Theology of Envy from Scripture to Pope Francis

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

Has envy simply become the “acceptable” vice in a culture that pulsates with comparison and competition? This course retrieves a robustly theological portrayal of envy from within the Jewish-Christian tradition, engaging not only theological treatises—e.g., patristic homilies, Gregory the Great’s Moralia, Aquinas’s Summa Theologiae—but also the important witness of literary texts. While the Christian tradition has been clear (if not unanimous) on the grave and destructive nature of this vice, literary texts illuminate more sharply the unfolding of envy in the human heart as well as its fragmentation of relationships on many levels, ultimately alienating the soul from God. Beyond providing an anatomy of envy, theological and literary voices will be explored also for the remedies proffered to heal this vicious human inclination.