Reinhard Hütter

Prof. Hütter’s primary field of study is systematic and philosophical theology with a focus on faith and reason, revelation and faith, dogma and history, on questions of theological anthropology (freedom and grace) and the doctrine of God. He has an abiding interest in the thought of Thomas Aquinas and has, in more recent years, also developed an intense interest in the thought of John Henry Newman.

Dr. Hütter studied theology, philosophy, and German philology at the University of Erlangen, the University of Bonn, and Duke University. He taught at the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (1990-1999), at Duke Divinity School (1999-2016), and at the Catholic University of America (2016-2023). Since January 1, 2024, he is serving as Visiting Professor of Catholic Theology at Duke University Divinity School.

He has received a number of awards, including a Henry Luce III Fellowship (2000). He was a Visiting Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies of Religion of the University of Chicago and at the Center of Theological Inquiry in Princeton. He held the Randall Chair in Christian Culture at Providence College and the Paluch Chair of Theology at the University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary and was a Visiting Professor at the University of Jena, Germany. He is a member of the American Theological Society, is a founding member and served as president of the Academy of Catholic Theology, is an ordinary academician of the Pontifical Academy of St. Thomas Aquinas, and has been appointed by Pope Francis to serve on the International Theological Commission, 2021–2026.

Dr. Hütter is the author of numerous books, most recently Dust Bound for Heaven: Explorations in the Theology of Thomas Aquinas (2012), Bound for Beatitude: A Thomistic Study in Eschatology and Ethics (2019), Aquinas on Transubstantiation: The Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist (2019), and Newman and Us: A Guide for Our Times (2020). He has contributed numerous chapters to handbooks and edited collections and has published many scholarly articles in theological journals in the United States, Germany, Sweden, Italy, Spain, and Chile. He is presently working on a book on the development of doctrine and on topics in theological anthropology.

Click here to see a list of books by Reinhard Huetter

Links to posts and programs featuring Reinhard Huetter;

  • The theonomic nature of conscience — Matthew Levering on Reinhard Hütter’s description of conscience: “Real conscience does not give free rein to a person’s desires.”
  • The scantily clad public square — Reinhard Hütter on the necessity of the virtue of religion
  • The final purpose for human beings — Theologian Hans Boersma argues that the beatific vision described throughout scripture is foreshadowed in “this-worldy experiences,” and that, particularly because of the Incarnation, eschatological experience is not only something in the future somewhere else, but is in fact connected with historical experience. (20 minutes)
  • The eclipsing of happiness — Reinhard Hütter on the Christian recognition that happiness is only intelligible in light of the end for which we were created
  • The aboriginal Vicar of Christ, the voice of God in the heart of Man — Reinhard Hütter on John Henry Newman’s insistence that conscience — rightly formed — bears witness to the law of God
  • Mars Hill Audio Journal, Volume 149 — FEATURED GUESTS: Dru Johnson, Steven L. Porter, Reinhard Hütter, Matthew Levering, David Lyle Jeffrey, and Christopher Phillips
  • Conscience and its counterfeits — A 2014 lecture by theologian Reinhard Hütter examines “Freedom of Conscience as Freedom in the Truth: Conscience according to Thomas Aquinas and John Henry Newman.” (64 minutes)
  • “A roaming unrest of the spirit” — Theologian Reinhard Hütter argues that the contemporary plague of pornography is a symptom of a deep spiritual apathy. (28 minutes)