The Tradition Goes to Harvard

The well-known founder of Word on Fire and Bishop of Winona-Rochester recently addressed over one thousand students and faculty at Harvard University this week. Speaking on the Catholic Intellectual Tradition, Bishop Robert Barron pointed out how it was no accident that modern science and the university itself was born in the “epistemically basic” (or foundational) understanding of the “logos” – the Word made flesh and knowable by man. In fact, the sciences are made possible by the theological doctrine of creation, he argues, which teaches that we should expect the world to be marked by intelligibility in every detail.

What secular students and professors often forget when they criticize the Church as “imperialistic” or culturally outdated is that it is precisely in the notion of Truth that Christianity set up the West to make unparalleled advances in human progress. It is however in Love that this progress is held to account, making sure that God’s design, which always guarantees the dignity and worth of each human person, is not subverted for some undignified end.

You can watch the lecture here.

In recent years, many have extolled the supposed benefits and insights born from experiences with psychedelics, including famed podcaster Joe Rogan and psychologist and speaker Jordan Peterson. Why have these gained such popularity, and do they really have that much to offer?

St. Francis of Assisi saw Nature as humanity’s Sister, rather than Mother, because we share the same Father. How does this way of thinking about nature impact our thinking as Christians today, and how does our society tend to get it wrong?

Catholic literary expert Joseph Pearce explores the power of good Christian poetry: “I hope to live the life of virtue that the great poems inspire.”