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The Thomistic Institute

Aquinas on the Incarnation: Part II | Fr. Thomas Joseph White, O.P.

The Thomistic Institute

The Thomistic Institute

Catholic Intellectual Tradition, Catholic, Thomism, Society & Culture, Religion & Spirituality, Catholicism, Philosophy, Christianity

4.8873 Ratings

🗓️ 22 December 2022

⏱️ 48 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Merry Christmas from the Thomistic Institute! This week, we are reposting some of our favorite talks related to Christmas and the Incarnation of our Lord. This talk was given on November 14, 2015, as part of the Thomistic Circles conference entitled, "The Wisdom of St. Thomas Aquinas" in New York City. For information on upcoming events, please visit our website at www.thomisticinstitute.org. About the speaker: Fr. Thomas Joseph White, O.P. currently serves as rector of the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome (the “Angelicum”). Fr. White grew up in southeast Georgia in an inter-religious household. He completed his bachelor’s in religious studies from Brown University (1993) and his Master’s (1995) and Doctorate (2002) in Theology at Oxford University. He entered the Order of Preachers in 2003. He completed his licentiate in Sacred Theology (2007) at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C. He professed final vows on May 17, 2007, and on May 23, 2008, was ordained a priest. His research and teaching have focused on topics related to Thomistic metaphysics, Christology and Roman Catholic-Reformed ecumenical dialogue. He was appointed an ordinary member of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas in 2011. Fr. White taught at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C from 2008-2018. He was also the founder and Director of the Washington DC Thomistic Institute from 2009 until his departure for Rome in 2018. In 2015 White became a co-editor of Nova et Vetera Journal, an American Catholic Theological journal. In 2018 he was assigned to teach at the Angelicum and function as the Director of the Angelicum Thomistic Institute. In June of 2021, he was appointed rector of the Angelicum. Fr. White is also a musician and one of the founding members of the American folk and bluegrass band, The Hillbilly Thomists, for which he sings and plays the banjo, dulcimer and steel guitar. The U.S.-based group, made up of Dominican friars, has released two albums since 2017.

Transcript

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0:00.0

Hi, this is Father Dominic Leg, director of the Thomistic Institute. Thanks for tuning in to today's

0:06.1

lecture. Every talk on this podcast was originally delivered at an in-person event for college students,

0:12.2

perhaps at one of our campus chapters or at a Thomistic Institute retreat or conference. Students today are

0:18.3

hungry for the truth, and you know how important it is for them to find it.

0:22.6

If this podcast has impacted you, that's because someone gave a donation to make these talks possible.

0:29.6

So I'm wondering, would you do the same for someone else this December?

0:33.6

Even a gift of $10 or $20 has a big impact. Your gift will bring the truth to

0:40.0

college students and to many others in 2023 if you give before December 31st. And you can make a

0:46.4

tax-deductible donation at www.comisticinstitute.org slash donate. That's www.comiticinstitute.org slash donate. That's www.comisticinstitute.org slash donate.

0:59.4

Thank you for your generosity, and may God bless you this Advent and Christmas season.

1:10.2

What I want to talk about in this second section, I mean, we've got the big picture really

1:15.0

in a way of sort of the motives of the incarnation, but then what about the timing? Why has God become

1:20.7

incarnate at the very time he did? Or you might say, Aquinas says, why didn't he become

1:26.2

incarnate at the very beginning of history?

1:29.0

Why didn't God wait until the very end of history become incarnate?

1:33.0

So what is it about becoming, God becoming man in the middle of human history in all of its grayness, its messiness, its imperfection, in the midst of a great deal of moral turpitude.

1:49.0

And that's connected, of course, to the question of how God saves us.

1:54.0

I mean, if God enters into, you might say, the sort of mystery of human history,

2:00.0

in the middle of its difficulties and fragilities and

2:04.6

struggles, how is he redeeming us, or is he really redeeming us?

2:08.4

If he's really redeeming us, why is there a perpetual problem or mystery of evil and death

2:12.8

in the world?

...

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