The Thomistic Institute

The Thomistic Institute

religion

The Thomistic Institute exists to promote Catholic truth in our contemporary world by strengthening the intellectual formation of Christians at universities, in the Church, and in the wider public square. The thought of St. Thomas Aquinas, the Universal Doctor of the Church, is our touchstone.The Thomistic Institute Podcast features the lectures and talks from our conferences, campus chapters events, intellectual …

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Episodes

The Cross is a Marriage Feast – Prof. Nina Sophie Heereman

<p>This lecture was given on March 5th, 2026, at University of Louisiana at Lafayette.</p><p><br></p><p>For more information on upcoming events, visit us at <a href="https://thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events" target="_blank">thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events</a>.</p><p><br></p><p>About the Speakers:</p><p><br></p><p><span style="background-color: transparent; color: …

Apr 03, 2026 · 1h 2m

Thomas Aquinas and the Theological Virtue of Hope in Times of Quiet Despair – Prof. Rik Van Nieuwenhove

<p>This lecture was given on March 12th, 2026, at University of Edinburgh.</p><p><br></p><p>For more information on upcoming events, visit us at <a href="https://thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events" target="_blank">thomisticinstitute.org/upcoming-events</a>.</p><p><br></p><p>About the Speakers:</p><p><br></p><p>Rik Van Nieuwenhove is Professor of …

Apr 02, 2026 · 48m

The Promises and Pitfalls of Stoicism – Prof. Christopher Frey

<p>Prof. Christopher Frey argues that Stoicism offers real insights about freedom and detachment from externals, but its ideal of self-sufficient serenity risks flattening human emotion, moral life, and the need …

Apr 01, 2026 · 45m

Why So Sad? The Sorrows that Kill and the Sorrows that Save – Sr. Anna Wray, O.P.

<p>Sr. Anna Wray argues that sorrow can either deform the soul as acedia or save it when rightly faced, and she offers a Thomistic account of how sorrow, friendship with …

Mar 31, 2026 · 51m

Wisdom from the Old Testament on Prayer and the Spiritual Life – Fr. Stephen Ryan, O.P.

<p>Fr. Stephen Ryan argues that the Old Testament remains a vital guide to prayer and the spiritual life because Scripture reveals God’s friendship, sanctifies time, and forms the practices of …

Mar 30, 2026 · 48m

Why Modern Christians Need the Eucharist – Prof. Michael Dauphinais

<p>Prof. Michael Dauphinais contends that modern Christians, formed by empiricism, individualism, and a this‑worldly hope that easily turns to despair, especially need the Eucharist because it is the concrete, sacramental …

Mar 27, 2026 · 52m

Catholic Doctrine and Judaism – Prof. Gavin D'Costa

<p>Prof. Gavin D’Costa explains how, since Vatican II, the Catholic Church has rethought its relationship to Judaism by affirming the enduring validity of God’s covenant with the Jewish people, recovering …

Mar 26, 2026 · 43m

Justified by Grace, Works, or Faith? – Prof. Michael Root

<p>Prof. Michael Root argues that, in Catholic theology, we are saved wholly by the unmerited grace of Christ, and that this grace brings us into a Spirit‑given life of faith, …

Mar 25, 2026 · 44m

Why the Catholic Church Has Priests – Fr. Dominic Langevin, O.P.

<p>Fr. Dominic Langevin defends the Catholic priesthood as a divinely willed, sacramental system of mediation in which ordained men, configured to Christ the High Priest, bestow God’s gifts on the …

Mar 24, 2026 · 59m

Aquinas on Predestination: The Main Issues – Fr. John Baptist Ku, O.P.

<p>Fr. John Baptist Ku unpacks St. Thomas Aquinas’s doctrine of predestination, showing how God’s universal salvific will, efficacious grace, and real human freedom coexist without collapsing into Calvinist double predestination …

Mar 23, 2026 · 31m

Immortality and Immateriality – Prof. Thomas Osborne

<p>Prof. Thomas Osborne clarifies how, for Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas, the distinctive immateriality of human intellectual knowledge grounds a philosophical case for the soul’s immortality, going beyond today’s narrower …

Mar 20, 2026 · 45m

Beyond Work and Play: Aristotle on Friendship, Contemplation, and The Value of Human Activity – Prof. Marshall Bierson

<p>Prof. Marshall Bierson uses Aristotle’s distinction between work, play, and deeper “energetic” activities to argue that friendship and contemplation uniquely allow us to “rest” in what is truly good and …

Mar 19, 2026 · 44m

St. Thomas Aquinas on Pleasure and the Good Life – Dr. Erik Dempsey

<p>Dr. Erik Dempsey explains how St. Thomas Aquinas sees pleasure as a natural and God-given part of the good life, one that both signals our true human ends and yet …

Mar 18, 2026 · 45m

Suffering and the Communion of Saints – Prof. Timothy O'Connor

<p>Prof. Timothy O’Connor examines why an all-loving, omnipotent God permits horrendous suffering and explores how, within a Christian framework, such evils can be “defeated” and taken up into the communion …

Mar 17, 2026 · 52m

Friendship: The Art of Striving and Thriving Together – Sr. Mary Madeline Todd, O.P.

<p>Sr. Mary Madeline Todd draws upon Aristotle, St. Thomas Aquinas, and friendship with Christ in order to show that sharing a common journey and life, together with mutual self-gift, turns …

Mar 16, 2026 · 51m

Burnout Society – Dr. R.J. Snell

<p>Dr. R. J. Snell analyzes our “burnout society” as an achievement-obsessed culture that drives people to anxiety, depression, and exhaustion by demanding endless self-optimization while starving them of leisure, contemplation, …

Mar 13, 2026 · 50m

From the Dictatorship of Relativism to the Tyranny of Pathos – Dr. Kevin Kambo

<p>Dr. Kevin Kambo argues that our culture has moved from a “dictatorship of relativism” to a “tyranny of pathos,” in which appeals to hurt feelings and empathy displace reasoned deliberation …

Mar 12, 2026 · 42m

Are Right and Wrong Just a Matter of Opinion? – Prof. Steven Jensen

<p>Prof. Steven Jensen argues that right and wrong are not just a matter of opinion by defending moral realism over moral relativism, showing that moral truths are grounded in human …

Mar 11, 2026 · 50m

Is the Church Anti-Capitalist? – Fr. Jacques-Benoît Rauscher, O.P.

<p>Fr. Jacques Benoit-Rauscher explores whether the Catholic Church is truly anti-capitalist by clarifying how Catholic social doctrine distinguishes legitimate market structures from the problematic “spirit of capitalism” and proposing a …

Mar 10, 2026 · 50m

Dante and Aquinas – Prof. George Corbett

<p>Prof. George Corbett examines how Dante’s vision of Christian wisdom, politics, and philosophy stands in deep harmony with Aquinas and Pope Leo XIII’s Leonine Thomistic revival, against Etienne Gilson’s charge …

Mar 09, 2026 · 50m

Catholic Scientists – Prof. Jonathan I. Lunine

<p>Prof. Jonathan I. Lunine presents his life as a planetary scientist and Catholic convert as a lived example of the harmony between faith and science, then highlights two priest‑scientists—Georges Lemaître …

Mar 06, 2026 · 55m

Catholic Faith and Medicine: In Harmony or in Conflict? – Dr. Timothy P. Flanigan, MD

<p>Dr. Timothy P. Flanigan, M.D., presents Catholic faith and medicine as profoundly harmonious, showing how Christ’s person‑to‑person healing, the Church’s hospital tradition, and a “culture of life” can and must …

Mar 05, 2026 · 37m

The War That Never Was: Science vs. Faith – Prof. Lawrence M. Principe

<p>Prof. Lawrence M. Principe argues that the supposed “war” between science and faith is largely a modern myth, constructed in the late 19th century by figures like John William Draper …

Mar 04, 2026 · 45m

The Making of Another Catholic Scientist – Prof. Jonathan Lunine

<p>Prof. Jonathan Lunine offers a personal and intellectual witness that one can be both a serious planetary scientist and a committed Catholic, describing his journey from Jewish upbringing and “cradle …

Mar 03, 2026 · 51m

Is Religion Really an Enemy of Science? – Prof. Carlos A. Casanova

<p>Prof. Carlos A. Casanova argues that religion—understood as a theological worldview affirming God as the rational creator—is not an enemy but an historical and structural ally of science, since the …

Mar 02, 2026 · 47m

Truth, Goodness, and Fantasy Literature – Fr. Philip-Neri Reese, O.P.

<p>Fr. Philip-Neri Reese argues that while grimdark fantasy (exemplified by George R. R. Martin) can be just as true artistically as Tolkien-style classic fantasy, it is necessarily less good in …

Feb 27, 2026 · 49m