Papers by Frederick C Bauerschmidt
Modern Theology, Oct 1, 2005
Rabbi Myer and Dorothy Kripke Center, Creighton University, 2011
New Blackfriars, 2021
Jonathan Lear's account of Aristotle and the human person as a systematic understander can sh... more Jonathan Lear's account of Aristotle and the human person as a systematic understander can shed light on how Thomas Aquinas sees the passage from contemplation of worldly things to the contemplation of the divine essence. In grasping the essences of mundane particulars, the systematic understander ‘spiritualizes’ them, and simultaneously comes to grasp both self and God. This account of contemplation can further help illuminate Aquinas's understanding of the nature of the theological task as an exercise of systematic understanding of the particulars from which the scriptural narrative of signs and examples is constructed. Finally, the theologian's own path as a systematic understander is retraced for his or her students in sharing the fruits of contemplation through teaching.
Hauerwas/The Blackwell Companion to Christian Ethics, 2011
Hauerwas/The Blackwell, 2007
Literature and Theology, 1991
Metaphor is the dreamwork of language and, like all dreamwork, its interpretation reflects as muc... more Metaphor is the dreamwork of language and, like all dreamwork, its interpretation reflects as much on the interpreter as on the originator. . . . understanding a metaphor is as much a creative endeavor as making a metaphor, and as little guided by rules." 1
Three lectures delivered to the clergy of the Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee in April 2015, using... more Three lectures delivered to the clergy of the Episcopal Diocese of Tennessee in April 2015, using Newman's notion of the threefold office of the Church (priestly, prophetic, royal) as a way of exploring the Church's relation to culture.
Philosophy & Theology, Jan 1996
After responding to several misreadings of Milbank's project in Theology and Social Theory - e.g.... more After responding to several misreadings of Milbank's project in Theology and Social Theory - e.g., that it dispenses with "truth" or "reality", is sectarian, reads a social theory off the bible, is ecclesially absolutist - the authors highlight several strands of Milbank's argument to stress the resolutely theological character of this work. In Milbank's narrative, modernity is defined as a theological problem in which forms of modern secular thought have usurped theology as the "ultimate organizing logic"; his theological response to this involves a broadly Augustinian account of the relationship between nature and grace which requires a theology which can only be true if it is enacted: it is necessary for the Church to make an actual historical difference in the world.
This is a talk I gave at a symposium of Christians, Jews, and Muslims entitled "God's Books" at t... more This is a talk I gave at a symposium of Christians, Jews, and Muslims entitled "God's Books" at the Islamic Center in Murfreesboro, TN, November 3, 2013.
This is a talk given to undergraduates to 1) introduce them to monasticism and 2) relate monastic... more This is a talk given to undergraduates to 1) introduce them to monasticism and 2) relate monasticism to certain aspects of Augustine's City of God.
This article argues that although Aquinas’ imaginatio is not what we today would call ‘imaginatio... more This article argues that although Aquinas’ imaginatio is not what we today would call ‘imagination’, it is not without interest and can in fact point us in a helpful direction in doing theology. To support this position, the article first presents Aquinas’ understanding of imaginatio in the context of his discussion of the inner senses. It then develops how the imaginatio, when taken together with the other inner senses, has a crucial role in the conceptual grasping of the world. Next, the article articulates the imaginatio’s role in our attempt to grasp non-material realities, even the reality of God. Finally, the article defends the view that Aquinas’ theological practice is original and imaginative when one understands that the true originality of the theological imagination is found not in novel doctrine, but in the ability, after reflection, to turn back to the tradition of the Church in order to see it and think it anew.
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Papers by Frederick C Bauerschmidt