In this episode of ‘The Wise and the Wherefores’, Ruth Gledhill, assistant editor of The Tablet and Sister Liz Dodd CSJP talk to James Alison and his editor John Edwards about James’ new book, Beguiling Belonging, published by Paulist Press. Beguiling Belonging rethinks questions of catholicity, ecclesiology, and belonging through the lens of René Girard’s anthropology. The essays examine how Jesus’s life, death, andresurrection unmask humanity’s ‘scapegoat mechanism’ and demonstrate that, in Christ’s self-offering, this violent dynamic is undone. The result is an invitation for Christians to rediscover their identity, not as belonging to a sacred institution that draws boundaries around insiders and outsiders, but rather to a reconciling body that refuses to remain blind to its collective tendencies toward creating false unity at the expense of others.James Alison is a well-known Catholic priest andtheologian whose work engages the theology of René Girard and its implications for faith and culture. Widely published and translated, he isalso known for his long-standing pastoral and theological engagement with LGBT questions within the Catholic Church, marked by a commitment to truth, reconciliation, and charity John P. Edwards, PhD, is a pastoral theologian, spiritual companion, educator, and higher education leader whose work explores the ways relationship, desire, and belonging shape our experience of ourselves, one another, and the divine. He holds a PhD in systematic theology from Boston College and has written on theological anthropology, conversion, contemplative prayer, and the work of James Alison and René Girard. John teaches primarily in contextual and practical theology and has spent more than two decades accompanying students, ministers, and other seekers through theological reflection and vocational discernment. His formation through the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation deepened a contemplative practice grounded in attentive listening to the movement of the Spirit in felt, lived experience. He serves as Director of Residential Ministry at Villanova University and is a co-founder of Woodland Pacific, a nonprofit dedicated to cognitive diversity and equitable opportunity. The Tablet is currently offering five issues for just £5. Visit this link to find out more. On our website and in the weekly print magazie, content includes news, features, comment, analysis, books and arts reviews, spiritual meditations, puzzles, readers’ letters and online and in-person events and pilgrimages. You can also subscribe to our free, twice-weekly newsletter which is on Substack.
