Stephen A. Werner

Last updated
Stephen Werner
Born1956

Stephen A. Werner (born 1956) is a college instructor and writer from St Louis. [1]

Contents

Biography

Teaching

For over thirty years, Werner has taught as an adjunct instructor of the humanities at several universities in the St. Louis area. Along with courses on religion, theology, mythology, and history; he has taught courses on American culture covering such figures as Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley. [2]

Based on his years of teaching religion he wrote How to Study Religion: A Guide for the Curious, an introduction to religion for college students or for those who are curious about religion. [3]

Academic writing

He wrote The Handy Christianity Answer Book: [4] “an ideal ready reference … will interest young adults, general readers, Christians curious to learn more, and those who are spiritual but not religious and would like to explore the basics and some of the mysteries of the religion.” [5] He also wrote The Handy History Answer Book (4th ed.). [6] Werner holds a Ph.D. in Historical Theology [7] and his academic writing has focused on influential St. Louis Jesuits, such as Joseph Husslein, S.J. (1873-1952), a key figure in the development of American Catholic social thought in the early 1990s; [8] Daniel A. Lord, S.J. (1888-1955), one of the most influential Catholic religious figures of the 20th century; [9] and Dismas Clark, S.J. (1901-1963), who set up the first halfway house for men coming out of prison, and was portrayed in the 1961 movie The Hoodlum Priest . [10]

In 2021, Werner published The Restless Flame, Daniel Lord, S.J.: Thinking Big a Parochial World, a comprehensive biography on this influential Jesuit. [11]

Other writing

Werner's other writings include Life Hurts: An Exploration of the Pain and Suffering of Life [12] and a humorous satire: Elvis and Apocalypse: The Awful Disclosures of Maria, Matron of the Hotel Dew Beanery (Revised edition). [13]

Theatrical writing

He has also written and produced several theatrical works such as The Back Road to Bethlehem, a children’s Christmas musical; A Streetcar Named Ramona Junction; [14] The Rum Luck of the Irish, a light-hearted farce set in St. Louis during prohibition; [15] and Tobit’s Triumph a musical based on the biblical Book of Tobit. [16] He wrote and composed an opera, Damn, You Gilgamesh! based on the ancient story The Epic of Gilgamesh . [17] Werner is also a composer. His song “Irish Farewell” is the most popular and is often performed at funerals around the world. [18]

Academic articles

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christianity</span> Abrahamic religion based on the life of Jesus

Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.4 billion followers representing one-third of the global population. Its adherents, known as Christians, are estimated to make up a majority of the population in 157 countries and territories. They believe that Jesus is the Son of God, whose coming as the Messiah was prophesied in the Hebrew Bible and chronicled in the New Testament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacques Dupuis (Jesuit)</span>

Jacques Dupuis was a Belgian Jesuit priest and theologian. He spent several decades in India and taught at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome.

The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Israelites. The second division of Christian Bibles is the New Testament, written in the Koine Greek language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Archangel</span> Second lowest rank of angel

Archangels are the second-lowest rank of angel in the Christian hierarchy of angels, put forward by Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite in the 5th or 6th century in his book De Coelesti Hierarchia. The word "archangel" itself is usually associated with the Abrahamic religions, but beings that are very similar to archangels are found in a number of other religious traditions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Book of Tobit</span> Deuterocanonical (apocryphal) book of Christian scripture

The Book of Tobit, also known as the Book of Tobias or the Book of Tobi, is a 3rd or early 2nd century BC Jewish work describing how God tests the faithful, responds to prayers, and protects the covenant community. It tells the story of two Israelite families, that of the blind Tobit in Nineveh and of the abandoned Sarah in Ecbatana. Tobit's son Tobias is sent to retrieve ten silver talents that Tobit once left in Rages, a town in Media; guided and aided by the angel Raphael he arrives in Ecbatana, where he meets Sarah. A demon named Asmodeus has fallen in love with her and kills anyone she intends to marry, but with the aid of Raphael the demon is exorcised and Tobias and Sarah marry, after which they return to Nineveh where Tobit is cured of his blindness.

<i>The City of God</i> Book by Augustine of Hippo

On the City of God Against the Pagans, often called The City of God, is a book of Christian philosophy written in Latin by Augustine of Hippo in the early 5th century AD. The book was in response to allegations that Christianity brought about the decline of Rome and is considered one of Augustine's most important works, standing alongside The Confessions, The Enchiridion, On Christian Doctrine, and On the Trinity. As a work of one of the most influential Church Fathers, The City of God is a cornerstone of Western thought, expounding on many questions of theology, such as the suffering of the righteous, the existence of evil, the conflict between free will and divine omniscience, and the doctrine of original sin.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dan Schutte</span> American Christian singer

Daniel Laurent Schutte is an American composer of Catholic and contemporary Christian liturgical music, best known for composing the hymn "Here I Am, Lord" and approximately 160 other hymns and Mass settings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Avery Dulles</span> American Jesuit priest (1918–2008)

Avery Robert Dulles was an American Jesuit priest, theologian, and cardinal of the Catholic Church. Dulles served on the faculty of Woodstock College from 1960 to 1974, of the Catholic University of America from 1974 to 1988, and as the Laurence J. McGinley Professor of Religion and Society at Fordham University from 1988 to 2008. He was also an internationally known author and lecturer.

Daniel Aloysius Lord was an American Jesuit priest and Catholic writer. He wrote 32 books, 15 booklets, and 228 pamphlets, as well as countless articles. Lord also wrote 70 plays, musicals, and pageants. He served as one of the technical consultants on Cecil B. DeMille's 1927 The King of Kings. His most influential work was possibly in drafting the 1930 Production Code for motion pictures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seven Archangels</span> Concept found in some works of early Jewish literature

The concept of Seven Archangels is found in some works of early Jewish literature and in Christianity. In those texts, they are referenced as the angels who serve God directly.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matthias Joseph Scheeben</span> German Catholic theological writer and mystic

Matthias Joseph Scheeben was a German Catholic theological writer and mystic. "The generations that followed Scheeben regarded him as one of the greatest minds of modern Catholic theology."

This is a list of selected references for Christianity in China.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Francis Xavier Clooney</span> American Jesuit priest and scholar of Hinduism

Francis Xavier Clooney is an American Jesuit priest and scholar in the teachings of Hinduism. He is currently a professor at Harvard Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Christian denominations have a variety of beliefs about sexual orientation, including beliefs about same-sex sexual practices and asexuality. Denominations differ in the way they treat lesbian, bisexual, and gay people; variously, such people may be barred from membership, accepted as laity, or ordained as clergy, depending on the denomination. As asexuality is relatively new to public discourse, few Christian denominations discuss it. Asexuality may be considered the lack of a sexual orientation, or one of the four variations thereof, alongside heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality, and pansexuality.

Brian Edward Daley, S.J. is an American Catholic priest, Jesuit, and theologian. He is currently the Catherine F. Huisking Professor of Theology (Emeritus) at the University of Notre Dame and was the recipient of a Ratzinger Prize for Theology in 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cross necklace</span> Apparel bearing a symbol of Christianity

A cross necklace is any necklace featuring a Christian cross or crucifix.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John W. O'Malley</span> American academic, Catholic historian, and Jesuit priest (1927–2022)

John William O'Malley was an American academic, Catholic historian, and Jesuit priest. He was a University Professor at Georgetown University, housed in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies. O'Malley was a widely published expert on the religious history of Early Modern Europe, with specialities on the Council of Trent, the Second Vatican Council, and the First Vatican Council.

Charles Dismas Clark (1901–1963) was an American Jesuit priest based in St. Louis. In 1959, he created the first halfway house to support men coming out of prison: Dismas House. Clark knew that if a man coming out of prison could be given a decent place to live and a job, he rarely returned to prison. However, if a man did not receive such support he had a very high chance of committing another crime and returning to prison. For his work with ex-convicts, Clark earned the moniker "The Hoodlum Priest." In 1960, actor Don Murray came to St. Louis to film the movie The Hoodlum Priest on Father Clark's effort to create Dismas House.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph Husslein</span> Jesuit social thinker

Joseph C. Husslein, S.J. (1873-1952) was a key figure in the early twentieth century in the development of American Catholic social thought. Husslein was one of several figures, such as John A. Ryan, trying to apply the Catholic social teaching of Pope Leo XIII’s watershed encyclical Rerum novarum (1891). In the next decades Husslein would write over 500 articles on Catholic social teaching. The national Jesuit weekly magazine America published most of these articles. Husslein worked as an editor of the magazine.

Dietmar Werner Winkler is an Austrian scholar of patristics and ecclesiastical history. He is a professor and the founding director of the Center for the Study of the Christian East at the University of Salzburg.

References

  1. “About the Author” The Handy History Answer Book (Visible Ink Press, 2021).
  2. “About the Author.”
  3. How to Study Religion: A Guide for the Curious (San Diego: Cognella Academic Publishing, 2019).
  4. The Handy Christianity Answer Book (Detroit: Visible Ink Press, 2019).
  5. Marcia G. Welsh, review of The Handy Christianity Answer Book, Library Journal 144 (June 2019), 145.
  6. The Handy History Answer Book, 4th ed., (Detroit: Visible Ink Press, 2020).
  7. “About the Author” The Handy Christianity Answer Book (Visible Ink Press, 2019).
  8. “The Life, Social Thought, and Work of Joseph Caspar Husslein,” Annual Publication of the College Theology Society 38 (1992), Religions of the Book.
  9. “Daniel A. Lord, SJ: A Forgotten Catholic Dynamo of the Early Twentieth Century,” American Catholic Studies 129 (Summer 2018), 39-58.
  10. “Frank Sinatra and the Hoodlum Priest,” American Catholic Studies 129 (Winter 2016), 101-106.
  11. Published by Press, Press, Pull – St. Louis.
  12. Life Hurts: An Exploration of the Pain and Suffering in Life (Press, Press, Pull – St. Louis, 2020).
  13. Elvis and Apocalypse: The Awful Disclosures of Maria, Matron of the Hotel Dew Beanery, Revised edition (Press, Press, Pull – St. Louis, 2020).
  14. Glen Sparks, “’Streetcar’ pulls into St. Margaret theater,” Southside Journal, October 28, 1998, 7A.
  15. Jim Rygelski, “Werner’s latest play blends humor, history” Southside Journal, August 10, 1994, 1A.
  16. Judith Newmark, St. Louis Post Dispatch, August 6, 2006. The Book of Tobit is found in the Catholic Old Testament but not in the Protestant Old Testament.
  17. Listen to Damn You, Gilgamesh.
  18. Listen to “Irish Farewell.”