. In this edition: the second part of a conversation with a man who has dedicated his life to studying, praying, and working to achieve Christian unity. Andrew J. Boyd – “A.J.” to his friends – is Adjunct Professor of Theology in the Rome program of the Catholic University of America, as well as in the Rome programs of Providence College and Assumption College. This week, A.J. and I explore some of the concrete possibilities for achieving a further and substantial measure of unity, especially as regards the Lutheran community.

In this edition: Part 1 of a conversation with a man who has dedicated his life to studying, praying, and working to achieve Christian unity. Andrew J. Boyd – “A.J.” to his friends – is Adjunct Professor of Theology in the Rome program of the Catholic University of America, as well as in the Rome programs of Providence College and Assumption College.

This week, we spend more time with Prof. Nicolas Steeves SJ, of the Pontifical Gregorian University. Prof. Steeves is a Jesuit priest who teaches Fundamental Theology at the “Greg” – as it is affectionately known by its alumni. You can hear Part One of our conversation in Episode 4 of the podcast, which you’ll find, along with show notes, at www.thinkingwiththechurch.wordpress.com.
There, we talk about the role of imagination in theology – and we pull on several threads that we do not really tie up. So, in this episode, you can hear us tying those bows. Before we tie them, though, we delve more deeply into the questions we left open, including: Ignatian spirituality; how Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech works on the imagination, and what Fundamental Theology is.

This week, we are speaking with a Jesuit priest and theologian who teaches fundamental theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University, Prof. Nicolas Steeves SJ, who is most recently the author of Grâce à l’imagination: intégrer l’imagination en théologie fondamentale – a profoundly challenging and refreshing exploration of the role of imagination in the work of theology, and more broadly, in intellectual and social life.

Two deaths in the family of Vocaris Media prompted this meditation on the Last Things

This week on Thinking with the Church: a conversation with a biologist who designed – together with his students at Cristo Rey Prep in Houston – one of the experiments sent to space on the Space-X 9 and conducted aboard the International Space Station, with a convert to Catholicism who came to the fullness of the faith through a conviction in the oneness of truth and the need to seek the truth intrepidly, with an officer in the United States Navy, and with a Jesuit priest currently doing doctoral work in philosophy at the Pontifical Gregorian University. Our first round-table edition? Not yet. Fr. Brian Reedy SJ is our guest this week.

When have we stopped supplying nature and begun to supplant it? If there is nothing wrong - in principle - with improving on nature, then where do we draw the line when it comes to our efforts to improve (on) it? When we design technology capable of anticipating our needs - and our desires - what do we risk losing? Most importantly: what resources can we find within the Catholic tradition of thinking, to help us find our way across the troubled landscape of technological (r)evolution, with all its challenges and opportunities? These were the focuses of my conversation with Fr. Philip Larrey, a priest of the Rome diocese and Professor of Philosophy at the Pontifical Lateran University, where he teaches logic and epistemology.

The Premiere episode of Thinking with the Church, featuring Marshall McLuhan, Eric Voegelin, Pope Pius XI, Pope St. John Paul II, Johnny Ringo & Doc Holliday, Adam & Amanda Bonner, and of course, host Chris Altieri

What do Capt. Jean-Luc Picard, Lt. Worf, Vizzini & Inigo Montoya, Mr. Bean, St. Augustine of Hippo, Benedict XVI, & Eric Voegelin have in common? Turns out, they have a lot of common history. Get ears on this sneak preview edition of #TWTC to find out more.

A short "mailbag" edition of TWTC, with thanks for all the support listeners have shown so far, and some further explanation of what TWTC will - and won't - be doing over the course of its run. Of course, there's a tin cup rattle at the end.