Hello, and welcome back to the Thomistic Institute podcast.

My name is Polly Gregory Pine, and I'm an assistant director of the Thomistic Institute.

I remember that title every time I give it.

Clearly, I have interiorized it.

Regardless, we're here for another installment of off-campus conversations, and I'm very

delighted to be joined by Professor Timothy Paul. Thanks for joining. Hey, I'm happy to be here.

Thank you so much for having me. Hey. So some people might know you from having had the most prodigious beard in all the land,

a beard which struck fear into the hearts of men, which offered comfort and consolation

to those who knew not that such feats were possible.

But may it rest in peace, may it return and due course.

But for those who don't know you,

would you just say a word of introduction, who you are, where you're from, and what you do?

Sure. I'm Timothy Paul. I'm a professor at the University of St. Thomas. I used to have a beard here,

it turns out. I no longer have much of a beard here anymore. Let me think. My work is primarily on philosophy of

religion, in particular the best arguments I can find against Christianity or in particular

Catholic doctrines like the incarnation. And then the best responses I think you can give to those

arguments. That's the sort of thing I typically work on. But now I've been working a bit on virtues, in particular how Aquinas understands

virtues, and how that might fit or corroborate with contemporary psychological data on virtue.

Okay. Have you taken any inspiration from like Homeric vaunting in your entertaining

of arguments against the Christian faith

and you know rebuttal thereof kind of like read up on Iliad book seven the way that Achilles

wait I guess he wasn't been fighting at that time but the way that Patrick Liss might vaunt over his

...