“One of the Trinity was Crucified”:
On the Passion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ as Revelation of the Trinity
The 2021 Pluscarden Pentecost Lectures
to be given by Fr Thomas Joseph White OP
Director of the Thomistic Institute and Professor of Systematic Theology
Pontifical University of St Thomas (Angelicum), Rome
Fr Thomas Joseph White OP
25th–27th May 2021 – possibly live streamed direct from Rome.
Tuesday 25th May at 3.00 pm
The Agony of Gethsemane and the Obedience of the SonWednesday 26th May at 10.30 am
Suffering and Crucifixion: Atonement as Trinitarian RevelationWednesday 26th May at 3.00 pm
Jesus’ Descent into Hell and the Mystery of Trinitarian LoveThursday 27th May at 10.30 am
Bodily Resurrection and Exaltation: Cumulative Revelation of Jesus as Son and Lord
Each year the Abbot and Community of Pluscarden Abbey sponsor a series of four lectures by an invited Theologian on an aspect of Catholic Theology. Previous Lecturers have included Fr Aidan Nichols OP, Fr Thomas Weinandy OFM Cap, Fr Anthony Meredith SJ, Fr Paul McPartlan, Prof. Carol Zaleski, and Dom Erik Varden The Lectures are held on the Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday after Pentecost in St Scholastica’s Retreat House at the Abbey. They are open to all.
The Lecturer
Fr Thomas Joseph White is a Dominican priest, who lives and teaches at the Pontifical University of St Thomas (Angelicum) in Rome, where he is the Director of the Thomistic Institute. Originally a native of south-eastern Georgia (USA), Fr White studied at Brown University. He converted to Catholicism in his senior year, influenced by reading Flannery O’Connor, Aristotle, Newman, von Balthasar and John Paul II. He did his doctoral studies at Oxford University where his research focused on Aquinas’ metaphysics and arguments for the existence of God.
Fr White is the author of various books and articles including Wisdom in the Face of Modernity, A Thomistic Study in Natural Theology (Sapientia Press, 2009, second edition 2016), The Incarnate Lord, A Thomistic Study in Christology (The Catholic University of America Press, 2015), Exodus (Brazos Press, 2016), The Light of Christ: An Introduction to Catholicism (The Catholic University of America Press, 2017), and The Trinity: On the Nature and Mystery of the One God (forthcoming from The Catholic University of America Press).
With Matthew Levering he is the co-editor of the academic journal Nova et Vetera. In 2011 he was appointed an ordinary member of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas and in 2019 was named a Distinguished Scholar of the McDonald Agape Foundation. He held the 2018-2019 McInnes Chair for theological inquiry at the Angelicum.
The Lectures
“One of the Trinity was Crucified”:
On the Passion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ as Revelation of the Trinity
Modern Trinitarian theologians have commonly focused on a key question of the Christian faith. How do the passion and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth reveal to us the mystery of God as Trinity?
In these lectures we will explore various ways of answering this question by considering facets of the Paschal Mystery. How do Christ’s diverse actions and sufferings as man reveal to us the mystery of the Father, his own Lordship as Son, and the Gift of the Holy Spirit?
Taking inspiration from St Thomas Aquinas, we will treat the crucifixion, death and resurrection of Jesus as a privileged locus of disclosure of the very mystery of God in himself.
Lecture 1: The Agony of Gethsemane and the Obedience of the Son
In the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus experiences intensive human agony in the face of his impending torture, crucifixion and death. He also freely embraces the mystery of the Cross in humble obedience to his Father’s will. What is the Trinitarian dynamic disclosed in this event and how can it serve as a prelude to our understanding of the Passion in general?
Lecture 2: Suffering and Crucifixion: Atonement as Trinitarian Revelation
The voluntary suffering of Christ in his Passion is traditionally understood to stem from divine love. How is the love of the Trinity manifest in the voluntary abasement and death of Christ? What is the mechanism of the atonement, by which God reconciles us with himself in Christ, and how is it revelatory of the persons of the Trinity?
Lecture 3: Jesus’ Descent into Hell and the Mystery of Trinitarian Love
Jesus’ acceptance in his person of the consequences of death demonstrates his solidarity with the human race. It also manifests his Lordship, and his capacity to address even on Holy Saturday the universal effects of human death.
Lecture 4: Bodily Resurrection and Exaltation: Cumulative Revelation of Jesus as Son and Lord
The resurrection entails the glorification of the body and soul of Christ. It also manifests the Son as the only-begotten of the Father, who pours out his Holy Spirit upon the apostles and the Church. Just as the Father is the Father of the creation and the re-creation through his Son and Word, so the Son is the only-begotten through whom God has made all things and is the final principle in whom the re-creation of all things is inaugurated.
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If it is not possible to host this year’s Lectures at the Abbey, they will be live streamed, probably direct from Rome. Please check the website regularly for any updates. It is planned to have recordings available via the website for those who cannot tune in at the appropriate times.
For further information contact the Abbey at monks@pluscardenabbey.org