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Faith, Apostasy, and History: Marilynne Robinson’s Christian Imagination

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Thursday, November 4, 2021

12:00 pm - 1:30 pm


Adams House, Princeton Theological Seminary


Speaker

William Gonch, Ph.D., is Scala’s Managing Director, and a Visiting Scholar at Princeton Theological Seminary.

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Event Overview

A faculty seminar with William Gonch, Ph.D.

What are the possibilities for Christian literature today? How is a Christian spiritual imagination related to moral responsibilities and particular communities? Marilynne Robinson’s Gilead addresses these questions. Robinson’s novels are widely praised for their visionary language, their deep engagement with history, and their original narrative structures. In this seminar, William Gonch, a Visiting Scholar at Princeton Theological Seminary and Managing Director of the Scala Foundation, will reveal the interconnections among history, faith, and literary form in Robinson’s work. He will argue that she represents a new way of imagining God, spirituality, and salvation in the novel, and points the way towards a literature that is, in some surprising ways, more open to the Gospel than we might think.

The seminar will be of interest to any students interested in faith and the literary imagination, or in the ways in which literature grapples with the problems of God, faith, and theology. No knowledge of Marilynne Robinson’s work is required, although participants are encouraged to read Gilead ahead of time if they wish—and there will be spoilers.

This will be a brown bag lunchtime seminar, so please bring lunch. Snacks and water will be provided by Scala. To help our planning, RSVPs are requested (but not required). Please feel free to bring friends from the larger Princeton community. All attendees must be fully vaccinated and wear masks while not eating or drinking.
12:00 Noon on Thursday, November 4th in the Adams House Dining Room, 12 Library Place