PIMSPontifical Institute
of
Mediaeval Studies

Medieval theologians disagreed with one another in interesting ways about the kinds of philosophical knowledge we can obtain regarding the divine nature and even the mystery of the Trinity. Some held that humans are capable of an imperfect but real natural knowledge of God as triune, in such a way that philosophy foreshadows and anticipates the revelation of the mystery of the Trinity. Others held our natural knowledge of God is limited to indirect understanding of the unity of the divine nature of God alone, and that the Trinity is a matter only of divine revelation. Based on these views one can formulate very different understandings of universal philosophical knowledge and the nature of the university as a place of universal ordering of the sciences.

Thomas Joseph White, O.P. is the rector of the University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome. He has written numerous books and articles, including The Trinity: On the Nature and Mystery of the One God (Catholic Univ. of America Press, 2022). He is a magister in sacred theology in the Dominican Order and a member of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas. He is also a co-founder and member of the American folk-bluegrass band, the Hillbilly Thomists.

A reception will follow in the Laurence K. Shook Common Room at the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 59 Queen’s Park Crescent East. For further information, contact Institute Secretary Jonathan Clemens at pims.secretary@utoronto.ca