This course is structured to appreciate the transformative potential of Peircean approaches to evolution and to scholastic philosophy. These topics are related. Can scholastic philosophy produce a theology of evolution? The answer is yes, especially when Peirce’s categories come into play. Peirce enlivens and revives scholastic concepts. The course begins with Speculations on Thomism and Evolution and Comments on Dennis Venema and Scot McKnight’s Book (2017) Adam and the Genome (which is to be read along with the comments). Then select four commentaries from this series or its complement, Peirce's Secondness and Aristotle's Hylomorphism, and read with the original articles.

A Course on Evolution and Thomism

Series Order
Newest Title Rating
Speculations on Thomism and Evolution by
Series: Reverberations of the Fall · A Course on Evolution and Thomism. Price: $1.80 USD. Words: 4,930. Language: English. Published: April 5, 2018. Categories: Nonfiction » Philosophy » Religious philosophy, Nonfiction » Religion & Spirituality » Religion & Science
Michael Chaberek, O.P., publishes a book titled Aquinas and Evolution (2017). The next year, Nicanor Austriaco, O.P., responds in the Witherspoon Institute's Public Discourse Forum, defending "Thomistic Evolution". This essay re-articulates the concepts in this defense, relying of the category-based nested form. In the end, living forms are rendered as mysteries compatible with the Word.
Comments on Dennis Venema and Scot McKnight’s Book (2017) Adam and the Genome by
Series: Reverberations of the Fall · A Course on Evolution and Thomism. Price: $2.40 USD. Words: 9,330. Language: English. Published: June 24, 2017. Categories: Nonfiction » Religion & Spirituality » Christian Theology / Anthropology, Nonfiction » Religion & Spirituality » Religion & Science
These comments address a book by geneticist, Dennis Venema, and theologian, Scot McKnight. Venema establishes that Adam and Eve cannot be the actual parents of all humans. McKnight establishes the stories of Adam and Eve are written in styles and themes of ancient Near East literature. My goal is to re-articulate their arguments using the category-based nested form and the first singularity.
Comments on Michal Chaberek’s Essay (2019) "Classical Metaphysics and Theistic Evolution" by
Series: A Course on Evolution and Thomism · Peirce's Secondness and Aristotle's Hylomorphism. Price: $2.00 USD. Words: 5,560. Language: English. Published: September 14, 2019. Categories: Nonfiction » Philosophy » Metaphysics, Nonfiction » Religion & Spirituality » Religion & Science
In 2019, Michal Chaberek publishes an inquiry into the incompatibility between classical metaphysics and theistic evolution. Yes, the key word is “incompatible”. The question is “why?”. Is theistic evolution a fig leaf for atheistic materialism? If so, then the incompatibility needs to be nuanced. These comments show how Chaberek’s criticism opens the path to theistic entanglement.
Comments on Mariusz Tabaczek’s Essay (2019) "What do God and Creatures Really Do in an Evolutionary Change?" by
Series: A Course on Evolution and Thomism · Peirce's Secondness and Aristotle's Hylomorphism. Price: $2.15 USD. Words: 5,800. Language: English. Published: July 27, 2019. Categories: Nonfiction » Religion & Spirituality » Religion & Science, Nonfiction » Philosophy » Metaphysics
In 2019, Mariusz Tabaczek, OP, publishes an essay in the American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly. The subtitle is “Divine Concurrence and Transformation from the Thomistic Perspective”. These comments use the category-based nested form and other relational models developed within the tradition of C.S. Peirce.
Comments on Daniel Houck’s Book (2020) "Aquinas, Original Sin And The Challenge Of Evolution" by
Series: Reverberations of the Fall · A Course on Evolution and Thomism · Peirce's Secondness and Aristotle's Hylomorphism. Price: $3.10 USD. Words: 16,160. Language: English. Published: December 5, 2020. Categories: Nonfiction » Religion & Spirituality » Religion & Science, Nonfiction » Philosophy » Metaphysics
In 2020, Daniel W. Houck publishes a book, addressing the question, "How to adapt the views of original sin, by one of the most famous medieval theologians, to the modern era?" The hypothesis of the first singularity takes Houck's effort to another plane. There is a historic event that associates to the fairy tales of starting at Genesis 2.4.
Comments on Christy Hemphill’s Essay (2019) "All in a Week’s Work" by
Series: Buttressing the Human Niche · A Course on Evolution and Thomism. Price: $1.80 USD. Words: 3,050. Language: English. Published: April 4, 2020. Categories: Nonfiction » Psychology » Cognitive psychology, Nonfiction » Religion & Spirituality » Religion & Science
Translator Christy Hemphill examines the Creation Story in Genesis, using metaphor theory. Image-based and conceptual metaphors open our eyes to figurative meaning and facilitate the construction of category-based nested forms. Metaphor theory allows artists to pass from literal to figurative meaning.
Comments on Nicanor Austriaco’s Essay (2018) "Defending Adam After Darwin" by
Series: Reverberations of the Fall · A Course on Evolution and Thomism. Price: $2.15 USD. Words: 5,610. Language: English. Published: August 15, 2020. Categories: Nonfiction » Religion & Spirituality » Religion & Science, Nonfiction » Philosophy » Metaphysics
In 2018, Nicanor Austriaco, OP, publishes an argument in the American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly. A philosophical bias in biology rules out the realness of Adam. If that bias is overcome, then what might the realness of Adam look like? These comments use the category-based nested form and other relational models developed within the tradition of C.S. Peirce.
Comments on Marie George’s Essay (2019) "Aquinas Teachings on Concepts and Words" by
Series: Reverberations of the Fall · A Course on Evolution and Thomism. Price: $2.15 USD. Words: 7,030. Language: English. Published: August 22, 2020. Categories: Nonfiction » Philosophy » Metaphysics, Nonfiction » Religion & Spirituality » Religion & Science
In 2020, Marie I. George publishes an article contra Nicanor Austriaco, O.P. The debate addresses the question, “Which comes first, abstraction or language?” These comments use the category-based nested form and other relational models developed within the tradition of C.S. Peirce.
Comments on James DeFrancisco’s Essay "Original Sin and Ancestral Sin" by
Series: Reverberations of the Fall · A Course on Evolution and Thomism. Price: $2.43 USD. Words: 10,700. Language: English. Published: August 27, 2020. Categories: Nonfiction » Religion & Spirituality » Christian Theology / Anthropology, Nonfiction » Religion & Spirituality » Religion & Science
In 2020, I download an undated essay, probably published around 12 years ago. The author considers the question, “Who is Adam?”. The Western and Eastern Churches give different answers. Is one better than the other? Do they complement one another? These comments use the category-based nested form and other relational models developed within the tradition of C.S. Peirce.
Comments on Five Views in the Book (2020) "Original Sin and the Fall" by
Series: Reverberations of the Fall · A Course on Evolution and Thomism. Price: $3.07 USD. Words: 11,190. Language: English. Published: December 26, 2020. Categories: Nonfiction » Social Science » Anthropology, Nonfiction » Religion & Spirituality » Biblical Criticism & Interpretation / General
In 2020, J. B. Stump and Chad Meister edit a volume expressing five views of Original Sin and the Fall. The view include strict and moderate Reformed, Methodist, Russian Orthodox and Jesuit traditions. These comments use the hypothesis of the first singularity, the category-based nested form and other relational models developed within the tradition of C.S. Peirce.