Learning our faith
The primary mission of Tolle Lege Summer Institute is to lead teens into a more intimate relationship with Christ. An integral part of the development of any friendship is growing in understanding of one another: in other words, growing in the understanding the Truth about the other. Who is he? What does he like? Where is he headed?
In our relationship with Christ this takes on a new dimension in that He is Truth itself (John 16:4). God made everything that exists and it is His divine reason that brings order to the universe. To grow in understanding of Jesus therefore is to grow in the truth itself. The honest and humble pursuit of truth in all its forms brings us to a fuller understanding of the person of Jesus, as God.
Because of this, every Christian has a duty to pursue the truth of things relentlessly! Not for some mere acquisition of knowledge, but because it brings us closer to God, because it brings us closer to salvation. In fact, it is the definition of a Christian, as one who knows Jesus Christ, that he or she is one who knows the truth: and this, not in some prideful or spiteful way, but in the simplicity of knowing a friend. The Christian is the friend of truth in all simplicity, humility and felicity.
In our relationship with Christ this takes on a new dimension in that He is Truth itself (John 16:4). God made everything that exists and it is His divine reason that brings order to the universe. To grow in understanding of Jesus therefore is to grow in the truth itself. The honest and humble pursuit of truth in all its forms brings us to a fuller understanding of the person of Jesus, as God.
Because of this, every Christian has a duty to pursue the truth of things relentlessly! Not for some mere acquisition of knowledge, but because it brings us closer to God, because it brings us closer to salvation. In fact, it is the definition of a Christian, as one who knows Jesus Christ, that he or she is one who knows the truth: and this, not in some prideful or spiteful way, but in the simplicity of knowing a friend. The Christian is the friend of truth in all simplicity, humility and felicity.
"In the Incarnation of the Son of God we see forged the enduring and definitive synthesis which the human mind of itself could not even have imagined: the Eternal enters time, the Whole lies hidden in the part, God takes on a human face." -Pope St. John Paul II
Growing in truth concerns the Christian intimately in his or her very humanity. Tolle Lege recognizes that learning requires both the reason of a person, but also his or her belief--some truths are not known by reason, but simply by assent, like that the world exists and is real--and strives to show how faith and reason are to be integrated in the life of a student. The Institute accomplishes this through daily philosophy and theology courses offered by the Seminary Faculty as well as additional lectures.
"Fides Quarens Intellectum. (Faith Seeking Understanding)" -the Motto of St. Anselm
Tolle Lege understands philosophy classically, in its original meaning. The word Philosophy means the "love of wisdom," derived from the ancient greek φιλεω (to love) and σοφια (wisdom). The love of wisdom means the raising of the heart and assent to the first principles of the world and allowing those first principles to guide us through every other project of study. In the curriculum at Tolle Lege, the teens will encounter some of these first principles in lectures on ethics, physics, and the philosophy of God.
Theology, it is interesting to note, was one of the title's given by Aristotle to his work on the ultimate reasons of things. That was in 300BC. Today, catholic theology continues to identify God (θεος) as the ultimate reason (λογος) for everything that exists. However, catholic theology introduces, far beyond Aristotle, human salvation in the Incarnate God, Jesus Christ. Walking with Jesus as his disciples (discipulus=student) catholic theology seeks to delve into the mystery of the person of Jesus and his divine nature, allowing this truth to enlighten every aspect of our lives.
Theology, it is interesting to note, was one of the title's given by Aristotle to his work on the ultimate reasons of things. That was in 300BC. Today, catholic theology continues to identify God (θεος) as the ultimate reason (λογος) for everything that exists. However, catholic theology introduces, far beyond Aristotle, human salvation in the Incarnate God, Jesus Christ. Walking with Jesus as his disciples (discipulus=student) catholic theology seeks to delve into the mystery of the person of Jesus and his divine nature, allowing this truth to enlighten every aspect of our lives.
“It’s our business to change the external faults of the church—the vulgarity, the lack of scholarship, the lack of intellectual honesty—wherever we find them and however we can.” -Flannery O'Connor