“Liberty both inward and outward”: George Keith and Opposition to Slavery

by Matthew Gaetano In an earlier post, I discussed George Keith (d. 1716), a learned Quaker in colonial America, and his discussion of Platonism and religious experience. His 1693 Exhortation and Caution about any Quakers keeping or buying slaves, particularly those of African descent, was an unusually bold statement of opposition to slavery, even among… Read More “Liberty both inward and outward”: George Keith and Opposition to Slavery

January 22, 2023January 22, 2023 Matthew Gaetano1 Comment

The Search for Wisdom in Renaissance Theology

by Matthew Gaetano I had a lovely and thought-provoking conversation with colleagues about how the word wisdom has become almost meaningless for many students today. Even some of our peers who are seeking or who have earned a Ph.D. degree do not really appreciate that this makes one a doctor philosophiae and that philosophia is… Read More The Search for Wisdom in Renaissance Theology

June 25, 2022June 25, 2022 Matthew Gaetano6 Comments

Renaissance Theology

by Matthew Gaetano The Italian Renaissance tends to be overlooked in narratives of the history of theology. The leap from high and late medieval scholastics like Thomas Aquinas, John Duns Scotus, William of Ockham, and Gabriel Biel to Martin Luther is common. Just a few years ago, even John O’Malley, after decades of effort to… Read More Renaissance Theology

June 14, 2022June 14, 2022 Matthew Gaetano3 Comments

“Behold, I am doing a new thing”

by Matthew Gaetano Isaiah 43 provides the reading from the Hebrew Scriptures for the Fifth Sunday of Lent in several Christian communions. As a student of history, the section from vv. 18-19 is quite arresting: Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it… Read More “Behold, I am doing a new thing”

April 3, 2022April 3, 2022 Matthew Gaetano2 Comments

From him and through him and in him

by Matthew Gaetano The mysterious figure, (Pseudo-)Dionysius the Areopagite, presented himself as the convert of Paul after the Apostle’s sermon in Athens (Acts 17), where Paul taught, “in him we live and move and have our being.” In fact, Dionysius lived around the turn of the sixth century, and his writings reveal a deep engagement… Read More From him and through him and in him

September 28, 2021September 29, 2021 Matthew Gaetano1 Comment

Thomas Aquinas on Subjective Rights

by Matthew Gaetano Andrew Kuiper’s reflections (here, here, and here) on the theological context for Dan Edelstein’s account of natural rights inspired me to revisit Fr. Dominic Legge’s piece for Nova et Vetera, “Do Thomists Have Rights?” He responds to Brian Tierney’s essential work, The Idea of Natural Rights. In this work, Tierney argues that… Read More Thomas Aquinas on Subjective Rights

September 8, 2021September 8, 2021 Matthew GaetanoLeave a comment

Emile Mersch (1890-1940)

A contributor to TRF, Andrew Kuiper, has a post at Ex Fontibus that is the beginning of a series on Emile Mersch. The series should be of interest to many of our readers; it will address modern engagements with the patristic and medieval tradition, Pierre de Bérulle, theology of history, the mystical body of Christ,… Read More Emile Mersch (1890-1940)

July 23, 2021July 23, 2021 Matthew GaetanoLeave a comment

Quakers, Platonism, and Religious Experience

by Matthew Gaetano Even though I went to a school whose mascot is a Quaker and grew up near some early American Quaker meeting houses, I have to admit that I didn’t know much about Quakers. I learned about how they used the informal “thee” and “thou” and refused to tip their hats to social… Read More Quakers, Platonism, and Religious Experience

May 22, 2021October 4, 2022 Matthew Gaetano2 Comments

The Pagans and the Atheists in C. S. Lewis and Herman Bavinck

by Matthew Gaetano Joshua Shaw has been presenting Eusebius’s rich and complex polemic against paganism alongside his dialogue with Platonism. He has illuminated the reasons for the contrast between Eusebius’s approach and C. S. Lewis’s way of defending Christianity. Like many defenses of the Christian religion in the Renaissance and beyond (and in Late Antiquity… Read More The Pagans and the Atheists in C. S. Lewis and Herman Bavinck

March 6, 2021March 6, 2021 Matthew Gaetano1 Comment

Voices Crying in the Wilderness – Moirans, Jaca, and Silva

by Matthew Gaetano Recent events have brought to mind the stories of the injustices and violence of the original encounters of Christians with native Americans in the late fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The Dominicans Antonio de Montesinos (d. 1540) and Bartolomé de las Casas (d. 1566) spoke out against the unjust enslavement of these peoples, while… Read More Voices Crying in the Wilderness – Moirans, Jaca, and Silva

June 19, 2020June 19, 2020 Matthew Gaetano2 Comments

The Regensburg Forum

History, Philosophy, and Theology in the Augustinian Tradition

Author: Matthew Gaetano