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Why, Oh Why, My God?: Meditations on Christian Faith and the Meaning of Life
When Abbé Pierre of the Emmaus communities died at the age 94, the BBC hailed him as "France's leading champion of the destitute and homeless." In his final book, Why, Oh Why, My God?, Abbé Pierre reflects on his life, faith, vocation, and continuing commitment to serving the world's poor. He also offers insights into today's most pressing religious and social issues. Over the period of a year, in conversation with Frédéric Lenoir, Pierre took up his long-term reflection on original sin, evil, and the meaning of life. Despite his age and bad health, he was obsessed by many fundamental questions. Why, Oh Why, My God? is neither a treatise nor a statement, but rather a series of brief meditations on Christian faith and the sense of human life. Not only does it touch on fundamental points of Christian doctrine, but also on intimate and burning topical subjects, such as sexuality and the marriage of priests, the place of women in the church, parenting by same sex partners, and the election of a new pope. Far from being stilted religious propaganda, these meditations represent the essential spiritual and theological preoccupations of the founder of Emmaus community and can be seen as his spiritual testament.
78 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2007
1 person is currently reading
7 people want to read
About the author
Frédéric Lenoir
134 books462 followers3 June 1962. Birth in Madagascar.
1964. His parents return to France and move to the country to raise their four children, born in Morocco and Madagascar.
1970-1979. He moves to Paris. An unruly student, he is particularly ill-disposed to doing schoolwork and is sent to three different lycées (Victor Duruy, Buffon, Camille Sée). As a teenager he reads Hesse and Dostoyevsky, kindling his interest in existential questions. At 15 he develops a passion for philosophy after reading Plato’s Dialogues, and in astrology from reading books by André Barbault.
1980-1985. The Swiss psychologist Carl Gustav Jung has a profound effect on his intellectual direction, triggering a desire to study mankind’s great myths and religions. After an early fascination with Asian spirituality, in particular Tibetan Buddhism, discovered through the work of Chogyam Trungpa, he develops an interest in the Kabbalah and begins taking classes in the symbolism of Hebrew letters. He has no particular interest in studying Christianity, however. His Catholic upbringing, although very liberal, had focused too much on dogma and morality. Then, at 19, he reads the Gospels for the first time, and is amazed by them. He begins studying philosophy at the University of Fribourg, in Switzerland, with his childhood friend Emmanuel Rouvillois, who later becomes a monk by the name of Brother Samuel; there, he meets two crucial and outstanding professors: the Dominican philosopher Marie-Dominique Philippe (with whom he writes a book of interviews, Les trois sagesses, in 1994) and the philosopher and Talmud scholar Emmanuel Lévinas who, as a testament, leaves him a fine text on ethics in his book Le Temps de la responsabilité (1991). Parallel to his philosophy studies, he goes on a personal spiritual quest that leads him to spend several months in Israel and India, as well as in Christian hermitages and monasteries in France.
1986. As editor of the religion department at Editions Fayard, he publishes several books examining philosophical and spiritual themes.
1991. He resigns from his position as editor to devote more time to academic research and writing, and begins work on a doctoral thesis on Buddhism in the West at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales.
1992. Passionate about ecological issues, he helps found the association ‘‘Environnement sans frontières.’’ In 2003 he publishes a book of interviews with his friend Hubert Reeves, who sounds the alarm on the risks threatening the planet. (Mal de Terre).
1994. He is appointed associate researcher at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS). Following in the footsteps of Edgar Morin, one of his intellectual mentors, he takes on the issue of religion in a multi-disciplinary approach combining philosophy, sociology and history.
1997. He writes l’Encyclopédie des religions, conceived and compiled with Ysé Tardan-Masquelier, (2500 pages, 2 volumes, 150 collaborators).
1996-2000. He writes for L’Express on a regular basis.
1998. He writes and directs an international study about sects for television with Lolande Cadrin-Rossignol. The documentary series, entitled ‘‘Sectes, mensonges et idéaux’’ (‘‘Sects, Lies and Ideals’’), is broadcast in France on the Cinquième channel and in numerous other countries. He also co-writes a documentary about the Dalai Lama that is broadcast on Canal +, and a series of three 52’ episodes on the Cinquième channel entitled ‘‘Dieu a changé d’adresse’’ (‘’God has changed his address’’).
1998-2005. He writes a number of books − some alone, others with Catherine David and Jean-Philippe de Tonnac − of interviews with such diverse figures as Abbé Pierre, Umberto Eco, Stephen Jay Gould, Jean Vanier, Hubert Reeves and Jean-Claude Carrière.
1964. His parents return to France and move to the country to raise their four children, born in Morocco and Madagascar.
1970-1979. He moves to Paris. An unruly student, he is particularly ill-disposed to doing schoolwork and is sent to three different lycées (Victor Duruy, Buffon, Camille Sée). As a teenager he reads Hesse and Dostoyevsky, kindling his interest in existential questions. At 15 he develops a passion for philosophy after reading Plato’s Dialogues, and in astrology from reading books by André Barbault.
1980-1985. The Swiss psychologist Carl Gustav Jung has a profound effect on his intellectual direction, triggering a desire to study mankind’s great myths and religions. After an early fascination with Asian spirituality, in particular Tibetan Buddhism, discovered through the work of Chogyam Trungpa, he develops an interest in the Kabbalah and begins taking classes in the symbolism of Hebrew letters. He has no particular interest in studying Christianity, however. His Catholic upbringing, although very liberal, had focused too much on dogma and morality. Then, at 19, he reads the Gospels for the first time, and is amazed by them. He begins studying philosophy at the University of Fribourg, in Switzerland, with his childhood friend Emmanuel Rouvillois, who later becomes a monk by the name of Brother Samuel; there, he meets two crucial and outstanding professors: the Dominican philosopher Marie-Dominique Philippe (with whom he writes a book of interviews, Les trois sagesses, in 1994) and the philosopher and Talmud scholar Emmanuel Lévinas who, as a testament, leaves him a fine text on ethics in his book Le Temps de la responsabilité (1991). Parallel to his philosophy studies, he goes on a personal spiritual quest that leads him to spend several months in Israel and India, as well as in Christian hermitages and monasteries in France.
1986. As editor of the religion department at Editions Fayard, he publishes several books examining philosophical and spiritual themes.
1991. He resigns from his position as editor to devote more time to academic research and writing, and begins work on a doctoral thesis on Buddhism in the West at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales.
1992. Passionate about ecological issues, he helps found the association ‘‘Environnement sans frontières.’’ In 2003 he publishes a book of interviews with his friend Hubert Reeves, who sounds the alarm on the risks threatening the planet. (Mal de Terre).
1994. He is appointed associate researcher at the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales (EHESS). Following in the footsteps of Edgar Morin, one of his intellectual mentors, he takes on the issue of religion in a multi-disciplinary approach combining philosophy, sociology and history.
1997. He writes l’Encyclopédie des religions, conceived and compiled with Ysé Tardan-Masquelier, (2500 pages, 2 volumes, 150 collaborators).
1996-2000. He writes for L’Express on a regular basis.
1998. He writes and directs an international study about sects for television with Lolande Cadrin-Rossignol. The documentary series, entitled ‘‘Sectes, mensonges et idéaux’’ (‘‘Sects, Lies and Ideals’’), is broadcast in France on the Cinquième channel and in numerous other countries. He also co-writes a documentary about the Dalai Lama that is broadcast on Canal +, and a series of three 52’ episodes on the Cinquième channel entitled ‘‘Dieu a changé d’adresse’’ (‘’God has changed his address’’).
1998-2005. He writes a number of books − some alone, others with Catherine David and Jean-Philippe de Tonnac − of interviews with such diverse figures as Abbé Pierre, Umberto Eco, Stephen Jay Gould, Jean Vanier, Hubert Reeves and Jean-Claude Carrière.
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February 10, 2013
This is an outstanding look into to a great man who cared so dearly for those less fortunate. I found this book interesting especially Abbé Pierre's views on theology. In some aspects, he was non-traditional. It was refreshing. An excellent read.
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