Literary Traditions and the Pursuit of Truth: A Culture of Humility

Emily Austin on October 16, 2024 at Ruth Lake Country Club. The challenges of our times can make Christians feel embattled and besieged. But the Catholic intellectual tradition, at its best, equips us to look with openness for the Truth, incarnate in the world around us. In this lecture, Prof. Emily Austin shared her perspective as a classicist, reading within a literary tradition. To read within a tradition requires patience and attentiveness, allowing each text to teach you how to read anew. She argued that a Catholic literary culture requires—and fosters—humility. The pursuit of Truth is most productively sought, in a literary context, within a community of friends.