The Hidden Christ of Thomas Merton Discussed Sunday, Feb. 21

Vaughn Fayle, OFM will discuss "Sophia - The Hidden Christ of Thomas Merton," a new book by Xavier University (Ohio) Professor Christopher Pramuk, at 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 21, in the Rectory Assembly of Immaculate Conception Parish, 7211 W. Talcott, Chicago.

Below is a description of the book from amazon.com, and two reviews:

While numerous studies have celebrated Thomas Merton's witness as an interfaith pioneer, poet, and peacemaker, there have been few systematic treatments of his Christology as such, and no sustained exploration to date of his relationship to the Russian "Sophia" tradition. This book looks to Thomas Merton as a "classic" theologian of the Christian tradition from East to West, and offers an interpretation of his mature Christology, with special attention to his remarkable prose poem of 1962, Hagia Sophia. Bringing Merton's mystical-prophetic vision fully into dialogue with contemporary Christology, Russian sophiology, and Zen, as well as figures such as John Henry Newman and Abraham Joshua Heschel, the author carefully but boldly builds the case that Sophia, the same theological eros that animated Merton's religious imagination in a period of tremendous fragmentation and violence, might infuse new vitality into our own. A study of uncommon depth and scope, inspired throughout by Merton's extraordinary catholicity.

Reviews
"Pramuk's work is, far and away, the most sophisticated theological study ever done on the writings of Thomas Merton. It sets a very high bar for anyone else who intends to comment on the writings of the monk whose writings, nearly a half century after his death, still exert such a powerful influence on contemporary religious seekers." --Lawrence S. Cunningham, John A. O'Brien Professor of Theology, The University of Notre Dame

Christopher Pramuk's Sophia: the Hidden Christ of Thomas Merton is, dare it be said, a gorgeous book. Its beautifully crafted pages are full of insight about Merton and his "sapiential" theological method, the poetical and mystical manner in which he lived into the rich symbolic matrix of faith and drew from it living wisdom, made luminous by his engagement with non-western religions, Eastern Orthodox thought and the kataphatic and apophatic modes of knowing of his own tradition. Moreover, Sophia invites the reader into a compelling meditation on the doing of theology in the contemporary world. It affirms the need for a bold theological imagination and a faith intensely aware of Sophia, the divine presence alive in the world. --Wendy M. Wright, Professor of Theology, John C. Kenefick Faculty Chair in the Humanities, Creighton University

About the speaker:
Franciscan Fr. Vaughn Fayle was born in South Africa in 1960 into a musical and literary family: his father was a pipe organ builder, his aunt a concert pianist and his uncle on his mother’s side, Denis Brutus, an international poet and activist who was imprisoned with Nelson Mandela, who died Dec. 26, 2009.

Vaughn began music studies at the age of five, studying piano and later on pipe organ and harpsichord. After high school he studied music at Rhodes University with John Birch, Rupert Mayr, Christine Lucia and private studies in orchestration and composition and completed his LRMS degree from the Royal School of Music, London. Poor eye sight due to juvenile glaucoma forced him to turn from music performance to composition, musicology and philosophy. He completed graduate studies in philosophy and theology in Europe and came to the USA in 1990 to direct a department of undergraduate philosophy of religion in Texas. He taught both religion and philosophy at Our Lady of the Lake University.

In 1997 he studied the use of music and the lives of composers in the concentration camps in Europe and composed a set of Three Hebrew Chanukah Songs for orchestral harp and choir, which was premiered by the San Antonio Choral Society under the direction of Dr. Gary Mabry at the University of Texas at San Antonio. He has since composed works for choir and for various small instrumental ensembles including incidental music for Provision Theater Company’s 2004 production of A Christmas Carol, Actor’s Workshop Theater’s 2006 production of Proof.

At the suggestion of his uncle, exiled South African poet Dennis Brutus he began setting Brutus’ Robben Island poetry to music and then began studying the poetry of the American poet and spiritual writer, Thomas Merton. In July 2007, the International Thomas Merton Society awarded him the 2007-2008 Shannon Fellowship for his setting of the poetry of Thomas Merton.

Since 1999, Vaughn has served as director of philosophy studies and adjunct professor of the philosophy of religion at Catholic Theological Union in Hyde Park, where he has taught courses on Thomas Merton’s political philosophy. He is a member of the American Composers Forum, the American Guild of Organists and the American Philosophical Association.

Vaughn has been a frequent presenter for the Chicago Chapter of the International Thomas Merton Society, and participated in the 2009 ITMS conference in Rochester, NY. He serves on the ITMS 2011 program committee.