Did God Really Become Man?

Guest: Dr. Ann Hartle, philosophy professor and author Most southern Catholics have heard of Flannery O’Connor, the saucy authoress known for her provocative stories showcasing the depravity of man. Many revere her quick wit and keen insight, but philosophy professor Dr. Ann Hartle has successfully paired Flannery with Blaise Pascal in her book, Flannery O'Connor and Blaise Pascal: Recovering the Incarnation for the Modern Mind. Dr. Hartle wants the reader to take away a deeper and clearer understanding of the de-Christianized culture in which we live and the way in which the Catholic faith can be lived out in this culture. In every age, man is in the state of original sin and in need of redemption. Constant conversion, therefore, is always necessary. O’Connor shows us that, in our de-Christianized culture, conversion requires confrontation with the modern consciousness that she saw in herself and portrayed in her characters. The seventeenth-century philosopher Blaise Pascal helps us to experience the meaning of O’Connor’s fiction because Pascal confronted that same consciousness. Dr. Hartle approaches O’Connor’s fiction from a philosophical perspective rather than the perspective of a literary critic, decrying the loss of a sense of mystery of the Incarnation; the mystery of God choosing to become man.  Guest Biography: Dr. Ann Hartle is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Emory University. She received her PhD from City University of New York (CUNY) in 1976. Her research work has centered on the nature of philosophy and early modern philosophy. She is a National Endowment for the Humanities Fellow and a Senior Fellow, Center for Humanistic Inquiry. She is the author of many books, including What Happened to Civility: The Promise and Failure of Montaigne’s Modern Project and Montaigne and the Origins of Modern Philosophy. She is currently working on a book on Montaigne tentatively titled Montaigne and Modern Rationalism. Ann is a parishioner at St. Joseph's Maronite Catholic Church in Sandy Springs, Georgia. Resources:  Books by Dr. Ann Hartle