On Thursday, September 11, the UD Thomistic Institute Chapter welcomed Fr. Gregory Pine, O.P. to give a talk titled “Nicene Trinity, Chalcedonian Christology: Understanding Christ Through Councils and Conflicts.” Fr. Gregory Pine is the Assistant Director of the Thomistic Institute, but he is most well known for his contribution to the podcasts “Pints with Aquinas” and “Godsplaining.”
In his discussion of Christology and early Church councils, he wove together Thomistic thought and the writings of the early Church Fathers. He discussed not only the salvation of man through Christ, but also how Christ’s coming is a call for all of mankind to be partakers of the divine nature of God.
As Fr. Gregory Pine is a part of the Dominican Friars of the Province of St. Joseph, his priestly formation was rooted in sacred Scripture and Thomistic thought. UD Thomistic Institute President Bruce Bowen noted this and said further that “it’s interesting to have asked [Fr. Gregory Pine] to give a talk about the Early Church Fathers instead of Aquinas.”
Bowen further commented on the Thomistic Institute as a whole. He said, “the Thomistic Institute as a nationwide thing is very focused on bringing Thomistic ideas to colleges that would otherwise not really have them.”
This is not the case with UD.
UD is steeped in Thomistic thought. St. Thomas Aquinas is read and referenced in many core classes and is studied in depth by both the philosophy and theology departments. Further, the newly renovated Rathskellar’s name is in Aquinas’ honor: the Dumb Ox.
Because UD is certainly not lacking in Thomistic thought, one might ask why we have a Thomistic Institute chapter on this campus. In response to this, Bowen said “we are a unique club because we have direct ties to a network of speakers that are very well known and we are able to get them to come.”
Past speakers that the Thomistic Institute has brought to UD include Fr. James Dominic Brent, O.P., Fr. Dominic Legge, O.P., Sr. Jane Dominic Laurel, O.P. and others.
However, Fr. Gregory Pine’s talk was the UD Thomistic Institute Chapter’s most popular event since the return of the Thomistic Institute to UD a couple of years ago. Bowen said “It’s a cool way to start the semester because it embodies what we want to set up [UD’s chapter of the] Thomistic Institute as. We’re trying our best to get speakers that we know about.”
Bowen continued, saying “it means that not every speaker is as popular as Fr. Gregory Pine, but it does mean that we’re getting very cool important scholarly people to come give talks at a university that otherwise would not have that.”
Coming up this semester, the Thomistic Institute is hosting Dr. Bruce Marshall on November 6 to give a talk on “God from God: Understanding the Trinity” and Fr. Andrew Hofer on November 20 to speak on “Patristic Preaching: How the Fathers of the Church Can Teach, Move, and Convert Today.”
Further, the UD chapter of the Thomistic Institute won’t just host lectures this semester. They are also hosting two different Dumb Ox Discussions: one with Dr. Bulzacchelli on October 28 and one with Abbot Peter Valhalan, O.Cist. on November 10.
Bowen summarized the lectures and discussion coming up in the semester, saying “We want to find new ways to talk about Thomas (Aquinas) because he’s great, but I see that he’s a little overdone here sometimes.”