The Thomistic Institute

The handout for this lecture may be found here: https://tinyurl.com/5f2ebxm5 This lecture was given on February 2, 2023, at the University of Kansas. For more information about upcoming events, please visit our website at www.thomisticinstitute.org. About the speaker: Erik Dempsey (PhD, Boston College) is the Assistant Director of University of Texas at Austin's Thomas Jefferson for the Study of Core Texts and Ideas. He completed his doctorate at Boston College in June 2007. He is interested in understanding human virtue, and the proper place of politics in a well-lived human life, the different ways in which human virtue is understood in different political situations, and the ways in which human virtue may transcend any political situation. His dissertation looks at Aristotle's treatment of prudence in the Nicomachean Ethics, and Aristotle's suggestion that virtue should be understood as an end in itself. He is adding a discussion of Thomas's discussion on Aristotle in order to prepare the dissertation as a book. He teaches many classes for the Thomas Jefferson Center, including, Jerusalem and Athens (on the ethical and political teaching of the Bible and Aristotle); Theoretical Foundations of Modern Politics; The Bible and Its Interpreters; The Question of Relativism; Ancient Philosophy and Literature; and American Political Thought.

The handout for the lecture may be found here: https://tinyurl.com/3fd6hsvh This lecture was given on January 26, 2023, at Trinity College Dublin. For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website at www.thomisticinstitute.org. About the speaker: Fr. Conor McDonough, O.P., is a Dominican friar from Galway. He studied science and theology at the University of Cambridge and taught theology at secondary school before joining the Order of Preachers in 2009. He was ordained a priest in 2016 and undertook further studies in theology at the University of Fribourg (Switzerland), focusing on the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas and John Calvin. He is currently based in Dublin where he teaches theology to the students at the Dominican House of Studies in Dublin.

The speaker's handout may be found here: https://tinyurl.com/mry498c9 This lecture was given on February 15, 2023, at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website at 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.

This lecture was given on February 2, 2023, at the University of California, Santa Barbara. 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.

Professor Paul Gondreau discusses the perceived dichotomy between the wrathful God of the Old Testament and the loving God of the New Testament, arguing that they are the same God, with the differences in portrayal being due to the principle of accommodation and the incremental moral development of humanity.This lecture was given on January 31, 2023, at Yale University. For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website at www.thomisticinstitute.org. About the speaker:Paul Gondreau earned his doctorate in sacred theology from the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, writing under the renowned Thomist scholar Rev. Jean-Pierre Torrell, O.P. He is professor of theology at Providence College in Rhode Island, where he teaches/has taught courses on marriage, Christology, the theology of Thomas Aquinas, the Church, the Eucharist, the Sacraments, and the Catholic thought of J.R.R. Tolkien. He has a published manuscript on Christ's human passions in the theology of St. Thomas Aquinas and has published numerous essays in the area of Thomistic Christology, Thomistic anthropology, a Thomistic account of human sexuality, and a Thomistic theology of disability. He is associate editor of the theological journal Nova et Vetera, and has served as a consultant to the USCCB's committee on marriage and family.

This lecture was given on January 27, 2023, at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C., for the annual Aquinas Lecture in honor of St. Thomas Aquinas. For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website at www.thomisticinstitute.org. About the speaker: Dr. Reinhard Huetter is Ordinary Professor of Fundamental Theology at the School of Theology and Religious Studies of The Catholic University. Professor Huetter is a native of Lichtenfels, Germany. He received his Dr. theol. (summa cum laude) in 1990, and his Habilitation in 1995, both from the University of Erlangen. He taught for nine years theological ethics and systematic theology at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago and for seventeen years systematic theology at Duke University Divinity School. In 2004, he and his wife entered into the full communion of the Catholic Church. His teaching and research focuses on fundamental theological questions of the relationship between faith and reason, nature and grace, revelation and faith, theology and philosophy, dogma and history, on questions of theological anthropology (grace and freedom), and the theology and epistemology of faith. He has an abiding interest in the thought of Thomas Aquinas and has, in more recent years, developed also an intense interest in the thought of John Henry Newman. Huetter is the author of numerous books, most recently Dust Bound for Heaven: Explorations in the Theology of Thomas Aquinas (2012) and Divine Happiness: Aquinas on the Journey to Beatitude, the Ultimate Human End (forthcoming 2018) and has contributed numerous chapters to handbooks and edited collections. He is presently working on a theological commentary on Psalm 119, a small book on John Henry Newman, and a theological treatise on Doctrine: Its Nature and Development.

This talk was given on January 28, 2023, at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C., as part of the intellectual retreat entitled, "Theology of the Body." 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 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.

Join Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. of Aquinas 101, Godsplaining, and Pints with Aquinas for an off-campus conversation with Dr. Lewis Ayres about his latest Thomistic Institute, "Does Tradition Live? Do Doctrines 'Develop'?" Does Tradition 'Develop' Over Time? w/ Prof. Lewis Ayres and Fr. Gregory Pine (Off-Campus Conversations) You can listen to the original lecture here: https://soundcloud.com/thomisticinstitute/does-tradition-live-do-doctrines-develop-prof-lewis-ayres For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website at www.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.

The speaker's powerpoint slides may be found here: https://tinyurl.com/4m7fr7ws This lecture was given on January 28, 2023, at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C., as part of the intellectual retreat entitled, "Theology of the Body." For more information on upcoming events, please visit our website at thomisticinstitute.org About the speaker: A native of Wisconsin, 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. Dr. Grabowski has published widely in the areas of moral theology, marriage, sexuality, and bioethics. His articles have appeared in scholarly journals as Nova et Vetera, The Thomist, The Heythrop Journal, and the National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly as well as more popular publications such as America, Commonweal, The Living Light, and Our Sunday Visitor. His books include Sex and Virtue: An Introduction to Sexual Ethics (CUA Press, 2003), Transformed in Christ: Essays on the Renewal of Moral Theology (Sapientia Press, 2017), One Body: A Program of Marriage Formation for the New Evangelization with Claire Grabowski (Emmaus Road Press, 2018), A Catechism for Family Life with Sarah Bartel (CUA Press, 2018), and Raising Catholic Kids for Their Vocations with Claire Grabowski (TAN, 2019). Dr. Grabowski has lectured and presented at conferences across the United States. He and his wife Claire are regular guests on Greg and Lisa Popcak’s radio show More 2 Life on EWTN. They have five children, six grandchildren, and reside in the Archdiocese of Washington.

This lecture was given on January 28, 2023, at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C., as part of the intellectual retreat entitled, "Theology of the Body." 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 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.