Of cancer and other things : conversations with the Royal Philosopher on pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostella

Abstract

This dissertation presents an outline, and one interpretation of, the life of its author, The Reverend Doctor Melvyn John Macarthur. It seeks to do this through both its methodology, which is textual and experiential, and through dialogue with the provocateur, Qoheleth, author of the book of Ecclesiastes. The dialogue component (the 'Conversations') reflects the author's passion to engage with people in conversation and also his love of theatre. The 'Conversations' in the dissertation take place on the Camino Santiago de Compostella (French Way), a long distance, ancient pilgrim route from St Jean Pied de Port in France to Santiago de Compostella in Spain. The dialogue partners are the author of the dissertation and Qoheleth. Qoheleth, the self-proclaimed Royal Philosopher, is a mysterious figure about whom much is conjectured, but little known. Qoheleth has been, and remains, a controversial figure in the Judeo-Christian traditions: considerable numbers of people, whether lay, ordained or scholar, hold that Ecclesiastes should not have been included in the canons. This author holds the view that the work of Qoheleth is among the most thoughtful and unique of the canonical writings. One hope held for this dissertation is that it would be a vehicle whereby I could 'lean toward' (Pelias, 2016; 9-11) the person Qoheleth. The motivation for doing this is that his remarkable honesty and depth of thought commends Qoheleth as an ideal provocateur, one who is able to offer a searching critique of the wide and varied life experience of the author, one who it is enticing to lean toward. Ronald Pelias (2016; 12) writes of his use of multiple qualitative methods in the writing of personal narratives. The methodology of this dissertation is, likewise, eclectic, and I would argue, 'necessarily' so. A human life is complex and mine is no exception. A human life does not readily lend itself, convincingly at least, to understandings from a single discipline. This dissertation draws on material and methods from a variety of disciplines in an endeavour to convey and clarify aspects of the life of the author. The influences in the life of this author are, as mentioned, wide and varied: his professional life in social work, particularly in child protection; his vocational life in ordained ministry and pilgrimage; his more than four decades of participation as a student and researcher in a wide variety of pursuits in the academy; his experience of wilderness for significant periods during his adult lifetime and his last ten years of living with a life threatening cancer (non Hodgkins lymphoma) have all significantly impacted his life. The methodology of the dissertation is built upon these foundations that are termed 'abiding interests'. For anyone wishing to have more detail of the author's life prior to the reading of this dissertation, a brief curriculum vitae is attached as Appendix One. An appraisal of the author's account is presented at the conclusion of the 'Conversations' with Qoheleth. The appraisal takes the form of commentaries written from the widely differing theological, philosophical and social perspectives of the Reverend Brand, the central character of Henrik Ibsen's play Brand and the Grand Inquisitor, a prominent figure in Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel, The Karamazov Brothers. The author's personal reflections about the pilgrimage to Santiago follow on from and take a full account of, the appraisals of The Reverend Brand and the Grand Inquisitor, in addition to the conversations with Qoheleth.

Date of Award	2017
Original language	English