Lecture, Charles Dickinson, Robert Browning’s Religion

Robert Browning’s Religion

Lecture in conjunction with the Boston Browning Society with Charles Dickinson, President Emeritus of the Boston Browning Society

In his dramatic monologues, the Victorian poet Robert Browning gave to any number of religious characters—from his own contemporary London, Germany, and the Vatican (Bishop Blougram’s Apology, Christmas Even & Easter Day) to Renaissance and early modern Europe (Johannes Agricola, The Bishop Orders his Tomb, Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister, The Ring & the Book) to first- and second-century Ephesus (A Death in the Desert)—free rein to describe themselves, usually to their own faint damnation. But what was Browning’s own religion? This we may divine, if not quite “though a glass, darkly,” still only as the many facets of a finely cut gem, even if perhaps most clearly in his own testimonial Christmas Eve and Easter Day. Dickinson will look at some facets of Browning’s religion, ending with his own most personal religious statement, Christmas Eve and Easter Day—written at the behest of his wife Elizabeth Barrett Browning—and how the theological moves that Browning makes there are exemplary for us even today. Selected manuscripts and artifacts from the Browning Collection at the Athenæum will be on display for this special program.

Charles Dickinson, independent scholar and past Co-President of the Boston Browning Society, has taught at colleges, universities and seminaries on four continents—most recently for Beacon Hill Seminars—and is the author of The Dialectical Development of Doctrine: a methodological proposal.

To Reserve: This event is for members only and there is no fee. Reservations are required but will not be accepted until April 9, 2010. Please call the Athenæum’s events reservation line, 617-720-7600.