In honor of René Girard's passing

Prominent French intellectual René Girard recently passed away. His influence was felt in the pages of Dialogue due to Mack C. Stirling’s work on “Violence in the Scriptures: Mormonism and the Cultural Theory of René Girard” that also resulted in a marvelous dialogue with Joseph Spencer responding: “René Girard and Mormon Scripture: A Response.” Stirling also had the opportunity to interview Girard back in 2009: “Scandals, Scapegoats, and the Cross: An Interview with René Girard.” Here’s a taste: Girard: “If God had created man as happy and peaceful as cows in a nice meadow, there would be no point to the creation. In a way, suffering is part of education, but that is all we can say. We see it at only the human level. If you want to educate yourself, you have to suffer. It is more difficult than playing cards all day long. This explanation is imperfect and incomplete and doesn’t help much. Christianity is a religion which demands faith, and faith makes sense precisely because we don’t have all the pieces for understanding. Otherwise, it is not faith. It is the same thing as driving on the right side of the road—because everybody does that. If you don’t do it, the consequences will be bad. Whichever way you look at it you have mysteries, which are unfathomable because we are just not good enough, not holy enough to understand all the points, all the reason for creation.” Click in to read both!