This course is for students who are new to Plato, as well as for those who may have studied him before.
Why study Plato? As C.S. Lewis' devil, Screwtape, put it, when we moderns are confronted by the work of an ancient author, the one thing we have been taught never to ask is whether it is true. We must try to overcome that modern prejudice. Western culture is principally based on two things: Greek philosophy (Plato and Aristotle) and Judaeo-Christian revelation (the Bible). In a time, like ours, of massive deculturation, it is vital to return to the sources. As John Paul II put it, faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth. Plato and Aristotle may be said to have been the first "Fathers of the Church", even before there was a Church.
Plato, the first philosopher, wrote dialogues, that is, little dramas, in most of which the hero was Socrates. Plato stands to Socrates as Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John stand to Jesus. Socrates discovered and articulated the dimensions of the human soul. Like Jesus, he was unjustly put to death by the authorities in the society whose order he disturbed. We will consider especially the following dialogues: Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, and Phaedo (chronicling the "Last Days of Socrates"; Gorgias and Republic (two of Plato's most important ethical-political works); and Phaedrus and Symposium (Plato's dialogues on love). These are available on-line, or may be purchased in inexpensive editions.

Along with George Orwell, Aldous Huxley was deeply skeptical of the utopian futures imagined by H.G. Wells and others. Unlike Orwell however, Huxley's greatest fear wasn't a tyrannical government that ruled by the threat of pain, rather it was a dictatorship that enslaved through the promise of pleasure. This class will explore Huxley's ideas as expressed in his dystopian novel Brave New World. How close to realizing his dystopia are we? Is there anything being done to prevent his vision from coming true?
Text: Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

The truth about Jesus remains intact, coherent, and vital in every generation. In other words, Jesus is still the Son of God despite his critics. Cardinal Sch�nborn's recent work on Christology will lead us more deeply into the truth about Jesus, and this will help us to know the Savior himself.

This course will consist of a survey of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger's book, "Called to Communion: Understanding the Church Today." Writing as Cardinal Ratzinger years before his election to the See of St. Peter, this important contribution to the ongoing study and understanding of the Catholic Church and the theology upon which it is grounded and defined provides us with a renewed appreciation and respect for the Magisterium and the gift of pastoral authority and governance of the Holy Father and the College of Bishops. Using Ratzinger's text as our guide, we will focus on the origin of the Church, the Primacy of Peter and his role in maintaining the communion of the Church, the Universal and Particular Church, and the essence of the priesthood as it relates to our theological understanding of the Catholic Church and the sacraments. In addition to Cardinal Ratzinger's book, we will also review the document Lumen Gentium from the Second Vatican Council, numbers 11, 12, 14,16, & 17, relevant laws from the Code of Canon Law, and the motu proprio Ad Tuendam Fidem issued in 1998 by Blessed John Paul II. The goal of this course is to familiarize students with relevant texts in order to understand how theology, canon law, and the history of the origins of the Church learned from the Scriptures intersect to create what we know and love as the Church of Christ on earth.

Text: Called to Communion: Understanding the Church Today, by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger

Most Catholics are familiar with some of the main events of Genesis and Exodus in the Old Testament, but the rest of the history gets really fuzzy. Does this history matter? Absolutely! This class traces the conquest of the Promised Land under the leadership of Joshua (Yeshua in Hebrew), the rise and fall of the kingdom of David, and the long wait for the appearance of the Messiah, the New Yeshua. Our primary text will be Scripture, as well as Walking with God, a Journey Through the Bible (Jeff Cavins/Tim Gray).

Have you ever wondered what Christianity might look like from the outside? G.K. Chesterton recommends this imaginative exercise to any critics whose familiarity with Christianity has bred contempt for the Faith. Written as a response to H.G. Well's Outline of History, The Everlasting Man tackles Well's dual contentions that Man is a mere animal and that Christ was a mere man. The result is a literary masterpiece that C.S. Lewis considered "the best popular defense of the full Christian position." Take this class and find out why.
Text: The Everlasting Man by G. K. Chesterton

This course is for students who are new to Aristotle, as well as for those who may have studied him before. It is not necessary to have taken the course on Plato taught in the previous Quarter.
Why study Aristotle? As C.S. Lewis’ devil, Screwtape, put it, when we moderns are confronted by the work of an ancient author, the one thing we have been taught never to ask is whether it is true. We must try to overcome that modern prejudice. Western culture is principally based on two things: Greek philosophy (Plato and Aristotle) and Judaeo-Christian revelation (the Bible). In a time, like ours, of massive deculturation, it is vital to return to the sources. As John Paul II put it, faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth. Plato and Aristotle may be said to have been the first “Fathers of the Church,” even before there was a Church.
Aristotle was a student of Plato’s, but his work may have outstripped Plato’s in terms of its importance. Dante considered Aristotle “The Master of Those Who Know,” and Saint Thomas Aquinas referred to him simply as “The Philosopher.” Aquinas’ synthesis of Aristotle and Biblical revelation, of nature and grace, was fundamental not only for the Church but for all subsequent Western history. While Plato wrote dialogues, what have come down to us from Aristotle are his lectures on a great many subjects. We will consider the Metaphysics and the De Anima (On the Soul) briefly, and then spend most of our time on the Ethics and the Politics. These are available on-line, or may be purchased in inexpensive editions.

“The City of God is the autobiography of the Church written by the most Catholic of her great saints…The City of God, for those who can understand it, contains the secret of death and life, war and peace, hell and heaven” (Thomas Merton, introduction to the Modern Library Edition). The class will read and discuss selections from Saint Augustine’s great work and will gain a deeper understanding of scripture, theology, history, and spirituality. “For what other end do we propose to ourselves than to attain to the kingdom of which there is no end?” (Book XXII.30)

This class will explore the history of the Catholic Church and Europe from the fall of the Roman empire in the late 5th century to the beginning of the Reformation in the 16th century. This thousand year span saw the flourishing of Christendom's theological, political, and philosophical thought; it saw the rise of Islam and its first clash with Christian Europe; it saw the return of Aristotle, most importantly in the works of St. Thomas Aquinas; it saw both great heroism and corruption amidst the many lay and religious leaders of the era. In short, the medieval world was one of fascinating developments which forever shaped every generation that followed. This class will offer an engaging overview of the main figures and events of the time.

No text required. Recommended reading: The Making of Europe by Christopher Dawson.

For many people throughout history the question of the existence of evil and the reality of human suffering pose serious objections of the existence of a God who is all loving and all powerful. This class will explore these objections to God’s existence and seek some solutions through the thought of C.S. Lewis, Pope John Paul II, Karl Rahner S.J., Bruno Hidber CSsR., Walter Casper, Thomas Aquinas and St. Augustine.

"Your mother wears army boots!" This familiar schoolyard taunt has prompted more than one playground pugilist to put up his dukes in defense of his mother's reputation, but worse things are said about the Catholic Church every day. Are you going to let them talk about your mom like that?
At Confirmation we became soldiers for Christ, fully initiated members of the Church Militant. As such, we are obliged to readily and charitably defend our Mother whenever she is attacked. Can you do this? This class will equip you to:


-win any argument without cheating
- defend your faith without being defensive (or offensive!)
- use your sword and shield (the Bible and faith) together effectively
- stump your anti-Catholic brother-in-law this Thanksgiving with "Jesus Judo"
- be unapologetic when you apologize (give reasons for your beliefs)

Join us to develop or hone your skills. All are welcome!