G.E.M. Anscombe and Catholicism

September 10, 2015 9:09 PM

Why did G.E.M. Anscombe convert to Catholicism? Did she or any of those close to her ever provide an account of the process? Did she ever write anything apologetic?
posted by phrontist to Religion & Philosophy (4 answers total)

Best answer: I just found an article in First Things stating that "She also published articles brilliantly articulating and defending Catholic teachings, including “On Transubstantiation” (1967), which explores the mysteries of the Eucharist, “Faith” (1981), and “Contraception and Chastity” (1974), which argues against contraception (as she later put it: “You might as well accept any sexual goings-on, if you accept contraceptive intercourse”)."

They appear to be collected (along with similar essays) in Faith in a Hard Ground.

I'm not sure if she's written about her conversion extensively, though I do recall reading—I'm now not sure where—an autobiographical essay, or perhaps autobiographical remarks not rising to the level of an essay, some comments on it.

Here's a bibliography.
posted by kenko at 9:41 PM on September 10, 2015

The most I can find is an aside: my teenage conversion to the Catholic Church—itself the fruit of reading done from twelve to fifteen....
posted by zamboni at 9:50 PM on September 10, 2015

Best answer: There is an account of her conversion in the preface to Faith in a Hard Ground, which is written by her daughter. If I remember rightly, she rejected Anglicanism for Catholicism partly because of her beliefs about the Eucharist: she is quoted as several times asking a vicar, who was trying to convince her of the Anglican doctrine of the Real Presence, "is it bread?"
posted by Aravis76 at 12:00 AM on September 11, 2015

Zamboni's aside is what I was thinking of.
posted by kenko at 8:27 AM on September 11, 2015