Letter to a Priest

English language

Published Dec. 26, 2003 by Penguin Books.

ISBN:: 978-0-14-200267-4

(1 review)

Letter to a Priest encapsulates the sharp wit and questioning nature of Simone Weil. Regarded by Susan Sontag as 'one of the most uncompromising and troubling witnesses to the modern travail of the spirit', Weil grips the moral imagination as few others before or since. She was only thirty four when she died in 1943, yet despite her short life she left behind an incredible body of literature. Letter to a Priest, addressed to Father Joseph-Marie Perrin, a Catholic priest who Weil met in Marseilles, is one of her most powerful pieces. Written at a time when those who knew her considered her to be 'like a soul in torment whose thinking had all the signs of a deep inner conflict', it contains thirty five powerful expressions of opinion on matters concerning Catholic faith, dogma and institutions. Vehement and controversial, yet eloquent and moving, it is essential reading for anyone …

Letter to a Priest encapsulates the sharp wit and questioning nature of Simone Weil. Regarded by Susan Sontag as 'one of the most uncompromising and troubling witnesses to the modern travail of the spirit', Weil grips the moral imagination as few others before or since. She was only thirty four when she died in 1943, yet despite her short life she left behind an incredible body of literature. Letter to a Priest, addressed to Father Joseph-Marie Perrin, a Catholic priest who Weil met in Marseilles, is one of her most powerful pieces. Written at a time when those who knew her considered her to be 'like a soul in torment whose thinking had all the signs of a deep inner conflict', it contains thirty five powerful expressions of opinion on matters concerning Catholic faith, dogma and institutions. Vehement and controversial, yet eloquent and moving, it is essential reading for anyone who has questions about faith and belief.

1 edition

Sean Bala reviewed Letter to a Priest by Simone Weil

Review of 'Letter to a Priest' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

"Letter to a Priest" by Simone Weil is an unvarnished work from one of the twentieth-century's most interesting philosophers. Written in New York in 1942 before Weil returned to Europe to join the Free French, the letter catches the author a decisive moment in her short life. In the letter, she explains over thirty points raising questions or objections about modern Christianity, its relationship to other religions, and the faith as embodied in the Roman Catholic Church. It is a short distillation of her thought generally, with the usual elements - her admiration of ancient Greek, Egyptian, and Near Eastern cultures, her virulent anti-Judaism and anti-Roman sentiments, and her agonized position as a Jew who considered herself at the door of the Church but destined never to enter. She is not a systematic thinker but the questions she raises are pointed and insightful - a thinker to consider for anyone, …

"Letter to a Priest" by Simone Weil is an unvarnished work from one of the twentieth-century's most interesting philosophers. Written in New York in 1942 before Weil returned to Europe to join the Free French, the letter catches the author a decisive moment in her short life. In the letter, she explains over thirty points raising questions or objections about modern Christianity, its relationship to other religions, and the faith as embodied in the Roman Catholic Church. It is a short distillation of her thought generally, with the usual elements - her admiration of ancient Greek, Egyptian, and Near Eastern cultures, her virulent anti-Judaism and anti-Roman sentiments, and her agonized position as a Jew who considered herself at the door of the Church but destined never to enter. She is not a systematic thinker but the questions she raises are pointed and insightful - a thinker to consider for anyone, especially those interested in philosophy and theology.