Lonergan Institute Director Featured on Jesuit Podcast

Jonathan Heaps, Ph.D., director of the Bernard J. Lonergan Institute and editor of The Lonergan Review at Seton Hall University, appeared on "AMDG: A Jesuit Podcast" to discuss Father Lonergan and his legacy among scholars and beyond. Heaps, a Lonergan scholar, and the podcast's host, Mike Jordan Laskey, discussed Lonergan's life and work, central aspects of Lonergan's philosophical and theological thought, and the relevance of his work in the world today.

AMDG is a weekly podcast produced by the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States. It's described as a place where "Jesuits and friends come together to look at the world through Ignatian eyes, always striving to live... 'For the Greater Glory of God.'" Past guests have included Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Marilynne Robinson and Olympic gold medalist Katie Ledecky. AMDG's host Mike Laskey expressed his enthusiasm about his conversation with Heaps: "I loved talking to Jon about Bernard Lonergan. I have always found Lonergan intimidating, and Jon did a great job introducing him to our audience and me. If you listen to the episode, I think you'll start to get a sense of why there is a whole community of scholars around the world dedicated to exploring Lonergan's thought."

The podcast traced Lonergan's intellectual development from his undergraduate studies in studied philosophy, mathematics, and classics. Later, Lonergan was sent to the Gregorian University in Rome, where he studied the Thomistic theology dominant at the time and wrote his doctoral dissertation on grace and freedom. During WWII, Lonergan went back to Canada, but later returned to the Gregorian to teach courses on Christology and the Trinity. Serious health issues returned Lonergan to North America again in the mid-1960s. He would research and teach at Regis College in Toronto, Harvard University, and Boston College before his death in 1984.

Asked how he got into Lonergan, Heaps spoke about how Lonergan identifying "the dynamism of the question" caught his attention at first. Lonergan argued that human beings have a deep, "unrestricted" desire for meaning and value. Heaps suggested that attuning to that desire can help a person get oriented in the world. He characterized this philosophy as a "spirituality of knowing" that calls out for what Lonergan termed "self-appropriation." Heaps and Laskey also discussed Lonergan's theology and its beginning with reality as created knowingly and lovingly by God. Human moral failure, Heaps pointed out, is at odds with the world's meaningful loveliness. But, Heaps insisted, Lonergan saw God bringing love and sense out of this dark situation by the resurrection of Jesus Christ and by offering divine love to human beings through the Holy Spirit. This latter gift provides the opportunity, Lonergan thought, for us to participate in Christ's willingness to suffer and even die for the sake of the Kingdom of God.

The episode concluded with discussion of Heaps's recently published book, The Ambiguity of Being (The Catholic University Press, 2024) and the continuing relevance of Lonergan's thought. Heaps suggested that Lonergan sought to help the Catholic Church and modern culture to better understand one another and face the many challenges of modern life together. He pointed in particular to the question of theological method that Lonergan pressed in the 1960s and 70s. Heaps argued that people both inside and outside of the discipline still do not have clarity or agreement about whether and how theology can be a genuine field of scholarly inquiry. He expressed hope that his work at the Lonergan Institute might help people appreciate the continued force of that problem.

The Bernard J. Lonergan Institute at Seton Hall University, launched in 2006 by the Center for Catholic Studies, is dedicated to studying and promoting the work of Bernard Lonergan, a Canadian Catholic philosopher of the 20th century whose Generalized Empirical Method (GEM) seeks to understand the methods of empirical sciences, human studies, and theology, and their application to contemporary culture. In addition to ongoing research, the Institute focuses on faculty development and sponsors lectures and conferences, and the publication of The Lonergan Review, a peer-reviewed academic journal. Heaps was appointed the Institute's new Director last year and also teaches in the Core Department.

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