Comments on: Remi Brague: The North American Tour 2012

By: JK

JK — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 18:17:15 +0000

An other fascinating lecture given by Brague at the Catholic University of America called “The Failure of the modern project” : http://video.cua.edu/ACADEMICS/PHIL/lecturesFALL10.cfm

It is breathtaking…

By: MONDAY GOD & CAESAR EDITION | Big Pulpit

MONDAY GOD & CAESAR EDITION | Big Pulpit — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 14:29:07 +0000

[...] Remi Brague: The North American Tour – John Presnall, First Things [...]

By: Dwight Lindley

Dwight Lindley — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 18:11:42 +0000

Thanks for this post. Brague (like Manent) is one of the European thinkers Americans would do well to pay more attention to: I fully agree with John’s high praise in the first paragraph–Brague’s sophistication and wit are second to none. I agree also with Paul’s observation about Brague’s two-tier account of nature and grace (something you see especially in the later chapters of The Law of God), but I’d be interested in hearing more about why/how he thinks Brague (and/or Manent) carries it too far. I’ve been persuaded by this account so far (esp. taken next to Francis Oakley’s narrative in his trilogy on “The Emergence of Western Political Thought in the Middle Ages”), but am open to being dissuaded.

Also, for those interested in further Brague videos, some from last Fall and some from earlier points, check out the Brague fanpage I run on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/BragueansUnite

By: paul seaton

paul seaton — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 14:58:43 +0000

Not really. With enormous erudition, penetration, intellectual refinement and literary finesse, he makes an obvious point: the God of Christians, of Christian faith and theological reflection, the God who is Trinitarian and Incarnate, is — pardon the logical defect — sui generis. Along the way contrasts with Allah, Muhammad, the Qur’an, and Muslim ideas of revelation and the series of prophets (Adam, Abraham, Jesus, the Prophet) are deftly sketched. The only real connection with his secularism talk/thesis is at the end of the book, when he asserts his view that Christianity does not having a distinctive moral code. Richard Hayes would be surprised by that. (Brague and Manent have something of what the Nouvelle Theologians would call a two-tier view of Nature and Grace. That’s not literally true, but it does point to the character of their view of faith and reason, the moral and natural order, and hence the nature and place of “the secular” in authentic Christian faith. According to both, Christianity liberated morality and “the secular” from detailed Divine Law. I think they go way too far, probably because they want to contrast Christianity from Islam and from political theology. BTW: in the book Brague has a great discussion of Erik Peterson’s famous anti-Hitler work on the topic.)

By: John Presnall

John Presnall — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 14:40:31 +0000

So were these lectures–if you listened to any of them–in any way related to the book?

By: paul seaton

paul seaton — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 14:16:35 +0000

John, thanks for bringing these two lectures to my attention. I had a pleasant shock at the beginning of his ND lecture, when the fellow who introduced him referred to a forthcoming book, On the God of Christians (and on one or two others). I translated it! I hope our Ralph weighs in on Brague’s thought, since he has some typically illuminating reflections and criticisms.

By: Robert Cheeks

Robert Cheeks — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 13:07:21 +0000

Thanks John, for this blog. When I get these nasty cataracts removed, I intend to read M. Brague. I read a piece of his over at Am. Spectator and it reminded me of Voegelin both in content and style.

By: Remi Brague: The North American Tour 2012 | CATHOLIC FEAST

Remi Brague: The North American Tour 2012 | CATHOLIC FEAST — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 09:13:37 +0000

[...] Remi Brague is no stranger to PomoCon and First Things readers. So it goes with saying that he is one of the most brilliant and knowledgeable thinkers and writers living today. His immense erudition, his intense study, and his mastery of Greek philosophy, as well as medieval Islamic, Jewish, and Source: Postmodern Conservative [...]