The Thomistic Institute

The Thomistic Institute exists to promote Catholic truth in our contemporary world by strengthening the intellectual formation of Christians at universities, in the Church, and in the wider public square. The thought of St. Thomas Aquinas, the Universal Doctor of the Church, is our touchstone.

The Thomistic Institute Podcast features the lectures and talks from our conferences, campus chapters events, intellectual retreats, livestream events, and much more.

Founded in 2009, the Thomistic Institute is part of the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC.

Listen in podnod RSS feed Show website

20 episodes
Updated Thursday

Episodes20

Newest first

Thursday · 44 min
The Summa Illuminated: A Guide to St. Thomas Aquinas’s Masterpiece - Fr. Cajetan Cuddy, O.P.
Fr. Cajetan Cuddy shows why Aquinas’s Summa Theologiae still matters today, presenting it as a clear, enduring roadmap for understanding Catholic truth, teaching beginners, and thinking more carefully about God, the world, and the human person.This...
Wednesday · 38 min
The AI Apocalypse Already Happened (And What You Can Do About It) - Mahon McCann
Mahon McCann argues that the real AI apocalypse already happened when social media and platform algorithms took over human judgment, reshaping what we see, think, and do through an attention economy that quietly downgrades our humanity.This lecture...
Tuesday · 46 min
Artificial Intelligence: A Theological Investigation - Fr. Ezra Sullivan, O.P.
Fr. Ezra Sullivan examines artificial intelligence through a theological lens, showing why AI may imitate personhood and judgment, but cannot replace the human capacity for truth, freedom, and communion with God.This lecture was given on April 11th...
Monday · 45 min
I Compute, Therefore I Am: The Distinctively Human in the Age of AI - Dr. Robert McNamara
Dr. Robert McNamara examines what remains distinctively human in the age of AI, arguing that while artificial intelligence can process and predict with remarkable speed, it cannot replace human understanding, freedom, or wisdom.This lecture was giv...
July 24 · 54 min
The Efficient Cause of Evangelization: The Spirit Empowering the Blessed Virgin's Word - Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P.
Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P. argues that the Holy Spirit is the real power behind evangelization, showing how Mary, the apostles, and every Christian become instruments of God’s mission through grace, witness, and prayer.This lecture was given on Decembe...
July 23 · 52 min
The Formal Cause of Evangelization: The Grace of the Blessed Virgin's Word - Fr. Irenaeus Dunlevy, O.P.
Fr. Irenaeus Dunlevy shows how evangelization works by grace from the inside out, arguing that its deepest “form” is the contemplative, witness-filled communication of Christ that moves others to faith.This lecture was given on December 13th, 2025,...
July 22 · 59 min
Does Nature Make Laws? An Introduction to the Natural Law Tradition - Prof. Paige Hochschild
Prof. Paige Hochschild introduces natural law by exploring what nature is, how we know it, and why the classical tradition treats the world as an intelligible order to which human beings are truly fitted.This lecture was given on April 6th, 2026, a...
July 21 · 50 min
Why Stories Matter for Transmitting the Faith – Prof. Michael Dauphinais
Prof. Michael Dauphinais argues that stories are not just useful for faith—they are how human beings understand reality, and the Christian story of creation, redemption, and resurrection is the true narrative that reorders the imagination.This lect...
July 20 · 48 min
The Mystery of Love - Prof. Maria Fedoryka
Prof. Maria Fedoryka explains love as more than a feeling, showing how it begins with recognizing another person’s goodness, leads to self-gift and communion, and ultimately reveals why love is the source of meaning in human life.This lecture was g...
July 17 · 39 min
Why Forgive: Accepting the Good News of Forgiving Others - Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P.
Fr. Andrew Hofer explains why Christian forgiveness is not the same as excusing harm, and shows how forgiving others is a deliberate act of mercy that frees us, heals our hearts, and reflects God’s own forgiveness.This lecture was given on March 7t...
July 16 · 49 min
St. John Henry Newman and the Failure of the University - Prof. Lewis Ayres
Prof. Lewis Ayres examines St. John Henry Newman’s critique of the university and argues that higher education often succeeds at training skills while failing to form the Christian imagination toward truth, wisdom, and God.This lecture was given on...
July 15 · 43 min
Why Is There Evil In The World? - Prof. Ross McCullough
Prof. Ross McCullough explores why evil and suffering exist, surveys the main Christian answers—especially free will and greater goods—and shows how suffering can be united to Christ rather than treated as meaningless.This lecture was given on Nove...
July 14 · 48 min
Deo Gratias: A Theology of Gratitude - Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P.
Fr. Andrew Hofer explains gratitude as a theological virtue rooted in God’s gifts, showing how thanksgiving begins in the heart, becomes visible in words and worship, and ultimately orders us toward God.This lecture was given on November 11th, 2025...
July 13 · 46 min
To What End? Reclaiming Meaning with Saint Thomas Aquinas - Fr. Irenaeus Dunlevy, O.P.
Fr. Irenaeus Dunlevy uses Aquinas to argue that the search for meaning is really the search for an ultimate end, and that human happiness is found not in success, pleasure, or status, but in God.This lecture was given on November 4th, 2025, at Univ...
July 10 · 52 min
Why Get Married: The Catholic View of the Meaning and Purpose of Marriage - Prof. Paul Gondreau
This lecture was given on October 23rd, 2025, at Indiana University.To make a gift this June, visit https://truth.thomisticinstitute.org/pod.About the Speaker:Paul Gondreau is professor of theology at Providence College, where he has taught for 28 ...
July 9 · 49 min
What do you seek? Study and the Moral Life in St Thomas Aquinas - Fr. Thomas Aquinas Pickett
Fr. Thomas Pickett explores what Aquinas means by study and argues that study is not just academic work but a morally formative pursuit that shapes charity, virtue, and the Christian path to happiness.This lecture was given on August 29th, 2025, at...
July 8 · 38 min
Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin: Aquinas on the Limits of Charity - Prof. Michael Krom
Prof. Michael Krom presents Aquinas’s account of charity and asks what it really means to love the sinner without affirming the sin, showing how true Christian love can require both mercy and moral clarity.This lecture was given on August 18th, 202...
July 7 · 48 min
The First Theologians: Who Were the Church Fathers and Why Do They Matter? - Prof. Mathew Thomas
Prof. Mathew Thomas introduces the Church Fathers as the first theologians and explains how their witness to Scripture, Christian discipleship, and early worship can still help readers understand the faith and its unity today.This lecture was given...
July 6 · 43 min
Historical Arguments for God's Existence: Anselm, Aquinas, and Scotus - Prof. Thomas Ward
Prof. Thomas Ward examines medieval arguments for God’s existence in Anselm, Aquinas, and Scotus, showing how each thinker approaches the question from a different starting point and why their arguments still matter for faith and reason.This lectur...
July 3 · 58 min
Creation and the Big Bang: What's the Big Deal? - Prof. John O'Callaghan
Prof. John O’Callaghan examines the Big Bang in relation to the Christian doctrine of creation ex nihilo and argues that cosmology and belief in God as creator address different kinds of explanation.This lecture was given on February 27th, 2025, at...

The Thomistic Institute

The Summa Illuminated: A Guide to St. Thomas Aquinas’s Masterpiece - Fr. Cajetan Cuddy, O.P.

The AI Apocalypse Already Happened (And What You Can Do About It) - Mahon McCann

Artificial Intelligence: A Theological Investigation - Fr. Ezra Sullivan, O.P.

I Compute, Therefore I Am: The Distinctively Human in the Age of AI - Dr. Robert McNamara

The Efficient Cause of Evangelization: The Spirit Empowering the Blessed Virgin's Word - Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P.

The Formal Cause of Evangelization: The Grace of the Blessed Virgin's Word - Fr. Irenaeus Dunlevy, O.P.

Does Nature Make Laws? An Introduction to the Natural Law Tradition - Prof. Paige Hochschild

Why Stories Matter for Transmitting the Faith – Prof. Michael Dauphinais

The Mystery of Love - Prof. Maria Fedoryka

Why Forgive: Accepting the Good News of Forgiving Others - Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P.

St. John Henry Newman and the Failure of the University - Prof. Lewis Ayres

Why Is There Evil In The World? - Prof. Ross McCullough

Deo Gratias: A Theology of Gratitude - Fr. Andrew Hofer, O.P.

To What End? Reclaiming Meaning with Saint Thomas Aquinas - Fr. Irenaeus Dunlevy, O.P.

Why Get Married: The Catholic View of the Meaning and Purpose of Marriage - Prof. Paul Gondreau

What do you seek? Study and the Moral Life in St Thomas Aquinas - Fr. Thomas Aquinas Pickett

Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin: Aquinas on the Limits of Charity - Prof. Michael Krom

The First Theologians: Who Were the Church Fathers and Why Do They Matter? - Prof. Mathew Thomas

Historical Arguments for God's Existence: Anselm, Aquinas, and Scotus - Prof. Thomas Ward

Creation and the Big Bang: What's the Big Deal? - Prof. John O'Callaghan