released 9/18/2024

In this lecture, Dr. John Milbank gives a survey and critique of the immense efforts of 20th and 21st century theologians to articulate a Trinitarian ontology that reflects the reality and relationality of being and that counters secularization. While these efforts have been ecumenical, Milbank gives special attention to those of Vatican II, noting the repairs needed to address specific deficits in its engagement with secularization. Theologians ought not to argue for a return to a pre-modern, medieval stance, he argues, but should instead creatively imagine a Trinitarian ontology that synthesizes realism and metaphysics. Milbank concludes with an acknowledgement that we are witnessing the collapse of the last moment of Christian influence in the West, and he suggests that we may find helpful resources for meeting this moment in the personalist tradition.

John Milbank is Professor Emeritus of Religion, Politics, and Ethics at the University of Nottingham and Director of the Centre for Theology and Philosophy. This lecture is provided courtesy of the Methexis Institute.

61 minutes

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