James Alison On Christianity
The Dishcast with Andrew Sullivan
Andrew Sullivan
4.6 • 836 Ratings
🗓️ 17 March 2023
⏱️ 53 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
James is a Roman Catholic priest, theologian and writer. His life’s work has been the application of the thought of René Girard — the French theoretician of desire and violence — to the understanding of basic Christianity. He has also stood up for truthfulness about gays and lesbians in the life of the Church; and has been a good friend for many years. Among his many books are The Joy of Being Wrong, Faith Beyond Resentment: Fragments Catholic and Gay, and Jesus the Forgiving Victim — an introduction to the Christian faith. One of my current projects is a book on Christianity and its future; and James has been a big influence on my thinking. We range a lot here.
For two clips of our convo — on an exasperated but loving God, and the evolutionary role of homosexuality — pop over to our YouTube page. Other topics: the deep Etonian background of James and his family; his Tory MP father; his evangelical mother who believed in conspiracy theories; young James realizing he was gay and believing God rejected him for it; Lord Montagu and the decriminalization of homosexuality in 1967; Kameny’s role in the US; how childhood alienation can be a creative spark; James at age 12 falling in love with a Catholic boy; his conversion to Catholicism without becoming a reactionary; Original Sin; the depressing parts of the Old Testament; the passages of love in the New Testament; Augustinian teleology debunked by Darwin; the views of Socrates, Buddhism, Aquinas and Luther; collective guilt over slavery; Catholic vs. Protestant colonialism; James adopting a Brazilian child; the AIDS crisis; and political topics like Brexit, Trump and the coup in Peru.
Browse the Dishcast archives for a discussion you might enjoy (the first 102 episodes are free in their entirety).
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | The Hey there. Welcome to the dishcast. |
| 0:32.0 | This week, thank God I am feeling fine. |
| 0:36.4 | No more sicknesses. My guest this week, whom I I am feeling fine. No more sicknesses. |
| 0:38.6 | My guest this week, whom I've known for a while |
| 0:41.4 | and have found to be an extraordinary exemplar |
| 0:46.2 | of what it is to grapple with |
| 0:49.7 | and to attempt to live by the life and work of Jesus of Nazareth. He says in a rather pious |
| 0:59.0 | term, but I just mean that as simply as possible, because James Allison, who's a Roman Catholic |
| 1:05.4 | priest, has helped me better understand the centrality of that simple message of Christianity. |
| 1:14.5 | And that's why I wanted to bring him on today to talk about what Christianity is, |
| 1:18.7 | what it's been for him, how he's struggled, and how he has endured. |
| 1:23.9 | He's a Catholic theologian, priest, and writer. |
| 1:30.1 | And his life's work has been the application of the thought of the French theoretion of desire and violence, René Girard, |
| 1:35.7 | to the understanding of basic Christianity. Fuelled by this, he's attempted to stand up for |
| 1:42.3 | truthfulness concerning matters gay and lesbian |
| 1:46.1 | in the life of the church. He's the author of many books, including The Joy of Being Wrong, |
| 1:53.3 | something that would certainly definitely resonate with me, Faith Beyond Resentment, |
| 1:58.8 | another book that just really did strike something deep within me, |
| 2:04.2 | and the introduction to the Christian faith for adults, which he calls Jesus the forgiving victim. |
| 2:12.1 | James, thanks so much for joining me. |
| 2:15.1 | You're in Madrid right now. |
| 2:19.6 | I'm in Madrid, and well, thank you for having me. It's you're in Madrid right now. I'm in Madrid and well thank you for having me. |
... |
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