Through these public lectures we hope to imbue the greater CPC community with engaging and faithful theological thought. The lectures feature both our own professors as well as guest speakers from other Catholic institutions, and other faith traditions who bring important ideas to theological discussion.
Upcoming Lectures
Most Recent Lectures
CPC 2022/23 Academic Year
CPC³ Lecture Repository
We began the CPC³ Public Lectures in Fall 2017 with a lecture by Vancouver Archbishop J. Michael Miller. Below you will find information on all of the lectures that we've held since that time. In Fall 2020, we began recording the lectures so we have videos attached to each record since then.
These great talks are for anyone interested in deepening their faith in Christ.

2022/23
March 28, 2023 - Dr. Carly Henderson - St. John Paul II and the Human Person
This lecture was originally delivered on March 29, 2023 at Catholic Pacific College.
Description: Karol Wojtyla, who would later become St. John Paul II, was a champion of human dignity and defender of human freedom. In his incredible life, he witnessed the horrors that can be inflicted against human dignity, and discovered, through his suffering, pilgrimage of faith, and intellectual work, that only Jesus Christ ensures and protects the meaning and dignity of the human person. His insight left an enormous legacy within the Church that has only begun to be explored. To understand John Paul II’s unique approach to anthropology, we must first understand who he is, as a person, and what exactly he means when he teaches that the human person “cannot live without love” and can only discover himself by drawing near to Christ (Redemptor Hominis, no. 10).
Bio: Dr. Carly Henderson is originally from the Midwest of the United States. She earned her BA in English Literature at Saint Mary’s College at Notre Dame, IN, before switching gears and earning her MA and PhD in Theology at The Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies in Marriage and Family in Washington, DC. Her main theological interests center around Mariology, the theology of St. John Paul II, and anthropological questions concerning existence, sexual difference and feminism. She recently moved from the US to Langley, BC, with her husband, Dr. David Henderson, and their two young children, and is excited to be part of the CPC community.
February 15, 2023 - Fr. Harrison Ayre - Mystery & Modernism: The Sacramental Foundations of Human Existence
This lecture was originally presented at Catholic Pacific College on February 15, 2023.
Description: Modernism is a buzzword Catholics love to throw around without really understanding it, and by missing out on its key meaning, they miss out on it as a problem, not realizing how much we act out of the principles of modernism almost daily. It is the air we breathe. By addressing what it is, we are able to also, then, discover the power of sacramentality that sees sacramentality not only as a Catholic principle, but, analogically, that it is a structured, natural principle built into our nature.
Bio: Fr Harrison Ayre is Pastor of St Peter's in Nanaimo, BC and a priest of the Diocese of Victoria. He is a doctoral student at the Maryvale Institute, working on the question of the relationship between history and ontology in the thought of Joseph Ratzinger and how it relates to his sacramental theology. He is the co-host of the Clerically Speaking podcast, and author of two books: Finding Christ in the Crisis: What the Pandemic Can Teach Us and Mysterion: The Revelatory Power of the Sacramental Worldview.
February 8, 2023 - Dr. Andrew Kaethler - Special Book Release Edition - The Eschatogical Person
Presented at Catholic Pacific College on February 8, 2023. However, there is no recording of this lecture.
Description: Both Alexander Schmemann and Joseph Ratzinger insist that the human person remains shrouded in mystery without God’s self-disclosure in the person of Jesus Christ. Like us, Jesus lived in a particular time and location, and therefore time and temporality must be part of the ontological question of what it means to be a human person. Yet, Jesus, the one who has time for us, ascended to the Father, and the bride of Christ awaits his return, and therefore time and temporality are conditioned by the eschatological. With this in mind, the ontological question of personhood and temporality is a question that concerns eschatology: how does eschatology shape personhood? Bringing together Schmemann and Ratzinger in a theological dialogue for the first time, this book explores their respective approaches and answers to the aforementioned question. While the two theologians share much in common, it is only Ratzinger’s relational ontological approach that, by being consistently relational from top to bottom, consistently preserves the meaningfulness of temporal existence.
Bio: Dr. Andrew Kaethler grew up in the Lower Mainland. He received a B.A. in Christianity and Culture from TWU as well as an M.A. in Religion, Culture, and Ethics. Following his MA, Andrew spent a year running (actually sanding, spraying, and brushing) his own painting company before his wife fortunately encouraged him to pursue teaching. Surprisingly, this led Andrew and his family to Eastern Europe, Lithuania to be precise. Here at LCC International University, Andrew taught philosophy, theology, and cross-listed English/theology courses for four years and during this time discovered his love and passion for teaching. After four years and two additional children he moved to St Andrews, Scotland, where he spent four years working on a Ph.D. in systematic theology at the University of St Andrews. Although he did not golf in Scotland, he did participate in the consumption of haggis, drank a few drams of whiskey, and danced at the odd Ceilidh. It was in Scotland, the land of the fiery reformer John Knox, that Andrew and his family were received into the Catholic Church, a ‘conversion’ process that began at TWU almost twenty years earlier.
January 25, 2023 - Archbishop J. Michael Miller, CSB - Who has authority in the Catholic Church?
This lecture was originally delivered at Trinity Western University on Wednesday, January 25, 2023.
Description: Vancouver Archbishop J. Michael Miller, CSB provides an answer to the question: "Who has authority in the Catholic Church?" He begins in Scripture and discusses the nature of the Church's authority, who has authority in the Church, who has infallibility in the Church, and how the faithful should respond to various teachings in the Church.
Bio: Archbishop Michael Miller, chief shepherd of Vancouver’s 430,000 Catholics since January 2009, has been part of the city’s religious landscape since 2007, when Pope Benedict XVI named him Coadjutor Archbishop.
November 30, 2022 - Dr. Andrew Kaethler - The Church & Human Flourishing
Presented at Catholic Pacific College on November 30, 2022
Description: In the Republic Plato views the city as the human soul writ large. Is the Church similarly the human soul writ large? If this is the case, and arguably Vatican II’s teaching on Mary opens this door, subsequently another question arises: what can be learned about the human person in light of the Church? By looking at what the Church is, this talk will explore how the Church in herself and as herself provides an image, a symbol, that sets out for us the importance of our embodied sexed condition as man and woman.
Bio: Dr. Andrew Kaethler grew up in the Lower Mainland. He received a B.A. in Christianity and Culture from TWU as well as an M.A. in Religion, Culture, and Ethics. Following his MA, Andrew spent a year running (actually sanding, spraying, and brushing) his own painting company before his wife fortunately encouraged him to pursue teaching. Surprisingly, this led Andrew and his family to Eastern Europe, Lithuania to be precise. Here at LCC International University, Andrew taught philosophy, theology, and cross-listed English/theology courses for four years and during this time discovered his love and passion for teaching. After four years and two additional children he moved to St Andrews, Scotland, where he spent four years working on a Ph.D. in systematic theology at the University of St Andrews. Although he did not golf in Scotland, he did participate in the consumption of haggis, drank a few drams of whiskey, and danced at the odd Ceilidh. It was in Scotland, the land of the fiery reformer John Knox, that Andrew and his family were received into the Catholic Church, a ‘conversion’ process that began at TWU almost twenty years earlier.
October 26, 2022 - Dr. Paul Kingsbury - Paradoxical Spaces of Belief in Paranormal Investigation Cultures
Presented at Catholic Pacific College on October 26, 2022
Short Description: Dr. Paul Kingsbury examines UFO conferences, ghost investigations, and Sasquatch expeditions to consider how these have proliferated. He explores how the paranormal investigators’ enduring and unaware beliefs in God or the “big Other” are manifest in their social behaviours and rituals. What does this all mean in relation to Christian faith?
Long Description: Despite the formation of a Western secular society, researchers have observed a surge in the beliefs and practices associated with the paranormal. Central to these new paranormal cultures is the increase in popularity of paranormal investigation organizations that study anomalous phenomena. My lecture examines the psychoanalytic geographies of UFO conferences, ghost investigations, and Sasquatch expeditions to consider how these spaces have proliferated not because of the oft-proclaimed death of God, but because, following Jacques Lacan, “God is unconscious.” Given Lacan’s anti-psychological assertion that the “unconscious is outside,” I explore how the paranormal investigators’ enduring and unaware beliefs in God or the “big Other” are materially externalized in their socio-spatial practices and rituals. Specifically, I illustrate how these spaces of belief are animated by a series of Lacanian paradoxes: enjoyment as an injunction, fantasy as a support of reality, recovering an object of desire that was never lost, love as giving something we don’t have, and non-dupery as the shortest path to error. I conclude by reflecting on how paranormal investigations are quite ordinary insofar as the above paradoxes permeate everyday life and are predicated on a faith in mystery rather than a mystery of faith.
October 24, 2022 - Dr. Andrew Kaethler - Special Edition - A Matter of Time: The Liturgical Year and the Sabbath
Originally recorded at Catholic Pacific College on Monday, October 24 for the Vancouver Archdiocesan adult faith formation program, Into the Deep: Make Every Sunday Matter.
Description: The Church teaches that Sundays and other days of the year are days of obligation. Is this some sort of ecclesial overreach, a legalistic but ultimately unnecessary demand, or is something more going on? In this talk we will consider the theological significance of time and why the Sabbath and the liturgical year are key to the Catholic life.s the importance of our embodied sexed condition as man and woman.
Bio: Dr. Andrew Kaethler grew up in the Lower Mainland. He received a B.A. in Christianity and Culture from TWU as well as an M.A. in Religion, Culture, and Ethics. Following his MA, Andrew spent a year running (actually sanding, spraying, and brushing) his own painting company before his wife fortunately encouraged him to pursue teaching. Surprisingly, this led Andrew and his family to Eastern Europe, Lithuania to be precise. Here at LCC International University, Andrew taught philosophy, theology, and cross-listed English/theology courses for four years and during this time discovered his love and passion for teaching. After four years and two additional children he moved to St Andrews, Scotland, where he spent four years working on a Ph.D. in systematic theology at the University of St Andrews. Although he did not golf in Scotland, he did participate in the consumption of haggis, drank a few drams of whiskey, and danced at the odd Ceilidh. It was in Scotland, the land of the fiery reformer John Knox, that Andrew and his family were received into the Catholic Church, a ‘conversion’ process that began at TWU almost twenty years earlier.
September 28, 2022 - Dr. David Henderson - Scripture as Incarnation
Presented at Catholic Pacific College on September 28, 2022
Description: Attitudes toward Scripture vary greatly from century to century. Yet there is perhaps no more marked difference than between the divergent ways in which contemporary and pre-modern readers approached the Bible. Unlike in past ages, readers of the Scriptures today find themselves burdened by skepticism, doubts as to whether the Bible adequately “proves” its sacred, inspired quality. As a result, we find it difficult to discern how this peculiar, ancient text still relates to the challenges, triumphs, and struggles of our lives. This lecture draws attention to one facet of this modern shift and the radically novel account of the “nature” of the Bible that rose to prominence in the 17th century. With reference to the pre-modern view, the lecture then contrasts the “loneliness” of modern exegesis with its ancient alternative, speaking to what it means to read the sacred texts as a “Church.” Here, an appreciation for the “sacramental” quality of the Sacred Scriptures encourages us to read the Bible as not just a story “about” the past events of redemption, but rather as being itself an “Incarnation,” a manifestation or extension of redemption in the very midst of our lives.
Bio: Dr. David Henderson is a native of the Lower Mainland and received his B. A. in Christianity and Culture from TWU. He also holds a Masters of Theology from Regent College and a doctorate in Moral Theology from the Saint John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family at the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC. David has authored essays on ecology and sexual ethics and is an assistant editor of the online review journal Humanum. Having converted to Catholicism in 2013, David brings an interest for theological aesthetics, the conflict between ancients and moderns, and the ongoing reception of the Second Vatican Council. He currently lives with his wife and two children in Langley, BC.
2021/22
May 14, 2022 - Dr. Andrew Kaethler - Special Open House Edition - Sentences & Sentience: C.S. Lewis and the Word
Presented at Catholic Pacific College for an Open House on May 14, 2022
Bio: Dr. Andrew Kaethler grew up in the Lower Mainland. He received a B.A. in Christianity and Culture from TWU as well as an M.A. in Religion, Culture, and Ethics. Following his MA, Andrew spent a year running (actually sanding, spraying, and brushing) his own painting company before his wife fortunately encouraged him to pursue teaching. Surprisingly, this led Andrew and his family to Eastern Europe, Lithuania to be precise. Here at LCC International University, Andrew taught philosophy, theology, and cross-listed English/theology courses for four years and during this time discovered his love and passion for teaching. After four years and two additional children he moved to St Andrews, Scotland, where he spent four years working on a Ph.D. in systematic theology at the University of St Andrews. Although he did not golf in Scotland, he did participate in the consumption of haggis, drank a few drams of whiskey, and danced at the odd Ceilidh. It was in Scotland, the land of the fiery reformer John Knox, that Andrew and his family were received into the Catholic Church, a ‘conversion’ process that began at TWU almost twenty years earlier.
March 30, 2022 - Dr. Carly Henderson - Mary Our Mother: John Paul II’s Theology of Maternal Mediation
Presented at Catholic Pacific College on March 30, 2022
Description: Despite the fact that the doctrine of Mary’s mediation has been with the Church since the earliest centuries, the meaning of Mary’s mediation is nevertheless unclear for many Catholics today. This is especially interesting considering that, less than one hundred year ago, there was a considerable movement within the Church petitioning the Holy Father to declare Mary as “Mediatrix of All Graces”, which ultimately was unmet by the Holy Father and the Second Vatican Council. However, the reason why the proposal of the Mediatrix Movement remained unmet was not in that Mary’s mediation was now passé, but rather, that the language used to communicate the mystery of her mediation was insufficient. In the wake of the Second Vatican Council, Pope John Paul II’s theology of Mary’s “maternal mediation” fills the gap in approaching Mary’s mediation with new eyes: as her maternal participation in the very life of God, who himself is a communion of persons. This insight is helpful not only in understanding Mary as our mother who mediates, but also in understanding our own vocations within the mystery of Christ and the life of the Church.
Bio: Dr. Carly Henderson is originally from the Midwest of the United States. She earned her BA in English Literature at Saint Mary’s College at Notre Dame, IN, before switching gears and earning her MA and PhD in Theology at The Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies in Marriage and Family in Washington, DC. Her main theological interests center around Mariology, the theology of St. John Paul II, and anthropological questions concerning existence, sexual difference and feminism. She recently moved from the US to Langley, BC, with her husband, Dr. David Henderson, and their two young children, and is excited to be part of the CPC community.
February 10, 2022 - Prof. Ron Dart - Jordan Peterson: Sic et Non
Presented at Catholic Pacific College on February 10, 2022
Description: Jordan Peterson, more than most, has played a prominent role in public debates since 2016. Many are those who demonize him. Many are those who uncritically genuflect before him. This lecture will reflect on the good that Peterson offers in the culture wars and some of his limitations.
Bio: Ron Dart has taught in the department of political science, philosophy, religious studies at University of the Fraser Valley since 1990--he was on staff with Amnesty International in the 1980s. Ron has published more than 40 books, including editing "Jordan Peterson: A Christian Perspective" (2020). Ron also has 2 articles in the newest book on Peterson to be published in November 2021.
Listen to "First Things" Podcast featuring Ron Dart in an episode titled, "Myth, Modernity, and Mr. Peterson."
January 27, 2022 - Dr. Jens Zimmermann - The Challenge and Promise of Christian Humanism
Presented at Catholic Pacific College on January 27, 2022
Description: Christian educational institutions often wonder how best to educate in a secular age. In this lecture, Jens Zimmermann will argue that the main challenge Christian education faces at present is neither secularism nor secularity but a techno-scientific worldview that disregards, diminishes, and therefore destroys, the living human person. According to Christian Humanists, the goal of Christian education is to foster true humanity by helping students to become more Christlike, and therefore to become fully a person, a truly living human being. The techno-scientific vision and our uncritical immersion in its applications are diametrically opposed to this humanistic goal. For example, giving ourselves over to technology fosters neither embodied living, nor the freedom of critical thought, nor the patient dwelling with texts, or the slow, deliberate acquisition of language required for understanding another’s viewpoint. And yet, this techno-scientific vision drives the pet projects of those who are increasingly shaping our societies. What educators should worry about, therefore, is not so much secularity itself, but the techno-scientific worldview and technocratic policies that threaten to redefine and govern every aspect of our lives.
Bio: Jens Zimmermann is J.I. Packer Chair of Theology at Regent College. He is former Canada Research Chair for Interpretation, Religion, and Culture (2006-2016), and has published widely on on philosophical and theological topics. Some of his works are Humanism and Religion (2012), Hermeneutics: A Very Short Introduction (2015), and Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Christian Humanism (2019), all with Oxford University Press. He is currently working on a book on what it means to be a person.
October 28, 2021 - Dr. Paul Allen - Human Dignity in Creation: Evolution and Metaphysical Form
Presented at Catholic Pacific College on October 28, 2021
Description: In his lecture, Dr. Allen will present a paper on a theological argument that human dignity is best understood within the scope of the theological doctrine of creation, assisted by an engagement with Darwin’s theory of evolution.Human dignity based on human will (Kant), our legal equality with one another (Rawls) or a loose concept of self-transcendence (Tanner et al.) are insufficient. But, as a component part of creation doctrine, human dignity is both a plausible interpretation of our bodily form and a way of expressing the irreducible character of human freedom, ordered to relationship with God. Darwin’s theory of evolution supports a metaphysics of human form, despite the naturalism that runs through his thought.
Bio: Dr. Paul Allen is Dean and Professor at Corpus Christi College, Vancouver, Canada.
September 30, 2021 - Dr. Andrew Kaethler - From Idol to Icon
Presented at Catholic Pacific College on September 30, 2021
Description: Arguably, the human individual and its concomitant the human body are idols of secularism. There is a certain irony, perhaps an irony shared with all idols, that such idolatry is so close, and yet so far, from true Christian worship. C.S. Lewis notes that if we could see our neighbour for who he will one day be we would be tempted to worship him. That is, “next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbour is the holiest object presented to your senses. If he is your Christian neighbour, he is holy in almost the same way, for in him also Christ vere latitat—the glorifier and the glorified, Glory Himself, is truly hidden.” Following Lewis’ direction, we could say that idols and icons are closely related. If this is truly the case then confronting the idols of secularism may involve re-conception rather than replacement.
With this affirmative approach I want to think through how idolatry of the body can be re-conceived as a step in the right direction, leading away from idolatry of the self, and how the body as an idol can be transformed into an icon. In particular, it will explore how male and female difference, or otherness, can be a catalyst for such an iconic transformation.
Bio: Dr. Andrew Kaethler grew up in the Lower Mainland. He received a B.A. in Christianity and Culture from TWU as well as an M.A. in Religion, Culture, and Ethics. Following his MA, Andrew spent a year running (actually sanding, spraying, and brushing) his own painting company before his wife fortunately encouraged him to pursue teaching. Surprisingly, this led Andrew and his family to Eastern Europe, Lithuania to be precise. Here at LCC International University, Andrew taught philosophy, theology, and cross-listed English/theology courses for four years and during this time discovered his love and passion for teaching. After four years and two additional children he moved to St Andrews, Scotland, where he spent four years working on a Ph.D. in systematic theology at the University of St Andrews. Although he did not golf in Scotland, he did participate in the consumption of haggis, drank a few drams of whiskey, and danced at the odd Ceilidh. It was in Scotland, the land of the fiery reformer John Knox, that Andrew and his family were received into the Catholic Church, a ‘conversion’ process that began at TWU almost twenty years earlier.
2020/21
December 7, 2020 - Marie-Claire Klassen - Mary, Our Lady Who Brings Down Walls: Advent Reflections from the Holy Land
Presented at Catholic Pacific College on December 7, 2020
Description: In “Fratelli Tutti” Pope Francis, reflecting on Mary, says, “In the power of the risen Lord, she wants to give birth to a new world, where all of us are brothers and sisters, where there is room for all those whom our societies discard, where justice and peace are resplendent” (#278). This lecture is an invitation to journey with Mary from Nazareth to Bethlehem and consider her story in light of Christians living in the Holy Land today. This talk will combine reflection on the biblical narrative with interviews from Christian women experiencing oppression in the Holy Land. Together we will explore what Mary and the person of Christ mean to Christians living in the Holy Land today and what it might look like for us to cooperate in bringing about the world Pope Francis describes—a world characterized by inclusion, justice, and peace.
Bio: Marie-Claire Klassen is a PhD candidate in Moral Theology at the University of Notre Dame. Her research focuses on the Christian community in the Holy Land and their commitment to nonviolence in the context of oppression. Before beginning her PhD, Marie-Claire spent time working with NGOs in both Jerusalem and Lesotho.
November 2, 2020 - Rachel Lacy-Boersma - The Magdalene Ophelia and Repentance in Hamlet
Presented at Catholic Pacific College on November 2, 2020
Description: Ophelia’s madness and death have inspired visual art for centuries. But what makes her image so spectacular and compelling? Considering the post-Reformation environment in which Hamlet was written, this talk suggests resonances between the play’s representation of mad Ophelia and the iconography of St. Mary Magdalene. Ophelia’s unbound hair and bawdy lute call to mind similar characteristics of the penitent disciple as she is depicted in Renaissance art. Mary Magdalene’s renunciation of material comforts and physical beauty was, for many Reformers, a fitting symbol of the Protestant attempt to return to a pared-down aesthetic of worship. In carrying over these distinctive traits of Magdalene iconography, the image of mad Ophelia implicates a broader concern in Hamlet with the material nature of repentance. Through her, Shakespeare holds a mirror up to England after the Reformation, reflecting what it was and what had been lost.
Bio: Rachel Lacy has taught English at Corpus Christi College and has published in Shakespeare Bulletin. Her research interests include early modern drama and the English cycle plays, sacramental theology during the Reformation, materialist philosophy, and historical semiotics.
October 2, 2020 - Fr. David Bellusci, OP - Special Book Release Edition: Pier Giorgio Frassati and His Friends
Presented at Catholic Pacific College on October 2, 2020
Description: Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati is situated in the social and political upheaval of early-twentieth-century Italy. The Roman Catholic Church read the warning signs of atheistic Marxism; Mussolini filled Italy’s political vacuum with fascists; and Rome was still Italy’s disputed capital. The biography draws from a synopsis of selected letters and witness accounts, revealing Pier Giorgio’s increasing engagement with the world around him, shaped by his spiritual life. Pier Giorgio belonged to an upper-middle-class family and his parents transmitted fundamental values of truth, courage, and justice. Although he was deeply loved by his parents, they did not share his religious zeal. Pier Giorgio was concerned about helping the poor in the slums of Turin, the needy German students in Berlin, but especially in contributing to world peace. His spiritual maturity was expressed by making sacrifices: his friendship with a young lady offered up, bidding farewell to his best friend leaving for the Air Force, watching his sister depart once married, and his career in mining engineering abandoned. Pier Giorgio stood alone. He remained at home for the good of his parents to ensure peace and unity. He died at twenty-four years old.
Bio: Father David Bellusci teaches at CPC and belongs to the Dominican Order founded by Saint Dominic in 1216. Father Bellusci obtained his canonical licentiate in theology and doctorate in philosophy at the Dominican University College in Ottawa. His research has focused on St. Augustine, St. Thomas Aquinas, and the Italian Renaissance/16th century Humanism.
2019/20
February 27, 2020 - Dr. David Baird - The Immaculate Conception: What? Why? How?
Presented at Catholic Pacific College on February 27, 2020
Description: As the title says, Dr. Baird discusses the ‘when? why? and how?’ of Catholic doctrine concerning Our Lady’s preservation from sin from the moment of her conception.
Bio: Dr. Baird is Assistant Professor of Theology at Catholic Pacific College and his research focuses on theology and culture, with particular interests in Christianity’s intersections with story and film. He is currently working on projects related to the early writings of G.K. Chesterton, the theology of Holy Saturday, and the theological significance of postapocalyptic zombie fiction.
October 27, 2019 - Fr. David Bellusci, OP - A Christian Response to Sexual Addiction
Presented at Catholic Pacific College on October 27, 2019
Fr. David Bellusci, O.P. has just released his book "Love Deformed, Love Transformed: A Christian Response to Sexual Addiction" (Copies are available at Holy Family Catholic Bookstore or at Amazon.ca) and he is our next CPC³ guest lecturer. On October 17, at 7pm, Fr. Bellusci will present a lecture on his book which will be responded to by CPC Academic Dean, Dr. Andrew Kaethler, and CPC student, Dominic Lindl.
2018/19
April 4, 2019 - Dr. Andrew Kaethler - Is Church Necessary?
Presented at Catholic Pacific College on April 4, 2019
Description: Dr. Andrew Kaethler spoke on the place of "Church" in Christian life. Is it essential, part of the nature of being a Christian? Or is it merely external, and potentially something onerous, to Christian life?
Bio: Dr. Andrew Kaethler grew up in the Lower Mainland. He received a B.A. in Christianity and Culture from TWU as well as an M.A. in Religion, Culture, and Ethics. Following his MA, Andrew spent a year running (actually sanding, spraying, and brushing) his own painting company before his wife fortunately encouraged him to pursue teaching. Surprisingly, this led Andrew and his family to Eastern Europe, Lithuania to be precise. Here at LCC International University, Andrew taught philosophy, theology, and cross-listed English/theology courses for four years and during this time discovered his love and passion for teaching. After four years and two additional children he moved to St Andrews, Scotland, where he spent four years working on a Ph.D. in systematic theology at the University of St Andrews. Although he did not golf in Scotland, he did participate in the consumption of haggis, drank a few drams of whiskey, and danced at the odd Ceilidh. It was in Scotland, the land of the fiery reformer John Knox, that Andrew and his family were received into the Catholic Church, a ‘conversion’ process that began at TWU almost twenty years earlier.
November 21, 2019 - Dr. Hans Boersma - No Heaven, No Scripture
Presented at Catholic Pacific College on November 21, 2019
Description: The Bible cannot be read apart from its spiritual end, which is the heavenly contemplation of God in Christ. By ignoring this, contemporary biblical scholarship runs the danger of forgetting both Scripture’s final cause (the heavenly presence of God) and its divine character. It is contemplative reading that puts us in tune with the purposes of God. So, while action and contemplation together make up the Christian life, the latter has a kind of priority: contemplation (love of God) is our final end. It is the driving force that guides the active life (the life of virtue) as well as our reading of Scripture.
Bio: Hans Boersma (PhD University of Utrecht) holds the St. Benedict Servants of Christ Chair in Ascetical Theology at Nashotah House in Wisconsin. His books include Seeing God: The Beatific Vision in Christian Tradition (Eerdmans, 2018); Scripture as Real Presence (Baker Academic, 2017); and Heavenly Participation (Eerdmans, 2011). Among Boersma’s theological interests are Catholic thought, the church fathers, and spiritual interpretation of Scripture. Hans and his wife Linda attend Saint Matthew’s Anglican Church (ACNA) in Abbotsford, BC.
2017/18
March 22, 2018 - Tom Swanky, JD - Usqalits': Canada's Pacific Genocide
Presented at Trinity Western University on March 22, 2018
Description: This lecture will introduce a common teaching among native Elders about a genocide carried out at the founding of British Columbia through the intentional distribution of smallpox. Several native peoples lost 75 percent or more of their entire number with one year. The lecture will feature evidence from the written record supporting the Elders' teaching in the Nuxalk and Tsilhqot'in territories. It will show how this local activity fits into the larger context as BC's colonial founders caused smallpox to spread from Victoria throughout the North Pacific during 1862.
Bio: Tom Swanky, J.D., Student of the Native Elders' teaching about the founding of British Columbia, awarded an eagle feather during the Truth and Reconciliation Hearings, keynote speaker at the ceremonies where the BC Government exonerated the Chilcotin Chiefs who were hanged for defending their communities against the intentional spreading of smallpox. Canada's exoneration of the Chilcotin Chiefs in the House of Commons is now tentatively scheduled for March 26, 2018.
Panel Respondents:
- Peter Tallio, M.Ed., Nuxalk Scholar and Nuxalk Nation Health Director
- Deacon Rennie Nahanee, First Nations Ministry Coordinator, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver
"At the inception of colonial rule on Canada’s Pacific Coast, natives “universally believed” Governor Douglas used smallpox as a weapon to kill them in lieu of treaties or paying for land. Yet Canadian historians routinely dismiss this profound allegation without mention."
"In Canada’s greatest catastrophe, perhaps 100,000 B.C. natives died from smallpox during 1862/63. Before then, the First Nations were still sovereign. Afterward, British Columbia subjugated and dispossessed the depopulated First Nations through small wars billed as policing and by hanging several natives resisting colonialism."
February 22, 2018 - Dr. David Baird - Are We Zombies? A Christian Perspective
Presented at Catholic Pacific College on February 22, 2018.
Learn more about Dr. David BairdJanuary 25, 2018 - Dr. Andrew Kaethler - Is Equality Always Good? A Reflection on Difference
Presented at Catholic Pacific College on January 25, 2018
Learn more about Dr. Andrew KaethlerNovember 27, 2017 - Dr. Germain McKenzie - Does the Body Matter?
Presented at Catholic Pacific College on November 27, 2017
Learn more about Dr. Germain McKenzieOctober 26, 2017 - Archbishop J. Michael Miller, CSB - Pope Francis: A Pope For All Christians
Presented at Trinity Western University on October 26, 2017
Archbishop Miller's lecture "Francis: A Pope for All Christians" is the founding lecture of the CPC3 Lecture Series sponsored by Catholic Pacific College.
Video Clip: The Francis Effect, Salt & Light TV, 2014