Guest Lecture | Fr. Simon Gaines, OP | Is Christ's Beatific Vision Defensible Today?

Saint John's Seminary was pleased to welcome Fr. Simon Gaines, O.P. on Wednesday, November 9 as a guest lecturer for our seminary community.

Fr. Simon spoke to Saint John's Seminary faculty and students about whether the human knowledge of Christ included the beatific vision. He expressed that most theologians subscribed to the view that the human knowledge of Christ included the beatific vision before the middle of the 20th century. After this time, it was rare to find someone with this viewpoint until 2015 when Fr. Simon began to write his book on the topic.

Slowly, a small number of theologians, including Fr. Simon himself, have written to defend and expand on the Thomistic viewpoint that Christ's human knowledge included the beatific vision. Fr. Simon's lecture at Saint John's Seminary articulated some of the important findings of his book. The book explores questions such as, Did Jesus enjoy the beatific vision of God on earth that Christians hope to enjoy only in heaven? This important question is related to a whole series of questions about Jesus, his knowledge and self-consciousness. Did he know he was God’s Son? What did he know of his saving mission? These issues are linked to a fundamental question: is the Saviour we need one who is altogether like us or one who is in some ways unlike us?

The book may be found here.