Accomplished Author/Editor Gives Lecture at St. Ambrose
March 31, 2003

Gregory Wolfe, author of several books on family values and the editor of a national journal on religion and humanities, will be the guest speaker at St. Ambrose University’s prestigious Chair of Catholic Studies Lecture.

His lecture, titled “Catholic Humanism: A Faith for All Seasons,” will explore the tradition of Christian humanism within the church and the ways that it offers a response to the deeply politicized culture in the United States. The lecture will be held at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, April 8, in the Ambrose Hall Board Room, third floor of Ambrose Hall, 518 W. Locust Street, on the SAU campus in Davenport.

“In a divided culture—and a divided Church—where progressives battle conservatives in the intense ideological politics of the culture wars, how can American Catholics find a balanced perspective on things,” Wolfe asked.

The answer, he said, is through religious humanism.

“Unlike conservatism, which tends to withdraw from culture, or liberalism, which tends to baptize the latest trend, Christian humanism reaches out to engage the culture,” he added. “It seeks to keep the human and the divine spheres in balance—allowing for the coexistence of faith and doubt, reason and imagination, nature and grace, flesh and spirit, tragedy and hope.” 

Wolfe, who is a professor and the Writer in Residence at Seattle Pacific University, attended Oxford University where he received a master’s in English language and literature in 1983.  He is also the editor and publisher of Image: A Journal of the Arts and Religion, and editor of the anthology The New Religious Humanists: A Reader.

He is also the author of numerous books including Circle of Grace: Praying With -- and for -- Your Children, a book that offers advice, stories and simple prayers so parents can assist in developing a family's spiritual health. He and his wife, Suzanne M. Wolfe, have authored several books that support families including Books That Build Character, Climb High, Climb Far and The Family New Media Guild.

The St. Ambrose University Chair of Catholic Studies was established to address concerns of a religious nature, and is one of the university’s preeminent public programs focusing on the Catholic faith. For more information, please contact Ryan Dye, history professor, at 563/333-6210 or at DyeRyanG@sau.edu.

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