Episodes
April 28, 2025
Logic and Truth in God, Nature, and the Artificial | Fr. Philip-Neri Reese, O.P.
Fr. Philip-Neri Reese explores the relationship between logic and truth as they manifest in God, the natural world, and artificial constructs, emphasizing the distinct ways in which logic operates within divine, natural, and human-made realities.
Guest: Fr. Philip-Neri Reese, O.P.
April 25, 2025
John Henry Newman's Conception of the Development of Doctrine | Prof. Chad Pecknold
Prof. Chad Pecknold analyzes John Henry Newman’s theological legacy, focusing on doctrinal development, conscience as a divine imperative, and his impact on the Second Vatican Council and modern Catholic-Protestant dialogue.
Guest: Prof. Chad Pecknold
April 24, 2025
Do We Need Marian Apparitions? | Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P.
Fr. Gregory Pine explores the theological necessity of Marian apparitions through the lens of Catholic doctrine, explaining how they relate to the central mystery of the Incarnation and the proper hierarchy of truths in Christian faith.
Guest: Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P.
April 23, 2025
Nicaea’s ‘Christological surplus, or, How to remember the creed’ | Prof. Lewis Ayres
Prof. Lewis Ayres examines how the Nicene Creed functions as a generative and interpretive “cipher” within Christian tradition, tracing its roots to the adaptation of Second Temple Jewish imaginative worlds and the development of early rules of fai...
Guest: Prof. Lewis Ayres
April 22, 2025
The Beauty of the Catholic Sacramental View | Sr. Albert Marie Surmanski, O.P.
Sr. Albert Marie Surmanski, O.P., explores how creation sacramentally reflects God’s glory, particularly investigating how metaphysics, scripture, poetry, and ultimately every aspect of existence—from cosmic order to human relationships—reveals div...
April 21, 2025
Hope: The Pilgrim's Virtue | Prof. Michael Wahl
Prof. Michael Wahl explores the theological virtue of hope as essential for Christian pilgrimage, distinguishing it from mere passion by examining how hope directs us toward God as our ultimate, difficult yet attainable good.
Guest: Prof. Michael Wahl
April 18, 2025
What Has the Historical Jesus to Do with the Church's Christ? | Fr. Isaac Morales, O.P.
Fr. Isaac Morales explores the relationship between the historical Jesus and Church's knowledge of Jesus, cautioning against relying too heavily on ever-changing historical reconstructions while emphasizing recurrent themes to discover the authenti...
Guest: Fr. Isaac Morales, O.P.
April 17, 2025
On the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist | Fr. Dominic Langevin, O.P.
Fr. Dominic Langevin explores the Catholic doctrine of the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist, explaining transubstantiation, its scriptural basis, historical development, and the significance for Christian life.
Guest: Fr. Dominic Langevin, O.P.
April 16, 2025
What Can Demons Do? | Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P.
Fr. Gregory Pine explores the extent of demonic influence on human life, distinguishing between physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual dimensions to clarify the limits of their power, particularly concerning the direct access to one's sp...
Guest: Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P.
April 15, 2025
Why Are There Two Sacraments of Healing, Penance and Anointing of the Sick? | Prof. Roger Nutt
Prof. Roger Nutt explores the theological significance of the sacraments of Penance and Anointing of the Sick as healing encounters that address both sin and its temporal consequences, emphasizing the Christian's journey toward a good death in ligh...
Guest: Prof. Roger Nutt
April 14, 2025
Divine Providence as Fulfilled in Christ | Fr. Timothy Bellamah, O.P.
Fr. Timothy Bellamah explores divine providence as God's vision and causation of all things fulfilled in Christ, explaining that Christ's incarnation, passion, death, and resurrection serve as God's ultimate response to the problem of evil, particularly the suffering of the innocent.
Guest: Fr. Timothy Bellamah, O.P.
April 11, 2025
Coming to Know God Through Creation: A Biblical Perspective | Fr. Jordan Schmidt, O.P.
Fr. Jordan Schmidt explores biblical creation accounts, emphasizing their theological depth and historical context to reveal how the created world serves as a pathway to knowing God and understanding divine revelation.
Guest: Fr. Jordan Schmidt, O.P.
April 10, 2025
Human Nature and the Challenges of Our Advancing Technologies | Dr. William Hurlbut
Dr. William Hurlbut examines the profound ethical and philosophical challenges posed by advancing biotechnologies, emphasizing the need for a deeper understanding of human nature, dignity, and purpose in light of developments like genetic engineering, artificial intelligence, and transhumanist aspirations.
Guest: Dr. William Hurlbut
April 9, 2025
Creation and Big Bang Cosmology | Prof. Karin Öberg
Prof. Karin Öberg explores the interplay between theology and science, focusing on Thomas Aquinas' view of creation as a relational dependency on God and how Big Bang cosmology aligns with theological insights into the universe's origins.
Guest: Prof. Karin Öberg
April 8, 2025
Should Catholics Run (Away) From Secular Politics? | Fr. John Harris, O.P.
Fr. John Harris discusses the Catholic approach to secular politics, emphasizing Thomistic principles, the role of lay Catholics, and the balance between natural and supernatural ends in governance.
Guests: Fr. John Harris , Fr. John Harris, O.P.
April 7, 2025
A Neurologist's Reflections on Human Dignity and Suffering | Dr. Paul LaPenna
Dr. Paul LaPenna reflects on the integration of ancient virtues, Christian ethics, and self-sacrificial love in medical practice, emphasizing human dignity and compassionate care.
Guest: Dr. Paul LaPenna
April 4, 2025
Famine, Affluence, and Aquinas | Prof. Marshall Bierson
Prof. Marshall Bierson explores Aquinas's and Anscombe's moral absolutes, particularly concerning theft, arguing that in cases of extreme need, taking another's property may not constitute theft, suggesting a nuanced approach to absolutist moral frameworks.
Guest: Prof. Marshall Bierson
April 3, 2025
Making Up What is Lacking: Disability and Suffering in Christ's Body, the Church | Prof. Paul Gondreau
Prof. Paul Gondreau reflects on the profound meaning of suffering, disability, and human frailty in light of Christ’s redemptive suffering, emphasizing shared vulnerability as a source of mercy and unity within the Church.
Guest: Prof. Paul Gondreau
April 2, 2025
Ectogenesis: Transhumanism, The Brave New World, and the Attack on Transcendentals | Prof. Stephen Meredith
Prof. Stephen Meredith explores the essence of being human through the lens of Aristotelian and Thomistic philosophy, contrasting it with biological and scientific perspectives that often overlook the importance of form and final cause.
Guest: Prof. Stephen Meredith
April 1, 2025
Can Machines be People, Too? | Fr. Anselm Ramelow, O.P.
Fr. Anselm Ramelow critically examines whether artificial intelligence can achieve personhood, arguing that machines lack the essential qualities of being, consciousness, and unity inherent to human nature.
Guest: Fr. Anselm Ramelow, O.P.
March 31, 2025
Reconciling the Image of God with the Scientific Image of Human Persons | Dr. Daniel De Haan
Dr. Daniel De Haan examines the interplay between philosophical, theological, and scientific images of human persons, emphasizing their complementarity and addressing challenges posed by reductionist scientific perspectives.
Guest: Dr. Daniel De Haan
March 28, 2025
Sharing in Divine Goodness by Grace | Fr. John Mark Solitario, O.P.
Fr. John Mark Solitario explores the transformative power of grace offered by Christ, emphasizing the perfection of charity and voluntary poverty as a means to participate in divine goodness and a sure path to eternal life.
March 27, 2025
What Exactly Is the Hypostatic Union? | Fr. Dominic Legge, O.P.
Fr. Dominic Legge explores the intricacies of the hypostatic union, focusing on Aquinas's understanding of how the divine and human natures are united in the person of Christ, while navigating various Christological heresies.
Guest: Fr. Dominic Legge, O.P.
March 26, 2025
The Life-Giving Appropriation of the Flesh: St. Cyril of Alexandria on the Unity of Christ | Prof. Paul Gavrilyuk
Professor Paul Gavrilyuk explores Cyril of Alexandria's Christology as a sustained meditation on majesty and lowliness, driven by the desire to probe the mystery of the hypostatic union in light of the Nestorian controversy.
Guest: Prof. Paul Gavrilyuk