Online School Of Pastoral Ministry
Catholic Faith, Fiction, and Film
With Dr. Margaret Turek
Six Tuesdays from 7 PM. to 8:30 PM, Beginning Tuesday, January 2, 2024
About The Course
Catholic Faith, Fiction, and Film
All “serious” fiction writers imbue their works with a vision of life: a vision often indebted to a philosophy or a religious creed. This is the case, whether the writer is a rationalist, an atheist, a Buddhist or a Catholic. Against the horizon of his vision of life or belief structure, the fiction writer will grapple with such questions as: What makes a life fully human, truly humane? Is there an absolute meaning and ultimate goal of human existence?
In this course, Dr. Turek leads us through a selection of modern works of fiction and film, all of which deal with themes vital to the Catholic vision of God, human existence, sin and guilt, redemption, and beatitude beyond death. Along the way, the unique challenges facing the Catholic fiction writer (and his audience) today will be discussed, including how the writer attempts to get his vision across when writing for a world that is unprepared to see “the really real” with the eyes of faith? How does one portray the nearness of God for an audience who is scarcely conscious of God?
Topics of Class Sessions:
- Class 1 (January 2) – The Prophetic Vision of Catholic Fiction
- Class 2 (January 9) – Graham Greene: the Presence of the Hidden God
- Class 3 (January 16) – “Gravity” (the movie): What Makes Life Worth Living
- Class 4 (January 23) – Flannery O’Connor: the Most Important Things
- Class 5 (January 30) – George Bernanos: the Drama of Mystical Substitution
- Class 6 (February 6) – “Groundhog Day” (the movie): the Way to True Happiness
Recommended readings:
- Flannery O’Connor, “The Lame Shall Enter First” and “A Good Man is Hard to Find”
- George Bernanos, The Diary of a Country Priest and Dialogues of the Carmelites
- Article: “Catholic Faith, Fiction, and Film” in Catholic San Francisco Magazine, December 2023.
- Article: “Diagnosing the Modern Aversion to a Biblical Theology of Atonement” in Church Life Journal: A Journal of the McGrath Institute of Church Life, University of Notre Dame, July 15, 2022.
- Recommended Movies:
– Gravity
– Groundhog Day
About the Professor
Margaret M. Turek, S.T.D.
Academic Dean
Professor of Dogmatics
Chair of Dogmatics
St. Patrick’s Seminary & University
Dr. Margaret Turek is Academic Dean and Professor of Theology at St. Patrick’s Seminary & University in Menlo Park, California. She earned a Doctor of Sacred Theology degree at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, where her thesis director was Cardinal Christoph Schönborn who, with Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, was co-editor of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Prior to her graduate studies, she received spiritual formation as a Carmelite for six years. Her new book, Atonement: Soundings in Biblical, Trinitarian, and Spiritual Theology, is published by Ignatius Press.
SELECTED ARTICLES AND PRESENTATIONS
Article: “Catholic Faith, Fiction, and Film” in Catholic San Francisco Magazine, December 2023.
The Bible Timeline Show: “Genesis 22:1-19,” a 90 minute discussion with Jeff Cavins (forthcoming February 25, 2024).
Book chapter: “Is God still Father if the Son is Atonement (1 John 2:2)?” in Margaret M. Turek (ed.) The Mystery of the Atonement. Humanum Academic Press (forthcoming spring 2024).
Article: “Diagnosing the Modern Aversion to a Biblical Theology of Atonement” in Church Life Journal: A Journal of the McGrath Institute of Church Life, University of Notre Dame, July 15, 2022.
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