brother, St. Thomas Aquinas, provide the
JESUS IN THE FLESH
AND
key to understanding the discoveries of
science in the light of faith.
THE PROBLEM modern
OF ABORTION
Adapted from a blog post on Dominicanajournal.com
By Br. Reginald Hoefer, O.P.
Restlessness seems ubiquitous today.
People are uncomfortable with the stability
of Nicanor
humanAustriaco,
nature O.P.,
andspeaking
obsessed
with the
Fr.
at Aquinas
idea ofinpersonal
autonomy. The abortion
College
Nashville, Tennessee.
industry feeds on this discomfort because
it offers us a way to pursue our bodily
pleasures without being subject to their
natural, biological consequences. Having
children is an inherently selfless endeavor
because it makes us give up our own
freedom; but abortion provides us a way to
avoid that.
UNDERSTANDING
EVOLUTIONARY
THEORY WITH
ST.
THOMAS
Thus, for so me, Church authorities seem to
be trying
to keep
women
enjoying
Four
friars
from
the from
Province
of the
St.
kind
of
autonomy
that
is
their
“God-given
Joseph; Fr. Nicanor Austriaco, O.P., Fr.
right”: “A woman shouldn’t have to carry
James
Brent, O.P., Br. Thomas Davenport,
a baby to term if doing so would infringe
O.P., and Fr. John Baptist Ku, O.P.; have
upon her chosen lifestyle, should she?”
developed a website called Thomistic
Evolution (thomisticevolution.org) and
A few protesters on the steps of the
a companion book, that sheds light on
Supreme Court sport signs like “Pro-faith.
disputed questions surrounding the
Pro-family. Pro-choice.” The newspapers
relationship between biological evolution
show pictures of these “Pro-choicers” next
and the Catholic faith. The friars are
to a few “Pro-lifers” but they often ignore
convinced that the philosophical and
the overwhelming presence of the March
theological insights of their Dominican
for Life. Why? The reality is that the activity
“Aquinas was a realist. He might not have
known that biological organisms evolve,
but he knew that things change and he
thought about how change happens.
We have taken his principles of change
of the
pro-abortion
lobby
their
and
have
applied them
to and
what
we media
know
allies
protects
our
cultural
selfishness:
it
today about how species evolve,” says
strives
to ensure
an autonomy
that
Fr.
Nicanor
Austriaco,
O.P., whosuch
holds
a
we
need
not
even
be
subject
to
our
own
Ph.D. in Biology from M.I.T. and an S.T.D.
biological
processes.
in
Moral Theology
from the University of
Fribourg in Switzerland and is a Professor
God’s
remedy
our restlessness
was to
of
Biology
and for
of Theology
at Providence
become human and show us the goodness
College.
of our own nature. He renews this great
act offriars
mercyreceived
daily by agiving
His own
The
grantusfrom
the
flesh
in
the
Eucharist
as
healing
for
our
Evolution and Christian Faith (ECF)
unhappiness.
He is
infinite, and
only He
Program
of the
BioLogos
Foundation,
can
fill
our
infinite
longing
for
happiness.
a multi-million dollar grants program
sponsored by the John Templeton
Foundation, and have spoken about
Thomistic Evolution at Harvard, NYU, and
other universities to packed auditoriums.
“When you bring the intellect into
conversation with divine revelation and
with scientific data, people love it,” says
Fr. Nicanor. “Many never realized you
could do theology in this sophisticated
manner.”
Your donations help us form friars who can
apply the wisdom of St. Thomas Aquinas
to the questions of the modern world!
Tune into
into Sirius
SiriusXM129
XM129every
everyFriday
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ETfor
forthe
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