CPC³ Lecture: ‘The Church and Human Flourishing’ by Dr. Andrew Kaethler

Description: In the Republic Plato views the city as the human soul writ large. Is the Church similarly the human soul writ large? If this is the case, and arguably Vatican II’s teaching on Mary opens this door, subsequently another question arises: what can be learned about the human person in light of the Church? By looking at what the Church is, this talk will explore how the Church in herself and as herself provides an image, a symbol, that sets out for us the importance of our embodied sexed condition as man and woman.

Bio: Dr. Andrew Kaethler grew up in the Lower Mainland. He received a B.A. in Christianity and Culture from TWU as well as an M.A. in Religion, Culture, and Ethics. Following his MA, Andrew spent a year running (actually sanding, spraying, and brushing) his own painting company before his wife fortunately encouraged him to pursue teaching. Surprisingly, this led Andrew and his family to Eastern Europe, Lithuania to be precise. Here at LCC International University, Andrew taught philosophy, theology, and cross-listed English/theology courses for four years and during this time discovered his love and passion for teaching. After four years and two additional children he moved to St Andrews, Scotland, where he spent four years working on a Ph.D. in systematic theology at the University of St Andrews. Although he did not golf in Scotland, he did participate in the consumption of haggis, drank a few drams of whiskey, and danced at the odd Ceilidh. It was in Scotland, the land of the fiery reformer John Knox, that Andrew and his family were received into the Catholic Church, a ‘conversion’ process that began at TWU almost twenty years earlier.