For the Life of the World / Yale Center for Faith & Culture

Miroslav Volf, a renowned theologian and public intellectual known for his insights on reconciliation and the intersection of faith and culture, shares thought-provoking critiques of societal ambition and the pursuit of superiority. He highlights the transformative power of agapic love while contrasting it with the destructive nature of egocentric desires. Volf explores themes of humility, divine love, and the responsibility humanity has towards creation, encouraging listeners to embrace a vision of love that transcends worldly hierarchies and chaos.

Miroslav Volf, a prominent theologian and public intellectual, dives into the depths of agapic love and creation’s inherent goodness. He contrasts the self-serving love of Dostoevsky’s Ivan Karamazov with the unconditional embrace of Father Zosima, urging a radical love that values existence. Volf interweaves themes from Genesis and explores the joy and grief within God's love, emphasizing that our capacity for mutual responsibility and hope lies in acknowledging the flawed beauty of the world. A thought-provoking exploration of love that sustains life.

Miroslav Volf, a prominent theologian from Yale Divinity School, offers profound insights into love and power by critiquing Nietzsche's philosophy. He argues that Nietzsche's will to power leads to endless striving and contempt, while Jesus's teachings champion unconditional love that accepts others despite their flaws. Volf contrasts human relationships through the lenses of suffering and growth, emphasizing the need for a transformative love amidst life's challenges. He also discusses theological distinctions, urging a shift towards love that fosters genuine connections.

Miroslav Volf confronts Schopenhauer’s pessimism and unquenchable thirst with a vision of love that affirms the world.“Unquenchable thirst makes for ceaseless pain. This befits our nature as objectification of the ceaseless and aimless will at the heart of reality. ... For Schopenhauer, the pleasure of satisfaction are the lights of fireflies in the night of life’s suffering. These four claims taken together make pain the primordial, universal, and unalterable state of human lives.”In the second installment of his 2025 Gifford Lectures, Miroslav Volf examines the 19th-century philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer’s radical rejection of the world. Through Schopenhauer’s metaphysics of blind will and insatiable desire, Volf draws out the philosopher’s haunting pessimism and hatred for existence itself. But Schopenhauer’s rejection of the world—rooted in disappointed love—is not just a historical curiosity; Volf shows how our modern consumerist cravings mirror Schopenhauer’s vision of unquenchable thirst and fleeting satisfaction. In response, Volf offers a theological and philosophical critique grounded in three kinds of love—epithumic (appetitive), erotic (appreciative), and agapic (self-giving)—arguing that agape love must be central in our relationship to the world. “Everything is a means, but nothing satisfies,” Volf warns, unless we reorder our loves. This second lecture challenges listeners to reconsider what it means to live in and love a world full of suffering—without abandoning its goodness.Episode Highlights“Unquenchable thirst makes for ceaseless pain. This befits our nature as objectification of the ceaseless and aimless will at the heart of reality.”“Whether we love ice cream or sex or God, we are often merely seeking to slake our thirst.”“If we long for what we have, what we have never ceases to satisfy.”“A better version is available—for whatever reason, it is not good enough. And we discard it. This is micro-rejection of the world.”“Those who love agape refuse to act as if they were the midpoint of their world.”Helpful Links and ResourcesThe World as Will and Representation by Arthur SchopenhauerParadiso by Dante AlighieriVictor Hugo’s Les MisérablesA Brief for the Defense by Jack GilbertShow NotesSchopenhauer’s pessimism as rooted in disappointed love of the worldGod’s declaration in Genesis—“very good”—contrasted with Schopenhauer’s “nothing is good”Job’s suffering as a theological counterpoint to Schopenhauer’s metaphysical despairHuman desire framed as unquenchable thirst: pain, boredom, and fleeting satisfactionSchopenhauer’s diagnosis: we swing endlessly between pain and boredomThree kinds of love introduced: epithumic (appetite), erotic (appreciation), agapic (affirmation)Schopenhauer’s exclusive emphasis on appetite—no place for appreciation or unconditional loveModern consumer culture mirrors Schopenhauer’s account: desiring to desire, never satisfiedFast fashion, disposability, and market-induced obsolescence as symptoms of world-negation“We long for what we have” vs. “we discard the world”Luther’s critique: “suck God’s blood”—epithumic relation to GodAgape love: affirming the other, even when undeserving or diminishedErotic love: savoring the intrinsic worth of things, not just their utilityThe fleetingness of joy and comparison’s corrosion of valueModern desire as invasive, subliminally shaped by market competitionDenigration of what is in favor of what could be—a pathology of dissatisfactionConsumerism as massive “micro-rejection” of the worldVolf’s call to reorder our loves toward appreciation and unconditional affirmationTheology and metaphysics reframe suffering not as a reason to curse the world, but to love it betterPreview of next lecture: Nietzsche, joy, and the affirmation of all existenceProduction NotesThis podcast featured Miroslav VolfEdited and Produced by Evan RosaHosted by Evan RosaProduction Assistance by Taylor Craig and Macie BridgeA Production of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture at Yale Divinity School https://faith.yale.edu/aboutSupport For the Life of the World podcast by giving to the Yale Center for Faith & Culture: https://faith.yale.edu/giveSpecial thanks to Dr. Paul Nimmo, Paula Duncan, and the media team at the University of Aberdeen. Thanks also to the Templeton Religion Trust for their support of the University of Aberdeen’s 2025 Gifford Lectures and to the McDonald Agape Foundation for supporting Miroslav’s research towards the lectureship.

Miroslav Volf, a renowned theologian and public intellectual, kicks off his 2025 Gifford Lectures by asking how belief in God can transform our relationship with a chaotic world. He passionately argues that the world needs both improvement and genuine love. Drawing from Nietzsche, Schopenhauer, and Arendt, Volf challenges listeners to consider how unconditional love can thrive even amidst despair. His insights on the beauty and complexities of existence encourage a deeper emotional commitment to our planet, advocating for faith as an anchor in turbulent times.

What if our relentless drive to be better than others is quietly breaking us?Miroslav Volf unpacks the core themes of his 2025 book, The Cost of Ambition: How Striving to Be Better Than Others Makes Us Worse. In this book, Volf offers a penetrating critique of comparison culture, diagnosing the hidden moral and spiritual wounds caused by competition and superiority.Drawing on Scripture, theology, philosophy, literature, and our culture’s obsession with competition and superiority, Volf challenges our assumptions about ambition and identity—and presents a deeply humanizing vision of life rooted not in being “the best,” but in receiving ourselves as creatures made and loved by God.From Milton’s depiction of Satan to Jesus’ descent in Philippians 2, from the architectural rivalry of ancient Byzantium to modern Olympic anxieties, Volf invites us to imagine a new foundation for personal and social flourishing: a life free from striving, rooted in love and grace.Highlights“The key here is for us to come to appreciate, affirm, and—importantly—love ourselves. Love ourselves unconditionally.”“Striving for superiority devalues everything we have, if it doesn’t contribute to us being better than someone else.”“The inverse of striving for superiority is internal plague by inferiority.”“In Jesus, we see that God’s glory is not to dominate but to lift up what is low.”“We constantly compare to feel good about ourselves, and end up unsure of who we are.”“We have been given to ourselves by God—our very existence is a gift, not a merit.”Helpful Links and ResourcesVisit faith.yale.edu/ambition to get a 40-page PDF Discussion Guide and Full Access to 7 videosThe Cost of Ambition by Miroslav Volf (Baker Academic, May 2025)Philippians 2:5–11 (NIV) – Christ’s Humility and Exaltation – BibleGatewayRomans 12:10 – “Outdo one another in showing honor” – BibleHubParadise Lost by John Milton – Project GutenbergParadise Regained by John Milton – Project GutenbergShow NotesOpening Reflections on CompetitionThe conversation begins with Volf recalling a talk he gave at the Global Congress on Christianity & Sports.He uses athletic competition—highlighting Lionel Messi—as a lens for questioning the moral value of striving to be better than others.“Sure, competition pulls people up—but it also familiarizes us with inferiority.”“We compare ourselves to feel good… but end up feeling worse.”Introduces the story of Justinian and Hagia Sophia: “Oh Solomon, I have outdone you.”Rivalry, Power, and InsecurityShares the backstory of Juliana’s competing church and the gold-ceiling arms race with Justinian.“Religious architecture became a battlefield of status.”Draws insight from these historic rivalries as examples of how ambition pervades religious life—not just secular.Modern Parallels: Yale Students’s & the Rat RaceVolf notes how even Yale undergrads—once top of their class—feel insecure in comparison to peers.“They arrive and suddenly their worth plummets. That’s insane.”The performance-driven culture makes stable identity nearly impossible.Biblical Illustration: Kierkegaard’s LilyVolf recounts Kierkegaard’s retelling of Jesus’s lily parable.A bird whispers to the little lily that it’s not beautiful enough, prompting the lily to uproot itself—and wither.“The lesson: we are destined to lose ourselves when our value depends on comparison.”Intrinsic Value and the Image of God“We need to discover the intrinsic value of who we are as creatures made in the image of God.”Kierkegaard and Jesus both show us the beauty of ‘mere humanity.’“You are more glorious in your humanity than Solomon in his robes.”Theological Anthropology and Grace“We have been given to ourselves by God—our lives are a gift.”“We owe so much to luck, to others, to God. So how can we boast?”Paul’s challenge in 1 Corinthians: “What do you have that you have not received?”Milton and Satan’s AmbitionShifts to Paradise Lost: Satan rebels because he can’t bear not being top.“Even what is beautiful becomes devalued if it doesn’t prove superiority.”In Paradise Regained, Satan tempts Jesus to be the greatest—but Jesus refuses.Christ’s Humility and Downward GloryHighlights Philippians 2: Jesus “emptied himself… took the form of a servant.”“God’s glory is not domination—it’s lifting up the lowly.”“Salvation comes not through seizing status, but through relinquishing it.”Paul’s Vision of Communal HonorRomans 12:10: “Outdo one another in showing honor.”“True honor comes not from climbing over others, but from lifting them up.”Connects this ethic to Paul’s vision of church as an egalitarian body.God’s Care for Creation and HumanityLuther’s observation: God calls Earth good but not Heaven—“God cares more for our home than his own.”“We are called to emulate God’s loving attention to the least.”Striving vs. AcceptanceVolf contrasts ambition with love: “The inverse of striving for superiority is the plague of inferiority.”Encourages unconditional self-love as a reflection of God’s love.Uses image of a parent greeting a newborn: “You’ve arrived.”A Vision for Healed Culture“We wreck others in our pursuit of superiority—and we leave them wounded in our wake.”The gospel reveals a better way: not performance, but grace.“Our salvation and our culture’s healing lie in the humility of Jesus.”“We must rediscover the beauty of our mere humanity.”About Miroslav VolfMiroslav Volf is the founding director of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture and the Henry B. Wright Professor of Theology at Yale Divinity School. One of the leading public theologians of our time, he is the author of numerous books including Exclusion and Embrace, Flourishing, A Public Faith, Life Worth Living, and most recently, The Cost of Ambition. His work explores themes of identity, reconciliation, human dignity, and the role of faith in a pluralistic society. He is a frequent speaker around the world and has advised both religious and civic leaders on matters of peace and justice.Production NotesThis podcast featured Miroslav VolfEdited and Produced by Evan RosaHosted by Evan RosaProduction Assistance by Macie Bridge and Taylor CraigA Production of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture at Yale Divinity School https://faith.yale.edu/aboutSupport For the Life of the World podcast by giving to the Yale Center for Faith & Culture: https://faith.yale.edu/give

Silas Farley, former New York City Ballet dancer and current Dean of the Colburn School's Trudl Zipper Dance Institute, explores the profound connections between classical ballet, Christian worship, and embodied spirituality. From his early exposure to liturgical dance in a charismatic Lutheran church to his career as a professional dancer and choreographer, Farley illuminates how the physicality of ballet can express deep spiritual truths and serve as an act of worship.Episode Highlights from Silas Farley“The physicality of ballet is cruciform. The dancer stands in a turned-out position... the body becomes the intersection of the vertical and the horizontal plane.”“Sin makes the soul curve in on itself, whereas holiness or wholeness in God opens us up.”“We are Christian humanists. We don't need to be intimidated by beauty.”“There's knowledge and insight in all the different parts of our bodies, not just in our brain.”“The mystery of the incarnation is that when the creator of all things wanted to make himself known to his creation, he didn't come as a vapor or as a mountain or as a bird. But he came as a man.”Resources for Ballet EngagementLocal community ballet companies/schools“B is for Ballet” (ABT children’s book)“My Daddy Can Fly” (ABT)Celestial Bodies, by Laura JacobsApollo’s Angels, by Jennifer HomansSilas Farley’s Podcast: Hear the Dance (NYC Ballet)The Nutcracker (NYC Ballet/Balanchine)Jewels (1967, Balanchine)Agon (Balanchine/Stravinsky)About Silas FarleySilas Farley is a professional ballet dancer and choreographer. Dean of the Trudl Zipper Dance Institute at the Colburn School in Los Angeles, Silas is a former New York City Ballet dancer, choreographer, and educator. He also currently serves as Armstrong Artist in Residence in Ballet in the Meadows School of the Arts at Southern Methodist University.His work includes choreography for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Houston Ballet, and the New York City Ballet. He hosts the Hear the Dance podcast and creates works that integrate classical ballet with spiritual themes.Silas also serves on the board of The George Balanchine Foundation.Show NotesSilas Farley’s Early Dance Background & FormationSilas Farley: Originally from Charlotte, North Carolina; youngest of 7 children (4 brothers, 2 sisters); multiracial family (white father, Black mother)First exposure through charismatic Lutheran church’s liturgical dance ministrySaw formal ballet at age 6 when Christian ballet company Ballet Magnifica performedDance initially experienced as form of worship before performanceLiturgical vs Classical BalletLiturgical dance:Amplifies worshipFunctions as embodied prayerNot primarily performativeHistorical examples: David with Ark of Covenant, Miriam after Red Sea crossingClassical ballet:Performed on proscenium stageRequires specific trainingFocuses on virtuosic movementsExplicitly performativeBoth forms serve as offerings/vessels for transmitting energy to audienceTechnical Elements of Ballet: Turnout, Spiritual Turnout, and Opening UpFoundational concept of “turnout”—rotation of feet/hips outward“That idea of turnout makes the body more expressive in a way. Because if our toes are straightforward, like the way we're designed, you only see a certain amount of the leg. Whereas if the body stands turned out, you see the whole inside of the musculature of the leg. It's a more complete revelation of the body.”Creates more complete revelation of body’s musculaturePhysicality conveys “spiritual turnout” - openness/receptiveness“Spiritual turnout: that you are open   and receptive and generous. And that's embodied in the physicality of ballet.”“So much of what developed as ballet as we know, it happened at the court of Louis the XIV in the  1660-1670s.”“It's not artificial, it's actually supernatural.”Physical & Spiritual Connections in Ballet“Our walk  with God is that he's  defining us so that we are becoming open. We're open to him. We're open to receive his love. We're open to be vessels of his love. We're open to receiving and exchanging love with  other people.”Freedom within the constraints movements and positionsSwan Lake: “They're so free. They're almost like birds. But that's come through a lifestyle of discipline.”“You get a hyper awareness of your own body.”Develops hyper-awareness of bodyLinks to incarnational theology—Christ as God-manFreedom through discipline and submissionMovement vocabulary builds from simple elements (plié, tendu)Plie: Mama and Dada“As a dancer grows up in ballet, the dancer then develops  this enormous vocabulary of movement  that are all reducible back to the microcosm of the plié and the tendu.”Creates infinite lines suggesting eternityCombines circular power with eternal linesTheological Dimensions of BalletSilas’s choreographed interpretation of C.S. Lewis’s The Four Loves, as a balletBallet and the Art of Choreography“The music and choreography were like brothers.”“Songs from the Spirit”“The music becomes my map.”Choreographing in silenceThe Role of the Audience and Their ExperienceIdeas to dialogue withA set of ideas to gather together and embodyArvo Part, The Genealogy of Jesus in Luke 3Uniting my heart with JesusI’m never didactic about it.An embodied musical experience“If I  say ‘family, friendship, romance, divine love,’ you all instantly have associations, beauty, pain, trauma, consolation that are associated with those four loves.”“ I'm not writing a sermon about any of these ideas. I'm choreographing a ballet. I'm assembling these classical steps with this music to create a visceral, embodied musical experience.”The audience: “They come to it with their experiences, their own eyes and ears and their own bodies. And that's enough.”Arvo Part: “Music is white light, and the prism is the soul of the listener.”“The musical ideas are refracted through the hearer.”“The audience is always in my heart and mind.”“I always think of the artwork as an act of hospitality.  … I’m just setting the table.”What’s Unique about Ballet as a Physical ArtformBeautiful interconnectednessAsking the body to reach to its limits“The Infinite Line” in BalletRadiating out into multiple eternal lines at the same timeConstant reaching in many directions at onceCruciform positioning: intersection of vertical and horizontal planes“The body becomes radiant”Use of “épaulement”—spiraling of body around spine’s axisReveals pulse points (neck, wrists) creating vulnerable energy exchange with audienceOpening up the life force of the dancerNo separation between dancer and instrument (“I am the work of art”)Cruciform physicalityContemporary Cultural ContextModern culture increasingly disembodied due to screens/digital media“We live in an increasingly disembodied culture, we are absorbed with screens two dimensional, uh, highly edited and curated,  mediated self presentation   as opposed to like visceral nitty gritty blood, sweat, tears, good, bad, and ugly of life itself. So we get insulated from the step that makes life what it is.”Education often treats people as “brains on sticks”“The Christian life is a lifestyle of in embodied discipleship to the God man, Jesus  Christ. And he's not a brain on a stick. He's the God man. He has a jawbone and he went through puberty and he has wounds like the beautiful hymn. It says, rich wounds, yet visible and beauty glorified. The mystery of the incarnation is that when the creator of all things wanted to make  himself known to his creation, he didn't come as a  vapor or as a mountain or as a bird, but he came as a man. And so he sublimates and affirms the glory of his creation, the materiality of his creation and the body as the crown of his creation by coming as a man.”Church needs more embodied practicesBallet offers counterpoint to disembodied tendenciesImportance of physical discipline in spiritual formationRomans 12:1 and making our bodies as living sacrificesHow to Experience Ballet“There's nothing you need to know before going to experience ballet.  You have a body, you have eyes, you have ears. That's all you need. Just let it wash over you.Let it work on you in its own kind of visceral way, and let that be an entry point  to not be intimidated by the, the music,  or the wordlessness or the tutu's or the point shoes or whatever.There's so many different stylistic manifestations of ballet. But just go experience it.And if you can, I would really encourage people almost as much or more than  watching it go see if like your local YMCA or  something has an adult ballet class, or if you're a kid, maybe ask your parents to sign you up to go try a class and just feel what that turned-out physicality feels like in your own body.It's so beautiful. It's very empowering.”Production NotesThis podcast featured Silas Farley and Macie BridgeEdited and Produced by Evan RosaHosted by Evan RosaProduction Assistance by Macie Bridge, Alexa Rollow, Zoë Halaban, Kacie Barrett & Emily BrookfieldA Production of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture at Yale Divinity School https://faith.yale.edu/aboutSupport For the Life of the World podcast by giving to the Yale Center for Faith & Culture: https://faith.yale.edu/give

Pope Francis died on Monday April 21, 2025. And to remember and celebrate his life, we’re bringing out an episode from our archives featuring social ethicist and Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Virginia, Nichole M. Flores. Ryan McAnnally-Linz interviewed her in early 2021 about Fratelli Tutti, an encyclical teaching he published 6 months into the COVID-19 pandemic. From that encyclical he writes:“Here we have a splendid secret that shows us how to dream and to turn our life into a wonderful adventure. No one can face life in isolation… We need a community that supports and helps us, in which we can help one another to keep looking ahead. How important it is to dream together… By ourselves, we risk seeing mirages, things that are not there. Dreams, on the other hand, are built together. Let us dream, then, as a single human family, as fellow travelers sharing the same flesh, as children of the same earth which is our common home, each of us bringing the richness of his or her beliefs and convictions, each of us with his or her own voice, brothers and sisters all." (Pope Francis, Fratelli Tutti)Last year, in the midst of a global nightmare, Pope Francis invited the world to dream together of something different. He released Fratelli Tutti in October 2020—a message of friendship, dignity, and solidarity not just to Catholics, but "to all people of good will"—for the whole human community. In this episode, social ethicist Nichole Flores (University of Virginia) explains papal encyclicals and works through the moral vision of Fratelli Tutti, highlighting especially Pope Francis’s views on faith as seeing with the eyes of Christ, the implications of human dignity for discourse, justice and solidarity, and finally the language of dreaming together of a different world.Support For the Life of the World: Give to  the Yale Center for Faith & CultureShow NotesRead the entire text of Fratelli Tutti online hereWhat is a papal encyclical? For “All people of good will”—not just CatholicsExamining the signs of the times, e.g., Fratelli Tutti will always be connected to its global context during a pandemic.What is Fratelli Tutti? What does its title mean?Brothers and Sisters All: Using Italian, a particular language, as a pathway to the universal, rather than traditional Latin titlePope Francis’ roots in Latin America: How his particularity as Latin American gives him a universal message; local and communal belonging; neighborhoods contributing to the common goodSeeing/Gazing: Faith as seeing with the eyes of Christ (Lumen Fidei)Undermining human dignity in social media discourse; the failure of grandstanding rather than encounterSolidarity as a dirty word: conflicts within Catholicism about how to understand and apply justice and solidarity in real lifeSolidarity requires encounter with the otherSocial friendship and fraternityHuman dignity in the tradition of Catholic social ethicsDreaming together: fighting against the temptation to dream alone, inviting us to imagine; cultivating a conversation that forms collective imagination and aesthetic reality.About Nichole FloresNichole Flores is a social ethicist who is Associate Professor of Religious Studies at the University of Virginia. She studies the constructive contributions of Catholic and Latinx theologies to notions of justice and aesthetics to the life of democracy. Her research in practical ethics addresses issues of democracy, migration, family, gender, economics (labor and consumption), race and ethnicity, and ecology. Visit NicholeMFlores.com for more information.

“Art is a form of prayer … a way to enter into relationship.”Artist and theologian Bruce Herman reflects on the sacred vocation of making, resisting consumerism, and the divine invitation to become co-creators. From Mark Rothko to Rainer Maria Rilke, to Andres Serrano’s “Piss Christ” and T.S. Eliot’s Four Quartets, he comments on the holy risk of artmaking and the sacred fire of creative origination.Together with Evan Rosa, Bruce Herman explores the divine vocation of art making as resistance to consumer culture and passive living. In this deeply poetic and wide-ranging conversation—and drawing from his book *Makers by Nature—*he invites us into a vision of art not as individual genius or commodity, but as service, dialogue, and co-creation rooted in love, not fear. They touch on ancient questions of human identity and desire, the creative implications of being made in the image of God, Buber’s I and Thou, the scandal of the cross, Eliot’s divine fire, Rothko’s melancholy ecstasy, and how even making a loaf of bread can be a form of holy protest. A profound reflection on what it means to be human, and how we might change our lives—through beauty, vulnerability, and relational making.Episode Highlights“We are made by a Maker to be makers.”“ I think hope is being stolen from us Surreptitiously moment by moment hour by hour day by day.”“There is no them. There is only us.”“The work itself has a life of its own.”“Art that serves a community.”“You must change your life.” —Rilke, recited by Bruce Herman in reflection on the transformative power of art.“When we're not making something, we're not whole. We're not healthy.”“Making art is a form of prayer. It's a form of entering into relationship.”“Art is not for the artist—any more than it's for anyone else. The work stands apart. It has its own voice.”“We're not merely consumers—we're made by a Maker to be makers.”“The ultimate act of art is hospitality.”Topics and ThemesHuman beings are born to create and make meaningArt as theological dialogue and spiritual resistanceCreative practice as a form of love and worshipChristian art and culture in dialogue with contemporary issuesPassive consumption vs. active creationHow to engage with provocative art faithfullyThe role of beauty, mystery, and risk in the creative processArt that changes you spiritually, emotionally, and intellectuallyThe sacred vocation of the artist in a consumerist worldHow poetry and painting open up divine encounter, particularly in Rainer Maria Rilke’s “Archaic Torso of Apollo”Four Quartets and spiritual longing in modern poetryHospitality, submission, and service as aesthetic posturesModern culture's sickness and art as medicineEncountering the cross through contemporary artistic imagination“Archaic Torso of Apollo”Rainer Maria Rilke 1875 –1926We cannot know his legendary head with eyes like ripening fruit. And yet his torso is still suffused with brilliance from inside, like a lamp, in which his gaze, now turned to low, gleams in all its power. Otherwise the curved breast could not dazzle you so, nor could a smile run through the placid hips and thighs to that dark center where procreation flared. Otherwise this stone would seem defaced beneath the translucent cascade of the shoulders and would not glisten like a wild beast’s fur: would not, from all the borders of itself, burst like a star: for here there is no place that does not see you. You must change your life.About Bruce HermanBruce Herman is a painter, writer, educator, and speaker. His art has been shown in more than 150 exhibitions—nationally in many US cities, including New York, Boston, Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Houston—and internationally in England, Japan, Hong Kong, Italy, Canada, and Israel. His artwork is featured in many public and private art collections including the Vatican Museum of Modern Religious Art in Rome; The Cincinnati Museum of Fine Arts print collection; The Grunewald Print Collection of the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles; DeCordova Museum in Boston; the Cape Ann Museum; and in many colleges and universities throughout the United States and Canada.Herman taught at Gordon College for nearly four decades, and is the founding chair of the Art Department there. He held the Lothlórien Distinguished Chair in Fine Arts for more than fifteen years, and continues to curate exhibitions and manage the College art collection there. Herman completed both BFA and MFA degrees at Boston University College of Fine Arts under American artists Philip Guston, James Weeks, David Aronson, Reed Kay, and Arthur Polonsky. He was named Boston University College of Fine Arts Distinguished Alumnus of the Year 2006.Herman’s art may be found in dozens of journals, popular magazines, newspapers, and online art features. He and co-author Walter Hansen wrote the book Through Your Eyes, 2013, Grand Rapids, Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, a thirty-year retrospective of Herman’s art as seen through the eyes of his most dedicated collector.To learn more, explore A Video Portrait of the Artist and My Process – An Essay by Bruce Herman.Books by Bruce Herman*Makers by Nature: Letters from a Master Painter on Faith, Hope, and Art* (2025) *Ordinary Saints (*2018) *Through Your Eyes: The Art of Bruce Herman (2013) *QU4RTETS with Makoto Fujimura, Bruce Herman, Christopher Theofanidis, Jeremy Begbie (2012) A Broken Beauty (2006)Show NotesBruce Herman on Human Identity as MakersWe are created in the image of God—the ultimate “I Am”—and thus made to create.“We are made by a Maker to be makers.”To deny our creative impulse is to risk a deep form of spiritual unhealth.Making is not just for the “artist”—everyone is born with the capacity to make.Theological Themes and Philosophical FrameworksInfluences include Martin Buber’s “I and Thou,” René Girard’s scapegoating theory, and the image of God in Genesis.“We don't really exist for ourselves. We exist in the space between us.”The divine invitation is relational, not autonomous.Desire, imitation, and submission form the core of our relational anthropology.Art as Resistance to Consumerism“We begin to enter into illness when we become mere consumers.”Art Versus PropagandaCulture is sickened by passive consumption, entertainment addiction, and aesthetic commodification.Making a loaf of bread, carving wood, or crafting a cocktail are acts of cultural resistance.Desire“Anything is resistance… Anything is a protest against passive consumption.”Art as Dialogue and Submission“Making art is a form of prayer. It’s a form of entering into relationship.”Submission—though culturally maligned—is a necessary posture in love and art.Engaging with art requires openness to transformation.“If you want to really receive what a poem is communicating, you have to submit to it.”The Transformative Power of Encountering ArtQuoting Rilke’s Archaic Torso of Apollo: “You must change your life.”True art sees the viewer and invites them to become something more.Herman’s own transformative moment came unexpectedly in front of a Rothko painting.“The best part of my work is outside of my control.”Scandal, Offense, and the Cross in ArtAnalyzing Andres Serrano’s Piss Christ as a sincere meditation on the commercialization of the cross.“Does the crucifixion still carry sacred weight—or has it been reduced to jewelry?”Art should provoke—but out of love, not self-aggrandizement or malice.“The cross is an offense. Paul says so. But it’s the power of God for those being saved.”Beauty, Suffering, and Holy RiskEncounter with art can arise from personal or collective suffering.Bruce references Christian Wiman and Walker Percy as artists opened by pain.“Sometimes it takes catastrophe to open us up again.”Great art offers not escape, but transformation through vulnerability.The Fire and the Rose: T. S. Eliot’s InfluenceFour Quartets shaped Herman’s artistic and theological imagination.Eliot’s poetry is contemplative, musical, liturgical, and steeped in paradox.“To be redeemed from fire by fire… when the fire and the rose are one.”The collaborative Quartets project with Makoto Fujimura and Chris Theofanidis honors Eliot’s poetic vision.Living and Creating from Love, Not Fear“Make from love, not fear.”Fear-driven art (or politics) leads to manipulation and despair.Acts of love include cooking, serving, sharing, and creating for others.“The ultimate act of art is hospitality.”Media & Intellectual ReferencesMakers by Nature by Bruce HermanFour Quartets by T. S. EliotThe Archaic Torso of Apollo by Rainer Maria RilkeWassily Kandinsky, “On the Spiritual in Art”Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil PostmanThings Hidden Since the Foundation of the World by René GirardThe Art of the Commonplace by Wendell BerryAndres Serrano’s Piss ChristMakoto Fujimura’s Art and Collaboration

Fyodor Raychynets, a theologian and pastor from Kyiv, shares insights on living with courage amid the turmoil of war in Ukraine. He emphasizes the importance of confronting fear instead of avoiding it, arguing that embracing our fears leads to a more abundant life. Reflecting on hope and despair in conflict, he discusses personal grief, the emotional landscape of leadership, and the need for emotional expression in times of crisis. Fyodor encourages living in the moment and cultivating gratitude, reminding us that tomorrow is never guaranteed.