CONTACT: Sharon Myers, Director of Public Relations 585.567.9559
Theologian Stanley Hauerwas Speaks At Houghton College
HOUGHTON, N.Y. – Stanley Hauerwas, the
Gilbert T. Rowe Professor of Theological Ethics at Duke Divinity
School, will present this year’s Staley Lecture at Houghton
College on Monday, October 12 at 8 p.m. in Wesley Chapel.
Hauerwas will speak on the topic: “War and the American
Difference: A Theological Assessment.” This lecture is free and
open to the public.
Hauerwas was named “America’s Best Theologian” by Time magazine in 2001. Today, he is ranked among the most well-known Protestant ethicists in the country. Hauerwas has a reputation for bluntly speaking his mind, and holding Christians accountable. “I tell Christians that they ought to do what they say,” Hauerwas remarked in a recent interview. “Most Christians live lives of practical atheism…Atheism isn’t explicitly a denial of God, it’s to live in a way that God does not matter.” [http://www.sptimes.com] His work involves questions many associate with ethics, but his primary intent is to show in what way theological convictions make no sense unless they are actually embodied in our lives. Hauerwas draws on a great range of literatures―from classical, philosophical, and theological texts to contemporary political theory. He also works in medical ethics, issues of war and peace, and the care of the mentally handicapped.
|
MEDIA: Click here for press room and high resolution images. |
Hauerwas speaks on a variety of cultural and social topics in his latest three books. Christianity, Democracy, and the Radical Ordinary: Conversations Between a Radical Democrat and a Christian, delves into theopolitical viewpoints where the authors call readers to a “revolutionary politics of wild patience.” Living Gently in a Violent World: The Prophetic Witness of Weakness explores the influence of those the church has overlooked – individuals with disabilities. His most recent title, Cross Shattered Church: Reclaiming the Theological Heart of Preaching, is a compilation of 17 of his sermons that he feels exemplify some of his “best theological work.” [http://stanleyhauerwas.blogspot.com]
A graduate of Yale Divinity School (B.D. 1965) and Yale University Graduate School (M.A., M. Phil., Ph.D. 1968), Hauerwas did his undergraduate work at Southwestern University, Georgetown, Texas. He taught for two years at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, before joining the faculty of the University of Notre Dame, where he taught from 1970‑1984. He joined the faculty of Duke University in 1984. There he served as Director of Graduate Studies from 1985-1991. He is married to the Reverend Doctor Paula Gilbert.
He is a member of the Society for Christian Ethics, the American Academy of Religion, and the American Theological Society. He has delivered many lectures all over the United States as well as overseas and was invited to give the Gifford Lectures at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland in the year 2000-2001. He has received honorary degrees from DePaul University (1988), University of Edinburgh (1991), and University of Virginia (2006).
The Staley Lecture is funded by the Thomas F. Staley Foundation, a non-profit organization that was established to administer funds to further the evangelical witness of the Christian Church, with a particular concern for college students. The Foundation helps to enrich the quality of Christian service and sharpen the effectiveness of Christian witness, especially at the college level.
For more information, please visit our website at www.houghton.edu or call 585.567.2000.
