What can G.K. Chesterton teach us about classical education, the Catholic faith, and the work of C.S. Lewis?

In this episode of The Catholic Theology Show, Dr. Michael Dauphinais sits down with Dale Ahlquist, president of the Society of G.K. Chesterton and the Chesterton Schools Network, to explore Chesterton’s enduring influence on Catholic thought, education, and literature.

Ahlquist explains how classical education forms students in truth, goodness, and beauty, integrating the arts, philosophy, virtue, and the Catholic faith. He also discusses Chesterton’s ability to challenge modern assumptions through paradox, his conviction that existence itself is a gift, and why gratitude is essential to a joyful life.

Resources:

Knight of the Holy Ghost: A Short History of G.K. Chesterton by Dale Ahlquist

Related Episodes:

America’s 250th & What Chesterton Saw in America w/ Susan Hanssen

An Introduction to Chestertonian Theology with Joseph Pearce | Ep. 21

G.K. Chesterton’s Orthodoxy and God’s Creation w/ Fr. Joseph Fessio

How can recovering a sense of wonder at creation lead us closer to Jesus Christ?

In this episode of The Catholic Theology Show, Dr. Michael Dauphinais sits down with Professor Christopher Thompson, Dean of Saint Paul Seminary, to explore “Green Thomism” and the Catholic vision of creation through the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas. They discuss our modern “nature deficit disorder,” the intelligibility and beauty of creation, the effects of original sin, the distinction between human and animal death, and the relationship between ecology and Catholic moral theology.

Professor Thompson also explains how creation can serve as a “window” toward God, why Catholics should not separate care for creation from their relationship with Christ, and how all of this ultimately comes together in the Eucharist, where bread and wine—fruits of creation and human labor—are offered back to the Father in Christ.

Resources:

The Joyful Mystery: Field Notes Toward a Green Thomism

Related Episodes:

Finding God in Nature and in the Church w/ Fr. John Nepil | Ep. 191

The Summa for Beginners: God and Creation w/ Dr. Daniel Lendman | Ep. 163

What does the Catholic Church actually teach about justification? Why did it become such a major point of division during the Protestant Reformation?

In this episode of The Catholic Theology Show, Dr. Michael Dauphinais sits down with Michael Root, Emeritus Professor at The Catholic University of America and a former Lutheran, to explore the Council of Trent’s teaching on justification. They discuss faith, grace, baptism, the sacraments, good works, merit, and the Catholic understanding of how God’s grace transforms us from within.

Dr. Root also shares his own journey from Lutheranism into the Catholic Church and explains how his study of Aquinas, grace, and human cooperation ultimately led him across the Tiber. Together, they explore how Catholics can recover the joy and confidence of justification, not by trusting in our own accomplishments, but by trusting in the grace of Christ, who continually works in us and brings His work to completion.

Resources:

Affirmations and Admonitions: Lutheran Decisions and Dialogue With Reformed, Episcopal, and Roman Catholic Churches

Justification by Faith: Do Sixteenth-Century Condemnations Still Apply?

Related Episodes:

Aquinas and the Truth of Faith w/Fr. Michael Sherwin | Ep.141

The Summa for Beginners: The Sacraments w/ Dr. Roger Nutt | Ep. 166