Online Lecture: Suffering and Flourishing

About the lecture: From the Patristic period onward, the Christian tradition has supposed that those who endure serious suffering are not the pitiable losers of life or even the heroic overcomers of tragedy but rather are those specially loved by God. That is because, on this view, suffering is not only medicinal for the human condition but is also a gift of God’s to those who are nearer to God. John Chrysostom says of people who are scandalized at the sight of human suffering, “They do not know that to have these sufferings is the privilege of those especially dear to God.” In this lecture, Dr. Eleonore Stump will look closely at the relevant Christian doctrines to see what can be said to explain this attitude towards suffering.

About the speaker: Eleonore Stump is the Robert J. Henle Professor of Philosophy at Saint Louis University, where she has taught since 1992. Her books include her major study Aquinas (Routledge, 2003), her extensive treatment of the problem of evil, Wandering in Darkness: Narrative and the Problem of Suffering (Oxford, 2010), and her far-reaching examination of human redemption, Atonement (Oxford, 2018). She has given the Gifford Lectures (Aberdeen, 2003), the Wilde lectures (Oxford, 2006), the Stewart lectures (Princeton, 2009) and the Stanton lectures (Cambridge, 2018).  She is past president of the Society of Christian Philosophers, the American Catholic Philosophical Association, and the American Philosophical Association, Central Division; and she is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

This is an online lecture that will not be livestreamed on Facebook or YouTube. To watch live please register to receive the Zoom link. The video will be available after the talk to those who register. More 

This online series is cosponsored by the Angelicum Thomistic Institute, the Centre for Sino-Christian  Studies at Hong Kong Baptist University and the Centre for Catholic Studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.