Dr. Matthew Ramage, author, professor of theology at Benedictine College, Atchison, Kansas, and adjunct professor of sacred scripture for the graduate program at Holy Apostles College and Seminary, will give the annual Pope Benedict XVI Lecture of Saint Vincent Seminary at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, October 23, in the Archabbey Basilica. His talk is entitled “Science, Sin, and Suffering: Joseph Ratzinger on Human Origins and the Fall.” The public is invited to attend this free talk.
Dr. Ramage has been the author, contributing author or co-translator of more than twenty books, and is known for his research and writing on the theology of Joseph Ratzinger, also known as Pope Benedict XVI. His books include Dark Passages of the Bible: Engaging Scripture with Benedict XVI and Thomas Aquinas (Catholic University of America Press, 2013) and Jesus, Interpreted: Benedict XVI, Bart Ehrman, and the Historical Truth of the Gospels (CUA Press, 2017), The Experiment of Faith: Pope Benedict XVI on Living the Theological Virtues in a Secular Age (CUA Press, 2020), and From the Dust of the Earth: Benedict XVI, the Bible, and the Theory of Evolution (CUA Press, 2022). His column, “God’s Two Books” appears in the online magazine Catholic World Report, and he has appeared on EWTN, the media ministry Catholic Answers Live, Kresta in the Afternoon on Ave Maria Radio, Catholicism on Campus and the Son Rise Morning Show on Sacred Heart Radio.
He studied biology and French at the University of Illinois, then changed his major to religious studies, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in 2004. He was influenced by the campus Newman Center to discern for the priesthood and studied philoaophy at the Pontifical Lateran University Rome. Health issues—later diagnosed as lupus—forced him to return to the United States, where he eventually earned a Master of Arts in theology and Christian ministry from Franciscan University of Steubenville in 2006, and a Ph.D. in systematic theology in 2009 from Ave Maria University, where he met his wife.
He taught religious studies at the University of Illinois before moving on to Benedictine College. He and his wife have seven children.
The Pope Benedict XVI Lecture Series was established at Saint Vincent Seminary in 2005 with support from Mr. and Mrs. John F. Donahue and Dr. and Mrs. George Magovern. The series has featured a variety of authors as well as members of the Catholic hierarchy. They include Dr. Scott Hahn (six lectures), Rev. Pablo T. Gadenz, Archbishop Wilton J. Gregory, His Eminence Francis Cardinal Arinze, Archbishop Rino Fisichella, Dr. John F. Haught, Dr. Philip Jenkins, Dr. George Weigel and Dr. Paula Kane.
