About Me

Director of the Bernard J. Lonergan Institute and Toth-Lonergan Visiting Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies at Seton Hall University

Education

  • Ph.D., Marquette University (Theology)

  • S.T.M., Boston University School of Theology (Theology)

  • M.A., Boston College (Philosophy)

  • B.A., North Park University (Philosophy)

Research Interests

  • Embodied Cognition

  • Contemplative Methodology

  • Grace, Freedom, & Culture

Teaching

  • Introduction to Theology/Catholicism

  • Introduction to Philosophy in the Catholic Tradition

  • The History of Christian Theology

  • Ancient & Medieval Philosophy

  • Faith & Reason

  • Prayer & Spirituality

“But what will count is a perhaps not numerous center, big enough to be at home in both the old and the new, painstaking enough to work out one by one the transitions to be made, strong enough to refuse half measures and insist on complete solutions even though it has to wait.”
— Bernard Lonergan, S.J.

Jonathan Heaps, PhD is the Director of the Bernard J. Lonergan Institute and Toth-Lonergan Visiting Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies at Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey. He also edits The Lonergan Review, a peer-reviewed journal dedicated to bringing Lonergan’s thought into contact with both academic and professional disciplines. He teaches in Seton Hall’s Core Department and University Honors Program and contributes to numerous faculty development programs on campus.

Jonathan’s first book, The Ambiguity of Being: Lonergan and the Problems of the Supernatural, was published in 2024 by The Catholic University of America Press. He has also published numerous scholarly articles in philosophy and theology that draw especially on the work of Lonergan and other major figures in twentieth-century Catholic thought. His research has appeared in American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly and Theological Studies. His other writings have appeared in Commonweal and Church Life Journal, among others venues. See the “Other Writing” page for links.

Jonathan is currently writing a short, accessible Lonerganian philosophy of the university that he hopes might be used in undergraduate classrooms and faculty reading groups. Longer term, he has been investigating the role that embodied contemplative practices (meditation, “mindfulness,” etc.) could play in addressing the problem of verification in the humanities and in theology.

In addition to looking for more opportunities to write about faith and ideas, he also speaks to a variety of audiences interested in raising today’s toughest questions. If you want to bring Jonathan to your community to speak, please use the Contact Me link at the top of the page.