St Mary’s Hosts Inaugural Pastoral Theology Lecture

St Mary’s University, Twickenham will host the inaugural Professorial Lecture of Prof Peter Tyler on Monday, 20^th October. Prof Tyler who is Professor of Pastoral Theology and Spirituality at the University will discuss Ludwig Wittgenstein, Rabindranath Tagore and the Mystical Turn. In the summer of 1927 the 38 year-old Austrian philosopher, Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889 – 1951) was asked to address the celebrated Vienna Circle of Austrian philosophers. He responded by reciting portions of the mystical poetry of the Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore (1861 – 1941). Taking this as his starting point, Prof Tyler will address the practices and aims of what he terms the ‘mystical turn’ in the contemporary practice of pastoral theology. Educated at Oxford, London and Middlesex Universities, Prof Tyler completed his Doctorate at Durham University on the Mystical Theology of St Teresa of Avila viewed from a Wittgensteinian perspective. Since then he has sought to integrate the pre-modern ‘mystical theology’ with the postmodern insights of thinkers such as Ludwig Wittgenstein in books including The Return to the Mystical: Ludwig Wittgenstein, Teresa of Avila and the Western Mystical Tradition (Continuum 2011) and Teresa of Avila: Doctor of the Soul (Bloomsbury 2013). Leading and developing St Mary’s MA in Theology for eight years, Prof Tyler has hosted numerous conferences on contemporary aspects of Pastoral Theology and its relevance to developing the Common Good (most recently the successful celebration of 50 years of Paul VI’s encyclical Ecclesiam Suam). He commented, “As religion once again becomes a significant vector in contemporary society the academy must take its responsibility in educating and nurturing this most vital element of human existence. I am delighted and humbled to work at St Mary’s where this task is being taken seriously in a way that can benefit not just the Church but society at large.” The Lecture will take place Monday October 20th, 5.30pm, Waldegrave Drawing Room, St Mary’s University, Twickenham. For more information and to RSVP, contact Hannah Bowyer at hannah.bowyer@stmarys.ac.uk.