PIMSPontifical Institute
of
Mediaeval Studies

The Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies hosted, from 6 to 7 May 2024, an international conference on the medieval Jewish thinker Moses Maimonides (1138–1204 C.E.) and the Christian thinker St Thomas Aquinas (ca. 1225–1274). The focus of the conference was on the areas of theology and philosophy where Aquinas directly and explicitly engaged the ideas of Maimonides. The three areas, the topics of the three roundtable sessions, were: 1. The nature of language about God; 2. The nature of divine causality; and 3. The thinkers' conception of natural and ceremonial law. Each session had two major presenters, in each case a leading Jewish and a leading Catholic scholar on the matter under discussion. The presentations were followed, in all three cases, by a roundtable discussion among the 30 invited participants, all of whom were well versed in the thought of at least one of the two medieval thinkers. In place of a proceedings volume, the sessions were filmed so that the actual conversations would be available. Links to those videos are found below.

After the third session, the conference continued with a public lecture (not video-recorded), on medieval Jewish and Christian interaction in areas other than formal theological and philosophical writing, by Prof. Alan Verskin of the University of Toronto. That evening, the conference concluded with a banquet dinner for the principal participants at The York Club of Toronto, hosted through the generosity of the Comper Foundation.

Programme

To view or download a PDF of the full conference programme, click here.

Conference Events

Monday, May 6

First Roundtable Discussion: Divine Names and Language about God (view on YouTube)
Chair: Fr. Augustine Thompson, O.P., Praeses of the Institute
Catholic presenter: Dr. Mercedes Rubio, Universidad Villanueva
Jewish presenter: Prof. Alex Green, University of Buffalo

Second Roundtable Discussion: Divine Causality and Providence (view on YouTube)
Chair: Fr. Augustine Thompson, O.P., Praeses of the Institute
Jewish presenter: Prof. James Diamond, University of Waterloo
Catholic presenter: Prof. Jennifer Hart Weed, University of New Brunswick

Tuesday, May 7

Third Roundtable Discussion: Natural and Ceremonial Law (view on YouTube)
Chair: Fr. Augustine Thompson, O.P., Praeses of the Institute
Jewish presenter: Prof. David Novak, University of Toronto
Catholic presenter: Prof. Russell Hittinger, Catholic University of America

Public Lecture: Forging Intellectual Bonds: Jewish, Christian, and Islamic Encounters in the Middle Ages
Lecturer: Prof. Alan Verskin, Samuel J. Zacks Chair of Jewish History, University of Toronto