All Things That Were Made
On Creation, Creatures, and Their Creator
Featuring: William E. Carroll and Christopher J. Thompson
Plus: Kenneth W. Kemp, Matthew J. Ramage, and Fr. Mariusz Tabaczek, O.P.
John G. Brungardt and Fr. Dylan Schrader
Co-Sponsored by the Institute for Catholic Theological Formation
at The Saint Paul Seminary, University of St. Thomas (MN)
“Rather than a problem to be solved, the world is a joyful mystery to be contemplated with praise.”
Pope Francis, Laudato Si’ 12
“[The refusal] to accept the limitations of being creatures … is always the essence of temptation. But when the relationship with God is falsified, with a lie, putting ourselves in his place, all other relationships are altered.”
Pope Benedict XVI, General Audience, February 6, 2013
The fourth annual academic conference of The Sacra Doctrina Project, “All Things That Were Made: On Creation, Creatures, and Their Creator,” seeks to explore issues raised in natural theology, metaphysics, angelology, anthropology, and ecology by the doctrine of creation. Key topics include, but are not limited to: the affirmation of God as “Creator” and God’s relation to the world; the Trinitarian character of creation; creation ex nihilo; a posteriori demonstrations of God’s perfections; Christ as the Logos of creation; the Hexaemeron; the metaphysics of creation; the analogy of being; the origins of life, human origins, and the question of evolution; the prelapsarian state; the moral normativity of human nature and the natural law; the created human nature in the Incarnation; Mary as the pinnacle of creation; our re-creation in Christ by grace; the eschatological “new heavens and new earth”; the social and moral implications of our creaturely status; the moral status of lower creation; and the moral demands of ecological stewardship. The emphasis of this conference is on the speculative treatment of the Creator and his creation, but proposals related to practical ramifications, expressions, and challenges are welcome. Select papers will be published (subsequent to peer review) in a conference proceedings volume published by Saint Paul Seminary Press, as well as for an issue of Lux Veritatis: A Journal of Speculative Theology.
Keynote Speakers
William E. Carroll
Distinguished Visiting Professor, School of Philosophy
Zhongnan University and Wuhan University
Dr. William E. Carroll is Distinguished Visiting Professor in the School of Philosophy at Zhongnan University of Economics and Law in Wuhan, China, as well as Visiting Professor of Philosophy at Hongyi Honor College at Wuhan University. He was formerly Thomas Aquinas Fellow in Theology and Science at the Aquinas Institute, Blackfriars Hall, in the University of Oxford. He has twice been Visiting Professor in the Faculties of Biological Sciences and Philosophy at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile. Carroll is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame and the University of Michigan and an historian with a particular interest in the history of science and in the development of the doctrine of creation. He has been recognized for his work by the Templeton Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Carroll is the author of several books, including La Creación y las Ciencias Naturales and Creation and Science: Has Science Eliminated God?, and has published scholarly articles in journals such as Acta Philosophica, Angelicum, Annales theologici, Heythrop, Humanitas, Laval Théologique et Philosophique, Logos, Modern Age, New Blackfriars, Revue des Questions Scientifiques, Sapientia, Science & Education, and Tópicos. Carroll also edited Nature and Motion in the Middle Ages, and together with Steven E. Baldner translated and edited Aquinas on Creation. He writes regularly for Public Discourse, the website of the Witherspoon Institute at Princeton.
Christopher J. Thompson
Academic Dean and Professor of Moral Theology
The Saint Paul Seminary, University of St. Thomas (MN)
Dr. Christopher J. Thompson is Academic Dean and full Professor of Moral Theology at The Saint Paul Seminary at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota. He earned his Ph.D. from Marquette University in 1994, after having studied at Saint Louis University and Creighton University. He has taught at the University of St. Thomas for 30 years, in theology and Catholic studies, and served as the initial chair of the department of Catholic Studies. Thompson has lectured extensively on the topics of fundamental moral theology, Catholic rural life, integral ecology, and Green Thomism. He is the author of The Joyful Mystery: Field Notes Toward a Green Thomism and Christian Doctrine, Christian Identity: Augustine and the Narratives of Character. His essays have appeared in journals such as Catholic Social Science Review, Logos, Nova et Vetera, Proceedings of the American Catholic Philosophical Association, and The Thomist. He is also the co-editor with Steven A. Long of Reason and the Rule of Faith: Conversations in the Tradition with John Paul II. Thompson has served on the board of directors for National Catholic Rural Life, was a former co-director of the Murphy Institute, and was former director of the Center for Theological Formation.
Panel Discussion: Evolution
Kenneth W. Kemp
Professor Emeritus of Philosophy
University of St. Thomas (MN)
Dr. Kenneth W. Kemp is professor emeritus of philosophy at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota, where he taught for 30 years. After serving in the Army, he completed his Ph.D. in philosophy from the University of Notre Dame, and then served in the Air Force and taught at the Air Force Academy and thereafter at Texas A&M University. He has also taught in Ukraine, Poland, and Kosovo. Kemp is a widely regarded expert in the history and philosophy of the relationship between science and religion, particularly the question of evolution, as well as in just-war theory and Thomistic ethics. He has written widely on monogenesis, naturalism, miracles, and faith. He is the author of The War that Never Was: Evolution and Christian Theology and is currently working on a book surveying the history of Catholic evolutionism. He has published articles in journals such as American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly, Armed Forces & Society, Faith & Philosophy, Perspectives on Science & Christian Faith, Public Affairs Quarterly, Review for Religious, Scientia et Fides, The Monist, Theological Studies, and Zygon. He also co-translated Józef Życiński's God and Evolution: Fundamental Questions of Christian Evolutionism.
Matthew J. Ramage
Professor of Theology
Benedictine College (KS)
Dr. Matthew J. Ramage is full professor of theology at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, as well as adjunct professor of sacred scripture for Holy Apostles College and Seminary. Ramage has authored four books: The Experiment of Faith: Pope Benedict XVI on Living the Theological Virtues in a Secular Age; Jesus, Interpreted: Benedict XVI, Bart Ehrman, and the Historical Truth of the Gospels; and Dark Passages of the Bible: Engaging Scripture with Benedict XVI and St. Thomas Aquinas. His latest book, From the Dust of the Earth: Benedict XVI, the Bible, and the Theory of Evolution, engages Joseph Ratzinger/Benedict XVI's thought on the relation between science and faith particularly as it relates to the scientific theory of evolution. He has also authored numerous book chapters and articles, which have appeared in journals such as Communio, Evangelization and Culture, Josephinum Journal of Theology, Letter and Spirit, Nova et Vetera, Religions, and Scientia et Fides. He has also translated numerous essays from various languages. Ramage has delivered dozens of academic and popular lectures, and has taught courses in Scripture, Hebrew, Greek, Latin, theology, philosophy, ethics, and Catholic thought.
Fr. Mariusz Tabaczek, O.P.
Professor of Theology
Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum)
Fr. Mariusz Tabaczek is a Polish priest in the Order of Preachers (Dominicans) and serves as professor of theology and philosophy at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome. He also is a researcher for the Project of Science and Religion for the Thomistic Institute at the Angelicum. Fr. Tabaczek received his Ph.D. in philosophical theology from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley and received a residential faculty fellowship at the University of Notre Dame's Institute for Advanced Study. He is an expert in the relationship between science and theology, especially regarding creation theology, divine action, and evolutionary theory. Fr. Tabaczek has published three books: Divine Action And Emergence: An Alternative To Panentheism; Emergence: Towards A New Metaphysics And Philosophy Of Science; and Theistic Evolution: A Contemporary Aristotelian-Thomistic Perspective. He has also published articles in journals such as American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly, Annals of Philosophy, Forum Philosophicum, Nova et Vetera, Przegląd Tomistyczny, Scientia et Fides, Sophia, Theology and Science, and Zygon. He also served as guest editor for a special volume on evolution for Scientia et Fides.
Plenary Speakers
John G. Brungardt
Assistant Professor of Medieval Philosophy
Newman University
Dr. John G. Brungardt is assistant professor of medieval philosophy in the school of Catholic studies at Newman University in Wichita, Kansas. Previously, he was a postdoctoral researcher at Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile in Santiago, Chile. Brungardt, a graduate of Thomas Aquinas College, completed his licentiate and Ph.D. in philosophy from The Catholic University of America. Brungardt has written La existencia de Dios: Un diálogo entre la cosmología y la filosofía tomista and is working on a second book for CUA Press: Searching for the Cosmos. He translated and edited Edouard Hugon's Mary, Full of Grace. He has contributed several book chapters and has published in journals such as American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly, Proceedings of the American Catholic Philosophical Association, Proceedings of the Society for Medieval Logic and Metaphysics, and Synthese. Brungardt also serves as the general editor of The Charles De Koninck Project.
Fr. Dylan Schrader
Diocesan Priest and Latinist
Catholic Diocese of Jefferson City, Missouri
Fr. Dylan Schrader was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Jefferson City, Missouri in 2010 after studying at Kenrick Theological Seminary and Conception Seminary College. He then completed his Ph.D. in systematic theology in 2019 at The Catholic University of America. Fr. Schrader has published two books: A Thomistic Christocentrism: Recovering the Carmelites of Salamanca on the Logic of the Incarnation and A Shortcut to Scholastic Latin. He also translated the Salmanticenses' On the Motive of the Incarnation, and has assisted with the Opera Omnia translation project of the Aquinas Institute. His articles have appeared in journals such as Adoremus, Antiphon, Ephemerides liturgicae, Heythrop, Nova et Vetera, and Sacred Music. Presently, Fr. Schrader is pastor of St. Joseph in Westphalia and St. Anthony in Folk, Missouri, and is a regular instructor for the Veterum Sapientia Institute.
Academic Press Giveaways
Emmaus Academic Press
In addition to offering a 40% Sacra Doctrina Project conference discount on their entire catalog, Emmaus Academic is awarding a $25 credit toward the purchase of any Emmaus Academic title to the first 25 registrants for the 2024 Sacra Doctrina Project conference. Register now to receive your $25 credit!
Saint Paul Seminary Press
Saint Paul Seminary Press is giving away a free copy of one of the following books to 60 of the conference registrants:
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Andreas Hoeck, Worthy Lamb: An Exegetical-Spiritual Commentary on John's Apocalypse
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Walking with Jesus Christ: Catholic and Evangelical Visions of the Moral Life, ed. by Steven Hoskins & Christian D. Washburn
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The Transcendent Mystery of God's Word: A Critical Synthesis of Antioch and Alexandria, ed. by John W. Martens & Paul V. Niskanen
University of Notre Dame Press
The University of Notre Dame Press is giving away one free copy of each of Fr. Mariusz Tabaczek's books. All conference attendees will be eligible to win. Names will be drawn at the beginning of the conference.
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Emergence: Towards A New Metaphysics and Philosophy of Science
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Divine Action and Emergence: An Alternative to Panentheism
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