CIRCA News from the University of Chicago Divinity School

THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF RELIGION has for the past two years sought programmatic data about the study of religion through two surveys, one of undergraduate departments and a second of doctoral programs in religion. The results are now beginning to see the light of day. With responses from approximately one thousand undergraduate and sixty graduate programs, the two surveys taken together present us with the most substantial data ever assembled on how religion is studied in the United States.

This is no small achievement, but it is, of “Top Five Courses Offered by Institutional course, only the beginning of the really inter- Types” shows that at private, Catholic, and esting project: making sense of it. The AAR Protestant institutions, the most represented hopes that the surveys provide departments course is on the New Testament; and at the with a database to deploy in advocating the Letter public institutions where the World Religions study of religion intra-institutionally. That course is most commonly taught, New Testa- may prove to be the case. Yet I confess to ment is a close second. prefer an ulterior, if perhaps obvious, use. This data suggests some generalizations. This data clarifies terrain that my colleagues from the That half the responding programs are situated and I traverse daily, consider constantly, and in religiously affiliated institutions reminds us have always hypothesized about liberally. that the study of religion in the United States The undergraduate and graduate programs Dean has a very wide basis in the religious commu- surveyed represent a (arguably the) central nions themselves, particularly Protestant and, public for our work as—to adapt a phrase to a lesser but not insignificant extent, Roman rightly used to characterize the university of Catholic Christianity. This is sometimes under- which we are a part—a teacher of teachers estimated. It is perhaps unsurprising, in turn, of religion. What, then, does that world of that the curricula of Protestant and Catholic teaching look like as defined through these institutions offer substantial coursework in surveys? How does its profile reflect what the Christian tradition. Yet even at public we do? And what challenges does it offer to institutions—in which issues of the separa- the Divinity School? tion of church and state render a complex These questions are most interestingly panorama of relationships, particularly to the addressed in the data provided by the under- Christian tradition (compare the programs, graduate survey. According to the Carnegie for example, at Indiana University and the classification system for postsecondary University of Virginia)—a course in New schools, this survey’s primary respondents Testament is nearly as commonly offered as fall largely into three institutional types: a course in World Religions. It is clear from public (25 percent), private/non-sectarian this survey that the Bible, and particularly (20 percent), and religiously affiliated. the New Testament, is a touchstone of the This last cohort comprised just over half undergraduate study of religion, irrespective the respondents, including primarily depart- The most widely taught courses are Introduction of institutional context. ments and programs in Protestant (33 percent) to Bible (69 percent) and Introduction to Just as notable, however, is the equal and Roman Catholic (17 percent) schools. World Religions (68 percent), with Introduc- commonality, again transcending institu- The respondents thus include the full range tion to Religion (56 percent) the third most tional type, if slightly less dramatically, of of institutions from which students matricu- frequently offered course. In courses about courses in World Religions and in compara- late at the Divinity School. And with the specific religious traditions, Christianity is by tive study. Taken with the emphasis on the exception of seminaries and theological a very wide margin most frequently taught, Christian tradition, the juxtaposition might schools, they similarly encompass the full and in the most diversity: while a significant be described as the balancing act of under- range of institutions in which the Divinity minority of schools offers a course in Judaism graduate religion programs functioning in, School’s doctoral graduates accept faculty (40 percent), or Buddhism (33 percent), or to use William Carlos Williams’s phrase, “the appointments. Islam (31 percent), or Hinduism (27 percent), American grain.” Programs in the United The responding institutions were asked to Christianity is offered under at least five rubrics States privilege at the introductory level provide extensive data about their curricula in higher percentages than any of these tradi- both the pluralism of religious belief and in religion. Some general trends tell a great tions: New Testament (84 percent), Old Tes- practice, and the Bible. deal. The data on introductory courses— tament (78 percent), Historical Christianity There is much more in the data that the offerings that enroll the most students (71 percent), Christian Theology (65 percent), merits discussion but that space here will not and thus most accurately reflect general and Christian Ethics (54 percent). A course in accommodate. What is most striking about judgments about essential components in the Comparative Religions is offered at 46 percent the remaining data on curricula is the way study of religion—are particularly suggestive. of these institutions. The survey tabulation Continued on page 2

SPRING 2004 | NUMBER 21 Appleby Named Alumnus of the Year

he Board of Trustees of the Baptist Theological Union has named Robert Scott Appleby the Divinity School’s T Alumnus of the Year for 2003. Appleby is John M. Regan, Jr., Director of the Kroc Institute and professor of history at the University of Notre Dame. He researches and writes on the roots of religious violence and the potential of religious Unite! The Modernist Impulse in American peacebuilding, and he teaches courses in Catholicism (Notre Dame, 1992). He is American religious history and comparative coauthor of Strong Religion: The Rise of religious movements. Fundamentalism in the World (University Having received his B.A., magna cum of Chicago Press, 2003), with Gabriel A. laude, from the University of Notre Dame Almond and Emmanuel Sivan; The Glory in 1978, Appleby went on to earn his M.A. and the Power: The Fundamentalist Challenge (1979) and Ph.D. (1985), with distinction, to the Modern World (Beacon Press, 1992), from the University of Chicago Divinity with Martin E. Marty; and Transforming School. He taught from 1982 to 1987 in Parish Ministry: The Changing Roles of Clergy, the Department of Religious Studies at Saint Laity, and Women Religious (Crossroad, 1989), of Religion’s Award for Excellence in the Xavier College in Chicago, chairing that with Jay Dolan, Patricia Byrne, and Debra Study of Religion (1996), an honorary department from 1985 to 1987. From 1988 Campbell. He has edited Spokesman for the doctorate from the University of Scranton to 1993, he served as codirector, with Despised: Fundamentalist Leaders of the (1998), fellowship in the American Academy Martin E. Marty, of the Fundamentalism Middle East (University of Chicago Press, of Political and Social Sciences (2001), and Project, an international public policy study 1997), and coedited eight volumes, among Washington Theological Union’s Sophia conducted by the American Academy of them, the five-volume Fundamentalism Award for Theological Excellence and Arts and Sciences. From 1994 to the pre- Project (University of Chicago Press, 1991– Service to Ministry (2002), among others. sent, he has served on the faculty of Notre 2004), with Martin E. Marty, and Being In addition, he has received prestigious fellow- Dame University, directing that institution’s Right: Conservative Catholics in America ships from such institutions as the Rockefeller, Cushwa Center for the Study of American (Indiana University Press, 1995), with Mary Henry R. Luce, and MacArthur Foundations, Catholicism from 1994 to 2002, and its Jo Weaver. He is the general editor for the as well as from Lilly Endowment Inc. Kroc Institute from 2000 to the present. Cushwa Center Studies of Catholicism in Appleby will deliver his Alumnus of In addition to hundreds of articles, chap- Twentieth-Century America series, published the Year Address, “The Study, the Practice, ters, essays, and reviews, Appleby is author by Cornell University Press. and the Construction of Religion: The of The Ambivalence of the Sacred: Religion, Appleby has received numerous awards Case of Religious Peacebuilding,” at 4:00 Violence and Reconciliation (Rowman & for his contributions to scholarship and p.m. on Thursday, April 29, 2004, in Swift Littlefield, 2000) and Church and Age teaching, including the American Academy Lecture Hall. ❑

Letter from the Dean Continued from page 1 that, following these general trends, much through the Gospels and the other epistles of governing assumptions about how best to coursework addresses one of two approaches: to the Book of Revelation, and inserted approach the material. We need to be careful, either study in method or thematic courses thematic excurses on the historical Jesus, the then, in generalizing about the data to avoid (it is interesting, for example, that Religion earliest church communities, and the forma- assumptions of commonality based on course and the Arts is one of the most commonly tion of theological consensus. The other was titles. We also can see, through such an example, offered elective courses at many institutions). a course in comparative religion, commencing how it is possible for a sacred religious text This data, however, is much less readily open with study of the religious communities that to be so central to the study of religion—it to generalization. It is clear that in their more existed at the beginning of the Common Era, legitimately can be taught in myriad ways. advanced course offerings departments reflect and moving from that social setting to inves- In many respects, the Divinity School’s the idiosyncrasies of particular institutional tigate a series of questions about the relation- program of study reflects these emphases: settings much more fully. ship of state to religion and the circumstances while non-denominational, historically we One final consideration ought to influ- under which a messianic movement that both privilege the study of Christianity and ence the way we think about this data. It is assembled around a charismatic prophet forged, cultivate the study of the world’s religious a question of what the data does not show: over time and amidst controversy, a scriptural traditions. Our largest cohorts of doctoral the lack of information about how courses in, canon and a communal identity. Each course students concentrate in theology, on the one for instance, New Testament are taught. I can earned its title, but each had a distinctive set hand, and history of religions, on the other. best illustrate this point by an example. In It is possible to do serious programs of study a seminar on developing skills for the profes- in Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhism as well, sion of teaching that I taught several years ago, . . . while non-denominational, and to do serious comparative work not only each student was required to write a syllabus in the history of religions, but also in the phi- for an introductory course in his or her area historically we both privilege losophy of religion, in the history of Judaism of specialization. Two students in the group and Christianity in the medieval period, and specialized in New Testament, yet they wrote the study of Christianity in modern Jewish and Christian thought. (In entirely different syllabi for a course each addition, Chicago has historically pursued called Introduction to New Testament. One and cultivate the study of the work in Islam; while we are not currently course took its bearing from the canonical able to do that in the Divinity School, this writings and the issues these raise; the course world’s religious traditions. is a circumstance of the moment that will moved from the earliest writings of Paul change soon.) Continued on back page

2 CIRCA Faculty News

Doniger Appointed Phi Beta richness of Jewish tradition. cunning can allow the nation Kappa Visiting Scholar In addition to featuring the of Israel to be victorious when Jewish Publication Society’s surrounded by, besieged by, Wendy Doniger, Mircea Eliade Distin- Tanakh translation, assem- and even conquered by more guished Service Professor of the History of bled by a committee of powerful nations,” writes Religions, was appointed a Phi Beta Kappa esteemed scholars and Frymer-Kensky, whose book visiting scholar for 2004–2005. Visiting rabbis from the Orthodox, received a Koret Jewish Book scholars travel to universities and colleges Conservative, and Reform Award last year. that have Phi Beta Kappa chapters, spend- movements within Judaism ing two days on each campus. The scholar in 1985, the volume offers Hopkins Promoted meets with undergraduates an array of supple- to Full Professor informally, participates in mentary materials classroom lectures and sem- that address biblical Dwight N. Hopkins was inars, and gives one major interpretation within promoted from associate to address open to the entire the Bible itself and during the full professor of theology in the Divinity academic community. rabbinic period, through medieval, School, effective at the beginning of the Founded in 1776, Phi Beta mystical, early modern, and current winter quarter. Kappa is the nation’s oldest approaches. The volume has already academic honor society. It garnered tremendous attention. Klauck Named President of SNTS has chapters at 270 colleges According to Rabbi Burton L. and universities, and over Visotzky, Appleman Professor of Hans-Josef Klauck, professor of New 600,000 members. Midrash and Interreligious Studies Testament and early Christian literature, at the Jewish Theological Seminary, “What has been appointed president of the Elshtain Wins Publisher’s Weekly Rashi did for rabbinic tradition almost a Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas (SNTS). Best Book Award millennium ago, The Jewish Study Bible He delivered his inaugural presidential does for Jewish Bible scholarship from its address, “Himmlisches Haus und iridische Publisher’s Weekly awarded Jean Bethke beginnings through the end of the twentieth Bleibe. Eschatologische Metaphorik in Elshtain, Laura Spelman Rockefeller century. . . . This book is a must, not only Antike und Christentum,” on July 30, 2003, Professor of Social and Political Ethics, one for Jewish congregations and classrooms, at the fifty-eighth General Meeting of of its 2003 best book awards for Just War but for every person, Church, study-group, the SNTS, held at Rheinische Friedrich- Against Terror: The Burden of American and university course interested in the Bible Wilhelms-Universität in Bonn. Power in a Violent World (Basic Books, and its meaning throughout the ages.” 2003). In the book, Elshtain argues that Tanner Delivers Lectures there are times when we must use force to Frymer-Kensky Receives across U.S. and Europe stop evil and punish wrongdoers, as in the National Jewish Book Award struggle against the Nazis and imperialist Kathryn Tanner, professor of theology, Japan. The case against Al–Qaida and Bin The Jewish Book Council of North has delivered several prestigious lectures Laden, she says, is clear, and a legitimate America awarded Tikva Frymer-Kensky, across the U.S. and Europe in the past war deployed in the name of decency and professor of Hebrew Bible and history of year, including the Cole Lectures at righteousness should actually lead to a more Judaism, the Barbara Dobkin Award in Vanderbilt University, entitled “Grace peaceful world by restoring order and secu- Women’s Studies—one of its 53rd Annual and Money” and rity. In fact, Elshtain argues, the U.S. has an National Jewish Book Awards—for Reading “Grace and Global obligation to pre- the Women of the Bible: A New Capitalism”; the vent violence and Interpretation of Their Stories Pitt Lecture at help establish civic (Schocken Books, 2002). In the the Berkeley/Yale peace and promote book, Frymer-Kensky argues Divinity School nation building. that, although ancient Israeli Convocation, en- According to society was a patriarchy, the titled “Incarnation Publisher’s Weekly, Hebrew Bible does not portray and Atonement: one of the main women as inferior or justify A Feminist international news their subordination. Instead, Reappraisal”; sources for book she contends, women in the and the Inaugural publishing and Bible provide a paradigm for Walgrave Lecture at the Catholic bookselling, “the understanding powerlessness University at Leuven, entitled “Postmodern book presents well and subordination untainted Challenges to the Idea of Tradition.” In the moral case for by prejudicial ideas. Through January, Tanner conducted a lecture tour U.S. military creative readings of universities/semi- engagement in the of the stories of naries in the Nether- world and gives Sarah, Rebecca, lands, including credence to those who advocate the use Rachel, Dinah, Tamar, stops in Utrecht, of force as a response to terrorism.” Deborah, Ruth, Jezebel, and Tilburg, Kampen, other biblical heroines, the and Nijmegen. Fishbane Consulting Editor for women of the Bible emerge New Jewish Study Bible as victors, victims, virgins, or voices of God, each image Michael Fishbane, Nathan Cummings capturing a critical feature Professor of Jewish Studies, served as senior of ancient Israel’s sense of consulting editor of Oxford University itself. “Like these women, Press’s Jewish Study Bible, published in the people of Israel can January 2004. The volume, edited by Marc persevere to preserve their Zvi Brettler and Adele Berlin, reflects both destiny. The gifts of faith, contemporary biblical scholarship and the persuasion, persistence, and

SPRING 2004 | 3 An Interview with Jean-Luc Marion

ean-Luc Marion began his appointment as John Nuveen not yet knowledge, since it could simply be subjective. So, building up the two together Professor in the Divinity School, the Department of Philosophy, allows us to decide whether or not something is a real object. I was surprised that most, if and the Committee on Social Thought this winter quarter. not all, philosophers, using this standard definition of a phenomenon, address either He studies both the history of modern philosophy and contem- what Husserl calls ‘evidence,’ in which we have as much intuition as we do concept, or those Jporary phenomenology. In the former field, he has published several cases in which we are not in front of evidence but in which there is an excess of concept, i.e., books on Descartes’ ontology, rational theology, and metaphysics, a deficiency of intuition. I argue that there is a third possibility: phenomena in which focusing especially on the medieval sources and using modern patterns we have an excess of intuition. I call these phenomena “saturated,” and divide them of interpretation (On Descartes’ Metaphysical Prism and Cartesian into four distinct categories: Questions, both published by the University of Chicago Press in 1999). Excess of quantity, that is, a phenomenon

In the latter field, he is pursuing a long-term inquiry into the question of God, as in his book God without Being (University of Chicago Press, 1991). He has published The Idol and Distance (Fordham University Press, 2001) and Reduction and Givenness (Northwestern University Press, 1998), the original, French version of which was awarded the 1992 Grand Prix du Philosophie de l’Académie Française. He has written on the relation between phe- nomenology and ontology in Being Given: Toward a Phenomenology of Givenness (Stanford University Press, 2002) and In Excess: Studies of Saturated Phenomena (Fordham University Press, 2002). Professor Marion has also worked in the area of patristics; the history of medieval, classical, and modern philosophy; and aesthet- ics. He has spent ten springs at the University of Chicago as a visiting professor. He will continue to spend part of the year in Paris, where he teaches at Université Paris— Sorbonne, Paris IV. that has neither beginning nor end, but CIRCA: You have done substantial work which surrounds one. An example of this is on Descartes’ philosophy. Would you please . . . historical philosophy is a historical event, of which there can be say something about Descartes’ importance not just about philosophy’s an endless collection of interpretations. in your work? past; it is about understanding Excess according to quality, that is, a phe- J-L M: I am interested in studying the issues of the present. By nomenon that gives intuition to such an extent Descartes not only from the inside, but that there comes a point at which one must also devoting attention to his context. So, extension . . . you cannot discuss give up. An example of this is artistic experi- at long range, I am interested in the rela- postmodernism without a ence: in front of a great painting, there is so tion of Descartes to Aristotle. My Ph.D. clear understanding of what much to feel and to realize that you—not dissertation was on this topic. In it, I tried the painting—give up. to understand Descartes’ modification of modernity means. Excess concerning relation. Kant, for instance, the definition of ‘science’ by referring to assumes that there is no object that cannot Aristotle’s definition of science and to late be compared or referred to another, and that scholasticism. Aristotle thus allowed me to CIRCA: Last spring, you taught a course on this comparison is a necessary part of the gauge to what extent Descartes’ positions the “saturated phenomenon.” Would you rationality of the phenomenon. But there were original. My ultimate goal was to please help readers of Circa understand some- are exceptions, such as one’s own flesh. The rebuild the general frame of Cartesian thing about your work in phenomenology? auto-affection of the flesh is an absolute metaphysics using up-to-date patterns of phenomenon, which can be demonstrated metaphysics, such as Heidegger and onto- J-L M: The question of the saturated phe- through an analysis of touch. theology. My books on Descartes are relat- nomenon is the result of a long inquiry into ed to the epistemological, ontological, and phenomenology. The standard definition of The face of the other, that is, a phenomenon theological results of this inquiry. In them, a phenomenon in both classical metaphysics that, as such, cannot be submitted to the I maintain that historical philosophy is (Kant) and in phenomenology (Husserl) can insight and judgment of one’s mind. One not just about philosophy’s past; it is about be summarized as follows: A phenomenon is cannot decide the conditions of the possibili- understanding the issues of the present. when an intuition we receive about something ty of the other; if one does, then the other By extension, I maintain that you cannot not yet known is framed and organized by a ceases to be the real other. To be seriously discuss postmodernism without a clear concept. By itself, a concept is an empty idea, committed to the other, then, that other has understanding of what modernity means. rational but with no connection to the real to remain untouched, inaccessible. world. An intuition without a concept is

Continued on page 6 4 CIRCA Wednesday Community Luncheons

April 28 Spring Quarter  Joseph L. Price, professor of religion at Whittier Community luncheons are held each College and director of Wednesday during the school year at the Divinity School’s 12:00 noon in Swift Common Room. Alumni Council, will They provide an opportunity for discuss “Conjuring Curses and Supplicating Divinity School students, faculty, Spirits: Baseball Culture and staff to gather to eat a student- of Superstition.” prepared meal and listen to a guest speaker. Lunches cost $4 at the door May 5 and must be reserved in advance by Mary Keys, assistant professor of govern- calling 773-702-8230 or e-mailing ment and international studies in the [email protected]. Department of Political Science at the University of Notre Dame and 2003–2004 April 7 senior research fellow in the Martin Marty Center, will discuss her research on humility “How to Teach Youth about Religion When and modernity. They Don’t Want to Learn.” Bill Geraci, technology coordinator for the Divinity School and former student of Sanskrit, will inquiry and emergent critical disciplines show a video of his presentation to seventh- in the seventeenth century. graders on artwork of the Hindu god Ganesh, and discuss why learning about other cultures/ Sarah Hammerschlag, Ph.D. student in religions is important. Philosophy of Religion, will discuss the intersections of nineteenth- and twentieth- April 14 century continental philosophy and the development of modern Judaism. Steven Levitt, Alvin H. Baum Professor in the Department of Patrick Hatcher, Ph.D. student in History Economics and the College of Religions, will discuss the conversion of and editor of the Journal of the Turkish tribes of Central Asia to Islam in Political Economy, will dis- the ninth and tenth centuries, with special cuss “Legalizing Abortion, attention to the Muslim notions of what Unwantedness, and the religious conversion consisted of at the time. May 12 Decline in Crime.” Garry Sparks, M.Div. student, will discuss Angeliki Tzanetou, assistant professor of April 21 the variety of Native American spiritual classics at Case Western Reserve University expressions, specifically among the highland and 2003–2004 scholar at the Joseph Student research presentations: Maya of Guatemala and Chiapas, Mexico. Regenstein Library and the University of Illinois, will discuss “Exile, Democracy, Geoff Chaplin, Ph.D. student in History These presentations will be repeated at the and Empire in Athenian Tragedy.” of Christianity, will discuss the relationship Divinity School Alumni Reunion on April 30 between traditional modes of theological (see page 6). May 19

Wayne Booth, George M. Pullman For calendar updates, please consult the Divinity School’s Web site Distinguished Service at http://divinity.uchicago.edu/whatsnew/wednesdays.html. Professor Emeritus in the Department of English Language and Literature, will discuss the relation- ship between religion and science.

May 26

Kaleem Malik, M.D., emergency physician and Secretary Tabligh of the Chicago chapter of the Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam, will discuss “Jesus in Islam.”

June 2

Cookout in Swift courtyard, featuring live music by the Whisky Hollow Bluegrass Band.

SPRING 2004 | 5 Spring Events

A Conversation in Divinity with Martha Nussbaum Religion and the Democratic Prospect Conference Thursday, April 1, at 5:30 p.m. Chicago Cultural Center, 78 East Washington Street, Southwest Meeting Room Thursday, May 6–Friday, May 7 Swift Hall “Global Justice and the Social Contract” by Martha C. Nussbaum, Ernst Freund Distinguished Service Professor Frank Benzoni, Larry Greenfield, Erik of Law and Ethics. The most influential model of social Owens, and Joe Pettit will deliver papers justice in the Western tradition is the idea of the social in this second conference on Religion and contract: “free, equal, and independent” people get the Democratic Prospect. The conference together and decide to leave the State of Nature, framing will take place on Thursday, May 6, from principles by which to live together, because it is mutually 2:00 to 5:00 p.m., followed by dinner, and advantageous to do so. Professor Nussbaum will argue that on Friday, May 7, from 9:00 a.m. until this model is an inadequate basis for principles of global 12:00 noon. All are welcome to attend. justice for the interdependent world in which we live, and See page 11 for more information. propose a new alternative. For calendar updates, check the Divinity School’s Conversations in Divinity, a quarterly series, is free and Web site at http://divinity.uchicago.edu/whatsnew/ open to the public. To register or for more information, please contact Molly Bartlett at events.html. To subscribe to “At the Divinity School,” our weekly electronic events calendar, please go to 773-702-8248 or [email protected]. https://listhost.uchicago.edu/mailman/listinfo/atds.

Divinity School Alumni Reunion

Thursday, April 29 Religion and Literature: Michael J. Murrin, Richard A. Rosengarten, and Registration. Selected Divinity School Anthony C. Yu Student Presentations classes will be open to alumni. Geoff Chaplin (History Lunch with Franz Bibfeldt of Christianity); Sarah Alumnus of the Year Lecture by R. Scott Students and faculty will join Hammerschlag (Philo- Appleby (see page 2 for more details), followed alumni for a lecture and lunch. sophy of Religion); Patrick by a reception in Swift Common Room. Faculty Panels, Continued Hatcher (History of Pub Night sponsored by the Divinity Religions); Garry Sparks Students Association. History of Religions: (M.Div. program). See Bruce Lincoln, Martin Riesebrodt, page 5 for more details. and Christian K. Wedemeyer Friday, April 30 Ethics: Franklin I. Gamwell and Cocktails and Dinner, followed by the State of the School Address by Dean Registration followed by morning and after- William Schweiker Richard A. Rosengarten. noon panels representing a number of the Administrative Conversations areas of study that structure the curriculum Saturday, May 1 and degree programs of the Divinity School. The M.A./Ph.D. Programs: Winnifred Fallers Sullivan Faculty Panels Breakfast with the Dean. Join Richard The Ministry Program: History of Christianity: Catherine A. Brekus A. Rosengarten for continental breakfast Cynthia Gano Lindner and conversation. and Susan Schreiner The Undergraduate Program in Religious New Testament: Hans-Josef Klauck, David Studies: Lucy K. Pick To register or for more information, please Martinez, and Margaret M. Mitchell go to http://divinity.uchicago.edu/alumni/ History of Judaism: Michael Fishbane and Evening Meeting with Alumni reunion, or contact Molly Bartlett at 773- James T. Robinson and Visiting Committee 702-8248 or [email protected].

Jean-Luc Marion Continued from page 4

These four basic cases of the saturated This is a principle of theology. So what do we of the saturated phenomenon are correct. If phenomenon, where the excess of intuition understand? It is not easy to answer this ques- they are, perhaps I may make a difference to makes the phenomenon impossible to trans- tion. We have to be careful about our ambition the interpretation of Augustine, particularly form into an object, have consequences for to understand God, because it is that very of his Confessions. the definition of the self, as well as for revela- ambition that makes God disappear. God is tion. My guess is that the very combination immediately downgraded to the level of a false CIRCA: What influence do you think your of these four kinds of saturated phenomena name imposed upon a human representation. work will have on the way people read such gives us the concept of the non-objective phe- I am concerned with how to bridge the gap texts? nomenon par excellence—that is, revelation. between what faith is supposed to assume and what mind is supposed to understand. J-L M: My hope is that the question of CIRCA: Where does God fit into your work? phenomenality will be disconnected once CIRCA: Your current work focuses on and for all from the question of objectivity. J-L M: I’ve devoted time in my books to the Augustine. Would you tell us a little about It is perfectly fair and right for philosophy to theme of the unknowability of God (The Idol this project? build an epistemology dealing with objects, and Distance, Prolegomena to Charity, God but a large part of the human experience without Being). It is crucial to recognize that J-L M: I want to reread the Confessions in order does not deal with objects, and we cannot, we cannot fully and really understand God. to verify whether or not the previous views and should not, assume that this part is

Continued on back page 6 CIRCA Marty “The Martin Marty Center builds on a long-standing conviction of the Divinity School that the best and most innovative scholarship Center in religion emerges from sustained dialogue with the wider society. In all of its projects, the Marty Center ought to serve as a robust ‘circulatory system’ that strengthens and extends scholarly News and inquiry by moving it through faculty, student, and public bodies Events of deliberation.” — W. Clark Gilpin, Director of the Marty Center Marty Center Fellowship Programs

Endowing the Marty Dissertation Seminar

For several decades, the Divinity School has sponsored a seminar to support dissertation research.

Students selected to participate in this pro- gram receive funding for a year and meet reg- ularly, under the guidance of a faculty mem- ber, to share their work in progress. These meetings are designed to generate careful and insightful scholarship that deploys conceptual tools and interpretive methods to advance thought within a discipline in the study of religion, and to provoke new work at the intersection of disciplines. The 2004 Brauer Seminar Since its inception in 1998, the Marty Center has continued this tradition, but in so doing has amplified the program to require This winter quarter, Paul Mendes-Flohr, professor of modern Jewish students to teach a course at a local college or university, under the guidance of a faculty thought, and William Schweiker, professor of theological ethics, led member at that institution. The purpose of this requirement is to help students “step the Brauer Seminar, an annual interdisciplinary dialogue in the back” from the immediacies of specialized research to ask themselves how that research academic study of religion established in 1991 through the generosity will contribute to the institutions and the society in which they will pursue their schol- of friends of the late Jerald C. Brauer, the political concerns. By means of critical arly vocations. Seminar alumni describe the Naomi Shenstone Donnelley Professor inquiry, the seminar also sought to outline experience as having a seminal impact on Emeritus of the History of Christianity and a constructive religious humanism attentive their careers. former dean of the Divinity School. Entitled to the demands of the current world situation. For the past three years, the Marty Center’s “The Religious Quest for the Human: Jewish Each year up to ten students from the dissertation seminar has been funded by the and Christian Reflections,” this year’s semi- Divinity School and Humanities Division Henry Luce Foundation, which recently took nar explored a range of post-Enlightenment are awarded a stipend of $1,000 to support the unusual step of extending the grant for thinkers, representing principally, but not their participation in the Brauer Seminar. two years. In so doing, the Foundation has exclusively, various expressions of the Jewish These students are encouraged to pursue a urged the Divinity School to seek funding and Christian traditions as well as contempo- research project related to the seminar topic that would endow the seminar to ensure that rary philosophical positions, who reinterpret and to present this at one of the seminar it is a permanent part of the Center. Marty classic claims about human freedom, dignity, sessions. Participating in this year’s seminar Center board member John Colman and his and responsibility. The seminar considered were Ryan Coyne (Theology), Courtney wife, Jane, recently pledged a challenge gift what contributions these thinkers might Fitzsimmons (Theology), Chad Herring of $750,000 toward a goal of $2.25 million. make in fostering humane concern within (Ethics), Jeffrey Israel (Ethics), Leigh Janiak The timeline to reach this goal is calendar the religious traditions in order to secure the (M.A. program), Michael Johnson (Ethics), year 2004. The Colman’s generous pledge image of God in the world, and strove to Michael Kraftson-Hogue (Ethics), Santiago will be the centerpiece of Divinity School bring positions into dialogue determined not Piñón (Theology), Maria Rethelyi (Committee fundraising for the year because it so directly by consideration of interfaith understanding, on Jewish Studies), and Sandra Sullivan links the institution’s core values with its but rather through a set of shared moral and (Ethics). ❑ critical need for student financial support. ❑

SPRING 2004 | 7 Marty Center Publications

Sightings

ecent columns in “Sightings,” the Marty Center’s twice-weekly electronic edito- rial that addresses issues concerning religion in the public realm, have covered R such topics as Kwanzaa, religion and the 2004 presidential race, Hispanics in the U.S. Catholic church, violence in Mel Gibson’s film The Passion, and religion and the question of “gay marriage,” to name only a few. Our September 24, 2003, column, “Cracking the Da Vinci Code” elicited our most significant response to date, and was reprinted and distributed in a variety of SIGHTINGS newsletters, book clubs, and church groups. We reprint this column by Margaret M. Mitchell, associate profes- For “Sightings”onThe Passion, sor of New Testament and early Christian literature, see http://divinity.uchicago below, to give those of you unfamiliar with “Sightings” .edu/whatsnew/sightings_ archive_topic/passion.html. a sense of its character. Those interested in subscribing or contributing to the editorial should e-mail its managing editor, Elizabeth Alvarez,

at [email protected]. To access the “Sightings” archive, please go to http://marty-center.uchicago .edu/sightings/index.shtml.

Cracking the Da Vinci Code By Margaret M. Mitchell

esieged by requests for my reaction to Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code Gray Areas: (Doubleday, 2003), I finally decided to sit down and read it over the “The vestiges of pagan religion in Christian weekend. It was a quick romp, largely fun to read, if rather predictable symbology are undeniable” (p. 232), but B that does not mean “Nothing in Christianity and preachy. This is a good airplane book, a novelistic thriller that presents a is original.” The relationship between early rummage sale of accurate historical nuggets alongside falsehoods and mislead- Christianity and the world around it, the ways in which it was culturally embedded ing statements. The bottom line: the book should come coded for “black light,” in that world, sometimes unreflectively, sometimes reflexively, sometimes in deliberate like the pen used by the character Sauniere to record his dying words, so that accommodation, sometimes in deliberate readers could scan pages to see which “facts” are trustworthy and which patently cooptation, is far more complicated than the simplistic myth of Constantine’s Stalin- not, and (if a black light could do this!) highlight the gray areas where complex esque program of cultural totalitarianism. Further, Constantine’s religious life— issues are misrepresented and distorted. whether, when, how, and by what definition he was Christian and/or “pagan”—is a Patently Inaccurate: much-debated issue because the literary and non-literary sources (such as coins) are not In his own lifetime Jesus “inspired millions consistent. That Constantine the emperor to better lives” (p. 231); there were “more had “political” motives (p. 234) is hardly than eighty gospels” (p. 231; the number is news to anyone! The question is how religion factual-sounding, but has no basis); “the ear- and politics (which cannot be separated in liest Christian records” were found among the ancient world) were interrelated in him. the Dead Sea Scrolls (including gospels) and Nag Hammadi texts (pp. 234, 245); the Nag Hammadi texts “speak of Christ’s ministry in very human terms” (p. 234); the marriage Brown presumes “the Church” of Mary Magdalene and Jesus is “a matter of historical record” (p. 244); Constantine is “the Holy Roman Catholic invented the divinity of Jesus and excluded Church,” which he thinks had all gospels but the four canonical ones; Constantine made Christianity “the official tremendous power always and religion” of the Roman Empire (p. 232); Constantine coined the term “heretic” everywhere, but ecclesiastical (p. 234); “Rome’s official religion was sun worship” (p. 232). There are more. history is a lot messier.

8 CIRCA M

Right: In the May forum, Salomon will discuss British attempts to reform Islamic structures of authority in Sudan in the early years of the Anglo-Egyptian occupation. (Photo of government offices in Wad Medani, Sudan, c. 1910).

He is as hard to figure out on this score as Henry VIII, Osama bin Laden, Tammy Fay Baker and George W. Bush. Brown has turned one of history’s most fascinating figures into a cartoonish villain. “Paganism” is treated throughout The Da Vinci Code as though it were a unified phenomenon, which it was not (“pagan” just being the Christian term for “non-Christian”). The religions of the Mediterranean world were multiple and diverse, and cannot all be boiled down to “sun-worshippers” (p. 232). The Religion and Culture Web Forum Nor did all “pagans” frequently, eagerly, and with mystical intent participate in the hieros gamos (ritual sex acts). “The Church” he Religion and Culture Web Forum (http://marty-center.uchicago is also used throughout the book as though it had a clear, uniform, and unitary referent. .edu/webforum/index.shtml), the Marty Center’s online forum for For early Christian history this is precisely thought-provoking discussion on the relationship of scholarship in what we do not have; what we do have is T a much more complex, varied, and localized religion to culture and public life, continues in its second year to reflect current phenomenon. Brown presumes “the Church” is “the Holy Roman Catholic Church,” research by Divinity School faculty. In an attempt to broaden both its contri- which he thinks had tremendous power bution and subscription base, the Forum has begun opening itself to the work always and everywhere, but ecclesiastical history is a lot messier. of Divinity School students and alumni, as well as to Marty Center fellows. Brown propagates the full-dress conspiracy theory for Vatican suppression In February, Brekus compared the modern-day of women. Feminist scholars and others practice of “journaling,” promoted by cultural have been debating different models of figures such as Oprah Winfrey, with early the “patriarchalization” of Christianity for American devotional writing. decades. Elisabeth Schuessler Fiorenza’s landmark work, In Memory of Her (1983), 1898–1914” in May, and Mary Keys, a argued that while Jesus and Paul (on his senior fellow this year in the Marty Center better days) were actually pretty much from the University of Notre Dame, will pro-women, it was the next generations contribute an as yet untitled commentary (the authors of letters in Paul’s name, like in June. The Forum will take a break during 1 and 2 Timothy and others) who betrayed July and August, when most of our contrib- their feminist agenda and sold out to the utors and subscribers are on vacation, resuming Aristotelian, patriarchal vision of Greco- on September 1. Roman society. Others (unfortunately) sought In anticipation of the 2004–2005 academic to blame the misogyny on the Jewish roots year, we would like to encourage readers of of Christianity. More recently it has been Circa who have an affiliation with the Divinity argued that the picture is more mixed, even School to submit their work to the Web for Jesus and Paul. That is, they may have Catherine A. Brekus, associate professor been more liberal than many of their con- Forum. Those interested should e-mail the temporaries about women, but they were of the History of Christianity, contributed Forum’s managing editor, Seth Perry, at not all-out radicals, though they had ideas “A Historical Perspective on Journaling” to [email protected]. Submissions should (such as Gal. 3:28) that were even more the February forum; M. Cathleen Kaveny, not exceed 5,000 words in length, excluding revolutionary than they realized (in both a senior fellow last year in the Marty Center footnotes. They should be accompanied by a senses of the term). Alas, no simple story here. from the University of Notre Dame, con- brief cover letter explaining the essay and the And while obsessing over Mary Magdalene, tributed “Complicity and Moral Memory” author’s relationship to the Divinity School. The Da Vinci Code ignores completely the to the March forum; and The submission deadline rise and incredible durability and power James T. Robinson, assistant for 2004–2005 is July 15, of the other Mary, the mother of Jesus, professor of the History 2004, at which time essays and devotion to her, which follows many of Judaism, contributed will be evaluated by commit- patterns of “goddess” veneration (she even “Science in Medieval tee. Authors will be notified gets Athena’s Parthenon dedicated to her Jewish Commentaries on of the committee’s recom- in the sixth century). the Bible” to the April mendations in the fall. ❑ forum. Noah Salomon, This list is just a sample. A “black light” In April, Robinson exam- edition of The Da Vinci Code would, how- a Ph.D. student in the ines the significance of ever, be unnecessary if readers would simply History of Religions will philosophical and scientific take the book as fiction. But there is an contribute “Undoing content in the work of obstacle: the first page of the book reads, the Mahdiya: British medieval Jewish biblical under the bold print headline, “Fact”: Colonialism as Religious commentators, such as “all descriptions of . . . documents, and Reform in the Anglo- Moses Maimonides secret rituals in this novel are accurate.” ❑ Egyptian Sudan, (featured left).

SPRING 2004 | 9 Marty Center Conferences

Gershom Scholem’s Poetry and Scholarship

ne of the pioneers of twentieth-century scholarship in Israel, Gershom Scholem put Judaism and mysticism on the academic Omap worldwide. Before he began his studies, many considered Jewish mysticism to be nothing more than an obscure superstition. In his major works, Scholem illuminated Kabbalah from its origins, showing that it emerged as an intellectually complex and spiritually creative response to the mystery, or even the absence, of God. But in his private poetry, he questioned and reflect- ed on his scholarship and his quest for God.

Scholem’s scholarship, featuring papers by Menachem Brinker (University of Chicago), Antony David (private scholar, Tucson, Arizona), and Ben Lazier (University of Chicago), chaired by Bernard Wasserstein (University of Chicago). While Scholem did not address mysti- cism directly in his poems, the conference revealed a deep and difficult theme uniting his poetry and his scholarship. “Scholem was engaged in a mysticism that claims that when God created the world he created a void,” explains Mendes-Flohr, “a void in Himself and in the cosmos, in order to partake in creation. And that void remains with us, and is the great riddle of the creation and the divine presence, which is manifested through its absence.” According to Mendes- Flohr, “in this way Scholem’s mysticism connects to his poetry and to the paradoxical way that language expresses and yet doesn’t, at the same time.” Last year, his poetry was collected for the by a session of readings from The Fullness Sponsored by the University of Chicago’s first time and published as The Fullness of of Time, with selections from the English Committee on Jewish Studies, Divinity Time (Ibis Editions, 2003), and on February translation presented by Peter Cole and School, Department of Music, Franke Institute 1 and 2, 2004, Paul Mendes-Flohr, profes- selections from the original German pre- for the Humanities, Division of Humanities, sor of modern Jewish thought, convened sented by Berthold Hoeckner (University and Center for Interdisciplinary Research a conference to reflect on its significance. of Chicago), chaired by Philip Bohlman on German Literature and Culture, the The conference opened Sunday evening (University of Chicago). The conference conference attracted a large audience from with a musical performance by members concluded with an afternoon session on across the University and city of Chicago. ❑ of the New Budapest Orpheum Society. On Monday morning, a session was held on Scholem’s poetry, featuring papers by The Scholarship and Teaching Peter Cole (Ibis Editions, Jerusalem) and Steven Wasserstrom (Reed College), chaired of Joel Kraemer by Paul Mendes-Flohr. This was followed

New Budapest Orpheum Society with Philip Bohlman he Divinity School is finalizing arrange- ments for an autumn-quarter conference to be T held in October 2004 to honor the scholar- ship and teaching of Joel Kraemer on the occasion of his retirement. Kraemer, John Henry Barrows Professor Emeritus of Jewish Studies, retired from teaching last spring. The theme of the conference will be “The Two Gentlemen of Cordova: Averroës, Maimonides, and the Transmission of the Classical Heritage.” Speakers will include Bernard McGinn and Paul Mendes-Flohr from the Divinity School, and such visitors as Barry Kogan (Hebrew Union College, Cincinnati) and Alfred Ivry (New York University). Details are forthcoming in the fall issue of Circa.

10 CIRCA Marty Center Research Projects

innovative Great Start marriage preparation Conclusion of the Religion, Culture program, adapted for the project by Dr. and Family Project Robert Cueni of Kansas City, Missouri. Throughout its history, the project has harnessed the talents and energies of a number of Divinity School students, he Religion, Culture and Family Project (RCF) officially concluded including Kelly Brotzman, David Clairmont, on December 31, 2003, after twelve years of hard work. Funded by Ian Evison, Christy Green, Josh Heikkila, Elizabeth Marquardt, Melanie O’Hara, and a series of three generous grants from Lilly Endowment, Inc., and John Wall. The RCF staff was aided in its T work by an advisory directed by Don Browning, Alexander Campbell Professor Emeritus of council, which consist- Ethics and the Social Sciences, the project sought to address the contemporary ed of University of Chicago Professors situation of American families from a range of theological, historical, legal, Anne Carr, Bertram biblical, and cultural perspectives. Cohler, and Linda Waite, as well as by Cynthia Jurisson public life, and various (Lutheran School of professions, such as law, Theology at Chicago) therapy, medicine, and and Dennis McCann ministry. (Agnes Scott College). In 1999, RCF was In the past twelve years, RCF staff and awarded its third and final contributing authors have provided a scholarly grant from Lilly Endowment, source for the American conversation about Inc., for the purpose of families and the role of religion, especially bringing the research findings Christianity, in shaping and helping families. of the project to a wider The project has influenced many external audience. Three central research documents; countless churches and dissemination initiatives are denominations have made use of its materials; currently under way. First, and government and public policy discussions the project sponsored the have used its resources. The RCF Web site, Awarded in 1991, the first Lilly grant production of a PBS video documentary http://divinity.uchicago.edu/family/, which provided funding for the production of and accompanying book, “Marriage: Just will be posted and updated for one more a series of twelve books, published by a Piece of Paper?” which aired nationally year, contains information about the pro- Westminster John Knox and Cambridge on February 14, 2002. Second, the project ject, its two series (Westminster John Knox University presses. To foster interaction is sponsoring an adaptation of a highly suc- and Eerdmans), its partnerships, its PBS between the various book projects, major cessful curriculum for high school students documentary (“Marriage: Just a Piece of project authors and editors met annually by Kamper Curricula. Third, the project is Paper?”), and its twenty books published ❑ from 1991 to 1995 to present and mutually currently sponsoring presentations of the or in press. critique their ongoing work. During that time, a project office was established at the Divinity School, under the supervision of Don Browning and a project coordinator. Religion and the In 1995, the project initiated a series Democratic Prospect of conferences designed to disseminate its research findings to religious and secular leaders concerned about family issues. That year it invited several prominent religious n February 12 and 13, the project news writers to a consultation by project on Religion and the Democratic authors on “what the public needs to know” about RCF research. In September 1996, Prospect held a discussion of the RCF sponsored a major national confer- O book Religious Freedom and the Neutrality of ence, entitled “Religion and the American Family Debate: Deeper Understandings, the State: The Position of Islam in the Euro- New Directions,” in which project authors discussed their work with over two hundred pean Union, edited by W.A.R. Shadid and P.S. pastors, scholars, and leaders of family insti- van Koningsveld (Peeters, 2002). On May 6 tutes. Project authors have since presented their work in a variety of academic and and 7, it will host a conference featuring papers by Larry Greenfield, “Democracy pastoral contexts, and met with several smaller groups to discuss their work and as Conversation”; Joe Pettit, “When Ideals Collide: Reconsidering the Debate its possible future shape. Over Slavery Reparations”; Erik Owens, “Religion, Demo- In 1997, the project was awarded a second grant from Lilly Endowment, Inc., cracy and Civic Education in American Public Schools”; to explore the possibility of a further series and Frank Benzoni, “Ecology, Democracy, and the of books, some already published and others forthcoming, from William B. Eerdmans Good.” Check the Marty Center’s Web site for more Press, along with other conferences, lectures, and further dissemination initiatives. These details at http://marty-center.uchicago.edu. new books examine the relationship between religion, American family culture, American

SPRING 2004 | 11 Letter from the Dean Continued from page 2

The challenge, it seems to me, is to offer connection of scholarship with the common- some overarching account of what it means weal is the connecting thread of our most to study religion today. In this respect, the The challenge of the new innovative research: to name only a few survey reflects the quite glorious diversity that examples, in American religious history is one of the hallmark strengths of the Ameri- century is to live up to our (William Warren Sweet, Sidney Mead, can system of higher education: much of what forebears, and to do so in Martin E. Marty), in the history of religions counts as religion is studied in colleges and (Joachim Wach, Mircea Eliade, Joseph universities here. That is all to the good. At ways that will inform a Kitagawa), in theology in its interaction the same time, it is a challenge to generalize with culture (George Burman Foster, Shailer about such study across the juxtaposition of commonweal that is, in a Mathews, Paul Tillich, Paul Ricoeur, David the central sacred text of the Christian tradi- Tracy), and in innovative interdisciplinary tion and the religions of the world. Here again first and primary instance, programs (religion and literature, religion and the survey’s understandable lack of data con- the undergraduate classroom. psychological studies). The challenge of the cerning what I earlier termed the how of the new century is to live up to our forebears, study of religion becomes paramount. We and to do so in ways that will inform a need to understand better, and ever more offered a series of distinctive answers about commonweal that is, in a first and primary searchingly, how we answer—at least in prac- what integrates our work, always rooted in instance, the undergraduate classroom. Our tice, and better still in theory—the question the common denominator of scholarship on graduates must bring to bear a real breadth of what orients our work, and what role spe- religion that is ever parsed through recourse of understanding about religion, and a depth cific religious traditions play in that orientation. to the highest standards of argument and of knowledge of a particular tradition, to A question on which there is no decided evidence. This was William Rainey Harper’s their teaching. Responsible citizenship, to consensus at the present time, it is nonethe- vision: the ideal of a true research university say nothing of membership in the human less crucial to our understanding of what it that would be the repository of fundamental community, will require nothing less than is that we do. values that inform democracy for America our absolute best in this regard. ❑ Over the years, the Divinity School has and, eventually, the world. Harper’s declared

Jean-Luc Marion Continued from page 6 irrational. So we need to seek out the ratio- of dividing my time between Chicago and J-L M: The book was fun to read. It gave nality of the non-objective part of our expe- Paris, and feel lucky to be able to do so. me some insight into John Nuveen, Sr., one rience. To do that, we have to admit that As for my impression of students in Chicago of the founding trustees of the University there are phenomena that are quite sound, as compared with Paris, I would say the of Chicago, and his son, John Nuveen, Jr., consistent, with a variety of rules, which difference lies in the education systems. the person after whom my chair is named. nevertheless cannot be defined as objects. It When you teach a class in France and ask if I particularly enjoyed one of the stories in is not up to me to say whether my work will there are questions, students keep silent: they the book about the latter. A good Baptist have a positive or a negative influence, but think that if they have a question it is because who drank no alcohol, John Nuveen, Jr., I hope it will have momentum. they have not understood the lecture and returned from a trip to Europe, where he therefore need to do more work. In America, was sent after World War II to enforce the CIRCA: You have spent the last several students are much more reactive. They are Marshall Plan, drinking wine! He explained springs in Chicago as a visiting professor. not afraid to challenge the teacher, to ask that while in Greece, he discovered that What impressions do you have of the students questions. There are benefits and disadvan- very decent people—people of faith— here, and how do you compare faculty life tages to both systems, I think. If I were to drank wine, yet never became drunk. He in Paris and Chicago? point out a general shortcoming of American concluded that it must be possible to be students, it would be their lack of proficiency a good Baptist and drink wine. This logic J-L M: Faculty life in Chicago is the oppo- in foreign languages (German, Latin, or seems very wise to me! site of faculty life in Paris. Here we are on Greek), and this can be an impediment I also learned that it was upon his return a campus, in Hyde Park, where there is not to teaching. from Europe that Nuveen, Jr., endowed much to do but work. Paris, on the other a chair for Paul Tillich at the Divinity hand, is a big city, filled with distractions. CIRCA: I understand that you’ve had a School. It is this chair that I inherit. I am There I find that I am always under pressure. chance to read Jerald Brauer’s biography of very proud to succeed Tillich in this honor There are many people to see, so it is not at John Nuveen. Is there anything about his life and to be a part of the Divinity School all conducive to writing. I enjoy the balance that particularly interests or impresses you? and its fine traditions. ❑

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