Session 1:
Fr. Luke Dysinger: Resurrection, theosis, apokatastasis
In this first ever Nova Forum Seminar, Fr. Luke Dysinger draws on patristic and modern texts to explain the patristic themes of anastasis (“resurrection”), theosis (“divinization”), and apokatastasis (“universal restoration”). He also introduces images of the Hours of the Passion in Belles Heures of Jean de France, duc de Berry, and the Anastasis icon, which imaginatively depict the themes of resurrection. Fr. Dysinger also examines readings from an ancient Christian homily on Holy Saturday as well as excerpts from Gregory of Nyssa and from Christopher Marlowe’s Faust. Please find all material referenced during the seminar below.
Session 1 Resources:
Hans Urs von Balthasar, Dare We Hope That All May Be Saved?
Goethe, Faust
C.S. Lewis, The Great Divorce
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (Pope Benedict XVI), Eschatology
Gregory of Nyssa, Life of Moses
Evagrius of Pontus — see Fr. Luke’s website
Books of Hours images — the most famous example
David Bentley Hart, That All May Be Saved
Session 2:
Prof. Amy Cannon hosting Prof. Dana Gioia (USC): The Catholic imagination
During the second session of Seminar 1, Amy Cannon introduces Professor Dana Gioia, a major American poet and former USC professor. In this conversation, Cannon facilitates the discussion with references to Prof. Gioia’s essays, “Poetry as Enchantment” and “The Catholic Writer Today”. During the conversation, Prof. Gioia discusses the power and beauty of the Catholic imagination in both visual and literary art. Prof. Gioia offers a sense of hope amidst this challenging year and suggests how to revive the Catholic imagination in the modern church and in our lives.
Session 2 Resources:
Poems by Gerard Manley Hopkins
Thomas Merton, Seven Story Mountain
Morten Lauridsen’s music (O magnum mysterium)
Shakespeare, The Tempest
Susan Sontag, “Against Interpretation”