How Dante Can Save your Life
Rod Dreher
The American Conservative
Date: April 23, 2015
Co-sponsored with听The Church in the 21st Century Center.
Abstract
In this book event, journalist and blogger Rod Dreher will discuss his latest book,听. The book is meant for those who find themselves untethered and lost in the modern world. Dreher reveals Dante's penetrating (but often hidden) spiritual, moral, and psychological insights, and shows how these ideas can be used to rise above misery and confusion to happiness and peace.
As Dreher writes in the book鈥檚 introduction: 鈥淭his medieval masterpiece, perhaps the greatest poem ever written, reached me when I thought I was unreachable, and lit the way out of a dark wood of depression, confusion, and a stress-related autoimmune disease that, had it persisted, would have dangerously degraded my health. Dante helped me understand the mistakes and mistaken beliefs that brought me to this dead end. He showed me that I had the power to change, and revealed to me how to do so. Most important of all, the poet gave me a renewed vision of life.鈥�
Speaker Bio
Rod Dreher听is a writer, editor and blogger, who currently writes a regular blog for听The American Conservative. He is most recently the author of听How Dante Can Save your Life. Earlier books include:听The Little Way of Ruthie Leming听(2010), about his childhood home of St. Francisville, LA, and his sister鈥檚 battle with cancer; and听Crunchy Cons听(2006), about a growing "conservative counterculture" movement that stands outside the GOP mainstream. Previously Dreher worked as the director of publications for the John Templeton Foundation, and as a columnist and editorial writer for听Dallas Morning News听from 2003 to 2010. His writings have appeared in such publications as the听National Review,听Weekly Standard, and听Wall Street Journal, and he has contributed commentaries to NPR鈥檚听All Things Considered听as well as several television networks. He holds a B.A. in Journalism from Louisiana State University.
Event Photos
Rod Dreher discusses his book "How Dante Can Save Your Life" on April 23, 2015.
Rod Dreher and Erik Owens discuss Dreher's book in a Q&A session following his remarks.
Rod Dreher speaks with Rev. Robert P. Imbelli of 51茶馆's Theology Department. (Photos by MTS Photography)
Event Recap
For the final event of the semester, author and blogger Rod Dreher returned to the Boisi Center to promote his new book,听How Dante Can Save Your Life: The Life-Saving Wisdom of History鈥檚 Greatest Poem. Speaking in Fulton 511 on April 23, Dreher began with the caveat that鈥╤e came to Dante鈥檚听Divine Comedy听as a witness, not a scholar. In a captivating personal account of his theological, philosophical and emotional journey,鈥╤e explained how the epic poem had鈥╝ profound healing effect after he had found himself at a personal crossroads not unlike that of Dante himself.
Drawing parallels between his own life and the poem, Dreher explained how Dante鈥檚 conception of sin as disordered love helped him reconcile with his estranged family and lift himself out of depression. He believes God was working through Dante to heal him, but noted that the poem鈥檚 penetrating psychological insights make it relevant to secular audiences too. He then fielded questions both personal and theological from the audience; he later tweeted that 51茶馆鈥檚 audience asked the best questions of the entire book tour. Following the event, many bought copies of the book and stayed to chat with Dreher as he signed his newest work.
Casey advises diplomats that religion is expressed in a multitude of forms by a vast array of actors, and that it is best to look at how religion is actually practiced, not simply how it is presented in texts. Religion has the potential to inspire great violence but also great good, he said, so an informed and nuanced perspective is crucial.
Through these efforts Casey鈥檚 office has engaged with projects ranging from the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations to climate change, from Iraq to Cuba, and from Muslim engagement to combating global anti-Semitism.
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Further Reading
By Rod Dreher
Rod Dreher,听听(New York: Regan Arts, 2015).
Rod Dreher, 鈥�,鈥澨�American Conservative,听April 9, 2014.
Rod Dreher, 鈥溾�澨�Wall Street Journal,听April 18, 2014.
Dante Texts
Robert and Jean Hollander, trans.,听The Divine Comedy:听,听,听听(New York: Anchor Books, 2002, 2004, 2008).
Mark Musa, ed.,听听(New York: Penguin Classics, 2003).
Other Works
Erich Auerbach,听听(New York: New York Review Books, 2007).
Peter S. Hawkins,听听(Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1999).
Richard Lansing, ed.,听听(New York: Routledge, 2010).
Peter J. Leithart,听听(Moscow, ID: Canon Press, 2001).
Louis Markos,听听(Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2013).
Giuseppe Mazzotta,听听(New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2014).
Christian Moevs,听听(New York: Oxford University Press, 2005).
Barbara Reynolds,听听(London: I.B. Tauris, 2006).
Harriet Rubin,听听(New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005).
Prue Shaw,听听(New York: Liveright, 2014).
Charles Williams,听听(Berkeley, CA: The Apocryphile Press, 2005).
A.N. Wilson,听听(New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011).