 | |
| Author | Frederick Buechner |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Anthology |
| Publisher | Seabury Press, NY |
Publication date | 1966 |
| Followed by | The Hungering Dark |
The Magnificent Defeat is a collection of meditations on Christianity and faith by Frederick Buechner. It was first conceived as a series of sermons, delivered at the Phillips Exeter Academy throughout 1959. It was subsequently published by Seabury Press, NY, in 1966. The Magnificent Defeat is Buechner’s first non-fiction publication.
Buechner delivered the sermons included in The Magnificent Defeat as the ‘new school minister’ at the Phillips Exeter Academy, a role he took in 1958 following his graduation from Union Theological Seminary, New York. In his autobiographical work, Now and Then (1983), Buechner reflects on the difficulties of writing and delivering sermons for a young and unreceptive audience, ‘most if not all of [whom] were there so much against both their wills and their principles’. [1] He continues: ‘My job, as I saw it, was to defend the Christian faith against its “cultured despisers”, to use Schleiermacher’s phrase. To put it more positively, it was to present the faith as appealingly, honestly, relevantly, and skilfully as I could.’ [2] Elsewhere, in another anthology of sermons titled Secrets in the Dark (2006), Buechner writes that ‘in keeping with the spirit of the time’, the majority of his students were ‘against almost everything – the Vietnam war, the government, anybody over thirty including their parents, the school, and especially religion’. [3] In Now and Then, the author describes the ‘sheer terror’ of preaching to this congregation, in addition to his fellow faculty members, whom he describes as ‘often jaded, skeptical, sometimes even quite openly negative about the whole religious enterprise’. [4] Marjorie Casebier McCoy writes that the effect of being faced with such a hostile audience on a weekly basis ‘compelled [Buechner] to hone his preaching and literary skills to their utmost in order to get a hearing for Christian faith.’ [5]
Now and Then also details the setting, the Phillips Exeter Academy Library, in which Buechner composed his sermons; the author describes himself, ‘sat in the library in a deep leather armchair with my feet on the radiator’. [6] In Secrets in the Dark the author also reveals that several of the sermons featured in The Magnificent Defeat became ‘the germ of a novel’, which was later written and published as The Son of Laughter (1993). [7] A number of the sermons preached at Exeter and not published in The Magnificent Defeat were later anthologised in The Hungering Dark (1968). [8]
The topics of Buechner’s sermons vary, and they meditate on a selection of texts from the Old and New Testament. As with many of his other works, the addresses included in The Magnificent Defeat meditate upon the possibility of faith and of God’s action in the world, especially in the mundane. As the author acknowledges in Now and Then, the sermons are also often offer an apologetic for Christianity and for faith. Jeffrey Munroe places particular significance upon the volume, writing that 'the theological convictions worked out in these pages would stick with Buechner for the rest of his career.' [9] Buechner scholar Dale Brown notes particularly the presence of the theme of doubt, writing that 'the issue of doubt is never far from the surface' [10] in The Magnificent Defeat, and that, within the anthology, 'it is the very impossibility of proof that Buechner sees as the gap that God occupies.' [11]
In the ‘Introductory Note’ to The Magnificent Defeat, Buechner names James Muilenburg, George Buttrick, John Knox, Paul Scherer, and Robert Russell Wicks as influences for both the style and substance of his preaching. [12] The author reflects at length in Now and Then on the influence of Karl Barth, particularly his essay ‘The Need for Christian Preaching’, upon the sermons included in the anthology: ‘These words of Barth’s were extremely powerful words to me, seemed extremely honest and, as far as I could tell, extremely true; and in all my preaching at Exeter and ever since I have been guided by them.’ [13]
Carl Frederick Buechner was an American author, Presbyterian minister, preacher, and theologian. The author of thirty-nine published books, his career spanned more than six decades and encompassed many different genres. He wrote novels, including Godric, A Long Day's Dying and The Book of Bebb, his memoirs, including The Sacred Journey, and theological works, such as Secrets in the Dark, The Magnificent Defeat, and Telling the Truth.
Godric is the tenth novel by the American author and theologian, Frederick Buechner. Set in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, the novel tells the semi-fictionalised life story of the medieval Roman Catholic saint, Godric of Finchale. It was first published in 1980 by Atheneum, New York, and was a finalist for the 1981 Pulitzer Prize.
The Book of Bebb is a tetralogy of novels by the American author and theologian, Frederick Buechner. Published in 1971 by Atheneum, New York, Lion Country is the first in the Book of Bebb series. It was followed by Open Heart (1972), Love Feast (1974), and Treasure Hunt (1977). In 1972 Lion Country was named a finalist in the National Book Award for Fiction. The Book of Bebb is an edited single volume edition containing the four novels, and it was published by Atheneum, New York, in 1979.
This is a list of published works by writer and theologian Frederick Buechner.
Brendan is the eleventh novel by the American author and theologian, Frederick Buechner. It was first published in 1987 by Atheneum, New York, and it won the Christianity and Literature Book Award for Belles-Lettres in the same year.
The Son of Laughter is the twelfth novel by the American author and theologian, Frederick Buechner. The novel was first published in 1993 by Harper, San Francisco. In the same year it was named ‘Book of the Year’ by the Conference on Christianity and Literature.
The Final Beast is the fourth novel by the American author and theologian, Frederick Buechner. It was first published in 1965 by Atheneum, New York.
The Entrance to Porlock is the fifth novel by the American author and theologian, Frederick Buechner. It was first published in 1970 by Atheneum, New York.
Now and Then: a memoir of vocation (1983), is the second of four partial autobiographies written by Frederick Buechner. Published in 1983, the work describes the author's life from his conversion to Christianity in 1953, at the age of twenty-seven, up to his residency in Vermont at the age of fifty-seven.
Telling Secrets: a memoir (1991), is the third of four partial autobiographies written by Frederick Buechner. Published in 1991, the work considers in depth several scenes and events from the author's life, from his father’s suicide through to his time spent as a visiting professor at Wheaton College.
The Eyes of the Heart: a memoir of the lost and found (1999) is the fourth of four partial autobiographies written by Frederick Buechner. Published in 1999, the work moves between a number of vignettes from the author's life, remembering friendships, and imagining conversations with lost family members.
The Alphabet of Grace is a collection of addresses on Christianity and faith by Frederick Buechner. It was first conceived as a trilogy of sermons, delivered at the Harvard Memorial Church in the winter of 1969. It was subsequently published by Seabury Press, NY, in 1970.
The Hungering Dark is a collection of meditations on Christianity and faith by Frederick Buechner. Preceded by The Magnificent Defeat, it is the second in a series of sermon anthologies preached in 1959 during the author's time at the Phillips Exeter Academy. The Hungering Dark is Buechner's second non-fiction publication, and it was published by Seabury Press, NY, in 1968.
Wishful Thinking: a theological ABC, reissued in 1993 as Wishful Thinking: a seeker’s ABC, is a collection of meditations on faith, Christianity, and theology by Frederick Buechner. It is the first of Buechner’s lexical trilogy, which includes Peculiar Treasures (1979) and Whistling in the Dark (1988). Published in 1973 by Harper and Row, Wishful Thinking is Buechner’s fourth non-fiction work.
The Faces of Jesus: a life story is a collection of meditations by Frederick Buechner on the life and person of Jesus Christ. The work gathers and discusses a selection of artistic portrayals of Jesus, including a variety of forms, from tapestry to sculpture. Published in 1974 by Simon and Schuster, Faces of Jesus is Buechner’s fifth non-fiction work.
Telling the Truth: the Gospel as tragedy, comedy, and fairy tale, is a collection of essays by Frederick Buechner on the subject of homiletics. It was first composed for and delivered at the Yale Divinity School Lyman Beecher Lecture series in 1976. Telling the Truth was subsequently published in 1977 by HarperCollins. It is Buechner's sixth non-fiction work.
Peculiar Treasures: A Biblical Who's Who, is a collection of meditations on the stories of biblical figures, written by Frederick Buechner. It is the second of Buechner's lexical trilogy, which includes Wishful Thinking (1973) and Whistling in the Dark (1988). Published in 1979 by Harper and Row, Peculiar Treasures is Buechner's seventh non-fiction work.
A Room Called Remember is a collection of sermons, meditations, articles, and addresses, authored by Frederick Buechner. Published in 1984 by Harper and Row, A Room Called Remember is Buechner's eighth non-fiction work.
Whistling in the Dark: a doubter's dictionary, first issued as Whistling in the Dark: an ABC theologized, is a collection of meditations on faith, Christianity, and theology by Frederick Buechner. It is the third and final instalment of Buechner's lexical trilogy, which includes Wishful Thinking (1973) and Peculiar Treasures (1979). Published in 1988 by Harper and Row, Whistling in the Dark is Buechner's ninth non-fiction work.
Secrets in the Dark: A Life in Sermons is a collection of sermons and lectures authored by Frederick Buechner. Published in 2006 by HarperCollins, Secrets in the Dark is Buechner's fifteenth non-fiction work.