Albertus Magnus on Human Knowledge, Beatitude and Perfection
After long standing in the shadow of his famous student Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), the works of Albertus Magnus (1200-1280) are finally starting to gain the attention they deserve. Our team explores a variety of themes in the universal doctor’s thought, including his views on experience, science as a habitus, the civic virtues, and philosophical and theological contemplation, to name just a few. We also study Albert in conversation (and debate) with his contemporaries.
Prof. Bernhard Blankenhorn is working on the late Albert’s theology of contemplation, his bridal mysticism, and Eucharistic theology. Katja Krause, Professor for the History of Science at TU Berlin and leader of the independent MaxPlanck Research Group, “Experience in the Premodern Sciences of Soul and Body, ca. 800-1650,” at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science in Berlin, is working on Albert’s science as a habitus.
Our project began with the April 2023 colloquium, Albert the Great on the Human Being, of which the acts are forthcoming from Peeters Publishers.
A seminar for specialists and a public colloquium are in preparation for 2025-26, with the theme: Albertus Magnus vs. Thomas Aquinas: Debates between a medieval master and his disciple.
Urban Hannon
Urban Hannon’s doctoral dissertation focuses on the role of the Good in St. Albert the Great's eucharistic theology, especially in the prologue to his De Mysterio Missae. Mindful of Albert's Aristotelian and Dionysian influences, I trace the Good through both his philosophical and his theological writings, before concentrating on its place in the sacrament of sacraments. My contention is that, for St. Albert, the holy Eucharist is simply the Good draped under sacramental veils so that we men might be able to see it—or rather, most importantly for Albert, so that we might be able to eat it. Comedite bonum, says the prophet Isaiah, which Albert reads quite literally as: "Eat the Good."
Une ecclésiologie de ressourcement
Le renouveau théologique avancé par le Concile Vatican II est précédé par un ressourcement en études bibliques et patristiques, autant dans la vie liturgique que dans le travail théologique.
L’articulation d’une ecclésiologie ancrée dans la sagesse biblique, patristique, des saints plus récents et inspirée de la tradition dominicaine (Albert le Grand, Thomas d’Aquin, Catherine de Sienne et Yves Congar, parmi d’autres auteurs) pourrait porter de beaux fruits théologiques et spirituels, à l’heure d’une nouvelle crise ecclésiale.
En avril 2025, le prof. Bernhard Blankenhorn, op, et l’Institut d’études dominicaines coorganisent un colloque scientifique sur l’ecclésiologie de Charles Journet :en savoir plus
Dominic Spiekermann
L’assistant sortant du prof. Blankenhorn, Dominic Spiekermann, réalise une traduction anglaise du tome 3 du chef d’œuvre de Journet, L’Église du Verbe Incarné, qui sera publiée auprès d’Emmaus Academic Press en 2025.
Charles Antony, op
Charles Antony, op, rédige une thèse doctorale sur le lien entre le martyr et le sacrifice eucharistique chez les Pères de l’Église (co-dirigée par le prof. Franz Mali de notre faculté) (en langue anglaise).
Walther Wladika
Walther Wladika effectue une thèse doctorale sur la fonction de l’autorité chez Thomas d’Aquin (en langue allemande).