Dr. Matthew Ramage

Matthew J. Ramage, Ph.D. is full Professor of Theology at Benedictine College where he is co-director of the Center for Integral Ecology. His research concentrates on the theology of Joseph Ratzinger, the wedding of ancient and modern biblical exegesis, the development of a Catholic theology of creation capable of grounding a distinctively Christian environmentalism, and the recovery of embodied human flourishing in an age of technological saturation. Toward this end, he serves as founding President of the Two Books Network, Scholar Associate of the Society of Catholic Scientists, partner of the International Ratzinger Foundation, member of the Academy of Catholic Theology, and collaborator in University of Notre Dame–based international working groups on Integral Ecology and Vatican II. An author or contributor to over thirty books, Ramage’s monographs include Dark Passages of the Bible (CUA, 2013), Jesus, Interpreted (CUA, 2017), The Experiment of Faith (CUA, 2020), Christ’s Church and World Religions (Sophia, 2020), From the Dust of the Earth (CUA, 2022), The Essential Guide to Ratzinger (OSV, 2025), Cosmic Covenant: A Catholic Theology of Creation (Word on Fire Academic, 2026).

Degrees

Ph.D., Systematic Theology (minor: Biblical Studies)

Ave Maria University, 2009

M.A., Theology and Christian Ministry

Franciscan University of Steubenville

B.A., Religious Studies (minor in Philosophy)

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

B.Phil., Studies in Philosophy

Pontifical Lateran University

Areas of Specialization

Joseph Ratzinger / Pope Benedict XVI

Bible (Gospels, Pentateuch, Wisdom Literature, Theodicy)

Faith & Science

Theology of Creation & Integral Ecology

Theological Virtues

Theology of Religions

St. Thomas Aquinas

Eschatology

Classes

• Integral Ecology
• Honors Capstone: Biblical Protology
• Senior Seminar: Theology of Creation
• Senior Seminar: Reading Genesis 1-11 with Faith and Reason
• Senior Seminar: Genesis 1-11 through the Ages
• Senior Seminar: Amoris Laetitia & the Catholic Tradition
• Senior Seminar: Apologetics of Benedict XVI
• Senior Seminar: Theology of Scripture
• Faith and Science—Honors
• Creation and Evolution—Honors
• Theology of the Environment
• Eschatology—Honors
• Historical Jesus and Christian Origins
• Christianity & World Religions
• Old Testament II: Wisdom Literature
• New Testament I: Synoptic Gospels
• Old Testament I: Pentateuch
• Biblical Hebrew II
• Biblical Hebrew I
• Christian Moral Life
• Introduction to Theology
• Historical Jesus
• Studies in Judaism
• Spiritual Theology
• Gospel of Matthew
• Intermediate Latin
• Elementary Latin
• Divine Pedagogy
• Papacy & the New Evangelization
• Great Books: Eastern World
• Freshman Seminar

Monographs

From the Dust of the Earth: Benedict XVI, the Bible, and the Science of Human Origins. Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2022.

The Experiment of Faith: Pope Benedict XVI on Living the Theological Virtues in a Secular Age. Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2020.

Christ’s Church, and World Religions.  Course E of the Spirit of Truth high school textbook series.  Manchester, NH: Sophia Institute Press, 2020. 

Jesus, Interpreted: Benedict XVI, Bart Ehrman, and the Historical Truth of the Gospels. Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2017.

Dark Passages of the Bible: Engaging Scripture with Benedict XVI and Thomas Aquinas. Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 2013.

Towards a Theology of Scripture: Joseph Ratzinger’s “Method C” Hermeneutic and Sacra Doctrina on the Afterlife in the Old Testament (Ph.D. diss.). Ann Arbor, MI: UMI, 2009.

Cosmic Covenant: A Catholic Theology of Creation. Word on Fire Academic, 2026.

The Lecturing Ratzinger: The Unpublished University Courses on Creation, with Fr. Santiago Sanz. Forthcoming from Catholic University of America Press, 2027.

The Life You’ve Been Looking For: Faith, Virtue, & Freedom. Forthcoming from Our Sunday Visitor, 2027.

The Essential Guide to Ratzinger: The Man and His Message. Huntington, IN: Our Sunday Visitor, 2025.

Contributing author

The Word on Fire Bible: Volume VII (The Prophets). Forthcoming from Word on Fire. Entry: Introduction to Baruch

Joseph Ratzinger Compendium. Forthcoming collaboration from Ignatius Press, edited by Rudy Albino de Assunção, Tracey Rowland, Pablo Blanco, and Christian Schaller. Entry: “The Gospels in the Works of Joseph Ratzinger” 

Fully Alive: Christ and the Fulfillment of the Human Person—A Centenary Conference on the Anthropology of Joseph Ratzinger, edited by Alejandro Sada and Sameer Advani. Chapter: “To Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness: Continuous Conversion as a Search for the Face of God.”

Cultivating the Whole Person: Catholic Studies and Integral Human Development, edited by Ines Murzaku. Forthcoming from Catholic University of America Press. Chapter: “Integral Ecology and Catholic Higher Education: Translating the Magisterium’s Ecological Vision into Pedagogy.”

Joseph Ratzinger and Political Theology, edited by Matthew Levering, Rudy Albino de Assunção, and Alejandro Sada. Forthcoming from an academic publisher. Chapter: “The Kingdom Beyond the State: Ratzinger on the Church’s Witness in the Political Order.”

Joseph Ratzinger and Vatican II. Forthcoming from Catholic University of America Press, edited by Matthew Levering, Rudy Albino de Assunção, and Alejandro Sada. Chapter: “Ratzinger on Religious Freedom: The Reception of Dignitatis Humanae in the Theology of Benedict XVI.”

Catholicism and the World’s Religions: Connecting Metaphysical and Ethical Systems, edited by Tyler Dalton McNabb. Bloomsbury, 2027. Chapter: “Joseph Ratzinger’s Christology of Religions.”

Grounding Environmental Policy in Love: Achieving Cooperation, Reciprocity, and Mitigation of Disputes, edited by Peter Longo and James Scott. Chapter: “Towards an Ecology of Love: How Theology Can Inspire Impactful Environmental Policy.” Louisville, CO: University of Colorado Press, 2026.

John Henry Newman and Joseph Ratzinger: A Theological Encounter, edited by Matthew

Levering and Fr. Emery de Gaal. CUA Press, 2025. Chapter: “A Larger Idea of Divine Skill: Newman and Ratzinger on the Fittingness and Epistemic Status of Evolutionary Creation.”

The Cambridge Companion to Joseph Ratzinger, edited by Fr. Uwe Michael Lang and Fr. Daniel Cardó. Cambridge University Press, 2023. Chapter: “Scripture and Tradition.”

Hope and Death: Christian Responses. Forthcoming from Emmaus Academic, 2022. Chapter: “Evolution and Eschatology: Jesus Christ, the Alpha and Omega of All Creation in the Thought of Joseph Ratzinger.”

The New Apologetics: Defending the Faith in a Post-Christian Era. Word on Fire Institute, 2022. Chapter: “Dark Passages of the Bible”

Thomas Aquinas and the Crisis of Christology.  Forthcoming from Sapientia Press. Chapter: “Putting the Last Adam First: Aquinas, Ratzinger, and Human Origins in Light of Kenotic Christology”

Thomas Aquinas the Biblical Theologian.  Steubenville, OH: Emmaus Academic (forthcoming). Chapter: “Unless You Believe, You Will Not Understand: Biblical Faith according to Thomas Aquinas and Benedict XVI”

 Ressourcement after Vatican II: Essays in Honor of Joseph Fessio, S.J. San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2019. Chapter: “The Theological Mind and Method of Pope Benedict XVI as Revealed in His Catechetical Instructions”

The Reception of Vatican II. New York: Oxford University Press, 2017. Chapter: “Reception of the Second Vatican Council’s Decree on Ecumenism”

Wisdom and the Renewal of Catholic Theology: Essays in Honor of Matthew L. Lamb.  Eugene, OR: Pickwick Publications, 2016. Chapter: “Biblical Inspiration in the Theology of Saint Thomas Aquinas and Father Matthew Lamb.”

Reading Sacred Scripture with Thomas Aquinas: Hermeneutical Tools and New Perspectives. Textes et Études du Moyen Âge Series. Turnhout, Belgium: Brepols, 2015. Chapter: “In the Beginning: Aquinas, Benedict XVI, and the Book of Genesis.” 

Translator or Co-translator

Collected essays of Jean-Pierre Torrell, O.P.  Forthcoming from an academic publisher.

Christ and Spirituality in St. Thomas Aquinas, Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 2011.

The Eucharist Project.  An international team project aimed at making available all the eucharistic passages found in the Church Fathers.   

Other Teaching, Writing, Speaking, and Media Appearances

A full summary of Dr. Ramage’s teaching, writing, speaking along with multimedia links can be found on his personal website www.matthewramage.com.