Aquinas the Biblical Theologian Conference

Registration is now open for the 2019 Aquinas the Biblical Theologian conference at Ave Maria University (February 7-9, 2019), co-sponsored by The Aquinas Center for Theological Renewal and The St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology.

Scott Hahn and Matthew Levering will be featured as keynote speakers. Featured Thomistic speakers include John Boyle, Randall Smith, Jörgen Vijgen, Michael Dauphinais, and Michael Waldstein. Members of The Sacra Doctrina Project will also present, including Steven Long, Taylor Patrick O’Neill, Daniel Lendman, Brandon L. Wanless, Sean Robertson, and Daniel Garland, Jr.

See the Ave Maria conferences website (below) for more information about the conference, including a tentative schedule of presentations.

Veritas & Amor Thomistic Contest

The Circolo San Tommaso is calling for submissions from individuals 35-years-old or less for their 2019 Veritas et Amor Contest, with two distict sections: Culture and Art.

No entry fees.

Deadline: February 15, 2019

> Culture Section

Open to degree or PhD theses and monographs focused on the thought of Thomas Aquinas, including (but not limited to) domains not strictly philosophical or theological (e.g. in human and social sciences: law, economics, political science, sociology, etc.) examined or first published not before 2015.

The topic is free.

The first-place winner of the Culture category shall receive a € 2,000 award and be offered an opportunity of presenting his/her thesis or monograph at Aquino.

> Art Section

Open to works in classical or contemporary art mediums (painting, plastic arts, performing arts, video art, etc.) focused on or inspired by the person, life or thought of Thomas Aquinas. For painting, the maximum size is 150 cm x 150 cm or 170 cm x 120 cm. For plastic works, the maximum size is 150 cm (height) and 1 m x 1 m (base).

The topic is free, but the suggested topic is: Thomas Aquinas, the eucharist, the incarnation.

The first-place winner of the Art category shall receive a € 2,000 award and be offered an opportunity of presenting or exhibiting his/her work at Aquino, Italy. The second-place and third-place winners of the Art category shall be offered an opportunity of presenting or exhibiting their works at Aquino, Italy.

The winners will be presented in Aquino, Italy on March 2, 2019.

New book on Aquinas, predestination, grace, and free will

RJ Matava just brought my attention to a new book by Basile Valuet, OSB on St. Thomas's teaching on predestination, grace, and free will. It's the second volume of a projected four volume series that, according to a blurb from its publicity flyer, "cherche à déterminer quelle est l’authentique doctrine de l’Église catholique sur les rapports entre Dieu et la liberté humaine, essentielle quant à l’intelligence de notre destinée." The series title is Dieu joueur d’échecs? Prédestination, grâce et libre arbitre and the title of this second volume is Relecture de saint Thomas d’Aquin.

Fr. Basile is the prefect of studies at the Abbaye Sainte-Madeleine du Barroux. He was also recently appointed to the scientific committee of the Revue Thomiste. His series is published by the abbey's Éditions Sainte-Madeleine. You can purchase the second volume from the abbey bookstore here.

Symposium Thomisticum to be held in Athens June 7-9, 2018

Fran O'Rourke has sent us the following information on the upcoming Symposium Thomisticum in Athens, Greece.

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The third Symposium Thomisticum will take place in Athens, Greece, 7-9 June 2018, kindly co-hosted by the University of Athens and Athens Academy.

Details are available at www.ucd.ie/philosophy/symposiumthomisticum

The theme of the Symposium is Aquinas and the Greeks.

Speakers will include: Therese Cory, Lambros Coulobaritsis, John A Demetracopoulos, John Dillon, Gregory Doolan, Kevin Flannery, Lloyd Gerson, Athanasia Glycofrydi-Leontsini, John Haldane, Yannis Kalogerakos, Thomas Leinkauf, Eleni Leontsini, Patrick Masterson, Evanghelos Moutsopoulos, Siobhan Nash-Marshall, Turner Nevitt, Fran O'Rourke, Eric D Perl, Eleni Procopiou, Andrea Robiglio, Carlos Steel, Georgios Steiris, Richard Taylor, Rudi te Velde, David Twetten, Kevin White, John Wippel, Markus Woerner, John Zizoulas.

Papers are invited for a number of supplementary parallel sessions. The overall number of participants will be limited to sixty; priority will be given to those presenting papers. In order to avoid overlap of topics, initial proposals should be sent by email to Fran O'Rourke (orourke@ucd.ie).

The deadline for abstracts is 1 December, and for completed papers 1 May 2018. Papers will be circulated in advance; summaries will be presented at the symposium: papers will be discussed rather than read.

Participation fee will be EUR125, to include refreshments and the conference banquet.

Participants will be responsible for their own accommodation.

Inquiries to Fran O'Rourke, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, University College Dublin (orourke@ucd.ie).

New Book: General Principles of Sacramental Theology

Roger W. Nutt has released a new book with The Catholic University of America Press entitled General Principles of Sacramental Theology.

General Principles of Sacramental Theology addresses a current lacuna in English-language theological literature. Bernard Leeming's highly respected book Principles of Sacramental Theology was published more than sixty years ago. Since that time, there has been a noted decrease, especially in English-language sacramental theology, in treatments of the basic topics and principles—such as the nature of the sacraments of signs, sacramental grace, sacramental character, sacramental causality, sacramental intention, the necessity and number of the sacraments, sacramental matter and form, inter alia—which apply to all of the sacraments.

Rather than deconstruct the Church's tradition, as many recent books on the sacraments do, Roger Nutt offers a vibrant presentation of these principles as a sound foundation for a renewed appreciation of each of the seven sacraments in the Christian life as the divinely willed means of communion and friendship between God and humanity. The sacraments bestow and nourish the personal communion with Jesus Christ that is the true source of human happiness. Recourse to the patrimony of Catholic wisdom, especially St. Thomas Aquinas, can help to highlight the sacraments and their significance within the plan of salvation.

This book will be of use in seminary, graduate, and undergraduate courses. It is further offered as a source of hope to all those seeking deeper intimacy with God amidst the confusion, alienation, and disappointment that accompanies life in a fallen world. The sacraments play an irreplaceable role in pursuing a Universal Call to Holiness that is so central to Vatican II's teaching.

Roger W. Nutt is associate professor of theology at Ave Maria University, Florida

“This book will help priests and laity alike to gain a fuller understanding of the worth and power of the sacraments. Prof. Nutt helps to move the conversation about the sacraments forward in a much-needed way in our day.”

— Paul Keller, OP, The Athenaeum of Ohio

New Book: Thomism and Predestination

A new book entitled Thomism and Predestination: Principles and Disputations is now available from The Catholic University of America Press. See below for more details. 

"There is perhaps no aspect of traditional Thomistic thought so contested in modern Catholic theology as the notion of predestination as presented by the classical Thomist school. What is that doctrine, and why is it so controversial? Has it been rightly understood in the context of modern debates? At the same time, the Church's traditional affirmation of a mystery of predestination is largely ignored in modern Catholic theology more generally. Why is this the case? Can a theology that emphasizes the Augustinian notion of the primacy of salvation by grace alone also forego a theology of predestination?

Thomism and Predestination: Principles and Disputations considers these topics from various angles: the principles of the classical Thomistic treatment of predestination, their contested interpretation among modern theologians, examples of the doctrine as illustrated by the spiritual writings of the saints, and the challenges to Catholic theology that the Thomistic tradition continues to pose. This volume initiates readers―especially future theologians and Catholic intellectuals―to a central theme of theology that is speculatively challenging and deeply interconnected to many other elements of the faith.

ABOUT THE EDITORS

Steven A. Long is a professor of Theology at Ave Maria University and author of Teleological Grammar of the Moral Act (Sapientia Press of Ave Maria University Publications). Roger W. Nutt is an associate professor of Theology, codirector of the Aquinas Center for Theological Renewal, and editor-in-chief of Sapientia Press of Ave Maria University. Thomas Joseph White, OP, is the director of the Thomistic Institute at the Domincan House of Studies. He is the author of several books including The Incarnate Lord: A Thomistic Study in Christology (CUA Press), and coeditor of the theological journal Nova et Vetera."