy and theology bears critical investigation. In this course, we will take a deep dive into both the science of the early Universe and the Biblically-rooted doctrine of creation from nothing, and explore what, if any, is the relation between them. Along the way we will engage with thinkers spanning from Philo of Alexandria in the first century to Stephen Hawking in the twenty-first century, and will explore topics such as the beginning of time, something coming from ‘nothing’, fine-tuning and design.
Art and Beauty in the Middle Ages: Umberto Eco Graduate Reading Group
REGISTER HERE Open to current graduate students at the University of Chicago. Participants can come to whichever sessions they choose. Others interested in participating should contact Aidan Valente at valenteaidan@uchicago.edu. Books and drinks will be provided. This will be held at the LCI Residence (5554 S Wooodlawn Ave). “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.” – This well-worn aphorism suggests that what we find “beautiful” relies only on subjective taste; and yet, many would agree in finding a Gothic cathedral obviously more beautiful than a brutalist library. Is there, then, an objective component to beauty, and if so, where and how can…
Reason & Regensburg: Pope Benedict and the Dialogue of Cultures
To bridge the cultural rift between Islam and the West, there is an urgent need to reestablish the mutually reinforcing dialogue between faith and reason in the West, and to support moderate Muslim scholars attempting to retrieve a non-voluntarist interpretation of Islam, often at risk to their own lives.
Faith, Reason and the Eucharist
Between doubts about “natural theology” and post-modern polemics against “modernity”, an older view that the existence of God can be known “by the natural light of reason” gets little hearing. Perhaps it is time to revisit these older views in light of Aquinas’ understanding of the rational powers as “bodily presence”, analogous to the power of signification found in music and, more profoundly, in the Eucharist; only within this broader conception of human reason can we speak of the existence of God as demonstrable by rational proof.
Thomas Aquinas, Scientist: How Might He Approach 21st Century Biotechnology
Despite flaws in his biology, Aquinas’ writings offer us guidance in our approach to 21st century biotechnology. Aquinas’ notion of a Just War provides us with a way for thinking about biotechnology, since both use morally ambiguous means to address evils in an imperfect world. A comparison of these two disparate issues can yield criteria for an ethics of biotechnology.
Sketch of a Phenomenological Concept of Sacrifice
In this lecture, Jean-Luc Marion advances a phenomenological notion of sacrifice that is distinct from the notion of sacrifice typically discussed in Sociology or even Religious Studies. He argues that sacrifice restores the gift from the side of the givee, much as he has argued previously that forgiveness restores the gift from the side of the giver. He develops both notions within the framework of a phenomenology of givenness, advancing the thesis that sacrifice requires neither destruction, nor restitution, nor even exchange, and still less contract. Sacrifice surpasses all this because sacrifice does not arise as an economic notion (one…
From Curiosity to Studiousness: Catechizing the Appetite for Knowledge
It’s a good thing, almost everyone would say, to want to know things; that view is certainly bone-deep in our universities and colleges, as well as in the church. But there are different ways of coming to want to know things, different ways of training and forming the appetite for knowledge. It has been traditional in Catholic Christianity to identify two such ways under the labels curiositas (curiosity) and studiositas (studiousness). This talk will explore the difference between the two, and offer a sketch of what a well-formed appetite for knowledge is like.
Representation vs. Direct Realism in Modern Philosophy
Gyula Klima (Fordham University)