AFFIRMING PERENNIAL TRUTHS
IN A DISORIENTED AGE
Br. Constantius Sanders, O.P.
The Thomistic Institute at the
PFIC promotes study in the
philosophical and theological
traditions of the thought of St.
Thomas Aquinas. The Director,
Fr. Thomas Joseph White, O.P.,
explains the value of its work.
What is the Thomistic Institute?
The Thomistic Institute seeks to bring
the work of the PFIC into the larger
public life of the Church and society
by promoting Catholic thought and
engaging with contemporary issues.
The Thomistic Institute works through
a variety of formats, including academic
and spiritual conferences each year in a
variety of locations.
What drew you to study St. Thomas
Aquinas?
Aquinas is both a realist and a
contemplative. He takes the great
philosophical insights of Aristotle
regarding the structure of ordinary
reality and he unites these convincingly
with the soaring, beautiful understanding
of the life of grace one finds in St. Paul
and St. Augustine. Aquinas also gives
us insight into the mystery of the life of
Christ and the life of grace.
What does Thomism have to offer
society today?
We live in an intellectually disoriented
age where there is a great lack of
consensus about the meaning of human
existence. Thomism allows us to see how
the affirmation of absolute truths is not a
limitation on our understanding, but the
path to receiving all truth within a larger
framework: the truth that is Christ.
Making knowledge of the perennial truths
of Catholicism available in our culture
can have a profound and transformative
effect on people.
“Making knowledge of the perennial truths of
Catholicism available in our culture can have a
profound and transformative effect on people.”
Faith & Reason - Volume II, Issue III
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