The fruits of a fall semester seminar on justification were on display last Friday at a panel event hosted by the Lyceum, a student organization funded by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute.
At the panel, Professor of Religion and Humanities Tom Burke, Assistant Professor of Religion Don Westblade, and Assistant Professor of History Matthew Gaetano gave a short presentation on their beliefs on justification. Burke had combined his expertise with the other two to teach a history of the doctrine of justification in the class Justification: Aquinas through Trent.
Burke said that having three professors in the class was a great addition to the discussion. Gaetano lectured about post-Tridentine Catholic views and Westblade gave several lectures on the views of Jonathan Edwards.
“Without Gaetano and Westblade in the class, it wouldn’t have been as good as it was,” Burke said. “I think their contributions were essential to making the class a profitable one.”
Burke chose justification as a topic because it is an essential point of distinction between the Catholic and Protestant traditions that produces many practical differences in the life of the Christian.
“Different views have different implications for how one would live a Christian life,” he said. “It relates practically to the actual living of the Christian faith.”
Senior Joshua Benjamins explained that the role of the Lyceum is to encourage discussion of topics between disciplines, and the Liberal Arts Friday Forum is an essential part of that mission. Held on parents weekend each semester, the LAFF brings together three professors from different departments to discuss a “mildly controversial” topic in an atmosphere of mutual pursuit of truth.
“We don’t want it to turn into a debate,” he said. “The tone and atmosphere were very good, and the professors were very sensitive and fair in the way they approached the topic.”
Freshman Matthew Wylie said he found the panel to be a very clear exposition of the different faith traditions.
“Each speaker had well-articulated views that highlighted the incompatibility of Catholic and Protestant views on justification, but also made both rationally tenable,” he said. “The vocabulary was different. The Catholics talked about a changed state of the soul, while the Protestants talked about a legal declaration.”
