Templeton Prizewinning Author, Theologian Michael Novak to Speak at Belmont Abbey College September 23.
Renowned author and theologian Michael Novak will speak at Belmont Abbey College (www.BelmontAbbeyCollege.edu) at 7:45 p.m. on Tuesday, September 23, in the Basilica, followed by a book-signing in Holy Grounds, the college coffee shop. The talk is open to the public and free of charge. It is sponsored by Belmont Abbey College’s Bradley Institute for the Study of Christian Culture (www.BradleyInstitute.org).
The topic of his talk will be taken from his latest book: No One Sees God: The Dark Night of Atheists and Believers, which was released in August. Recent writings by the “new atheists” (including Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens) spurred Novak to write this book as a new approach to dialogue between believers and unbelievers, based on what we share in common, namely, our reason and our experience of ourselves and the world around us.
All of us, of whatever religion or lack thereof, at some point in our lives experience a common darkness, personal experience which causes us to cry out, “Why, God, if you are out there?”, and the difference between belief in God and unbelief is how we come to understand this fearsome “night.” Mr. Novak in his new book directly confronts the arguments of atheism, beginning with nihilism and relativism, then proceeding step-by-step to think about suffering, evil, and other fundamental questions about the nature and destiny of human beings.
Along the way, he confronts the complicated reality of each individual’s struggle with doubt. As he writes in the introduction, “The line of belief and unbelief is not drawn between one person and another, normally, but rather down the inner souls of all of us. That is why the very question [of whether there is a God] stirs so much passion.” Yet, he says, “Our intellects, our will – these can reach out to God, like arrows of inquiry shot up into the infinite night. These are not shot in vain.”
Mr. Novak applies his intellect to draw conclusions for life from such topics as:
- How can some people experience this “nothingness,” people such as Mother Teresa, and not only still “believe” in God, but “know”?
- What four moral virtues seem to enable people to forge strength from their experience of nothingness, these dark nights of suffering we all face in our lives?
- What can we learn about God from the lives and deaths of those who suffered in the gulags and concentration camps of the 20th century?
- If, as he writes, “you cannot see God, even if you try,” whom can you see and what does this mean? What does this darkness really signify?
- Why is his last chapter titled, “The End of the Secularist Age”, and what does he see as the role of Judaism and Christianity in our modern secular humanist culture?
Mr. Novak received the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion (a million-dollar purse awarded at Buckingham Palace) in 1994, an award that has also gone to Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Mother Teresa. Among his other many honors are the International Prize by the Institution for World Capitalism (which he received with Milton Friedman and Vaclav Klaus) and the Antony Fisher Prize for his book, The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism, which was presented by Margaret Thatcher. This masterpiece has been reprinted often in Latin America, and was published underground in Poland in 1984. One reviewer called it, “one of those rare books that actually changed the world.”
Mr. Novak served as Ambassador for the US Delegation to the UN Human Rights Commission in Geneva (1981-82) and the head of the US Delegation to the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (1986). He has served the United States in various governmental capacities during both Democratic and Republican administrations since 1974.
He has taught at Harvard and Stanford and has held academic chairs at Syracuse University and Notre Dame. Mr. Novak currently holds the George Frederick Jewett Chair in Religion and Public Policy at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C., where he is Director of Social and Political Studies.
Mr. Novak’s writings have appeared in every major Western language, and in Bengali, Korean and Japanese. He has written two novels, numerous essays and reviews which have appeared in such journals as Commentary, The New Republic, National Review, Harper’s, and First Things, and over two dozen influential books on history, religion, philosophy, and culture, including: The Open Church (1964), Moral Clarity in the Nuclear Age (1983), The Catholic Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1993), The Joy of Sports (1976, 1994), Business as a Calling (1996), Tell Me Why: A Father Answers His Daughter’s Questions About God (1998, with his daughter Jana), On Cultivating Liberty (1999), On Two Wings: Humble Faith and Common Sense at the American Founding (2001), The Universal Hunger for Liberty: Why the Clash of Civilizations Is Not Inevitable (2004), and Washington's God (2006, with his daughter Jana).
For more information, contact Dr. Robert Preston, Executive Director of the Bradley Institute for the Study of Christian Culture at (704) 461-6238.
About the Bradley Institute:The Bradley Institute for the Study of Christian Culture at Belmont Abbey College was founded in June 1996. Sponsored by Belmont Abbey College, the Institute supports the mission of the college by fostering an understanding of the Catholic Intellectual Heritage and by advancing the truths of Christian thought and an appreciation of their unique impact upon the development of Western culture. These opportunities for the exchange of ideas, experiences, problems, concerns, and remedies will positively affect and influence both the personal and professional lives of the Institute's participants. The work of the Institute is of particular importance at this time since the Christian culture that has nourished our civilization for many centuries is nowadays under attack.
About Belmont Abbey College: Named one of the top 50 “All-American Colleges” by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI), Belmont Abbey College finds its center in Jesus Christ and believes in the development of the whole person – mind, body and spirit.
The College’s mission statement:
“Our mission is to educate students in the liberal arts and sciences so that in all things God may be glorified. In this endeavor, we are guided by the Catholic intellectual tradition and the Benedictine spirit of prayer and learning. Exemplifying Benedictine hospitality, we welcome a diverse body of students and provide them with an education that will enable them to lead lives of integrity, to succeed professionally, to become responsible citizens, and to be a blessing to themselves and to others.”
Founded in 1876, the College is home to more than 1,400 students from 29 states and 24 countries. The campus is situated on the 650-acre picturesque monastic property of Belmont Abbey. Located just 10 miles west of Charlotte, N.C., it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. For more information, please visit the College’s website at www.belmontabbeycollege.edu. |
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