Aquinas College Podcast: Recent Episodes
Aquinas College Nashville
Aquinas College is a private, Catholic, four-year liberal arts college founded in 1961, owned and operated by the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia Congregation in Nashville, Tennessee.
Offering undergraduate and graduate degrees in education and the arts and sciences, Aquinas College is a leader in the formation of educators who are sent forth to teach, preach, and witness to Truth and Charity for the salvation of souls and the transformation of culture.
This podcast includes audio from various public lectures, seminars, and programs associated with the College including those by guest speakers as well as by Aquinas faculty and staff.
The Center for Catholic Education at Aquinas College in conjunction with the School of Education serves Catholic elementary and secondary schools by providing spiritual and professional formation opportunities in the area of mission and Catholic identity.
The Center for Evangelization and Catechesis at Aquinas College supports the work of catechists and leaders by providing workshops, retreats, and directed study of the Catholic Faith.
For more information about Aquinas College, its academic program offerings, and its opportunities for ongoing formation in the areas of Catholic education and catechesis, please visit www.aquinascollege.edu.
Seminar, "Person, Nature, and Human Flourishing" Part 4 of 10. This session was originally given February 17, 2020 at Aquinas College in Nashville.
What is a human person? Do we have a common human nature? Are there principles of life common to all members of the human race? How do we interact with each other, with society, and the world? What does it mean to “flourish” – and can that really happen in today’s culture?
In ten sessions using Aristotle, Aquinas, Sacred Scripture, and other texts of the Church, Sister Mary Diana Dreger, O.P., M.D. explores these questions and more using a Christian view of the human person, family, society, culture, and the world.
Seminar, "Person, Nature, and Human Flourishing" Part 3 of 10. This session was given February 10, 2020 at Aquinas College.
What is a human person? Do we have a common human nature? Are there principles of life common to all members of the human race? How do we interact with each other, with society, and the world? What does it mean to “flourish” – and can that really happen in today’s culture?
In ten sessions using Aristotle, Aquinas, Sacred Scripture, and other texts of the Church, Sister Mary Diana Dreger, O.P., M.D. explores these questions and more using a Christian view of the human person, family, society, culture, and the world.
The seminar was given at Aquinas College in Nashville, Spring 2020.
Seminar - Person, Nature, and Human Flourishing Session 2 The Human Person by Aquinas College Nashville
Fr. Thomas Petri, OP presents “St. Thomas Aquinas on the Blessed Mother: Her Genius, Her Beauty, Her Freedom, and Her Love.” The lecture was given January 28, 2020 at St. Cecilia Motherhouse, Nashville, Tennessee, part of a week-long celebration of the Angelic Doctor, St. Thomas Aquinas at Aquinas College.
Fr. Petri entered the Order of Preachers in 2004 and was ordained a priest in 2009. He holds a Doctorate in Sacred Theology from The Catholic University of America and has been a professor of Moral Theology and the Dean of the Pontifical Faculty at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C. since 2013. Prior to his appointment in Washington, he was a professor of theology at Providence College in Rhode Island. He has published articles in Nova et Vetera and in The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly. He is also a frequent contributor to The Catholic News Agency and The National Catholic Register. His book, Aquinas and the Theology of the Body: The Thomistic Foundations of John Paul II’s Anthropology, was published by CUA Press in 2016. In addition to his academic responsibilities, he is currently a co-host of The Church Alive on EWTN Radio which airs Saturdays at 7am and 1pm Eastern Time. He is an active presence on Twitter @PetriOP.
Fr. Thomas Petri, OP preaches the homily for the Mass of St. Thomas Aquinas at Aquinas College, Nashville, January 28, 2020. Fr. Petri reflects on the personal devotion of St. Thomas Aquinas, the role of the prayers of the saints for us, and the widespread devotion to St. Thomas Aquinas as patron of students, teachers, and among other things, booksellers and pencil makers.
Fr. Petri entered the Order of Preachers in 2004 and was ordained a priest in 2009. He holds a Doctorate in Sacred Theology from The Catholic University of America and has been a professor of Moral Theology and the Dean of the Pontifical Faculty at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C. since 2013. Prior to his appointment in Washington, he was a professor of theology at Providence College in Rhode Island. He has published articles in Nova et Vetera and in The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly. He is also a frequent contributor to The Catholic News Agency and The National Catholic Register. His book, Aquinas and the Theology of the Body: The Thomistic Foundations of John Paul II’s Anthropology, was published by CUA Press in 2016. In addition to his academic responsibilities, he is currently a co-host of The Church Alive on EWTN Radio which airs Saturdays at 7am and 1pm Eastern Time. He is an active presence on Twitter @PetriOP.
Seminar, "Person, Nature, and Human Flourishing" Part 1 of 10. This session was originally given January 27, 2020 at Aquinas College.
What is a human person? Do we have a common human nature? Are there principles of life common to all members of the human race? How do we interact with each other, with society, and the world? What does it mean to “flourish” – and can that really happen in today’s culture?
In ten sessions using Aristotle, Aquinas, Sacred Scripture, and other texts of the Church, Sister Mary Diana Dreger, O.P., M.D. explores these questions and more using a Christian view of the human person, family, society, culture, and the world.
The seminar was originally given at Aquinas College in Nashville, Spring 2020.
This lecture, given by Sister Mary Madeline Todd, O.P., S.T.D., Assistant Professor of Theology at Aquinas College, is first in The Church Lecture Series Fall 2017 hosted by the Diocese of Nashville Adult Formation.
This lecture by Dr. Vince Ryan, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of History at Aquinas College, is fourth in the series, "Life of the Church," hosted by the Diocese of Nashville Adult Formation.
This lecture by Dr. Vince Ryan, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of History at Aquinas College, is fourth in the series, "Life of the Church" hosted by the Diocese of Nashville Adult Formation.
Sr. Mary Madeline Todd, OP: "Is Friendship Still Possible?" (March, 2017 Harvard) by Aquinas College Nashville
Using analogies from music (Johnny Cash, bluegrass music, Bach) and art (Jackson Pollock, Rembrandt), Father Thomas Joseph White, O.P. spoke to a packed house for the 3rd annual Colloquium on the Thought of St. Thomas Aquinas on the topic “Can Beauty Save the World? Aquinas on Art and the Liturgy.”
About Father Thomas Joseph White, O.P. Father Thomas Joseph White, O.P. is Associate Professor of Systematic Theology on the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception at the Dominican House of Studies. He entered the Order of Preachers in 2003. His research and teaching have focused particularly on topics related to Thomistic metaphysics and Christology as well as Roman Catholic-Reformed ecumenical dialogue.
He is the author of Wisdom in the Face of Modernity: A Study in Thomistic Natural Theology (Sapientia Press, 2009), The Incarnate Lord: A Thomistic Study in Christology (The Catholic University of America Press, 2015), and Exodus (Brazos Press, 2016). He has edited several books, and is co-editor of the theological journal Nova et Vetera (English edition). In 2011 he was appointed an ordinary member of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas. Fr. White is currently a participating scholar in the project Virtue, Happiness, & the Meaning of Life sponsored by the John Templeton Foundation.
Jason Gale, Director of the Catechist Formation Program, interviews Father Thomas Joseph White, O.P. prior to his visit to Aquinas College to lecture on “Can Beauty Save the World? Aquinas on Art and the Liturgy.”
Fr. Vivian Boland, O.P., Vicar General of the Dominican Order, spoke to the Aquinas College chapter of ASCD, a student organization in the School of Education, on the topic, “Healing Work of Teaching: Thomas Aquinas and Education.”
Christopher Check, President of Catholic Answers, visited the campus of Aquinas College to lecture on the Battle of Lepanto and to discuss and recipe the famous G.K. Chesterton poem "Lepanto." The lecture was sponsored by the Aquinas Center for Faith and Culture, headed by literary critic and biographer Joseph Pearce.
About the Battle of Lepanto On October 7, 1571, the most important sea battle in history was fought near the mouth of what is today called the Gulf of Patras, then the Gulf of Lepanto. On one side were the war galleys of the Holy League and on the other, those of the Ottoman Turks, rowed by tens of thousands of Christian galley slaves. Although the battle decided the future of Europe, few Europeans, and even fewer European Americans, know the story, much less how close Western Europe came to suffering an Islamic conquest.
Three Hundred and Forty years later, On October 7, 1911, English poet and theologian G.K. Chesterton honored the battle with what is perhaps the greatest ballad of the 20th century. He wrote this extraordinary poem while the postman impatiently waited for the copy. It was instantly popular and remained so for years. The ballad is no less inspiring today and is more timely than ever, as the West faces the growing threat of Islam.
In this episode of our new program, "Faith and Culture at Aquinas College," Joseph Pearce interviews Christopher Check about his work at Catholic Answers and discusses the upcoming presentation on the Battle of Lepanto which be held here at Aquinas College on February 21, 2017 beginning at 6:30pm. The interview culminates with Check reciting a passage from G.K. Chesterton's rousing poem "Lepanto." Visit aquinascollege.edu for details.
The School of Arts & Sciences presents a special lecture by Dr. David Corey, Associate Professor of Political Science at Baylor University, on the topic “What is Politics? Some Perennial Possibilities and Limits” on Friday, December 2. The School invited Dr. Corey to speak in anticipation of the formation of a Political Studies major at Aquinas.
On October 18, 2016, the Center for Faith and Culture welcomed English Catholic journalist, writer and broadcaster Joanna Bogle to speak on the topic “People of Place: a Look at Catholics and Culture,” a look at Catholicism and London—history, traditions, place-names.
Don’t cast your ballot this November without listening to this important discussion on the social doctrine of the Catholic Church in relation to public policy.
Dr. Richard Bulzacchelli, Associate Professor of Theology; Dr. Ben Smith, Associate Professor of Philosophy; and Dr. Bill Smart, Associate Provost and Professor of Biology, explore the impact of Catholic social teaching on public policy—and on the conscience of Christian voters—just in time for the 2016 General Election in November.
The 2016 St. Thomas Aquinas Forum, hosted by the Office of Catechetics at Aquinas College, focused on the theme of "Virtue in Our Current Culture: Living the Nobility of Strength and Goodness." The speakers included talks by Father Jacques Philippe, Dr. Kevin Vost, Dr. Aaron Urbanczyk, Sister Mary Madeline Todd, O.P., Deacon Brad Watkins, Father Cassian Derbes, O.P., and musical entertainment by Kara Klein.
“Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”
The 2016 St. Thomas Aquinas Forum, hosted by the Office of Catechetics at Aquinas College, focused on the theme of "Virtue in Our Current Culture: Living the Nobility of Strength and Goodness." The speakers included talks by Father Jacques Philippe, Dr. Kevin Vost, Dr. Aaron Urbanczyk, Sister Mary Madeline Todd, O.P., Deacon Brad Watkins, Father Cassian Derbes, O.P., and musical entertainment by Kara Klein.
“Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”
The 2016 St. Thomas Aquinas Forum, hosted by the Office of Catechetics at Aquinas College, focused on the theme of "Virtue in Our Current Culture: Living the Nobility of Strength and Goodness." The speakers included talks by Father Jacques Philippe, Dr. Kevin Vost, Dr. Aaron Urbanczyk, Sister Mary Madeline Todd, O.P., Deacon Brad Watkins, Father Cassian Derbes, O.P., and musical entertainment by Kara Klein.
“Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”
The 2016 St. Thomas Aquinas Forum, hosted by the Office of Catechetics at Aquinas College, focused on the theme of "Virtue in Our Current Culture: Living the Nobility of Strength and Goodness." The speakers included talks by Father Jacques Philippe, Dr. Kevin Vost, Dr. Aaron Urbanczyk, Sister Mary Madeline Todd, O.P., Deacon Brad Watkins, Father Cassian Derbes, O.P., and musical entertainment by Kara Klein.
“Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”
The 2016 St. Thomas Aquinas Forum, hosted by the Office of Catechetics at Aquinas College, focused on the theme of "Virtue in Our Current Culture: Living the Nobility of Strength and Goodness." The speakers included talks by Father Jacques Philippe, Dr. Kevin Vost, Dr. Aaron Urbanczyk, Sister Mary Madeline Todd, O.P., Deacon Brad Watkins, Father Cassian Derbes, O.P., and musical entertainment by Kara Klein.
“Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”
The 2016 St. Thomas Aquinas Forum, hosted by the Office of Catechetics at Aquinas College, focused on the theme of "Virtue in Our Current Culture: Living the Nobility of Strength and Goodness." The speakers included talks by Father Jacques Philippe, Dr. Kevin Vost, Dr. Aaron Urbanczyk, Sister Mary Madeline Todd, O.P., Deacon Brad Watkins, Father Cassian Derbes, O.P., and musical entertainment by Kara Klein.
“Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.”
The School of Arts and Sciences at Aquinas College presents a lecture on “Girl with a Gadget: Literacy in the Age of Distraction” by Dr. Arthur W. Hunt, III, Professor of Communications at the University of Tennessee at Martin.
Human civilization is experiencing a seismic shift in how we communicate, driven largely by the internet and the ubiquitous presence of mobile technology.
In his lecture, the accomplished communication and media scholar Dr. Arthur Hunt explores the impact of our new “gadget-driven” communication habits. This new communication saturated environment has profound impacts upon education, human psychology, culture, and the disposition of the human soul.
About Dr. Art Hunt Dr. Hunt’s work has appeared in Touchstone, Salvo, Modern Age, The Christian Research Journal, Explorations in Media Ecology, and other publications. He is the author of two books: The Vanishing Word (Crossway, 2003) and Surviving Technopolis (Pickwick, 2013). He is on the editorial board of Second Nature, an online journal about technology, sociology, and Christian ethics. Hunt also portrays Davy Crockett for schools and civic organizations. He teaches Public Speaking, Honors Public Speaking, and Honors Media Ecology.
The Center for Faith and Culture presented this talk and poetry reading by author, philosopher, and theologian Michael Novak on the topic of “Darkness and Radiance in 20th Century Catholic Poetry.” Although known primarily as a political theorist, Mr. Novak has published two novels and one book of verse. Joseph Pearce, Director of the Center for Faith and Culture at Aquinas College, had this to say about his 2011 book of poetry, All Nature Is a Sacramental Fire:
"It’s not often that we can be privy to a public person’s private thoughts and feelings. This privilege is granted anyone who peruses this intensely personal collection of Michael Novak’s verse. There is the political poetry, of course, much of which is delightful, not least “The Ballad of Richard John”, a rambunctious tribute to the late Father Neuhaus in the form of a pastiche of Chesterton’s “Lepanto”, but readers will also be drawn to some of the verse inspired by Novak’s lifelong love affairs with his late wife and with the Church. At its best, the verse in this volume will move the reader to tears of laughter, joy and sorrow. They are the tears of life."
About Michael Novak The recipient of the 1994 Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion, Michael Novak’s career has spanned five decades.
His 1982 book The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism became heavily influential in the fall of eastern European communism after having been secretly translated and published behind the Iron Curtain.
Mr. Novak has also served as United States Ambassador to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights under Ronald Reagan and as resident scholar in the conservative think tank The American Enterprise Institute.
Somewhat less known are Michael Novak’s work in the literary arts. While at Harvard, he published his first novel, the semi-autobiographical The Tiber Was Silver, about a young seminarian studying in Rome on the eve of Vatican II. His 1970 novel Naked I Leave, follows a similar autobiographical form. Novak published a book of verse, All Nature Is a Sacramental Fire: Moments of Beauty, Sorrow, and Joy, in 2011.
In the spring of 1921, the Great English writer, G. K. Chesterton, visited Nashville as part of a speaking tour of the United States. Almost a century later, Chesterton returned to Nashville!
Chuck Chalberg’s celebrated one-man show as G. K. Chesterton has featured regularly on EWTN.
About Chuck Chalberg Chuck Chalberg, whose performances as G. K. Chesterton have delighted TV audiences on EWTN for many years, has an M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in American history. He teaches American history at Normandale Community College in Bloomington, MN. In addition to Chesterton, he performs as Teddy Roosevelt, Patrick Henry, George Orwell, H.L. Mencken, and baseball’s Branchy Rickey. He has written several books and has also written for Touchstone, Chronicles, the New Oxford Review, Gilbert, the Weekly Standard, Commentary, and National Review. He is married and is the father of five, and grandfather of two.
The School of Arts and Sciences at Aquinas College hosted a special evening lecture by University of Dallas history professor Dr. Thomas Jodziewicz on the topic “Catholic and American?”
Dr. Jodziewicz explored the harmony and conflict between being a Catholic and an American through historical figures such as Dorothy Day and Orestes Brownson, among others.
About Dr. Jodziewicz Thomas W. Jodziewicz received his academic degrees in history from Providence College (AB), Tufts University (MA), and the College of William and Mary (PhD). He has served as the Department of History’s chairman (1991–2009) and as president of the Texas Catholic History Society (2004–2008, 2012–2014). He initiated the Fides et Ratio faculty conversation on the Catholic intellectual tradition (2006– to the present).
Kevin O'Brien portrays J.R.R. Tolkien, delivering the author's famed "On Fairy Stories" essay.
Kevin O’Brien is the founder and artistic director of the Theater of the Word Incorporated, a Catholic theater company which tours the country evangelizing through drama. Kevin hosts the television series The Theater of the Word on EWTN and can also be seen on episodes of EWTN’s The Apostle of Common Sense, The Quest for Shakespeare, and The Journey Home. He is also a writer and frequent contributor to The Saint Austin Review and Gilbert Magazine. Kevin is the founder and general editor of the Christian Shakespeare website, christianshakespeare.com.
Tony Ryan, Director of Sales and Marketing at Ignatius Press, accepts the Aquinas Award for Fiction on behalf of Lucy Beckett for her novel "The Leaves Are Falling." He talks about Ignatius Press and the novel, and reads a letter from Lucy Beckett.
Joseph Pearce, Director of the Center for Faith and Culture at Aquinas College, delivers his "Unlocking the Lord of the Rings" talk at the Tolkien and Lewis Celebration.
Joseph Pearce, a native of England, is Writer-in-Residence and Director of the Aquinas Center for Faith and Culture at Aquinas College. He is editor of The Saint Austin Review, series editor of the Ignatius Critical Editions, executive director of Catholic Courses, and an internationally acclaimed author of many books, which include bestsellers such as The Quest for Shakespeare, Tolkien: Man and Myth, The Unmasking of Oscar Wilde, C. S. Lewis and The Catholic Church, Literary Converts, Wisdom and Innocence: A Life of G.K. Chesterton, Solzhenitsyn: A Soul in Exile, and Old Thunder: A Life of Hilaire Belloc.
Devin Brown discusses C.S. Lewis' great work Mere Christianity. The video shown during the presentation may be watched here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DF-_RDPxAS0
Devin Brown is a Lilly Scholar and Professor of English at Asbury University. He has written nine books, most of which focus on Lewis and Tolkien, including A Life Observed: A Spiritual Biography of C. S. Lewis and The Christian World of The Hobbit. He has a forthcoming book entitled Discussing Mere Christianity.
Jonathan Thorndike of Belmont University and his students in the Honors Program discuss the Peter Jackson adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.
Jonathan Thorndike is the Honors Program Director at Belmont University. He teaches interdisciplinary “Great Books” courses and taught an Inklings course at King’s College London for many summers. He was awarded the Presidential Faculty Achievement Award at Belmont in 2014. Thorndike has published two books and over 50 essays on Japanese and British literature.
Lydia Martin presents her essay, “Little Things: Tolkien, Lewis, and Smallness,” which won the inaugural Tolkien and Lewis High School Essay Contest.
Dale Ahlquist, President of the American Chesterton Society, talks about G.K. Chesterton and his influence on J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis.
Dale Ahlquist is President of the American Chesterton Society and creator and host of EWTN’s Apostle of Common Sense. He has written three books on G.K. Chesterton: G.K. Chesterton: The Apostle of Common Sense, Common Sense 101: Lessons from G.K. Chesterton, and The Complete Thinker. Dale is also the co-founder of Chesterton Academy, a new high school in Minneapolis, Minnesota, which has been rated one of the “Top 50 Catholic Schools” in the nation by the Cardinal Newman Society.
Joseph Pearce, Director of the Center for Faith and Culture and Writer-in-Residence at Aquinas College, addresses the graduates at the 2015 Commencement Ceremonies at the War Memorial Auditorium in downtown Nashville. Mr. Pearce pondered the pervasive belief that religion is inimical to science.
"Not a Zero Sum Game: Freedom for Women, for the Family, and for Religion"
For the good of women and the good of society, Christians must engage in a hard conversation: what does women’s freedom truly include? Known for her work in getting the voice of real women heard in the public square, Helen Alvaré will tackle the issues facing women and the family today.
About Helen Alvaré Helen Alvaré is a Professor of Law at George Mason University School of Law, where she teaches Family Law, Law and Religion, and Property Law. She publishes on matters concerning marriage, parenting, non-marital households, abortion, and First Amendment religion clauses. She is a consultor for the Pontifical Council of the Laity, chair of the Task Force on Conscience Protection of the Witherspoon Institute, and cooperates with the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations as a speaker and a delegate to various United Nations conferences concerning women and the family. In addition to her publications in law reviews and other academic journals, Professor Alvaré publishes regularly in publications such as the Washington Post, the Huffington Post, the Weekly Standard, and the Washington Examiner. Professor Alvaré received her law degree from Cornell University School of Law and her master’s degree in Systematic Theology from the Catholic University of America.
"The Family: the Sanctuary of Life"
In preparation for the World Meeting of Families 2015 convening in Philadelphia later this year, Msgr. Grous will examine the Christian family as a school of love, justice, forgiveness, and mutual respect in the midst of a world darkened by selfishness and conflict and the cultural influences that challenge healthy family life.
Rev. Msgr. Albin J. Grous, S.T.D. Msgr. Grous was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in 1987. He earned an STD in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. Throughout his priesthood, he has served as a parochial vicar and pastor in several parishes, has been appointed as a professor, academic dean and Vice Rector at SS. Cyril and Methodius Seminary in Michigan, and from 2001-2008 was an Official for the Congregation for Catholic Education in Vatican City. He has also been a chaplain and professor for St. John University study abroad program in Rome. He is currently Pastor of St. Andrew the Apostle Parish in Drexel Hill, PA and is a board member of the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC. Msgr. has given presentations and retreats in the area of theology, spirituality and Catholic Education both nationally and internationally.
Creation Theology and Christian Marriage: Why the Church’s Teachings on Sex and Matrimony Can’t Be Changed
The Biblical self-revelation of God as “Yahweh Elohim”— the God who creates the world from nothing—provides the key to understanding the Church’s constant teaching and tradition about marriage and sexual morality. It’s not just about saying no to things people want to do, but about faith in God: about who we say God is, what the world means, and what it means to be made in His image and likeness.
About Rich Bulzacchelli
Dr. Rich Bulzacchelli is Associate Professor of Theology at Aquinas College and a Senior Fellow at the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology. He holds a B.A. in philosophy from Saint Vincent College, an M.A. in Christian philosophy from Marquette University, an M.A. in religious studies at Providence College, and an S.T.L. in systematic theology from the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception, and an S.T.D. from the International Marian Research Institute with a specialization in Mariology and concentrations in theological anthropology and the thought of Karol Wojtyła/Pope John Paul II. He is published on a range of topics and personalities in theology and philosophy, including medical ethics, the Virgin Mary, St. Thomas Aquinas, Bl. Duns Scotus, Pope Benedict XVI, Pope St. John Paul II, and Pope Bl. Paul VI. Bulzacchelli’s most recent book is “Elohim Created”: A New Look at the First Creation Narrative (Nashville, TN: The Aggiornamento Project, 2012).
Sister Mary Angelica Neenan, O.P., Associate Professor of Theology at Aquinas College, talks to Anna Mitchell on the Son Rise Morning Show about St. Thomas Aquinas on January 28, 2015, the feast of the great Dominican saint.
Robert Royal, founder of the Faith & Reason Institute and editor-in-chief of the Catholic Thing, spoke to Aquinas College on "The Threats of Secularism" on Wednesday, October 22, 2014. The lecture was jointly sponsored by the School of Arts and Sciences and the Center for Faith and Culture.
The Threats of Secularism Catholics in America and other parts of the world, live in secular states that claim to be pluralistic and to respect religious beliefs. But there is no little confusion — and a growing threat to believers — in our society because some people, including many political authorities, have come to think that our public square should be shaped by secularism — a non-religious system of beliefs — not by the properly secular, which is neutral between religious and non religious views. Robert Royal will offer a diagnosis of the secularist ideology as well as some recommendations for how Catholics and other believers can assume their proper place in our society again.
Joseph Pearce, Aquinas College’s Writer-in-Residence and Director of the Center for Faith and Culture, presented his inaugural lecture on the Feast of St. Augustine, August 28, 2014, on the following topic:
Evangelism is not an option for the Christian. It is a commandment. To love God and neighbour has to mean that we want to bring our neighbour to God. The three ways of evangelizing our neighbour are through the power of the good, the true and the beautiful. The way of the good is the way of love or virtue. The way of the true is the way of reason. The way of beauty is the way of Creation and creativity. These three ways are necessary but in an age of hedonism and relativism, our neighbours may misconstrue the meaning of love and reason. In such a culture, the way of beauty becomes an even more powerful way of evangelizing the culture. Illustrations of the evangelizing power of beauty will be given, including Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ, Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia and Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings.
About Joseph Pearce: A native of England, Joseph Pearce is Aquinas College’s new Writer-in-Residence and Director of the Center for Faith and Culture. He is editor of the St. Austin Review, series editor of the Ignatius Critical Editions, and executive director of Catholic Courses. Mr. Pearce is a world-recognized biographer of modern Christian literary figures such as J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, G.K. Chesterton, Hilaire Belloc, Oscar Wilde, and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.
Is beauty in the eye of the beholder? The common discussions regarding truth, beauty and goodness often stem from very subjective opinions and end with an “agree to disagree” resolution. But should they? In his presentation Dr. Cuddeback will raise the questions: What is beauty? What is truth? What is goodness? Who decides? Does it matter? Drawing from the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas, Dr. Cuddeback will pursue the relationships between truth, beauty and goodness especially as they refer to moral goodness and contemplation.
About Dr. Cuddeback John Cuddeback is a professor of philosophy at Christendom College. He received his doctorate in philosophy from The Catholic University of America and writes and lectures on various topics including virtue, culture, natural law, contemplation, and friendship. His book Friendship: The Art of Happiness was published in 2003 and republished in 2010 as Friendship: Where Virtue Becomes Happiness. Dr. Cuddeback is a lay Dominican and lives with his wife and five children in the Shenandoah Valley.
Continuing our exploration of the relationship between faith and reason, Dr. Schreck will highlight the theological virtue of faith and our ability to be confident in the truth it brings us. He will also examine the need for the Holy Spirit to give us the grace to live in faith and truth. As St. Paul tells us, “No one can say ‘Jesus is Lord’ except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor 12:3).
About Dr. Schreck Alan Schreck is a professor of theology at Franciscan University of Steubenville. He received his doctorate in theology from the University of St. Michael’s College in Toronto. He is a frequent guest on EWTN and hosted the series “The Catholic Challenge: Vatican II and You.” Dr. Schreck is the author of several books, including The Essential Catholic Catechism, Catholic and Christian for Young Adults, and Your Life in the Holy Spirit. He and his wife Nancy have five children and reside in Steubenville, Ohio.
Pope Benedict’s momentous 2006 Regensburg Lecture created a storm of controversy. Lost in the uproar was the true significance of his address concerning the indispensable role of reason within the Church’s life of faith. The Regensburg Lecture expresses the Holy Father’s concern regarding “the call for a dehellenization of Christianity,” the separation of Christian faith from the deep insights of classical Greek thought. Why does that matter? What response does he seek to promote? This talk will explore these questions and the broader significance of the Holy Father’s Regensburg Lecture.
About Dr. Pagan Peter Pagan, Ph.D. is a professor of philosophy at Aquinas College. He received his bachelor of arts from University of California, Berkeley, and his master’s and doctorate in philosophy from Fordham University. Dr. Pagan has presented across the country and has published articles in The Thomist, National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly, and in publications of the American Maritain Association. He co-edited the book The Human Person and a Culture of Freedom with Sister Terese Auer, O.P.
Have you ever been accused of being intolerant, simply because you’ve claimed something is true? Are truth and tolerance inevitably enemies? In our modern society, relativism is often disguised as openness and compassion. In this talk, Dr. Kreeft will discuss the meaning of tolerance and the repercussions of relativism in modern society.
About Dr. Kreeft Peter Kreeft is a professor of philosophy at Boston College and the King’s College in New York. A former Calvinist, he received his bachelor of arts from Calvin College and his master’s degree and doctorate from Fordham University. Dr. Kreeft is a well-known speaker and writer, authoring more than forty books, including Back to Virtue, Fundamentals of the Faith, and Catholic Christianity. A taste of his work can be found at www.peterkreeft.com.
In his famous work, Back to Virtue, Dr. Kreeft warned against modern society’s rejection of virtue and reduction of values to feelings. Can I say that my values are true? Or would this be judgmental, implying that some values are wrong? Are values a matter of individual taste? This talk will explore these questions, their implications, and their consequences in our modern society.
About Dr. Kreeft Peter Kreeft is a professor of philosophy at Boston College and the King’s College in New York. A former Calvinist, he received his bachelor of arts from Calvin College and his master’s degree and doctorate from Fordham University. Dr. Kreeft is a well-known speaker and writer, authoring more than forty books, including Back to Virtue, Fundamentals of the Faith, and Catholic Christianity. A taste of his work can be found at www.peterkreeft.com.
We live in an age that fails to grasp the nature of the relationship between faith and reason. Could this be the result of compounding misunderstandings regarding the relationship between the intellect and the will? With St. Thomas Aquinas as her guide, Sister Mary Angelica, offers deep insight into the nature of the intellect and will and demonstrates how these two noble faculties of the soul are connaturally oriented to Ultimate Truth and Good.
About Sr. Mary Angelica is a theology instructor at Aquinas College and a member of the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia Congregation in Nashville, Tennessee. She received her bachelor’s degree in art from Belmont University and her licentiate in moral theology from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome. While completing doctoral studies in theology, she studied the nature of the will according to St. Thomas Aquinas and Servais Pinckaers.
When the Church canonized the Scriptures in the fourth century, the books included in the canon were those read in the liturgy. According to Pope Benedict, the liturgy remains “the privileged place where the Word is alive, is present, indeed, where the Word, the Logos, the Lord, speaks to us and gives Himself into our hands.” In this presentation, Dr. Hahn examines the writings of Pope Benedict to show that the holy Scriptures, no matter how intensely they resonate within us, still most fully and powerfully speak to us in the environment for which they were written and where they flourish today—in the liturgy, the heart of the Church.
Although modern biblical exegesis seems to split the Scriptures into fragments, with various “experts” deciding what can be trusted and what cannot, Pope Benedict stresses the necessity of reading the Bible as a whole and approaching the Scriptures as a single book of books. Studying Scripture in its unity within the hermeneutic of faith reveals the dramatic richness present throughout the Word of God—and the gradual unfolding of God’s plan. Through the writings of Pope Benedict, Dr. Hahn demonstrates the importance of reading Scripture as the Fathers read it—typologically, covenantally, and in its unified whole — in order to read the Scriptures in the only light that can illumine them: the Light of Christ.
We often think of “culture” as an anonymous force, or perhaps as the irresistible tide of human interaction that sweeps us into its current. Yet the human person, gifted with a will and living within a community, has an opportunity to effect change within a culture most effectively through imagination and beauty. This talk examined some ways in which we might see beauty and the arts as an integral part of the new evangelization
Sister Elinor Gardner, O.P., is a professor of philosophy at Aquinas College.
Does being Catholic affect the way we see and interpret the world and reality? Sister explored what the imagination is, how it is formed, and what are the effects of a hindered imagination or of the graced imagination.
Sister Thomas More Stepnowski, O.P. is a member of the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia Congregation and a graduate of University of Dallas, Belmont University, and Providence College. She is currently a doctoral student at Maryvale Institute, Birmingham, England. Sister has served as Academic Dean and Dean of the School of Education at Aquinas College. She has also taught in elementary and secondary schools in Tennessee, Virginia, Colorado, and Maryland. She has presented on the Catholic imagination and children’s literature in Nashville, Tennessee; Birmingham, Alabama; Columbia, South Carolina; Baltimore, Maryland, and Manhattan, New York as well as the University of Notre Dame and Providence College. She has also presented on Catholic identity at Edgewood College and Franciscan University, and has published essays in “The Chesterton Review” and “The Sower.”
The whole Church is turning its attention to the need for a “new evangelization.” But what precisely is this “new evangelization”? Why is it important? And why evangelize at all? Ralph Martin, Ph.D. examines these questions in this engaging talk.
Dr. Ralph Martin is the president of Renewal Ministries (www.renewalministries.net), an organization devoted to Catholic renewal and evangelization. Renewal Ministries is the sponsor of “The Choices We Face” a widely viewed weekly Catholic television and radio program distributed throughout the world and engages in a wide variety of mission work in more than 30 countries. Dr. Martin is also the Director of Graduate Theology Programs in Evangelization and an Associate Professor of Theology at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in the Archdiocese of Detroit. He holds a doctorate in theology from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome. In December of 2011 Pope Benedict XVI appointed Ralph as a Consultor to the Pontifical Council for the New Evangelization for a five year term. He was also appointed as an expert to assist the Bishops during the 2012 Synod on the New Evangelization. He is the author of a number of articles and books, including The Fulfillment of All Desire: A Guidebook for the Journey to God Based on the Wisdom of the Saints and Will Many Be Saved? What Vatican II Actually Teaches and Its Implications for the New Evangelization. He and his wife Anne reside in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
What can we learn from the first evangelization efforts? Dr. Peper discusses the advantages of resourcing the Church’s patristic intellectual traditions for evangelizing in a postmodern world. In particular, his talk focuses on how St. Augustine and his work On the Instruction of Beginners (De catechizandis rudibus) can successfully meet the needs of the contemporary culture and embody the New Evangelization of the Catholic Church.
Dr. Bradley M. Peper is on the faculty at Pope John Paul II High School in Hendersonville, TN, as an instructor of theology, foreign language, and social studies. Dr. Peper also serves as the director of the Center for Scholarly Engagement at Pope John Paul II. He received his Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University, where he specialized in the History of Christianity with a focus on early Christianity and North African patristic theology. His most recent study “On the Mark: Augustine’s Baptismal Analogy of the Nota Militaris” was published in the academic journal Augustinian Studies. The students of JPII have awarded Dr. Peper the Harvest Award for Teaching Excellence six years in a row. He has presented papers at conferences throughout the United States and has also been a frequent guest on the “We Believe” radio program in Nashville.
The presuppositions and secular worldview of society can be daunting obstacles to our attempts to spread the Gospel. Evangelization requires knowledge of both Christ and our audience. Father Rosica, a Scripture scholar now working in the media, brings a unique viewpoint to the question of bringing the Gospel to modern man. Father also relates many fascinating and humorous stories about serving as the liaison between the press and the Vatican during the Conclave that elected Pope Francis.
Father Thomas M. Rosica, C.S.B. is a priest of the Congregation of St. Basil. He holds advanced degrees in Theology and Sacred Scripture from Regis College in the Toronto School of Theology, the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome, and the École Biblique et Archéologique Française de Jérusalem. After years of teaching and working in campus ministry, he was appointed by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops as the Chief Executive Officer and National Director of the World Youth Day and the Papal Visit of Pope John Paul II that took place in Toronto during July, 2002. Following World Youth Day, Fr. Rosica became the founding Chief Executive Officer of Salt and Light Television, Canada’s first national Catholic television network. Father was appointed by the Vatican as the English-speaking Media Attaché at two Synods of Bishops, in 2008 and 2012. In February 2009, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Fr. Rosica a Consultor to the Pontifical Council for Social Communications. Father is President of Assumption University in Windsor, Ontario, the author of several hundred articles and columns in numerous languages for various publications, and is a regular contributor to L’Osservatore Romano. In the spring of 2013, Father Rosica was invited by the Vatican to join the staff of the Holy See Press Office and serve as one of the official spokespersons for the transition in the papacy that included the resignation, sede vacante, conclave, and election of the new Pope. Appearing at daily news briefings and giving over 160 interviews in English, French, Italian, Spanish and German to news networks and media outlets from around the world, he assisted the Vatican during a critical period in Church history.
Is science beautiful? How can it help us seek the divine? Dr. Bill Smart will look at the confluence of astrophysics, Genesis, evolution, and faith while helping us discover an appreciation of the created order. Understanding the beauty of scientific methodology leads not to a denial of the transcendent, but to a discovery of it.
William Smart, Ph.D. is professor of Biology and Associate Provost at Aquinas College. A dynamic and engaging professor, he has taught at Aquinas since 1999 and is currently an Associate Professor of biology. He has enjoyed being a part of the growth of Aquinas and remains an active part of strategic planning for the campus, including overseeing the process for reaffirmation of accreditation in 2011. Dr. Smart received his Ph.D. in Microbiology from the University of Tennessee. His presentations and publications range in topics from yeast genetics to the relationship of science and Sacred Scripture. He lives in Dickson with his wife and son.
How do mutual vulnerability and dependence lead to intimacy? What is the crowning gift of love? Sister Jane Dominic, O.P. will be exploring love through the “first beatifying meeting” of Adam and Eve, where each discovers their vocation to love in the particular modality of masculinity or femininity. This exploration of love will reveal that each aspect of human love images some facet of the mysterious Divine Love that makes it possible.
Sister Jane Dominic Laurel, O.P., is a Dominican Sister of the Saint Cecilia Congregation in Nashville, Tennessee. A graduate of the University of Dallas and the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome, she currently teaches Theology at Aquinas College. In addition to contributing articles to several Catholic journals and magazines, including L’Osservatore Romano, Sister has also appeared on EWTN, served as Spiritual Promoter for the Dominican Laity, and has presented to a variety of audiences on topics related to theology, religious life, marriage, and family.
Dr. Aaron Urbanczyk’s presentation will explore the problem of sin as represented in imaginative literature. Dante’s Divine Comedy, John Milton’s Paradise Lost, and C.S. Lewis’ novel The Screwtape Letters all explore the logic and psychology of sin from the point of view of demons and humans condemned to eternal punishment. These literary works provide a wealth of insight into the mechanisms of justification and self-deception always associated with sinful behavior, and they powerfully illuminate the great struggles involved in living the life of grace.
Aaron Urbanczyk, Ph.D. is the Director of the Write Reason Center and Associate Professor of English at Aquinas College. He holds a Ph.D. in English from Florida State University, and both a Master’s in Philosophy and a Bachelor’s in English from Franciscan University of Steubenville. His numerous essays and reviews have appeared in Religion & the Arts, The Intercollegiate Review, Modern Age, The Fellowship of Catholic Scholars Quarterly, The Catholic Thing, and the Ignatius Critical Editions of Frankenstein, The Scarlet Letter, and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Before joining the faculty at Aquinas, Dr. Urbanczyk taught at North Georgia College & State University, Southern Catholic College, Ave Maria University, and Baylor University. Dr. Urbanczyk and his wife Rebecca have six children.
What is grace? What is it not? In this talk, Professor Keiser will explore the situation of our first parents as God created them, the damages they incurred through sin, and what kind of remedy would be needed to repair those damages. Examining the effects of the Paschal Mystery will help us understand how the gift is greater than the transgression (Romans 5:15-21) and gain an appreciation of the grace we have received in Christ.
KEVIN KEISER teaches theology for Aquinas College and the Permanent Diaconate Formation Program of the Diocese of Nashville and teaches Latin and World History at St. Cecilia Academy. After studying philosophy at St. Michael’s Abbey in southern California, Kevin obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Sacred Theology from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas in Rome. He went on to acquire a Master’s in Thomistic Studies and a Licentiate in Moral Theology at the same university, and is now writing his doctoral dissertation on the natural desire to see God and its implications for the relationship between grace and nature.
The Psalmist says that God made man “little less than a god.” Is man another omniscient and omnipotent being who can create his own universe and design his own existence to suit his desires? Many today would say yes. But the “little less” hearkens back to Genesis when the presumption of our first parents led to another conclusion. As a physician and a Dominican, Sister Mary Diana will explain the nature of man, drawing from Scriptural sources and her experience of caring for patients. Learn why a true Christian anthropology is irreplaceable for those who strive to bring Christ to a suffering world.
SISTER MARY DIANA DREGER, O.P., is a Dominican Sister of the Saint Cecilia Congregation in Nashville, Tennessee. She practices internal medicine at the Saint Thomas Family Health Center South Clinic, serving a predominantly immigrant and uninsured population. She trained at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and holds a faculty appointment at Vanderbilt as Assistant Clinical Professor in Medicine. She was an educator and administrator at the high school and college levels for over 15 years, and has given numerous presentations across the country to physician groups, students and faculties at the high school and college levels, parish adult education classes, community groups, healthcare professionals, and her religious sisters on topics spanning the areas of medicine, education, and faith.
How do we reconcile our scientific knowledge with our theological knowledge? Father Nicanor Austriaco, O.P. will reflect on how discoveries in physics, chemistry, and biology can be understood in light of salvation history and the ultimate purpose of the universe: the desire of the Holy Trinity to share His inner life with persons who are not God.
REV. NICANOR AUSTRIACO, O.P., currently serves as an Associate Professor of Biology and an Instructor of Theology at Providence College in Providence, Rhode Island. Prior to entering the Dominicans, Father completed his Bachelor’s degree in Bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania and his Ph.D. in Biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he was a fellow of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. At M.I.T., Fr. Austriaco worked in the laboratory of Professor Leonard Guarente on the genetics of aging in the yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. After completing his doctoral studies, he was a fellow of the International Human Frontier Science Program at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research at the University College London in the United Kingdom.
Father was ordained to the priesthood on May 21, 2004. He earned his Bachelor’s in Theology, his Master’s of Divinity, and his Licentiate in Theology at the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C., and is currently pursuing a Pontifical Doctorate in Sacred Theology from the University of Fribourg in Switzerland.
Fr. Austriaco is an Investigator of the Rhode Island-INBRE Program funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a scientific advisor at the National Catholic Bioethics Center, and an ethics consultant for St. Joseph Health Services of Rhode Island. He has intellectual interests both in molecular and cellular genetics and in moral theology. His essays in bioethics have been published in the National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly, Studia Moralia, Ethics and Medics, and the Linacre Quarterly. His first book, Biomedicine and Beatitude: An Introduction to Catholic Bioethics, was recently published by the Catholic University of America Press.
The grace of the Year of Faith is meant not only to help Catholics in their personal following of the Lord, but also to impact their families, parishes, communities, and societies, strengthening them in faith to become the salt, light, and leaven of all of society. In the midst of secularist attempts to reduce faith to private behavior, both the Pope and the U.S. Bishops have been calling Catholics to a truly consequential faith that works through love (Gal 5:6). In this talk, Father Landry will examine how the Year of Faith is meant to impact the public witness of both Catholic individuals and Catholic institutions.
Fr. Roger Landry is a priest of the Diocese of Fall River, Massachusetts, where he is pastor of St. Bernadette Parish in the Sea City and a columnist for the Anchor, the weekly newspaper of the Diocese for which he was the executive editor for seven years. He writes and speaks widely on the thought of Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI and on difficult and controversial issues of Catholicism to priests, religious, students at colleges and schools, conferences and parishes. He is the national chaplain for Catholic Voices, an organization founded earlier this year to train and place bright Catholic lay spokesmen capable of defending and promoting Catholic teaching and practice in the public square. His writings, homilies and lectures are available on www.catholicpreaching.com.
In recent years, biologists have sequenced the genomes of numerous individuals scattered throughout the planet. They have also been able to obtain genome information from extinct hominin species including the Neanderthals and Denisovans. Altogether this data suggests that the human species evolved from a small population of individuals living in east Africa about 100,000 years ago. In this lecture, using the inseparable and harmonious benefits of faith and reason, Father Nicanor Austracio, O.P. will not only explore the scientific basis for these claims but also begin to reconcile them with the truths of the faith revealed in Sacred Scripture.
Father Nicanor Pier Giorgio Austracio, O.P. is an Associate Professor of Biology at Providence College. He holds a B.S. in Engineering (bioengineering) from the University of Pennsylvania, a Ph.D. in Biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a Bachelor of Sacred Theology and a Licentiate in Sacred Theology, both from the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C. Father has also served as Fellow of the International Human Frontier Science Program for the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research at the University College London. The subjects for his research and published work range from the life cycle of yeast, to bioethics, to moral theology. His most recent work is a book entitled Biomedicine and Beatitude: An Introduction to Catholic Bioethics, published in December 2011 by the Catholic University of America Press.
In this lecture, Sister Mary Diana Dreger, O.P., M.D., considers audience-submitted questions and presents an engaging medical perspective to current moral issues affecting women and families.
Sister has been providing health care for medically underserved patients at the Saint Thomas Family Health Center South Clinic since 2007. After entering the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia Congregation in 1989, Sister Mary Diana completed her medical training and residency in internal medicine at Vanderbilt University in 2004. Sister is a member of the Aquinas College Board of Directors and the Catholic Medical Association in Nashville.
Vincent Ryan, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of History at Aquinas College, reviews the history of the Crusades and the Devotion to Mary that pervaded them.
Dr. Ryan studied under renowned Crusades historian Dr. Thomas F. Madden at St. Louis University where he was also co-founder of the Crusades Studies Forum.
Father Albert Trudel, O.P. brings a real and reasoned perspective to a most fanciful and endearing literary giant.
Fr. Albert at the time was Associate Professor of English and Director of the Center for Faith and Culture at Aquinas College. He is now at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC.
Father Brian Mullady, O.P. explores the various difficulties of relating to faith in Christ today, and what challenges the true answer offers to us in today’s world. This lecture, part of the Aquinas College Fall Lecture Series, was recorded on the evening of Thursday, October 17, 2013.
Father Brian Thomas Becket Mullady, O.P. entered the Dominican Order in 1966. He has been a parish priest as well as a teacher in high schools, colleges, and seminaries. He is the author of three books and numerous articles. He received his Doctorate in Sacred Theology from the Angelicum University in Rome, Italy, where he also taught for six years. He is an academician of the Catholic Academy of Science and has hosted seven series on the EWTN television network.
What does it mean to be a “person” and where does this concept come from? Most of us today would be surprised to learn that it comes from the Bible, and that philosophers did not discover it on their own. Hear why and how this idea came to take shape, and what might become of it, and of us, if we forget where we first learned it.
Dr. Bulzacchelli began working at Aquinas College in 2004 and helped develop Aquinas College’s Bachelor of Arts major in Theology. His most recent book “Elohim Created”: A New Look at the First Creation Narrative was published earlier this year. He is a Senior Fellow of the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology and has also authored Judged by the Law of Freedom: A History of the Faith-Works Controversy, and a Resolution in the Thought of St. Thomas Aquinas (University Press of America, 2006). He received an M.A. in Christian Philosophy from Marquette University, an M.A. in Religious Studies from Providence College, a Licentiate in Sacred Theology from the Dominican House of Studies, and the S.T.D. in theology from the International Marian Research Institute of the University of Dayton.
Historical Christianity defines human dignity according to the Biblical teaching that man is made in God’s image, but since the Enlightenment this view has been consistently challenged by various secular philosophies. Dr. Ben Smith explains why the secular alternatives to Christianity fail, and what this means for men and women in the modern world.
Benjamin L. Smith, Ph.D. graduated Cum Laude from Belmont University with a B.A. in History and Philosophy and served two years as the President of Phi Sigma Tau. During this time he entered the Catholic Church (1995). He earned an M.A. in Philosophy from the Catholic University of America and a Ph.D. in Philosophy from the Center for Thomistic Studies. Dr. Smith has presented and published professionally, including a forthcoming article, “Imago Dei: Nature, Grace, and Glory According to Saint Thomas Aquinas.”
Author and Speaker, Joseph Pearce looks at the life and times of one of the 20th century’s most profound and honest authors and Catholic apologists, G.K. Chesterton. Recorded on March 7, 2013 at Aquinas College.