The Thomistic Institute

Jun 9, 2023 • 37 min

This lecture was given at the Catholic University of America on May 16, 2023 as part of the Thomistic Institute symposium titled "Toward a Fundamental Theology of the Priesthood." For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website at www.thomisticinstitute.org. About the speaker: Cardinal Marc Oullet served as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America from 2010 to 2023. He was Archbishop of Quebec and Primate of Canada from 2003 to 2010. He was made a cardinal by Pope John Paul II in 2003. He holds licentiates in theology and philosophy, and a doctorate in dogmatic theology.

Jun 8, 2023 • 31 min

This lecture was given at the Catholic University of America on May 16, 2023 as part of the Thomistic Institute symposium titled "Toward a Fundamental Theology of the Priesthood." For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website at www.thomisticinstitute.org. About the speaker: Father Carter Griffin is a priest of the Archdiocese of Washington, DC. Raised Presbyterian, he converted to Catholicism while attending Princeton University. After graduating in 1994, he served for four years as a line officer in the United States Navy prior to entering the seminary. He attended Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland for two years of philosophy followed by the North American College in Rome for five years of theology. Father Griffin was ordained to the priesthood in 2004 and served as priest-secretary for three years before beginning doctoral studies in Rome in 2008. After completing his doctorate and serving as the parochial vicar of St. Peter’s parish on Capitol Hill, in 2011 he was appointed Director of Priest Vocations for the Archdiocese of Washington and Vice-Rector of St. John Paul II Seminary, where he now serves as Rector. He is the author of Why Celibacy: Reclaiming the Fatherhood of the Priest, published in 2019 by Emmaus Road.

Jun 7, 2023 • 31 min

This lecture was given at the Catholic University of America on May 16, 2023 as part of the Thomistic Institute symposium titled "Toward a Fundamental Theology of the Priesthood." For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website at www.thomisticinstitute.org. About the speaker: Dr. Grabowski earned his B.A. in theology at the University of Steubenville and his Ph.D. at Marquette University. For the last thirty years he has been on the faculty of the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. where he is currently Ordinary Professor of Moral Theology/ Ethics. He and his wife were appointed to the Pontifical Council for the Family by Pope Benedict XVI in the fall of 2009 where they served as a member couple. He has served two terms as a theological advisor to the U.S.C.C.B. Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family, and Youth and one term as an advisor to the subcommittee which produced the Pastoral Letter Marriage: Love and Life in the Divine Plan (2009). In 2015 he was appointed by Pope Francis to serve as an expert (adiutor) at the Synod of Bishops on the Family.

Jun 6, 2023 • 36 min

This lecture was given at the Catholic University of America on May 16, 2023 as part of the Thomistic Institute symposium titled "Toward a Fundamental Theology of the Priesthood." For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website at www.thomisticinstitute.org. About the speaker: Jennifer Frey is an associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of South Carolina and fellow of the Institute for Human Ecology at the Catholic University of America. Prior to joining the philosophy faculty at USC, she was a Collegiate Assistant Professor of Humanities at the University of Chicago, where she was a member of the Society of Fellows in the Liberal Arts. She has published widely on virtue and moral psychology and she has co-edited three volumes on Self-Transcendence and Virtue, Practical Wisdom, and Practical Truth. Her writing has been featured in Breaking Ground, Evangelization and Culture, First Things, Fare Forward, Image, Law and Liberty, The Point, and USA Today.

Jun 5, 2023 • 33 min

This lecture was given at the Catholic University of America on May 16, 2023 as part of the Thomistic Institute symposium titled "Toward a Fundamental Theology of the Priesthood." For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website at www.thomisticinstitute.org. About the speaker: Father Thomas Petri, O.P. is the President of the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception at the Dominican House of Studies, where he also serves as an assistant professor of moral theology and pastoral studies. Ordained a priest in 2009, he holds a Doctorate in Sacred Theology from The Catholic University of America.

Jun 5, 2023 • 31 min

This lecture was given at the Catholic University of America on May 16, 2023 as part of the Thomistic Institute symposium titled "Toward a Fundamental Theology of the Priesthood." For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website at www.thomisticinstitute.org. About the speaker: Archbishop Timothy Broglio has served as Archbishop for the Military Services, USA since 2008. He was elected president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2022. Previous, he served as Apostolic Nuncio to the Dominican Republic and Apostolic Delegate to Puerto Rico from 2001 to 2008.

Jun 2, 2023 • 58 min

This lecture was given on April 26, 2023 at the University of Arizona. For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website at www.thomisticinstitute.org. About the Speaker: Sr. Anna Wray is a native of Connecticut and a member of the Dominican Sisters of Saint Cecilia. Sister received her PhD in philosophy from The Catholic University of America, having written her dissertation on Aristotle’s account of the activity of contemplation. Sister is on faculty in CUA's School of Philosophy.

Jun 1, 2023 • 40 min

Join Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. of Aquinas 101, Godsplaining, and Pints with Aquinas for an off-campus conversation with Dr. V. Bradley Lewis about his latest Thomistic Institute, "It's My Right: What Are Natural Rights and What Rights Do We Have?". What Natural Rights Do I Have? w/ Dr. V. Bradley Lewis and Fr. Gregory Pine (Off-Campus Conversations) You can listen to the original lecture here: https://soundcloud.com/thomisticinstitute/prof-v-bradley-lewis-its-my-right-what-are-natural-rights-and-what-rights-do-we-have For more information please visit thomisticinstitute.org. About the speaker: V. Bradley Lewis is associate professor in the School of Philosophy in the Catholic University of America. He specializes in political and legal philosophy, especially that of the classical Greeks and in the Thomistic tradition, and is currently working on a book on the idea of the common good. In addition to these things he has served as a consultant on ethics to the federal government, testified before a congressional subcommittee about immigration, and currently serves as associate editor of the American Journal of Jurisprudence.

May 30, 2023 • 1h 10m

This talk was given on April 12th, 2023 at the University of South Carolina. For more information please visit thomisticinstitute.org. About the speaker: Thomas Hibbs is currently J. Newton Rayzor Sr. Professor of Philosophy at Baylor University, where he is also Dean Emeritus, having served for 16 years as Dean of the Honors College and as Distinguished Professor of Ethics and Culture. Hibbs received a Ph.D. from the University of Notre Dame and has served as tutor at Thomas Aquinas College, Full Professor and Department Chair of Philosophy at Boston College, and President of the University of Dallas. Hibbs works in the areas of medieval philosophy, especially Thomas Aquinas, contemporary virtue ethics, and aesthetics. He has published more than thirty scholarly articles and seven books, as well as 100 reviews and discussion articles on film, theater, art, and higher education in a variety of venues.

May 26, 2023 • 1h 2m

This lecture was given on March 8, 2023 at Vanderbilt University. The handout for this lecture can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/yw4y92cn. For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website at www.thomisticinstitute.org. About the speaker: Stephen Meredith is a professor at the University of Chicago’s Departments of Pathology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and Neurology. He is also an associate faculty member in the University of Chicago Divinity School. He has published more than 100 journal articles, focusing on the biophysics of protein structure. Much of his work has been the application of solution and solid-state NMR to the study of amyloid proteins associated with neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s Disease. He has also published articles on literature and philosophy in diverse aspects of medical humanities and bioethics. His teaching includes courses to graduate students in biochemistry and biophysics, medical students, and undergraduates and graduate students in the humanities, including courses on James Joyce’s Ulysses, St. Thomas Aquinas, Augustine, Dostoevsky (focusing on Brothers Karamazov), Thomas Mann and David Foster Wallace. He is currently working on a book examining disease and the theological problem of evil. Other current writing projects include a study of James Joyce and the problem of evil.

May 22, 2023 • 46 min

This lecture was given on March 7, 2023 at North Carolina State University. The handout for this lecture can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/3t2jnkc4. For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website at www.thomisticinstitute.org. About the speaker: James Madden is Professor of Philosophy at Benedictine College. He lives in Atchison, Kansas with his wife (Jennifer) and their six children; William, Martha, J. Patrick, Brendan, Jack, and Cormac. He is originally from Wisconsin, where he received a B.A. from St. Norbert College, and did his graduate work at Kent State (MA, 1998) and Purdue (Ph.D., 2002). He was awarded the Benedictine College Distinguished Educator of the Year Award in 2006.

May 19, 2023 • 1h 1m

This lecture was given at the University of Washington on January 27, 2023. For more information about upcoming events, please visit our website at thomisticinstitute.org About the speaker: Dr. Matthew J. Thomas is Assistant Professor of Biblical Studies and Theology Department Chair at the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in Berkeley, CA, and an instructor in Theology with Regent College, Vancouver. He received a D.Phil in Theology (New Testament and Patristics) from the University of Oxford. He is the author of Paul's 'Works of the Law' in the Perspective of Second Century Reception, which received the Jesus Creed Book of the Year award in 2018. His research areas include Pauline theology, patristics (particularly the ante-Nicene period), and early Christian interpretation of Scripture. Matthew and his wife Leeanne live in California with their four children, Camille, Raphael, Michael and Agnes, who are also aspiring theologians.

May 18, 2023 • 43 min

Join Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. of Aquinas 101, Godsplaining, and Pints with Aquinas for an off-campus conversation with Prof. Ross McCullough. How Does Christ Save Us? w/ Prof. Ross McCullough and Fr. Gregory Pine (Off-Campus Conversations) You can listen to the original lecture here: https://soundcloud.com/thomisticinstitute/making-sense-of-the-atonement-prof-ross-mccullough For more information please visit thomisticinstitute.org. About the speaker: Ross McCullough joined George Fox University as an assistant professor of theology and faculty fellow in the George Fox University Honors Program in 2018. He studied patristic theology at the University of Notre Dame before doing a doctorate at Yale University at the intersection of systematic theology and analytic philosophy of religion. Dr. McCullough's first book, Freedom and Sin: Evil in a World Created by God (Eerdmans, 2022) reconciles traditional Christian commitments to, on the one hand, God causing all that is and, on the other, God in no way being responsible for sin. He also has academic publications on the doctrine of hell, the Eucharist, the hermeneutics of Scripture, and liberation theology. His popular articles have appeared in First Things, Commonweal, and America Magazine, among other venues. Dr. McCullough lives with his wife and four children across the street from St. Peter parish in Newberg, where he is on the pastoral council and leads RCIA.

May 15, 2023 • 1h 18m

This talk was given at the University of Oregon on March 15, 2023. For more information please visit thomisticinstitute.org. About the speaker: Ross McCullough joined George Fox University as an assistant professor of theology and faculty fellow in the George Fox University Honors Program in 2018. He studied patristic theology at the University of Notre Dame before doing a doctorate at Yale University at the intersection of systematic theology and analytic philosophy of religion. Dr. McCullough's first book, Freedom and Sin: Evil in a World Created by God (Eerdmans, 2022) reconciles traditional Christian commitments to, on the one hand, God causing all that is and, on the other, God in no way being responsible for sin. He also has academic publications on the doctrine of hell, the Eucharist, the hermeneutics of Scripture, and liberation theology. His popular articles have appeared in First Things, Commonweal, and America Magazine, among other venues. Dr. McCullough lives with his wife and four children across the street from St. Peter parish in Newberg, where he is on the pastoral council and leads RCIA.

May 12, 2023 • 1h 1m

This talk was given on March 28th, 2023 at Regent University. For more information please visit thomisticinstitute.org. About the speaker: Francis J. Beckwith is Professor of Philosophy & Church-State Studies and Affiliate Professor of Political Science at Baylor University, where he also serves as Associate Director of the Graduate Program in Philosophy. Among his over one dozen books are Never Doubt Thomas: The Catholic Aquinas as Evangelical and Protestant (Baylor University Press, 2019), Defending Life: A Moral and Legal Case Against Abortion Choice (Cambridge University Press, 2007), and Taking Rites Seriously: Law, Politics, and the Reasonableness of Faith (Cambridge University Press, 2015), winner of the American Academy of Religion's prestigious 2016 Book Award for Excellence in the Study of Religion in Constructive-Reflective Studies. He is a graduate of the Washington University School of Law, St. Louis (MJS) as well as Fordham University (PhD, MA, philosophy).

May 10, 2023 • 1h 15m

This talk was given on March 23, 2023 at the University of Dallas. For more information please visit thomisticinstitute.org. About the speaker: Dr. William E. Carroll is Distinguished Visiting Professor in the School of Philosophy at Zhongnan University of Economics and Law (Wuhan, China) and Senior Research Fellow at the Collegium of Anton Neuwirth (Bratislava, Slovakia). His specialty is the relationship among the natural sciences, philosophy, and theology, with an emphasis on Thomas Aquinas’s understanding of the doctrine of creation. He is the author of works and articles including Creation and Science: Has Science Eliminated God?; Galileo: Science and Faith; and (with Steven Baldner) Aquinas on Creation. Beginning in 2013, he has spent several weeks each year giving lectures and seminars at various Chinese universities in Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Wuhan.

May 8, 2023 • 48 min

This talk was given on March 6th, 2023 at Oxford University. For more information please visit thomisticinstitute.org. About the speaker: Lewis Ayres is Professor of Catholic and Historical Theology at Durham University in the United Kingdom. He specializes in the study of early Christian theology, especially the history of Trinitarian theology and early Christian exegesis. He is also deeply interested in the relationship between the shape of early Christian modes of discourse and reflection and the manner in which renewals of Catholic theology during the last hundred years have attempted to engage forms of modern historical consciousness and sought to negotiate the shape of appropriate scriptural interpretation in modernity, even as they remain faithful to the practices of classical Catholic discourse and contemplation. His publications include Augustine and the Trinity (2010) and Nicaea and Its Legacy: An Approach to Trinitarian Theology (2004). He is co-editor of the Cambridge History of Early Christian Literature (2004) and of the Oxford Handbook of Catholic Theology (forthcoming). Professor Ayres has co-edited the Blackwell Challenges in Contemporary Theology series (since 1997), the Ashgate Studies in Philosophy and Theology in Late Antiquity series (since 2007), and has just co-founded with Fortress Press the Renewal: Conversations in Catholic Theology series. He serves on the editorial boards of Modern Theology, the Journal of Early Christian Studies, and Augustinian Studies. He has also served on the board of the North American Patristics Society.

May 5, 2023 • 57 min

This talk was given on April 27th, 2023 at Georgetown University. The slides for the lecture can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/yus8cvkx For more information please visit thomisticinstitute.org. About the speaker: Patrick Callahan is director of the Newman Institute for Catholic Thought & Culture at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln as well as Assistant Professor of English & Humanities at St. Gregory the Great Seminary. He did his undergraduate work at the University of Dallas and his graduate work at Fordham University in Classical Philology. While his doctoral work focused on ancient Greek commentaries to the lyric poet Pindar, his recent work focuses on early Jesuit Latin texts.

May 4, 2023 • 1h 17m

This talk was given on March 3rd, 2023 at New York University. For more information please visit thomisticinstitute.org. About the speaker: Karin Öberg is Professor of Astronomy at Harvard University. Her specialty is astrochemistry and her research aims to uncover how chemical processes affect the outcome of planet formation, especially the chemical habitability of nascent planets. Dr. Öberg obtained her B.Sc. in chemistry at Caltech in 2005, and her Ph.D. in astronomy, with a thesis focused on laboratory astrochemistry, from Leiden University in 2009. She did postdoctoral work at Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics as a NASA Hubble fellow, focusing on millimeter observations of planet-forming disks around young stars. In 2013 she joined the Harvard astronomy faculty as an assistant professor. She was promoted and named the Thomas D. Cabot Associate Professor in Astronomy in 2016, and promoted to full professor with tenure in 2017. Dr. Öberg’s research in astrochemistry has been recognized with a Sloan fellowship, a Packard fellowship, the Newton Lacy Pierce Award from the American Astronomical Society, and a Simons fellowship. Here recent TED talk explaining some of her research can be found here.

Apr 28, 2023 • 44 min

This lecture was given on February 8, 2023 at Trinity University, San Antonio. The handout for this lecture can be found here: https://tinyurl.com/yczkuphu. For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website at www.thomisticinstitute.org. About the speaker: Sister Elinor Gardner is a member of the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia. Before arriving at University of Dallas, she taught at Aquinas College in Nashville, TN and at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. Her doctoral work (Boston College) was on the ethics of Thomas Aquinas ("St Thomas Aquinas on the Death Penalty").