Blog Template Theology of the Body: John Hare speaks on Spes Salvi

Saturday, February 09, 2008

John Hare speaks on Spes Salvi




I attended a colloquy presented by Yale's Professor John Hare in his home in New Haven on Thursday night. Professor Hare, for those of you who do not know him, is the son of Oxford Natural Law philosopher R.M. Hare; and, John Hare was asked to be the Gifford Lecturer in 2004, recognizing him officially to be one of the world's greatest philosophical theologians. The topic that the evangelical Hare selected for a group of his students was Pope Benedict's latest encyclical, Spe Salvi, on the theological virtue of hope.
The (great) conversation centered around the role of the Holy Spirit in the Christian's life, Benedict's appropriation of Martin Luther and Kant, and the Church's unique capacity to gift the world with social justice not through procedures or movements, but through the embodied lives of her saints.

It was a healing joy to read this latest letter from the Holy Father. The enyclical is relatively short, and rich, and as broadly pastoral and inspiring as they come. I encourage all of you to read it. If you have already, please share your own thoughts in the comments and continue the conversation...