Letter to a Priest

Simone Weil was one of the greatest thinkers of the 20th century, but her work is not widely known in English. This edition brings together not only the essay of the title, but also Human Personality. The essay discusses Catholic doctrine and the second her philosophy of affliction. Letter to a Priest contains a great deal of original reflection, especially on the relationship between Christianity and Greek philosophy, in which she was deeply versed. She puts forward the interesting argument that the proof that the content of Christianity existed before Christ is that there has been no noticeable change in human behaviour since that time. Christ wanted his disciples to proclaim the good news and glad tidings rather than theology. The Church cannot be infallible since it is always evolving. The relationship between Christianity and the Empire is deeply problematic in political terms. The thesis of the second essay is that everything in personal in man is sacred, and nothing else. Impersonality is reached by the practice of a rare form of attention only possible in solitude. Weil thinks at the level of principles rather than personality and insists on the essential importance of supernatural good. One further quote: 'Everything which originates from pure love is lit with the radiance of beauty.'