Abelard and Heloise are among the great scholastic philosophers of the 12th century. Their affair led to their secret marriage, which was discovered with terrible consequences for them both. Nevertheless their letters have kept the romance alive for centuries, and Abelard's philosophical ideas helped change the course Western thought.

Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) was one of the most brilliant theologians and philosophers of the Middle Ages and all of human history. Aquinas famously believed that the existence of God could be proved by reason alone and he provided five arguments to this effect. John Hamer of Toronto Centre Place will look at each of the five arguments alongside the counter-arguments and will also consider what Aquinas’ philosophy tells us about his conception of God.

The great Medieval theologian Thomas Aquinas believed it was possible to prove that God exists by reason alone (i.e., without relying on scripture or revelation) and he assembled 5 arguments which he believed did just that. He was not alone. Christian theologians like Anselm of Bec and philosophers like René Descartes and Gottfried Leibniz have been similarly confident. Medieval Muslim theologians including Avicenna (Ibn Sina) and Averroes (Ibn Rushd) came to similar conclusions as did the Medieval Jewish theologian Maimonides. John Hamer of Toronto Centre Place will outline some of the major arguments proposed by these figures and consider their merits.

Jesus of Nazareth famously advised “if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also” and taught his followers to “love your enemies.” In the first centuries AD, Christians frequently questioned whether the role of soldier was compatible with their faith. Although the Emperor Constantine converted after winning a battle under the symbol of the cross, he delayed his baptism until his deathbed to wipe away the sins incurred as head of the Roman army. By the Middle Ages, however, Popes called upon Christian knights to attack the enemies of the faith: Muslims, pagans, Cathars, and Christian heretics alike. In the modern era, European Empires brutally conquered and colonized much of the world hand-in-hand with Christian missionaries. John Hamer of Toronto Centre Place will look at how Christianity got from point A to B and C and ask where Christians find themselves today?

What is mysticism in the Christian context, and how has it shaped this tradition from Jesus to the present? How does it compare with mysticism in other religions? Why did women’s voices become prominent in the Middle Ages and the Catholic “counter-reformation,” but mainly in mystical writings? And are the spiritual practices many churches embrace today rooted in Christian mysticism or borrowed from Buddhism and New Age spirituality?

The Bible is not a single book speaking with a single voice. It is a library of books with different voices, with perspectives that are often in conflict. The Book of Ecclesiastes is a particularly interesting example. Like the Book of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes is part of the Hebrew Wisdom tradition; and while both books are attributed to King Solomon, neither was actually written by him. The perspective of Ecclesiastes is highly philosophical, rejecting most human concerns (including much of traditional religion) as meaningless “vanity”: “Vanity of vanities, all is futile!” he declares. Ecclesiastes rejects the idea of afterlife, and instead suggests that human beings should focus on simple pleasures of daily life, such as eating, drinking, and taking enjoyment in their work. John Hamer of Toronto Centre Place will look at the date, authorship, and perspective of Ecclesiastes, as it compares and contrasts with the rest of the Biblical tradition.

Is pleasure good? Shouldn't pain be avoided? We'll explore the ancient Greek philosophy of Epicurus, caricatured in antiquity and today as “eat, drink, and be merry.” Following up on our lectures on the Greco-Roman moral philosophy — Platonism, Stoicism, Cynicism — we'll consider the great rival of these more accepted schools: Epicureanism. Epicureans were connected with atomist theory and atheism, both of which were reviled in antiquity but have been revived and reconsidered in modern times. We'll sweep past some modern misconceptions and take a deeper look at the teachings of Epicurus and his successors.

The Republic is one of the most influential works of philosophy and political theory. John Hamer of Toronto Centre Place looks at the ideal state Plato outlines in its context and consider its ongoing relevance for understanding society and individuals today.

Stoicism was perhaps the most popular school of Greek philosophy in the Roman Empire, as exemplified by Emperor Marcus Aurelius, who lived his life as an actual Stoic philosopher-king. John Hamer of Toronto Centre Place looks at the ethics and world-view of the Stoics and consider Stoicisms' value for individuals and its possible impact on later Roman society, as well as the degree to which Stoic virtues continue to be admired today.

Socrates, his student Plato, and Plato's student Aristotle are often credited with founding Western philosophy. Nevertheless, even great thinkers do not emerge ex nihilo, but rather are born into an existing context and paradigm that the build from, respond to, and react against. John Hamer of Toronto Centre Place looks at the Pre-Socratic philosophers and how their ideas created the ground from which Socrates' own thought emerged.

From world maps where Greenland appears larger than Africa to historical maps that show European claims to the world but leave off its actual indigenous occupants, to Google Earth which shows different political boundaries to different users depending on what country they're in, maps distort our picture of the world around us. In this presentation from Toronto Centre Place, John Hamer looks at how maps convey different worldviews both accidentally and deliberately.

Does your argument make sense? We'll map out common errors like “post hoc ergo propter hoc.” "Truth isn't truth!" Rudy Giuliani recently asserted in defense of his client Donald Trump. In an era when so many people are insisting the anything they believe or say is just as valid as anything anyone else might say, society sometimes seems to have lost track of basic rules of logic. Our presentation tonight will offer a refresher course, mapping out common logical errors from the law of non-contradiction (which Giuliani lost track of) to old favorites like “post hoc ergo propter hoc.”

The rise of atheism in modern Western societies is often treated as a rejection of religion—but what if this cultural trend is more accurately understood as part of Protestantism itself? In this live lecture, John Hamer of Toronto Centre Place explores how Protestant reforms—especially the rejection of Catholic tradition, the doctrine of sola scriptura, the emphasis on rational inquiry, and the rise of literalist interpretations of scripture—created fertile ground for natural religion and Enlightenment-era deism, and ultimately for an ethical framework devoid of spiritual or supernatural elements. We will also consider how modern atheism continues to engage in dialogue with Evangelicalism—another modern expression of Protestantism—echoing the way theologically opposing movements have remained in conversation throughout Christian history.

The Cynics were an ancient Greek philosophical school that rejected property and all social conventions to proclaim the pursuit of virtue in accordance with a simple and idealistic way of life. Popularized by Diogenes (c. 412-323 BC), by the first century AD the practice had spread, and cynic philosophers were a common sight in cities across the Greco-Roman world. Several scholars of the historical Jesus have noted similarities between Jesus’ philosophy and movement and that of contemporary cynics. John Hamer of Toronto Centre Place will look at the case they make as he compares ancient cynicism with the pre-Christian Jesus movement.

Medieval Science and Sorcery - Back before there was a difference between astrology and astronomy or alchemy and chemistry, Medieval science looked significantly different than its Modern-day heir. We’ll look at the philosophical underpinnings that Medieval thinkers inherited from Antiquity and how their ideas about the natural world worked systematically.

Christianity began as a small Jewish sect among the common people in the Galilean countryside. The religion’s first writers lacked the education and sophistication of contemporary thinkers in the much larger pagan Greco-Roman world. Around the year 170, the pagan philosopher Celsus wrote a devastating polemic against Christianity. For 70 years, Christians were silent in response, in part, as a strategy (hoping Celsus’ book would be forgotten), but also because they lacked a theologian with sufficient training to respond. That changed with the coming of Origen of Alexandria, arguably Christianity’s first native genius. Having composed Christianity’s first systematic theology in the 220s, Origen went on to write a point-by-point rebuttal of Celsus in 248. John Hamer of Toronto Centre Place will look at Origen’s background, life, thought, and influence, including his posthumous condemnation as a heretic.

Philo of Alexandria was a Hellenistic Jewish theologian and a contemporary of Jesus of Nazareth. Building on the works of Heraclitus and Plato, Philo interpreted the Bible allegorically and proposed that God’s Word (“Logos” in Greek) existed as an independent being—the demiurge. His writings share much in common with the Gospel of John’s portrayal of the Messiah or Christ as the Logos, an idea that prefigured the Christian doctrine of the Trinity. Philo’s Alexandria—home to the great Museum and Library—was the center of Hellenistic philosophy in the Greco-Roman world. The city housed a large Jewish diaspora community, where the Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek, and Hellenism and Judaism were synthesized. In this lecture, John Hamer of Toronto Centre Place examines the works of Philo of Alexandria in the broader context of Alexandria’s history, the Jewish diaspora, and the Greek philosophical developments of his time, as well as his possible influence on early Christianity.

How compatible is the Hebrew Bible with Greek philosophy? As interpreted by the 1st century CE Jewish Egyptian author Philo of Alexandria, the two are one and the same. John Hamer of Toronto Centre Place looks at how Philo recast Moses as a philosopher king work how his allegorical interpretations presaged and influenced later Christian understandings of scripture.

Many Christians view the Bible as the source of their religion. But to interpret any text, it has always been necessary to have an intellectual framework. While Christianity was founded many centuries after Plato, Christian thinkers built upon Plato and Neoplatonism to craft their theology.

Among the philosophers who most influenced Medieval Christian theology whose work provided the inspiration for stained glass windows in churches is an ancient thinker who was not the person he pretended to be. Dionysius the Areopagite was a minor character in the Book of Acts. In the 5th century, a Christian Neoplatonist impersonated Dionysius as a way to give his philosophical writings the aura of apostolic authority. He was further confused with the patron saint of Paris, a completely different Dionysius or “Denis,” who had been bishop of Paris in the 3rd century. John Hamer of Toronto Centre Place will untangle the histories of the different Dionysiuses and explain the scope and influence of Pseudo-Dionysius’ works.

For 2,000 years prior to Copernicus, astronomers believed that the Earth was at the center of a cosmos, surrounded by a series of celestial spheres. John Hamer of Toronto Centre Place will outline how the Ptolemaic system worked (and did not work), why it proved so durable, and why the Catholic Church remained invested in the system even after scientists like Galileo began to argue in favor of heliocentrism.

Aristotle is the most influential philosopher in the Western intellectual tradition. Our guest lecturer, Dr. Michael Adam Ferguson of Harvard Medical School unfolds the prescience of Aristotle's genius as illuminated by contemporary neural imaging. Attendees are invited to consider seriously the reanimation of soul by science.

The Hebrew Bible is made up of books drawn from many competing traditions: the priests with their focus on the Law of Moses, the prophets who felt the call to channel the Divine word directly, and the sages, whose teachings looked to divine Wisdom for authority. Although the traditions were separate when these books were composed in the First and Second Temple Periods of Judaism, bringing them together into the Biblical library has led to a sense that they share the same perspective, when in fact they are often expressing opinions that are diametrically opposed. In this presentation, John Hamer of Toronto Centre Place will examine the Bible’s Wisdom tradition (Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes, the Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach, and other texts) to explore how the sages saw themselves in relation to the priests and prophets in ancient Judea.

The Cynics were an ancient Greek philosophical school that rejected all conventions and proclaimed the pursuit of virtue in accordance with a simple and idealistic way of life. John Hamer of Toronto Centre Place will also discuss how and when the term "cynic" accrued the negative connotation that it carries today (i.e., disbelief in the sincerity of human motives and actions).

A look at the portrait of Socrates and the critical stereotype of ancient philosophers presented in Aristophanes' comic masterpiece, The Clouds. First staged in 423 bc in Socrates' own lifetime, the play is regarded as the first extant "comedy of ideas." It's critique of philosophers is scathing and best of all, the play remains funny today.

In this live lecture, John Hamer of Toronto Centre Place will extract and evaluate the ethical teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, as distinct from his overtly religious teachings and the Christian understanding of Jesus as the Christ. While prophets in the Biblical tradition attempted to persuade by invoking divine authority, “thus says the Lord,” Jesus more frequently taught by analogy and example, similar to the methods of contemporary sages and philosophers. As we distill Jesus’ ethics, we will compare them with other ethical systems of the era.

Do we really make choices or our behaviour is predetermined? The debate from antiquity to our days. From the ancient Greeks to the present-day, philosophers have debated whether we have the capacity to freely choose between possible alternatives paths or whether our apparent choices have already been determined long ago by our nature and upbringing. We’ll trace the long history of the debate and outline its present state today.

John Hamer of Toronto Centre Place explores how modern nationalism contrasts with ancient kin group and homeland traditional identities. He traces the origins of nationalism in the modern era and considers how this ideology — artificially constructed group identity based on language, religion, ethnicity, and race — led to the devastating wars and genocides of the 20th centuries.

Popularized by the Medieval philosopher and theologian William of Occam, the idea that simplest solution is better than more complex explanations (the principle of parsimony) has become an important tool in the scientific method, leading to great advances in the physical sciences. However, the simplest explanation is not always the most accurate explanation in fields like the humanities and history. In this lecture, John Hamer of Toronto Centre Place considers the philosophical basis for Occam's Razor as well as some of its consequences in the development of Western philosophy and theology.

Daoism - Eastern Philosophy Series. Daoism is one of the great philosophical and religious traditions of China. Emphasizing balance, spontaneity, and action without intention, it is often contrasted with the rigid rituals and social order proposed by Confucianism. We'll explore the philosophical concept of the Dao and how it interacted with South Asian Buddhist ideas to give rise to a new and distinctive Buddhism in China.

Can two objects be the same color? Is it possible for both a t-shirt and a car to be red? If you agree that both objects can share the same redness, then this color red has an existence that is repeatable, it is what philosophers call a “universal.” But in what way can “redness” be said to exist other than in the particular objects that seem to be the same color? Isn’t the red of the t-shirt actually a different red than that of the car? John Hamer of Toronto Centre Place will outline the philosophical problem of universals, how it was understood in Antiquity and the Middle Ages, and why the question remains open today.

In the Roman Empire, Stoicism was more than philosophy—it was a way of life embraced by emperors, slaves, and sages alike. At the same time, the teachings of Jesus offered a radically different vision of justice, humility, and spiritual integrity. Yet in some respects, Stoic and Christian moral teachings converged. In this lecture, John Hamer of Toronto Centre Place explores the possible influence of Stoicism on early Christianity and considers how the figure of Jesus might be understood as a teacher of Stoic virtue within the framework of Second Temple Judaism.

Transubstantiation is the doctrine of the Catholic Church which teaches that the substance of the bread in the sacrament of communion is changed into the substance of the Body of Christ (and the substance of the wine into the substance of the Blood of Christ). Nevertheless the “outward characteristics” of the bread and the wine (the “eucharistic species”) remain unaltered --- which means that “transubstantiation” is not the same as “transmaterializion.” The theological term “substance” is also critical to the Christian idea of the Trinity, where three distinct “persons” of God are said to be “consubstantial” as the One. John Hamer of Toronto Centre Place will look at the development of these theological terms and propositions and consider what Catholics and other Christians mean when they talk about the “Body of Christ.

Humanist politician and philosopher Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli has been called the first modern man and the father of political science. His book The Prince, is among the most influential books in the Western canon and has given rise to our adjective “Machiavellian” to describe unscrupulous politicians. John Hamer of Toronto Centre Place look closely at The Prince and Machiavelli’s other writings to consider his political philosophy and to ask whether the author himself was “Machiavellian”.

The Protestant Reformation is arguably the most important event in the history of the West. The upheaval affected not only religion but rather reshaped how people conceived of everything from politics to ordinary life. In this talk, Brian Carwana, from Encounter World Religions, explores the far-reaching impact of this tectonic shift and why today, all of us living in the West are to greater or lesser degrees, children of the Reformation.

Although he could not define the term “pornography,” US Supreme Court justice Potter Stewart famously declared “I know it when I see it.” Likewise, many of us think we know what religion is, but it turns out that we are not working from a meaningful definition. John Hamer of Toronto Centre Place will show how Western ideas about “religion” are fully rooted in the Judeo-Christian tradition and have little relation to the experiences of non-Western cultures.

What is spirituality and how does it differ from religion and philosophy? John Hamer of Toronto Centre Place will attempt to unpack our many different uses of the word “spirituality.” The focus will be on: (1) concern with the interior life of individuals, (2) belief in the otherworldly, (3) mysticism and ecstatic connection with the divine, (4) Western elite esotericism and occultism, (5) Anti-clericalism, (6) Western folk magic, (7) 19th Century spiritualists, (8) Western appropriation of alien traditions, (9) New Age eclecticism, and (10) Neo-paganism.

A majority of Americans believe in angels, but what are they? Where did the idea of angels come from? John Hamer of Toronto Centre Place looks at the history of angels in the Western tradition. He will also take a deep dive into the way Medieval philosopher discussed angels. Although ridiculed by later thinkers in the Enlightenment for pondering abstruse questions like “how many angels can dance on the head of a pin,” Medieval thinkers actually used the idea of "angels" in thought experiments about philosophical questions like free will and determinism that are still relevant today.