Last Fall in my “What is Enlightenment?” course we read The Dialectic of Enlightenment by Horkheimer and Adorno. As a whole, I found the book quite interesting, though a difficult read. Some of the intriguing aspects include the following: a Foucaultian knowledge and power as synonymous thesis, criticism of the totalizing tendencies of the Enlightenment, [...]

“The Thomistic Telescope: Truth and Identity” by John Milbank
University of Dallas, Aquinas Lecture , January 27, A.D. 2006(transcribed with tolerable accuracy by Jonathan McIntosh)
This lecture is concerned with the relationship between truth and identity. The question of truth is deeply related to the question of identity and stability. If we think of truth as saying [...]

I wanted to share a few thoughts from Reardon’s reflections on Psalm 103. Reardon points out that this psalm illustrates what St. John Cassian called the “third sense” of Scripture—a kind of “interiorization of sacred history” in which we engage when we pray. According to Cassian, the “second sense” of Scripture is “its relationship to [...]

The following is a somewhat “sketchy” and selective recap of John Milbank’s informal talk (given to UD philosophy students prior to his formal lecture on another topic). [Some of the details may be fuzzy, particularly my account of his Aquinas lecture—by that time in the evening my brain was on overload. Also, given my time [...]

For those of you who are able to attend, don’t forget that tonight is the 2006 Aquinas Lecture, “Aquinas and Truth” by John Milbank,University of Nottingham. (See below for additional information).
N.B. I’m sure that the response by our own, Dr. Philipp W. Rosemann, will be excellent as well.
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John Milbank, University of Nottingham
Research Professor of Religion, [...]

Toward the end of chapter 1, M & P discuss Aquinas’ view regarding God’s knowledge of singulars. (I’m sure that I’m not grasping everything being said here, but I found this section fascinating and wanted to make a few comments and to post of few passages for discussion). Contra Avicenna who claimed that God [...]

The central theme of the first two chapters of Truth in Aquinas might be characterized as a desire to subvert the rigid distinctions between philosophy and theology and in particular to show that such rigid divisions do not apply to Aquinas. “Our claim in the present case is that Aquinas’ apparently clear avowal of [...]

I’ve been tagged…by Mike Vendsel!
Four Jobs I Have Had:
1. Adjunct philosophy instructor2. Language tutor (Russian, beginning Latin, Koine Greek)3. Guitar teacher at a private music school 4. Professional jazz guitarist (that translates—playing in clubs, restaurants, and even grocery stores—the grocery store gig [Central Market] was incredibly odd, aesthetically unpleasant, completely impersonal, [...]

In chapter one of Truth and Aquinas, M & P discuss Aquinas’ theory of truth and state the following:
“If a thing is truest when it is teleologically directed, and that means when a thing is copying God, this would suggest, as Aquinas indeed affirms, that truth is primarily in the Mind of God and only [...]

Since John Milbank will give the Aquinas Lecture at the University of Dallas on Friday, Jan. 27, I thought I’d post a few thoughts relating to his book, Truth in Aquinas, co-written with Catherine Pickstock. Milbank is of course one of the key players of a “movement” known as Radical Orthodoxy. (If you [...]

I was browsing through some pictures this evening and ran across some shots from the 2004 Women of Westminster Conference (featuring Dr. William Edgar as our key-note speaker and including shots from the jazz gigs) and thought I’d post some. This brings back great memories. We need to do this again in the near future! [...]

I recently listened to a lecture series on Augustine’s Confessions taught by William Cook and Ronald Herzman. One theme emphasized by Cook and Herzman dealt with Augustine’s relationship and attitude toward pagan thought. Augustine, of course, was quite conversant with classical literature and as he reflects on his early schooling, he questions the [...]

I’ve been reading through the Psalms for several months now and have been using as a devotional commentary, Patrick Henry Reardon’s, Christ in the Psalms. Commenting on verse 5, “How magnified are Your works, O Lord, how exceedingly deep Your thoughts,” Reardon writes:

“Once again, these praises of God bear specific reference to the things of [...]

I recently read a post on Generous Orthodoxy announcing a blog book club on the topic, “Women in the Theological Academy.” The reading participants include James K.A. Smith (Calvin College) and others from the GO Think Tank. The blog invites all to join in reading Living on the Boundaries: Evangelical Women, Feminism And the Theological [...]

I recently wrote a paper for graduate seminar course at UD called “What Is Enlightenment?” (an excellent course—taught by Dr. Philipp Rosemann) comparing an Enlightenment approach to Scripture (Spinoza’s grammatico-historical method) with that of the Church Fathers (and trying to bring the latter into conversation with a Reformed perspective). Since the blog is somewhat on [...]

Multiperspectivalism (not relativism)
A simple C major triad is composed of the notes C, E, and G which are the root, 3rd, and 5th of the C major scale. This chord produces a very consonant, “happy” sound. Similarly, the notes D, F#, A form a D major triad (also the root, 3rd, and 5th of the [...]

Well, the “big exam” (my comprehensive exam for my MA in philosophy at UD) has come and gone and by God’s grace and the prayers and encouragment of a loving husband and few good friends, I passed!
Dearest Lord Jesus, thank You for seeing me through this, for Your presence with me, and for the encouragment [...]

In preparing for my “big exam” this week, I have been reviewing several books, among them and admittedly my favorite is St. Augustine’s Confessions. The Confessions have special significance for me as the Lord used this book to bring me to Himself. I first came across the Confessions when taking an undergraduate introduction to philosophy [...]

I recently finished Plato’s Symposium in which Socrates describes the philosopher as a lover, driven by Eros. For Plato, love is the feeling that something is lacking or missing. As Marias explains, in the Symposium Socrates tells a myth about Love (the god, Eros), the son of Porus (plenty) and Penia (poverty) [p. 57]. Love [...]