“Disenchantment” has become something of a catchword in recent times. However, what exactly is meant by it is often only vaguely defined. Equally unclear is what an alternative to it may have been or may continue to be. This lecture will follow the path of one twentieth century Swiss theologian, Karl Barth, in his own journey of being disenchanted of various idols, both ancient and modern, in his quest to see all things from a centre in Jesus Christ. From ancient philosophical god-concepts to modern political ideologies, Barth came to see the concrete reality of Jesus Christ as God’s judgement against all abstract human constructs. One idolatrous construct that he saw as particularly antithetical to Jesus Christ is the modern idea of the human being as an autonomous self-determining individual. This line of critique has rich political implications that Barth was only partially able to cash in on since his doctrine of the Holy Spirit remained underdeveloped.

Augustine of Hippo provided the seed form of a Christian humanism which celebrates human feeling, desire, reason, and embodiment. This affirmation of our human nature, and the good origin of desire within us is regained through the incarnation of Jesus Christ. For Augustine, this divine affirmation of our human nature has a prophetic quality within a classical world which did not share the Christian understanding of how human flourishing and blessedness was ultimately attained. For Augustine, the incarnation did not just affirm the goodness of our human nature and emotions, but also the pathway to its recovery in the humble descent or forma servi of the Incarnation. In this lecture, I explore City of God XIV and other places where Augustine affirms the good nature and rational intelligence of redeemed human emotions, alongside the radical effects of the Fall on them. From this brief exploration, the lecture illumines how Augustine can help us chart a course to renew a Christian humanism through a reappraisal of the via humilitatis, where, as Donovan Schaefer observes, politics has become mere affect.

The Prologue to the Rule of St Benedict concludes with the alliterative exhortation, ‘in monasterio perseverantes passionibus Christi per patientiam participemur’. In what sense does patience, apparently such a humdrum exercise, merit comparison with Christ’s saving Passion? How is perseverance a key to life ‘in Christ’ on Benedictine and Pauline terms? These are the questions addressed in this lecture on the basis of ancient and modern texts, and of Christian experience.

Christian de Chergé was the prior of the Trappist community of Our Lady of Atlas in Tibhirine, Algeria, until his assassination with six of his fellow monks in 1996. Drawn from the last two years of his life, these chapter talks to his brothers offer deeper insight into the monastic search for God in community during tumultuous times. These talks are a treasury of inspiration for those interested in Benedictine spirituality and Christian dialogue with other faiths. We celebrate the publication of the first book-length translation of Christian’s writings in conversation with the editor and translator of God for All Days, Fr Matthew Salisbury and Jennifer Rushworth. There will also be a screening of the film Des hommes et des dieux (2010, dir. Xavier Beauvois), which is set in the community at Tibhirine during the same time period covered by the chapter talks, at Worcester College on 17 May at 2 pm.

Up until the thirteenth century, most theology was done by monks who lived in monasteries but all of that changed with the founding of the universities. With the rise of these new institutions, theological methodology itself changed from one described as "monastic theology" to "scholastic theology." And with that change came a new vision of who could be considered a "theologian"; that is, a new vision of theological anthropology emerged to accommodate the new way of doing theology. This talk will lay out that development but argue that we should return to the methodology of the monastic theologian, built upon a monastic theological anthropology.

Three issues have dominated discussion of anthropology in the book of Ezekiel: the traumatic experience of involuntary migration to Babylonia; the capacity or incapacity of humans to act correctly of their own volition; and the role of the imago Dei concept in Ezekiel’s understanding of human beings. Unlike existing work, this paper will integrate these three topics into a single argument. These three foci, when woven together, indicate that the book of Ezekiel holds an optimistic view of human capacity to act correctly, which is separate from the imago Dei concept, but still thoroughly theological. Furthermore, the book projects these human features onto YHWH, resulting in a divine figure who closely resembles the human ideal advocated in the book. Ezekiel, in short, contains a theological anthropology and an anthropological theology.

In 1935, Frederic Hood, the House's then Principal, commissioned his friend Ninian Comper to reorder the Chapel of the Blessed Sacrament at Pusey House. The resulting scheme, complete with its golden ciborium, is a perfect example of Comper’s later style: ‘unity by inclusion’. This lecture, presented by the Architectural Historian (and former Sacristan of the House), Harry Spain will examine the theory and significance of Comper’s work here, tracing his sources of inspiration from 4th century Algeria to Botticelli, whilst also exploring Comper’s connexion to Oxford and the work of Pusey House itself.

Winner of the highly prestigious Holberg Prize in 2019, Paul Gilroy is an eminent public intellectual and one of the world’s leading scholars of race and racism. Professor Gilroy will reflect on the need to recover a notion of shared humanity and what he calls “reparative humanism.” This Public Lecture is presented by the McDonald Centre for Theology, Ethics and Public Life, to open its Annual Conference 2025.