In Leisure the Basis of Culture, Josef Pieper explains that stillness and quietness of soul are necessary to see the real—especially that all things have been created through Christ and for him. But bounded by a culture of “total work,” we live lives of quiet desperation, exhausted and unable to slow down and attend to the arts. This lecture will explain why contemplating poetry must be central to theological education. Poetry uniquely slows us down to attend to the real, teaches us how to see the transcendent in the ordinary, and opens us up to new possibilities for engagement with the world.

The views and opinions expressed in this lecture are those of the speaker(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of the Carl F.H. Henry Center for Theological Understanding or of Trinity Evangelical Divinity School.