Violence and Revelation. René Girard, reader of the Scripture

What is the meaning of the ‘scapegoat’ in the biblical stories? Does Christ's passion amount to a sacrifice? How can the mimetic theory of René Girard (1923-2015) shed light on our understanding of the Gospel message?

To mark the centenary of René Girard's birth, the Collège des Bernardins and the Société des Amis de Joseph & René Girard, under the patronage of the Académie française and with the support of the Fondation Simone et Cino Del Duca - Institut de France, have organised a study day in December 2023 to honour the thought of this eminent anthropologist.

This volume, co-edited by Marie Girard and Félix Resch, publishes the proceedings of that day. It sheds light on Girard's relationship with Judeo-Christian revelation. Mgr Matthieu Rougé wrote the preface.

Table of contents :

• Preface. A work in labour,
  by Mgr Matthieu Rougé
• René Girard, reader of Scripture. Presentation of the Cahier,
  by Félix Resch
• Girard and the prophetic critique of sacrifice,
  by Dominique Janthial
• René Girard put to the test in Leviticus,
  by Charles-Antoine Fogielman
• The triumph of the cross. Girard's reading of the New Testament,
  by Wolfgang Palaver
• The Bible, a subversive revelation. Around the thought of René Girard,
  by Marie Monnet
• Writing and apology in René Girard,
  by Félix Resch
• A childhood memory of René Girard,
  by Benoît Chantre
• Kenosis and wokism: an alternative to the instrumentalisation of social justice,
  by William Franke
• Salvation and mimetic desire. Presentation of an undergraduate thesis,
  by Louis Corpechot
• Postface,
  by Marie Girard

The authors, specialists in the thought of René Girard :

Wolfgang Palaver - Wolfgang Palaver is Professor of Catholic Social Thought at the University of Innsbruck in Austria, where he was also Dean of the Faculty of Catholic Theology, following in the footsteps of the Swiss theologian Father Raymond Schwager, a close friend and collaborator of René Girard. From 2007 to 2011, he chaired the Colloquium on Violence and Religion (Cov&R). He has published books and articles on violence and religion, Thomas Hobbes, Carl Schmitt, Simone Weil and René Girard. His most recent book in English is René Girard's Mimetic Theory (Michigan State University Press, 2013).

Benoît Chantre. - Doctor of Letters, President of the Association Recherches Mimétiques. He has contributed to various journals (Artpress, Esprit, L'Infini, La Revue des deux mondes, etc.), written on contemporary artists and organised university colloquia and writers' meetings in Paris and at Villa Medici. His research focuses on the works of Bergson, Girard, Levinas, Péguy and Simone Weil. In 2007 he published Achever Clausewitz with René Girard (reprinted in Grasset, 2022), in 2014 an essay on Péguy published by Éditions du Félin (Péguy point final), in 2016 Les Derniers Jours de René Girard published by Éditions Grasset and in 2019 Le Clocher de Tübingen, oeuvre-vie de Friedrich Hölderlin published by Éditions Grasset.

Charles-Antoine Fogielman. - Priest of the diocese of Paris, Doctor of Religious Studies, Associate Professor of Classics, doctoral student in theology (with a thesis on Exodus 25) Publications: Évagre le Pontique : À Euloge - Les Vices opposés aux Vertus, Sources Chrétiennes 591, Lyon 2017 ; Écrits de la sagesse, Parole et Silence, Paris 2022

Marie Girard. - teacher in preparatory classes, daughter of René Girard and president of the Société des amis de rené & Jospeh Girard.

William Franke. - Professor of Comparative Literature and Religious Studies at Vanderbilt University. From 2013 to 2016, he was Professor of Philosophy of Religion at Macao University. For several decades, his research has focused in particular on the relationship between literature and revelation, starting with Dante, to whom he has devoted a number of works. Recent publications include Dante's Vita Nuova and the New Testament: Hermeneutics and the Poetics of Revelation, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2021 ; The Divine Vision of Dante's Paradiso. The Metaphysics of Representation, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2021 ; Dante's Paradiso and the Theological Origins of Modern Thought. Toward a Speculative Philosophy of Self-Reflection, New York, Routledge, 2021.

Dominique Janthial. - Priest of the Diocese of Malines-Brussels and responsible for the ordained ministers of the Association Cléricale de la Communauté de l'Emmanuel. He holds a doctorate in theology from the IET in Brussels (Institut Jésuite de Théologie), and taught biblical theology at the same institution until 2018. His knowledge of Judaism and his interest in dialogue have also led him to chair the National Commission for Dialogue with the Jewish World (CNCJ) in Belgium and to co-found the interfaith training course Emouna.

Marie Monnet. - Marie Monnet is a Dominican nun with a doctorate in law and theology, and is vice-rector of Domuni-Universitas. She directs studies and research there, as well as the university's delegation to the United Nations. As part of her philosophical and theological training in Toulouse, then in Louvain, she carried out research on Emmanuel Levinas, entitled ‘In the beginning was the Relationship’, then on ‘Violence and the desire for life’, in the light of E. Levinas and René Girard. Specialising in international law, her research focuses on the Salamanca School, initiated by the Dominican Francisco de Vitoria in the sixteenth century, and its reception in the Western legal tradition. Publications Dieu migrant, Toulouse, Domuni-Press, 2018; Homo Viator, La libre circulation des hommes entre ancienne et nouvelle mondialisation, Paris, Ed. du Cerf, 2014 (2016, 2nd edition); E. Levinas. La relation à l'autre, Toulouse/Bruxelles

Félix Resch. - Félix Resch is professor of philosophy at the Faculté Notre-Dame du Collège des Bernardins, and holds a doctorate in philosophy and theology. His current research focuses on the theological-political problem, the relationship between the Trinity and philosophy, and the relationship between faith and reason.
Recent publications include L'homme, la politique et Dieu. Le théocentrisme de Jacques Maritain, Paris, Téqui, ‘ Questions disputées ’, 2018 ; direction d'un collectif : L'héritage théologique de Benoît XVI. Coopérateur de la vérité, preface by Cardinal Luis F. Ladaria Ferrrer s.j., Paris, CLD Éditions, ‘Cahiers de la Nouvelle Revue Théologique’, 2023.

Louis Corpechot. - Louis Corpechot is a priest of the diocese of Paris and vicar of the parish of Saint-François-Xavier. At the Faculté Notre-Dame, he recently defended his licentiate thesis entitled Salut et désir mimétique, Je vois Satan tomber comme l'éclair, Implications sotériologiques de l'anthropologie girardienne