Divine Craftsmanship: Preliminaries to a Spirituality of Work

Jean Hani is one of the lesser known traditionalist writers. However, he is undoubtedly one of the most interesting and, ultimately, his work is the most satisfying. While both Guenon and Schuon seemed to argue that the way towards Tradition was by leaving the milieu in which they were born and join a new tradition, Hani engages with how the perennial tradition connects with his own Roman Catholic tradition. In a series of books he has sought to show how Tradition is manifested in the liturgy and architecture of the Church. In this book, which in its original French was actually titled 'God at Work', Hani looks at how a series of traditional professions and crafts - the scribe, the warrior, the doctor, the weaver, the potter, the builder - are manifestations of the Divine actions of God. His work is based on a close reading of Scripture but also of the other major orthodox traditions. His style is both simple and sophisticated at the same time. The result is a beguiling read that takes one to the very heart of our shared Western tradition. Why Hani is important is that he does what Guenon argued a Western intellectual ought to do: to reconnect us with Tradition and to make manifest how this has been represented throughout European culture until the event of the modern period.It is a short book but full of insight and pays re-reading. It is the ideal starting point for those interesting in discovering Hani's work and leads one natural to look at his more focused works. For anyone interested in what Traditional actually means for those of us in the West this book is essential reading.