What We’re Reading

Goethe, Faust. Im Anfang war die Tat. “In the beginning was the Act.” Goethe is the celebratory figure of German literature and an essential part of the canon of world literature. In teaching Goethe’s Faust, one has a panorama of issues and themes to concentrate on. This is magnified by the limited time one gets with him in a course that includes Dickens, Dostoevsky, Orwell, and others. Nevertheless, reading and teaching Faust provides a window into the descent of modernity: the “deal with the Devil” and the belief that man can ascend his own limitations by constant action, or struggle. Furthermore, the commentary on the nature of Beauty and its relationship to Desire is still worth exploring after two hundred years. Goethe’s Faust is not just a metaphysical drama, grotesque as it is at times (especially Part 2), but a true tragedy as it bills itself. A century before the cataclysms of two world wars and totalitarian politics where the very soul of man was decapitated by doubt, Goethe was putting his finger on a spiritual crisis brewing in modern man (Faust). At the same time, there is still tremendous wisdom contained in the poem even if by way of ironic criticism; namely, Goethe foresaw the mad rush to suicide through league with Mephistopheles and the impossibility of modern man (Faust) to unite with the classical ideal (Helen). It is, therefore, a cautionary tale that still holds out hope that woman can undo the sins of man (sie est gerettet!) and that heroic striving can still lead to redemption. But to what must we strive? is the overarching question the reader of Faust must answer.

~ Paul Krause

Etienne Gilson, The Church Speaks to the Modern World: The Social Teachings of Leo XIII. After his election to the papacy, Pope Leo XIV offered an explanation for his choice of name. He was inspired by his namesake, Leo XIII, who led the Church through the tumult of the Industrial Revolution—an era of unprecedented change. Now, according to Leo XIV, we are living through “another industrial revolution”—this time shaped by artificial intelligence. And as before, these changes raise urgent questions about what it means to be a human being and how to live well.

To better understand the new pope, I picked up a copy of The Church Speaks to the Modern World: The Social Encyclicals of Leo XIII, introduced by Etienne Gilson. Many readers regard this as the best collection of Leo XIII’s social teachings. So far, that seems a fair judgment. The encyclicals gathered here—picked and arranged by Leo XIII himself—offer a thoughtful response to the upheavals that reshaped the Western world during the Industrial Revolution. Gilson’s introduction adds clarity to the encyclicals, explaining to readers the key ideas within them and why they were important in responding to the challenges of the modern age. This collection includes important teachings on liberty, socialism, capitalism, liberalism, property, marriage, and more.

In an age marked by technological and cultural changes, the Church must again engage with new challenges to human dignity. If he follows in the footsteps of his predecessor, Pope Leo XIV may be up for the challenge.

~ Darrell Falconburg

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