Episodes

Prof. Bruce Marshall examines the fundamental Christian doctrine of the Incarnation, explaining how the New Testament and Catholic tradition affirm that Jesus is truly God in the flesh, as confessed by Thomas in the Gospel of John and articulated in the Nicene Creed and the Definition of Chalcedon. This lecture was given on April 7th, 2025, at University of Tulsa. For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events. About the Speaker: ...

Prof. Thomas Ward explores the Thomistic concept of the convertibility of being and goodness, examining how the privation theory of evil and the essential natures of things underpin the intrinsic goodness of all that exists, drawing on insights from Aristotelian and Thomistic philosophy. This lecture was given on February 22nd, 2025, at Dominican House of Studies. For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events. About the Speaker: ...

Fr. Timothy Bellamah explores how the problem of evil emerged as a distinct theological issue within the Judeo-Christian tradition, contrasting it with ancient mythologies and examining historical responses from Gnosticism to Augustine and Aquinas. This lecture was given on February 21st, 2025, at Dominican House of Studies. For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events. About the Speaker: Fr. Timothy Bellamah, O.P. (Commissio...

Prof. Candace Vogler analyzes the concept of the highest good in metaethics, comparing the views of Mill, Kant, and Aquinas, and explores how the pursuit of the highest good shapes moral philosophy and practical reasoning. This lecture was given on November 15th, 2024, at University of Illinois. For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events. About the Speaker: Candace Vogler is the David B. and Clare E. Stern Professor of Phil...

Prof. Stephen Meredith examines why a good and all-powerful God would allow horrible diseases, weaving together scientific explanations, philosophical arguments from figures like Boethius and Aquinas, and personal anecdotes to address the problem of evil. This lecture was given on March 12th, 2025, at University of Georgia. For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events. About the Speaker: Stephen Meredith is a professor at the...

Prof. Thomas Ward explains the classical Christian theory that evil is not a real entity but a privation of goodness, drawing from thinkers like Augustine, Aquinas, and Boethius to address philosophical and theological challenges about the nature of evil. This lecture was given on February 22nd, 2025, at Dominican House of Studies. For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events. About the Speaker: Thomas M. Ward is Associate Pr...

Fr. Andrew Hofer explores Thomas Aquinas’s interpretation of the Nicene Creed, highlighting its foundational role in Catholic theology, the Trinity, and the integration of scripture, liturgy, and tradition. This lecture was given on February 8th, 2025, at Dominican House of Studies. For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events. About the Speaker: Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P., (Ph.D. Notre Dame) is professor of patristics and ancien...

Fr. Cassian Derbes explores how wonderment, contemplation, and friendship with God are essential to the Christian life, drawing on insights from Aristotle, Saint Thomas Aquinas, and literary works such as A River Runs Through It. This lecture was given on January 18th, 2025, at Cedarbrake Catholic Retreat Center. For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events. About the Speaker: Fr. Cassian Derbes, O.P. is a priest of the Domin...

Dr. Nathaniel Peters and Prof. Jane Sloan Peters explore the vocation of parenthood, highlighting the distinct yet complementary roles of fatherhood and motherhood as a participation in God’s creative and priestly work, grounded in Catholic theology and enriched by personal experience. This lecture was given on Jan 24th, 2025, at Dominican House of Studies. For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events. About the Speaker: Nath...

Fr. Stephen Ryan explains how the Psalms uniquely serve as both a mirror and remedy for the soul, fostering self-knowledge, compunction, and conversion by guiding believers into deeper prayer and recognition of God’s grace in their lives. This lecture was given on March 10th, 2025, at Dominican House of Studies. For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events. About the Speaker: Fr. Stephen Ryan was born and raised in Boston and...

Fr. Gregory Pine explores the principles for a happy life by drawing on Aristotelian and Thomistic philosophy, focusing on the concept of beatitude as the fullness of flourishing rooted in the nature of God and human beings. This lecture was given on February 14th, 2025, at Dominican House of Studies. For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events. About the Speaker: Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. is an adjunct professor of dogmatic th...

Prof. Jeffrey Brower defends Aquinas’s hylomorphic account of human nature, arguing that the soul, as the body’s substantial form, ensures metaphysical unity while allowing for postmortem survival, offering a coherent alternative to materialism and substance dualism This lecture was given on February 25th, 2025, at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events . About the Speaker: J...

Fr. Andrew Hofer explores the earliest Christological debates of the first centuries, showing how heresies like Arianism, Nestorianism, and Pelagianism threatened the Church’s understanding of Jesus’ true identity, and why defending orthodox Christology remains vital for Christian faith and unity today. This lecture was given on February 16th, 2024, at St. Joseph's in Greenwich Village. For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events . ...

Prof. Boyd Taylor Coolman examines the thirteenth-century scholastic doctrine of “capital grace,” showing how Alexander of Hales, Hugh of Saint Victor, and the Summa Halensis developed a pneumatologically-centered account of Christ as the head of the Church, which Aquinas later systematized, emphasizing the Holy Spirit’s role in uniting believers to Christ.

Prof. Ross McCullough systematically explores the major models of the atonement-including Christus Victor, ransom theory, and divinization-showing how each interprets Christ’s saving work and how Aquinas’s distinctions can help organize these diverse approaches into a coherent theological architecture.

This lecture was given on November 23rd, 2023, at Dominican House of Studies. For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events . About the Speaker: Fr. Timothy Bellamah, O.P. was born and raised in Washington, D.C. He entered the Order of Preachers in 1991 and was ordained a priest in 1998. He studied at Wake Forest University (B.S., 1982), the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception (M.Div. and S.T.B., 1997; S.T.L, 1999) and t...

Prof. Joshua Hochschild analyzes how smartphones and digital technologies reshape our brains, habits, and sense of self by leveraging neuroscience and AI-driven behavioral design, warning that these tools commodify our attention, erode agency, and pose deep spiritual and ethical challenges that demand more than technocratic solutions.

Prof. Steven Jensen critically examines transhumanism as a new form of eugenics, arguing that the pursuit of human enhancement through technologies like genetic engineering and brain-computer interfaces repeats the ethical pitfalls of historical eugenics by neglecting the importance of human nature and the distinction between treatment and enhancement.

Prof. Gyula Klima uses Aquinas’ philosophy of mind to argue that human intelligence, rooted in immaterial universal concept formation, is metaphysically distinct from artificial general intelligence (AGI), though AGI can still serve as a powerful tool for enhancing human understanding and life.

Fr. Ambrose Little examines the philosophical and ethical implications of AI-assisted writing by drawing on Plato’s myth of Thoth, Aristotle, and Aquinas, arguing that while new technologies like AI can threaten essential intellectual virtues, they can also be used wisely if we seek a balanced, virtue-oriented approach to knowledge and memory.

This lecture was given on February 20th, 2025, at University of Pittsburgh. The speaker requests that anyone interested in a summary of this talk listen to the whole thing. For more information on upcoming events, visit us at thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events . About the Speaker: Sister Anna Wray is a native of Connecticut and a member of the Dominican Sisters of Saint Cecilia of Nashville, TN. Sister received her PhD in philosophy from The Catholic University of Ame...

Prof. Adam Eitel explores the nature of friendship and the common good through the lens of Aquinas and Aristotle, emphasizing that true friendship is a mutual, habitual disposition to will and pursue the good of another through concrete sharing and fellowship.

Fr. Cassian Derbes explores why friendship is a difficult but essential good, drawing on Aquinas, Aristotle, Cicero, Augustine, and Dante to show how hope, fortitude, and magnanimity help us overcome sloth and despair in pursuit of true friendship as a common good.

Prof. Thomas Hibbs analyzes Aquinas’ account of friendship and human excellence, drawing on Aristotle and Tocqueville to show how friendship is a necessary, intrinsically valuable common good that addresses contemporary crises of loneliness, civic animosity, and the loss of meaningful community.