It’s always a pleasure to chat with Pat Flynn on his podcast. I almost forgot to post this here, but here’s a conversation of ours on the Bible and evolution that went up on his show not long ago. I look forward to more conversations with Pat and others on this important and fascinating topic as I am getting close to finishing my book on it!
Tag Archives: Biblical Exegesis & Interpretation
Thomas Aquinas, Biblical Theologian
Just this weekend at Ave Maria University, I caught my first printed glimpse of a book project I’m involved in called Thomas Aquinas, Biblical Theologian. Hot off the press
from Emmaus Academic, it contains an essay of mine entitled “Unless You Believe, You Will Not Understand: Biblical Faith according to Thomas Aquinas and Benedict XVI.” A variation upon this essay is also contained in my book The Experiment of Faith.
The rationale behind this volume is that, while many people are familiar with his Summa Theologiae, fewer are aware that St. Thomas’s primary work was that of biblical theologian. My essay, like the others in the book, thus explores some of Aquinas’s most important contributions within his often-overlooked biblical commentaries and their importance for the ongoing work of Scripture study today. You can pick up a copy of Thomas Aquinas, Biblical Theologian on Amazon here.
Is God Evil? A Conversation on Dark Passages with Zac at Adherent Apologetics
Another Great “Dark Passages” Discussion!
This week, I sat down with Pat Flynn to discuss more “dark passages” of the Bible and the principles needed to address them. We covered some of the same ground as on my last podcast but also alot of new material. Check out this episode of The Pat Flynn Show here!
Podcast on Dark Passages of the Bible
My thanks go out to Tyler McNabb and Michael DeVito for having me on their show Furthering Christendom to talk about my book Dark Passages of the Bible. It was a lot of fun to talk about some questions that I did n
ot address in that book in detail (Noah’s flood, Elisha and the mauling she-bears, the death of the Egyptian firstborn, and Israel’s slaughter of enemy men, women, and children. Here’s a link to the episode!
In Praise of “Perfect Hatred” (Psalm 139:22): A New Essay in the Word on Fire Institute Journal
I’m excited to announce that I have just published an article in the Evangelization and Culture journal of Bishop Robert Barron’s Word on Fire Institute. The article is entitled “In Praise of ‘Perfect Hatred’: How to Read the Old Testament’s Cursing Psalms.” 
Using the violent outburst of Psalm 139:19-22 as its starting point, the essay explores the question of why it is that the Old Testament contains so many passages that seem to contradict what we know of God’s goodness in light of Jesus Christ. From there, it unfolds the wisdom of the Church Fathers on how these same passages can be made spiritually fruitful in our lives today. This journal is a great new endeavor from a trusted source in Catholic thought, and I’m thrilled to have been able to make a small contribution to it. The journal can be subscribed to here.
Give the Experiment of Faith a Try: My New Book Is Out!
I’m thrilled to announce the publication of my third monorgraph with CUA Press this week: The Experiment of Faith: Pope Benedict XVI on Living the Theological Virtues in a Secular Age. Writing this book took me a number of years as I read–as far as I know– everything that Pope Benedict / Joseph Ratzinger had to say on the theological virtues and have sought to make that amazing vision of Christianity accessible to all. I hope that this text will help many Christians to grow in their understanding of what it means to believe and to live a vibrant, intelligent faith in the modern world.
Check out the publisher’s description below!
Pope Benedict XVI memorably remarked that the Christian faith is a lot like a Gothic cathedral with its stained-glass windows. From the outside, the Church can appear dark, dreary, and worn with age―the crumbling relic of an institution that no longer speaks to men and women living in our modern world. Indeed, for many people today, Christian morality with all of its commandments appears to be a source not of life and joy but instead of suffering and oppression. Even within the Church, many wonder: why should I submit to ancient doctrines and outdated practices that restrict my freedom and impede my happiness?
In this timely and original book, his third exploring the riches of Benedict XVI’s vast corpus, theologian Matthew Ramage sets out to meet this challenge with an in-depth study of the emeritus pontiff’s wisdom on how to live Christian discipleship in today’s increasingly secularized world. Taking as his starting point Benedict’s conviction that the truth of Christianity―like the beauty of a cathedral’s glorious windows―can be grasped only from the inside, Ramage draws on Benedict’s insights to show how all Christians can make the “experiment of faith” by living the theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity in daily life. Along the way, he shares his personal reflections on how Benedict’s wisdom has helped him to navigate difficulties in embracing the faith and provides a way forward to those struggling to live as disciples in a way that is intellectually serious without remaining merely intellectual. In so doing, he also presents a highly nuanced yet accessible approach to defending the truth of the gospel in a world where life in Jesus Christ tends to be seen as unfulfilling, irrelevant, or just one lifestyle choice among others.
REVIEWS:
“Ramage’s contribution is significant, he treats the issues in a spirited, witty and easy-to-read manner without simplifying matters. In an age that is increasingly un-intellectual he successfully shows how very important philosophy and theology are for the well-being of human beings. This may well become a bestseller!”
―Emery de Gaal, author of The Theology of Pope Benedict XVI: The Christocentric Shift
“Matthew Ramage’s exploration of Pope Benedict’s apologetic against secularism will be a fantastic tool to help Christians engage a ‘post-Christian’ culture the Pope shrewdly warned us about just a few decades ago.”
―Trent Horn, author of The Case for Catholicism
“In this beautiful and illuminating study, Ramage concludes that each of us must choose between two competing worldviews: either nihilism or faith, either Friedrich Nietzsche or Pope Benedict XVI. The former pontiff recognized the same battlelines, engaging Nietzsche’s work throughout his voluminous writings. Ramage guides us through these reflections, focusing especially on Benedict’s teachings on the theological virtues–faith, hope, and love–which Benedict saw as the path to human fulfillment and the counter to Nietzcheian skepticism. Ramage is a masterful guide who knows the Benedict corpus well and conveys it with great clarity and warmth. He smoothly transitions from theology to philosophy, to apologetics, and even to personal reflection. The result is a model of theological study–not dry and detached, but alive, prayerful, culturally engaged, and in continuity with the magisterium. Pope Benedict would be proud!”
―Brandon Vogt, author of Why I Am Catholic and founder of ClaritasU
St. Matthew’s Gospel: A Podcast at Signum Dei
Thanks to TJ Burdick for the invite to appear on his podcast course on the gospels. For my recent contribution and to see the various materials he has available at his new Signum Dei online learning community, click here!
Theology at AMU — Speaker Spotlight: Matthew Ramage
Looking forward to speaking at a great Christology conference here in a couple of weeks, cosponsored by the Thomistic Institute and Ave Maria University. Click here for more information my talk and the conference!
Fr. Joseph Fessio & Ressourcement after Vatican II
I’m happy to announce the publication of a new book entitled Ressourcement after Vatican II: Essays in Honor of Joseph Fessio, S.J. with Ignatius Press. A colleague of mine here at Benedictine College and I each contributed essays to this work edited by Matthew Levering and David Schlindler. In the time-honored German tradition where Fr. Fessio was formed under then-Professor Joseph Ratzinger, this text is a Festschrift honoring a man whose work and ministry has influenced millions of Catholics worldwide. 
Many of us have been formed by him through the work of Ignatius Press, which Fr. Fessio founded. Others of us were his students, as I was at Ave Maria University from 2006-2008. Still others have been moved by his love and care for the sacred liturgy. My wife and I were so moved that he was a concelebrant at our wedding, so hopefully that gives some indication of my esteem for him. If you don’t know Fr. Fessio or his work, I recommend picking up this volume to learn more. And, if you already know him, these essays will deepen your understanding of some of the major figures that influenced him most and whose work he has dedicated his publishing career to making known.
Here’s a description of the book from Amazon:
Beginning with a personal recollection of the achievements of Fr. Joseph Fessio, S.J., by David L. Schinder, this work includes twelve essays by theologians who acknowledge a debt to Father Fessio and Ignatius Press. These twelve essays treat topics such as the Church as the mystical body, the liturgy, Christian apologetics in post-modern culture, public theology, analogy, Scriptural interpretation, marriage and the Trinity, theological dramatics, Pope Benedict XVI’s sources, Tradition, and development of doctrine.
Among the major 20th century figures treated in these essays are Hans Urs von Balthasar, Louis Bouyer, Henri de Lubac, Joseph Ratzinger, and Josef Pieper. The contributors hope that the topics of the essays represent a large swath of the interests of Father Fessio, from his early scholarly work on the Church, his commitment to liturgical renewal and Catholic catechesis, through his devotion to Ignatian spirituality and his appreciation for Thomistic philosophy, and his lifelong engagement with the theology of von Balthasar and Ratzinger.
Is the God of the Old Testament Evil? A Thomistic Institute Lecture @ Ohio State
This week I’ll be addressing this question for the Thomistic Institute at Ohio State University in its opening session for the new academic year. If you follow my site, it’s a very similar talk that I gave at another OSU this past Spring. It’s always fun, though, because you never know what kind of random things will come up and what great questions will be asked. As before, I’ll post an audio link to the talk once it becomes available. In the meantime, here’s the link to the T.I. event site with this and many more talks from other scholars on important topics of our day.
UPDATE: Here’s a link to the audio of my lecture!
The Intellectual Legacy of Benedict XVI
I’m looking forward to seeing my dear old buddy Brian Fink next week in Michigan. Brian heads up the Lumen Veritatis Institute of Catholic Thought and Imagination in the Diocese of Lansing. I’ll be speaking for the Institute on our emeritus pontiff’s thought on May 17, from 7-9 PM. I look forward to meeting new friends and seeing others I know in the area. It’s also a particularly interesting time to discuss the emeritus pontiff’s legacy given that he has recently been weighing in publicly on some timely issues. For more information on this great institute, including videos of previous lectures, visit their site here. I’m thrilled to join a list of speakers which includes the likes of Fr. Thomas Joseph White, Fr. Jacques Philippe Joseph Pearce, Anthony Esolen, and many more!
“Man, You Are Dust”: On Human Origins and Dignity in Light of Evolutionary Science
Next weekend at Benedictine College we are holding our 8th annual Symposium on Advancing the New Evangelization, and this year the topic is “Technology and the Human Person.” I’m currently writing a book on Benedict XVI, the Bible, and human origins in light of evolutionary science, and so I decided to craft a paper based on this work tied to he conference theme. My paper, whose title is the subject of this post, addresses the question of how we can uphold the uniqueness of man in light of the technological advances of evolutionary science and genomics. Here’s my talk abstract:
The famous atheist Richard Dawkins is no means alone in his contending that evolutionary biology makes it nonsensical to speak of man as “higher” than other living things. Indeed, within a materialistic evolutionary worldview, creatures are measured not by powers of the soul but rather by their sheer ability to survive and reproduce. From this perspective, there is no reason to suppose that anything about humans makes us, in contrast with other creatures, to be the image of God. In response to such an outlook, this paper will argue that the reality of human evolution, when approached according to sound theological principles, is not only consonant with man’s unique dignity but moreover casts considerable light on precisely what it means to be God’s image and how we ought to treat our fellow men and creatures within an evolving universe.
How to Read the Bible and Still Be a Christian: The Problem of “Dark Passages” in the Bible — A Thomistic Institute Lecture
Reply
I’m really looking forward to presenting on the “Dark Passages” of the Bible for the Thomistic Institute at the University of Oklahoma over spring break. It’s always great to get back in the action on large, public campuses where my academic journey in theology began! UPDATE: Here’s the link where you can listen to my talk
Unless You Believe, You Will Not Understand: Biblical Faith according to Benedict XVI and Thomas Aquinas
It’s been a really long time since I’ve posted here. There are really two reasons for this. First, over the past year I’ve had to deal with rapid kidney failure as a result of my lupus and then the aftermath of a kidney transplant. Thanks be to God for my friend who gave me his kidney and thus the gift of life. And thanks be to God that, after an incredibly challenging recovery process, I’ve now mostly healed and am back in action.
The other reason I haven’t posted here is that I’ve had no new publications to share. Rather than writing shorter pieces, this year I was busy with alot of speaking engagements and completing 2 books which have now been accepted for publication. I’ll share more on those another time. For now, I’d simply like to share what I’m up to in the immediate future.
Next weekend, I’m giving a paper at the conference Aquinas the Biblical Theologian, co-sponsored by the Aquinas Center for Theological Renewal and the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, hosted by Ave Maria University. The title of my talk is “Unless You Believe, You Will Not Understand: Biblical Faith according to Benedict XVI and Thomas Aquinas.” For this talk, I’ll be distilling a longer paper that I wrote into a reflection on how Aquinas and Benedict interpret Isaiah 7:9 according to the Hebrew and Greek. The two are actually very different: the forrmer reads, “Unless you believe, you will not be established,” while the latter changes “be established” to “understand.” I’ll be discussing the implications of this change for how these authors understand what faith is, how much certitude it enjoys, and whether one needs to profess the whole Catholic faith in order to have faith at all.
I am so excited to speak at this conference next weekend and get out of town in the midst of a long physical and spiritual winter. Initially, I thought I wasn’t going to be able to accept the invitation to speak at this conference because we were supposed to be teaching again for Benedictine College’s study abroad in Florence this semester. But then I had this kidney transplant in December. Well, now I’ve mostly healed from it and am ready to escape Midwest winter for a few days. Southwest Florida, I love you–here we come!
Find out more about the upcoming conference here on Ave Maria University’s website.