“Avoiding Bad Science and Blind Faith with Metaphysics,” & “The Problem of Pain in the Book of Job” lectures

Caldwell University’s Department of Theology/Philosophy will host lectures on “Avoiding Bad Science and Blind Faith with Metaphysics” and “The Problem of Pain in the Book of Job” in November as part of its Sister Maura Campbell lecture series.

Dr. Eric Manchester, professor of philosophy at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, will present the talk on “Avoiding Bad Science and Blind Faith with Metaphysics” 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 9. He will look at the role of metaphysics in natural science and theology and how they complement each other in the search for reality. Manchester will examine how the Catholic philosophical tradition, especially through St. Thomas Aquinas’s developments of Aristotle, understands metaphysics to be the highest form of natural knowledge.

Gregory Glazov, D.Phil. (Oxon.), professor of biblical studies in the School of Theology at Seton Hall University, will present on “The Problem of Pain in the Book of Job” 4:30 p.m., Monday, Nov. 13.

Dr. Glazov will explain how The Book of Job is the most famous biblical exploration on the so-called “problem of pain,”, namely the problem of reconciling the experience of innocent suffering with a Creator deemed righteous and wise. The lecture aims to lead the reader into a deep understanding of how the question is framed and dramatically explored by the book’s characters and to appreciate how and why the book ends with God admonishing Job’s friends for admonishing him for charging God with mismanaging the universe.

The lectures will be held in the Alumni Theatre. The lecture series is named after Sister Maura Campbell, O.P., a Sister of St. Dominic of Caldwell. She was a theologian, philosopher, professor, researcher and national leader in education whose scholarship and teaching spanned 50 years.

For further information, call 973-618-3931.

About Dr. Manchester

Prior to assuming his position at St. Charles Seminary, Manchester taught philosophy full-time for 10 years at Caldwell University, preceded by several years of full-time teaching at Viterbo University in LaCrosse, Wisconsin. He holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from Marquette University, where he wrote his dissertation on John Locke’s philosophy of religion, and a B.A. in social science and philosophy from Northwest Nazarene University in Idaho. His publications include an entry on pro-life philosophical principles for the Catholic Encyclopedia of Philosophy and Ethics and chapters in a book series dedicated to the thought of Catholic philosopher and social commentator Jacques Maritain. He has written a number of essays in works published by the University Faculty for Life, essays on political theology, modern philosophy and ethics, and Aquinas and the problem of evil in publications for the Wesleyan Philosophical Society, for which he served as president in 2006. He also has a chapter on arguments for immortality in a philosophy of religion in a text published by Beacon Hill Press and articles and reviews published in journals such as Conversations in Theology (Wiley-Blackwell Publishers), the International Philosophical Quarterly and the Wesleyan Theological Journal.

About Dr. Glazov

Dr. Glazov earned M.Phil. and D.Phil. degrees in Jewish studies in the Graeco-Roman World from Oxford University. His doctoral dissertation, “The ‘Bridling of the Tongue’ and the ‘Opening of the Mouth’ in Biblical Prophecy,” was published by Sheffield Academic Press in 2001. He has published articles on the book of Job, Vladmir Solovyov and biblical anthropology in Vetus Testamentum, Communio and for the Linacre Centre. His forthcoming publications include articles on the canonical interpretation of biblical prophecy and East-West monastic dialogue in Dictionary of the Old Testament (IVP) and Eastern Christian Studies. His recent conference presentations focus on the Old Testament background of John’s gospel and on the Lord’s Prayer. (Tramadol)

He is completing three books:“Brothers in Hope: Models of Judaism in Catholic Perspective” (Notre Dame), “The Lord’s Prayer, the Hail Mary, the Glory Be and the Sign of the Cross” and an annotated translation of and commentary on Vladimir Solovyov’s writings on Judaism.