Trevor B Williams - Profile on Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Peer-Reviewed Articles by Trevor B Williams

Journal of Catholic Social Thought, 2025

This essay examines how Pope Francis's encyclical Fratelli tutti counters the materialism and sin... more This essay examines how Pope Francis's encyclical Fratelli tutti counters the materialism and single cultural models that arise from the economic idols of modernity. He uses the controversial passage on the "the autonomy of earthly affairs" (Gaudium et spes, § 36) to resist a privatized faith, stressing the transcendent character of the human person, and employs a theocentric argument to call for interreligious collaboration. The author argues that Francis advances his previous arguments by using the passage to warn that, without the service of the Church and its religious allies, the economic idols of this age will suppress cultural richness and ultimately undermine human dignity. The author begins with an exploration of how Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI, Pope John Paul II, and David L. Schindler interpret § 36. He then interprets Fratelli tutti, examining how it diagnoses modern forces of domination with the help of § 36.

Philosophy & Theology

Online first 2024 In this essay, I explore Emmanuel Falque’s interpretation of Søren Kierkegaard... more Online first 2024

In this essay, I explore Emmanuel Falque’s interpretation of Søren Kierkegaard’s Upbuilding Discourses in Various Spirits (1847), specifically his quotation of “the burden is light” passage from Matthew 11:30. I argue that his use of the “Gospel of Sufferings” offers a methodological insight into Falque’s motif of transformation. The lightness of the burden is an invitation to the imitation of Christ that retains the full weight of finitude. The savior models the decision coram Deo (“before God”) that brings the “other” to bear on our experience, but Falque augments this by emphasizing the concept of being cum Deo (“with God”), providing a fuller praxis in our existential habituation of eternity. The “other” is what determines the lightness of the burden and invites us to a fraternal solidarity with God and humanity. I begin my argument by offering an exposition of Falque’s philosophy of religious experience, then I survey texts where Falque employs the lightness of the burden. I conclude by focusing on Falque’s use of this passage in his recent discussions of tragedy and trauma.

Journal for Peace and Justice Studies, 2023

At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, Pope Francis led the global Catholic Church in eucharisti... more At the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, Pope Francis led the global Catholic Church in eucharistic adoration. He walked through an empty St. Peter's Square, offered his Urbi et Orbi blessings (March 27, 2020), and elevated the monstrance. 1 This deeply spiritual event confronted the stunning loss of hope that characterized many people throughout a world weighed down by crisis after crisis. The French philosopher Emmanuel Falque describes the invasion of the crisis through five paradigmatic examples, with the traumas of "illness, separation, death of a child, natural disaster, [and] pandemic." 2 These events make it difficult for us to ever believe that things could get better and, in fact, destroy our capacity to recognize the world. Francis's witness, however, attests to the concept that identifies his Urbi et Orbi blessings as one of the most remarkable theological events of his papacy. He modelled a conception of peace that was both open to questions of pluralism while retaining a strong sense of Catholic identity. For Francis, the pandemic exposed the fragility of the global economy and showed how easily human cultures can be subjugated to single cultural models that thrive on materialism and a desire for domination that is locked in a purely temporal frame of mind. 3 The trauma of the pandemic reverberates to the present day as an ongoing health crisis. Still, Francis's witness remains a model of peace because he recognized the pandemic's dire pastoral situation and saw the "Easter Faith" as part of his response. My essay analyzes Francis's vision of peace in Fratelli tutti (October 3, 2020) and applies it to his reflections on the "Easter Faith" in his Urbi et Orbi blessings from the height of the pandemic. 4 I articulate Francis's hermeneutic as a "pastoral recognition," which illuminates his defense of the transcendent character of the human person as not only an interreligious enterprise but one that counters the single cultural models that both dominates Western culture and that is principally 1.

Logos: A Journal of Catholic Thought and Culture, 2023

Spiritus: A Journal of Christian Spirituality, 2023

Gat hering for worship is integral to Christian life and in the Catholic Church constitutes its s... more Gat hering for worship is integral to Christian life and in the Catholic Church constitutes its source and summit. 1 Yet, attendance among the laity is astonishingly low. 2 It is unlikely that there is a single explanation for this phenomenon (preexisting the pandemic), but one of the most common papal responses to this spiritual problem is to lament widespread practical atheism or religious indifference. 3 Pope Francis, for example, said that God cannot stand the "atheism" of those who repudiate the divine image that is imprinted in every human being. That everyday atheism: I believe in God but I keep my distance from others and I allow myself to hate others. This is practical atheism. Not recognizing the human person as the image of God is a sacrilege, an abomination, the worst offence that can be directed toward the temple and the altar. 4

Journal of the American Oriental Society, 2022

The Hermopolis letters showcase the personal concerns of those writing Aramaic letters in the era... more The Hermopolis letters showcase the personal concerns of those writing Aramaic letters in the era of Persian Egypt. One individual named Nabuša is particularly interesting because of his familial correspondence and emotional tone. This study will examine what can be known about this writer and his complaints about an unwanted tunic and a snakebite. There have been several notable disagreements about the Aramaic translation of Nabuša’s concerns, whose discussion will help heighten our understanding of his passion.

The Heythrop Journal, 2022

Merold Westphal wrote the book Suspicion & Faith (1998) to explain that although modern atheists ... more Merold Westphal wrote the book Suspicion & Faith (1998) to explain that although modern atheists used the hermeneutics of suspicion to critique religious motives, their arguments can aid Christians in a devotional form of self-examination. Westphal claimed that the 'masters of suspicion' often utilized a deeply biblical logic that is reminiscent of the prophetic polemics against false religion. In this article, the author adds to these reflections by pointing to the Adversary from the Book of Job as one who embodies the hermeneutics of suspicion. The author contends that, like the critiques of modern atheists, the Adversary's question 'Does Job fear God for nothing?' (1:9b) can serve as a tool for self-examination and moral development. The Book of Job shows how he asks critical questions about Job's motives for religious piety by taking advantage of the logical groundwork of the prologue. This dialogue highlights the significance of Job's integrity and his commitment to virtue without the need for incentive, but at the same time, it also encourages readers to doubt his motives through a pattern of doubt that is integral to the narrative. The first section of this article examines Suspicion & Faith and discusses its approach to modern atheism. Then, in the second section, the author engages in an exegetical analysis of Job 1-2, with special attention to the prologue's logical groundwork and motif of doubt. The article concludes with a theological reflection on how the hermeneutics of suspicion can augment Christian practice.

Perspectives in Religious Studies, 2020

Friendship is a powerful force in human society and its absence can provoke the conditions of spi... more Friendship is a powerful force in human society and its absence can provoke the conditions of spiritual death. In her response to a post-Enlightenment context that valued an excessive form of individual autonomy, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley wrote Frankenstein (1818) and used the imagery of Satan to describe the shattered friendship of Frankenstein and his monster. Spiritual death is a contested category and for some readers, the word “Satan” also carries cultural connotations that can be distracting. Lawrence S. Cunningham composed a theological meditation on Satan to clarify the core characteristics of evil, pointing to Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy (1320) and John Milton’s Paradise Lost (1667) as paradigmatic examples of this imagery. For him, Milton’s Satan represents the pursuit of autonomy at all costs and Dante’s Satan embodies the end results of that choice. Cunningham shows that these characteristics are complementary of one another, but in Frankenstein, they are even more intelligible as narrative elements with a coherent message. In this article, the author argues that Shelley used the imagery of Satan to critique the aridness of rationalism when its account of individual autonomy excludes the formation of friendship. This theological meditation on Frankenstein will begin by describing Shelley’s Romantic context and her approach to spiritual death. Then, it will engage with Miltonian and Danteque imagery in two separate parts, reflecting on how she applied them to the spiritual atmosphere of Frankenstein. Shelley articulated the form of spiritual death that was characteristic of modernity and warned against the kind of frozen isolation that results from the inward turn, the egoistic choice of self. The insights offered through this theological meditation provide readers with a guide to the excesses of individual autonomy and by way of negation, show the value of friendship in a world that has forgotten the imagination.

New Blackfriars, 2020

Modern theodicies often offer definitive explanations for the unsolvable problem of human sufferi... more Modern theodicies often offer definitive explanations for the unsolvable problem of human suffering. This philosophical enterprise was challenged by David B. Burrell’s book, Deconstructing Theodicy: Why Job Has Nothing to Say to the Puzzle of Suffering (2008). His observations about the book of Job and the way it militates against theodical speculation are compelling, but there is a missed opportunity with his exegesis of Job 42:6. The Hebrew of Job’s last words can be translated in at least five distinct (and legitimate) ways. Using this grammatical characteristic, this paper argues that the ambiguity in 42:6 creates an “unfinalizable” quality that allows sufferers to be unsilenced and participate in the meaning-making process. Situating the addendum with philosophical ruminations on theodicy, the argument turns to an exegetical section that comments on Burrell’s discussion in “Denouement and Epilogue” and analyzes the Hebrew grammar of Job 42:1-6. This addendum complements Burrell’s deconstruction of theodicy, adding a further pool of resources for sufferers to remain unsilenced and narrate their own questioning of God.

Book Chapters by Trevor B Williams

Theology and Media(tion): Rendering the Absent Present, ed. Stephen Okey and Katherine G. Schmidt... more Theology and Media(tion): Rendering the Absent Present, ed. Stephen Okey and Katherine G. Schmidt (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 2024), 20-30.

Theology and Tolkien: Practical Theology, ed. Douglas Estes (Lanham: Lexington Books/Fortress Aca... more Theology and Tolkien: Practical Theology, ed. Douglas Estes (Lanham: Lexington Books/Fortress Academic, 2023), 191-207.

Theology and Breaking Bad, ed. David K. Goodin and George Tsakiridis (Lanham: Lexington Books/For... more Theology and Breaking Bad, ed. David K. Goodin and George Tsakiridis (Lanham: Lexington Books/Fortress Academic, 2022)

Translations by Trevor B Williams

Theological Studies, 2024

This article serves as an often-overlooked reference point, containing, for example, rich concept... more This article serves as an often-overlooked reference point, containing, for example, rich concepts that are attested in Emmanuel Falque's lesser-known works. However, this article is important because it helps readers grapple with the shape of his thought, not only as it incorporates key elements of Catholic spirituality but also as it shows how Falque the philosopher sometimes discerns his thought by "thinking with the church" in a very Ignatian sense. Falque believes that writing is a personal disclosure, and his reflections on Pope Francis demonstrate this by highlighting his own interest in the Jesuit and Franciscan charisms.