Bishop Robert Barron of the diocese of Winona-Rochester delivered the annual Maritain Lecture in front of a packed Leighton Concert Hall in the DeBartolo Performing Arts Center on Thursday, March 5. Speaking about “An Old Testament Theology of God,” Bp. Barron dove into themes of divine transcendence, creation, theodicy, and the anticipation of Christ throughout the Old Testament.
Over two hours before the lecture began, students began lining up, forming a crowd that would swell to over 600. Bp. Barron has built a reputation as not only a respected theologian but also as a skilled communicator and evangelist. He rose to popularity through his homilies aired on a Chicago radio show, an award-winning docuseries about the Catholic faith called “CATHOLICISM,” and eventually through his online apostolate, Word on Fire, which reaches millions of people each year through video and written content.
An acclaimed theologian, philosopher, and communicator, Bp. Barron was ordained in Chicago in 1986. He became rector of Mundelein Seminary in Illinois and taught at multiple universities—including spending time as a visiting professor at the University of Notre Dame—before he was appointed to be an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Los Angeles. In 2022, Bp. Barron was moved to the Diocese of Winona-Rochester, where he continues to serve today.
The annual Maritain Lecture was sponsored by the Jacques Maritain Center, directed by Professor Therese Cory. The Center aims to “foster deep intellectual conversations and world-class research on the perennial questions of human existence,” according to its website. The Maritain Center promotes these intellectual conversations on campus through undergraduate and graduate Fellowship programs and through lectures from prominent philosophers.
“The Maritain Center provides so many wonderful opportunities to deepen my love for theology, through listening to lectures by brilliant theologians like Bp. Barron and discussing with other passionate students and professors,” Maritain Fellow Sabrina Richter told the Rover.
“Under Professor Cory, [the Center] has massively increased, and she has really injected new life and programming into it,” Daniel Philpott, Professor of Political Science and one of the Maritain Center’s faculty advisors, told the Rover. “I thought [Bp. Barron’s] lecture was excellent. Barron is probably the leading communicator and evangelist among the bishops … he really is remarkable.”
Bp. Barron argued that the disciplines of academic theology, biblical analysis, and spirituality have become separated over time. Seeking to reunite them, he presented his theological insights from the perspective of an “unapologetically theological reading of the Hebrew scriptures.” Working from a doctrine of the “incomparability of God,” Bp. Barron examined how a being beyond man’s comprehension could nevertheless relate to him. Through God’s role as Creator and purveyor of divine providence, He draws close to man, even though man can understand God in allegories at best.
After examining the creation story, Bp. Barron called attention to the relationship between Christ and God as Creator. In the act of creation, God shows what Bp. Barron called “non-competitive transcendence,” creating not with war or violence, but from unsurpassed and omnipotent love.
God’s non-competitiveness, said Bp. Barron, “comes to the richest possible expression in the non-competitive play between the two natures of Jesus.” He argued that “only the God of the burning bush could provide the ground for such a non-competitive union of the created and uncreated … the New Testament lies hidden in the Old, and the Old is unveiled in the New.”
Bp. Barron also recalled his memories of Notre Dame, where he began his undergraduate career living in Flanner Hall in 1977. Although he left for the seminary shortly thereafter, he fondly remembered the priests who inspired him to start his own priestly journey, as well as the 1977 football season, when the Fighting Irish won the National Championship. Bp. Barron also reminisced about his days as a visiting professor, recalling Holy Cross priests and seminarians he taught, including Fr. Bill Miscamble, C.S.C., Fr. Gregory Haake, C.S.C., and Fr. Pete McCormick, C.S.C.
Eric Gordy, a senior who attended a lunch with Bp. Barron organized by the Center for Citizenship and Constitutional Government, praised the bishop and his lecture, saying, “In a culture that is often hostile to the faith, Bishop Barron’s assertion—exemplified by his own courageous witness—that we must bring God everywhere was an inspiring reminder of our task to ‘go and make disciples of all nations.’”
Kolbe Barta is a freshman from Duncan Hall, majoring in self-doubt, political science, and theology, with minors in constitutional studies and sleeping through his classes. If you would like hypocritical advice about dating, sleep cycles, or phone addiction, email him at kbarta3@nd.edu.