Scholars Forum with Thomas Reimer

J. Thomas Reimer was born in Waterloo Ontario, and can't seem to escape it, apart from brief periods living in Toronto and Winnipeg (CMBC). He has attended Rockway Mennonite Church in Kitchener for his whole life, and is currently serving as chair of the Worship Committee there. He is married to Shoshanna Gehring Reimer, and they have two kids: Safi (11) and Jascha (8).

After undergraduate studies in philosophy at the University of Waterloo, Thomas pursued graduate work at the University of Toronto's Collaborative Program in Ancient and Medieval Philosophy, before taking a break from school and working as a carpenter for 5 years. In 2018 he began doctoral studies at the Toronto School of Theology (St. Michael's University College), and is currently studying for his General Examinations. His dissertation will focus on John Scotus Eriugena, an Irish theologian and mystic from the 9th century — specifically on Eriugena's theology of the body and the question of docetism.

Through his Latin translations from the Greek, Eriugena played an important role in introducing the thought of several prominent Eastern theologians to the West, including Pseudo-Dionysius, Gregory of Nyssa, and Maximos the Confessor. In his own major work, the Periphyseon, Eriugena develops a vision of creation and salvation that tries to reconcile these thinkers with the mainline thought of Augustine, in a way that frequently upset his Western audience. In my Scholar’s Forum talk, Docetism and sexual hermeneutics in Eriugena,  I would like to address Eriugena’s spiritualized, Origenian reading of Paradise, and his denial of the Augustinian view that humanity’s original creation includes the physical, sexed body.

The Scholars Forum will take place virtually. RSVP for a link and instructions to connect.