Carla Mae's Blog

Natural Law in Jeans and Sun Glasses: A Social Justice Reflection and Update on Current Issues before the Missouri Legislature Carla Mae Streeter, OP Aquinas Institute of Theology St. Louis The natural law tradition is far from archaic. To the astute observer it is like a basso continuo playing behind the clash of the headlines. Subtle and contextual, it continues to bring order out of contemporary chaos, despite the efforts of those who would declare it obsolete. Where is the evidence for this? Joseph W. Koterski, S.J., philosophy professor of Fordham University, has some valuable insights to share with us. He reminds us that Aristotle’s approach to nature was very empirical, and when the medieval theologian Thomas Aquinas built his synthesis on this approach, he offered human culture a solid foundation that can ground our rational discourse even to this day. What is this foundation and how might we use it? We might describe this foundation as four pillars...

Origin of the Universe By Dr. Tom Sheahen Q.         In the movie “God is Not Dead,” in one scene it was said that physicist Stephen Hawking proved that the universe just created itself, by the law of gravity. Is that depiction accurate?             In one sense I can answer “yes” to your question about accurate depiction: Hawking really did write in his 2010 book “The Grand Design” that the universe created itself.   On the other hand, on the matter of whether Hawking is right, I would emphatically say “no.”             Stephen Hawking is an eminent physicist who has contributed some very innovated ideas about the behavior of black holes, and our understanding of cosmology is better because of that. Also, Hawking has Lou Gehrig’s Disease (A.L.S.) which makes him a very sympathetic figure.     ...

The following is the paper given at the August, 2013 Fourth International Lonergan Conference in Jerusalem. Religious Love in Bernard Lonergan as Hermeneutical and Transcultural Carla Mae Streeter, OP Aquinas Institute of Theology St. Louis, Missouri USA Abstract Does the fact that a scholar is religiously in love have any impact on interfaith relations? This question lies at the heart of this essay. Lonergan seems to think so, as indicated in these words: “In the measure that one’s love of God is complete, then values are whatever one loves, and evils are whatever one hates…affectivity is of a single piece. Further developments only fill out previous achievement.” ( Method in Theology, London: Darton, Longman & Todd, 1971:39) In previous work (a 1986 thesis) the hermeneutical and transcultural aspects of this title were emphasized. In the present essay religious love will receive the emphasis. The ...