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| SEEN IN VITAL THEOLOGY | |
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“I see (sex-offender registries) as part and parcel of a trend in our society toward gracelessness in terms of how we deal with these offenders. There’s a kind of callousness involved that I find very distasteful.” Frank D. Macchia, professor of systematic theology, Vanguard University of Southern California “It means that if you have to lie, you lie. That’s what happened.” William J. Byron, research professor, Sellinger School of Business and Management, Loyola College in Maryland, on the focus of Enron officials on quarterly financial results “By making one language official you’re taking away from diversity and turning unity into conformity.” Jesse Miranda, professor of religion and director of the Center for Urban Studies and Hispanic Leadership, Vanguard University of Southern California “The economy is becoming this kind of religious entity that we cannot question, that we have to appease.” Joerg Rieger, professor of systematic theology, Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University “Part of the grating effect that Christian theology has on North Americans is that it questions a lot of those assumptions about autonomy and individualism which seem to be inherent in the portrayal on television.” Dr. Brian Volck, pediatrician and faculty member, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine0, critiquing the ABC television program Miracle Workers “You would limit entrance to the country of people who have talents because if they stay in their own countries they can help the development there. You don’t want to have a brain drain.” Ismael Garcia, professor of Christian ethics, Austin Theological Seminary, on the type of immigration reform that is needed “My research concluded that the whole map of African Christianity is being transposed here in New York.” Mark Gornik, director of City Seminary in New York “It’s a really intriguing notion to understand that community does not require cultural homogeneity but requires an openness to negotiation with the other to fashion the terms of community in which cultural distinctiveness can be maintained and observed.” Dana W. Wilbanks, professor emeritus of Christian ethics, Iliff School of Theology “I am extremely concerned about how we are using the term war.” Charles R. Pinches, professor and chair of theology and religious studies, Scranton University, on President Bush and Attorney General Gonzalez’s rhetoric of war “From various biblical resources I see that the resources belong to God, are created by God and that we are created in God’s image and are created to share equally in those resources.” Dwight N. Hopkins, professor of theology, University of Chicago Divinity School, on the need for redistribution of wealth “I’m not sure about all those people who talk about the presidency being a bully pulpit. I think that’s an unfortunate metaphor.” Milner S. Ball, Cardwell Professor of Constitutional Law, University of Georgia “The rhetoric of the culture wars is about demonizing the other side. It is very much about casting things in utter black and white.” Rodney Clapp, author and editorial director of Brazos Press “The present legal structure of what amounts to abortion on demand is both barbarous and for any sort of Christian thought, wicked.” Robert W. Jenson, retired senior scholar for research, Center of Theological Inquiry “It is all, to my mind, consistent at a deep level with the emergent sense in the court, and then in the American people, that we learn the answers to some of our fundamental questions from the Supreme Court.” Patrick McKinley Brennan, Villanova University law professor, on the Supreme Court’s embrace of the doctrine of sovereign immunity “I think that we have come to believe that our right to walk unmolested down a street with no fear allows us to unleash fear and terror and paid on other populations.” Jennifer Glancy, professor of religious studies, Le Moyne College “There’s a form of cooperation and evil going on because you have taught certain people in the School of the Americas and elsewhere how to (torture).” John Perry, adjunct professor of ethics, St. Paul College, University of Manitoba “What the military wouldn’t admit in public, it would discuss in private, which was the disappearance, the murder and the torture of individual Brazilian citizens.” Kenneth P. Serbin, associate professor of history, University of San Diego “We should be very careful about opening doors that (soldiers) are not ready to open and wanting to live vicariously through them. This is a horrible thing that they’ve undergone. It needs to be treated with respect.” Arthur Sutherland, assistant professor of theology, Loyola College in Maryland “We are culpable for the problems that they will now have to live with the rest of their lives.” Amy G. Oden, professor of Christian history, Wesley Theological Seminary, Washington, D.C., on the church’s failure to speak up before sending soldiers to war. “Christians need to get their thinking straight about science. It doesn’t tell us about God. It never has.” Alan G. Padgett, professor of theology, Luther Seminary, St. Paul, Minn. “When we look for purpose or design in nature, theologically, I think we need to look at the vision of the new creation and then work backwards.” Ted Peters, Pacific Theological Seminary and Graduate Theological Union, Berkeley, Calif. “I think intelligent design challenges this materialist view, be it metaphysical materialism or methodological materialism. … We need (ID) to understand nature right.” William A. Dembski, Carl F.H. Henry Professor of Theology and Science, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary “The irony to me is that the people who now want to introduce critical thinking into the sciences resolutely reject critical thinking about the Bible. The idea of putting it in that way is a subterfuge for introducing religious interests into the public schools.” James M. Gustafson, emeritus professor of theological ethics, Emory University, on the movement to teach intelligent design. “What we have with Darwinism and evolutionary theory is this encroaching naturalism or this ability to explain what used to be theological phenomena in a very naturalistic way.” Mark Graham, assistant professor of theology and religious studies, Villanova University “The metaphor of our society is, ‘We’re all in this alone.’ That’s the tragedy. Laurie Zoloth, ethicist and professor of religion at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, on the evacuation for Hurricane Katrina “There’s such a superfluity of wealth and consumerism that we become blinded to the very existence of the poor.” Albert J. Raboteau, professor of religion, Princeton University, on the evacuation for Hurricane Katrina “Why do we have a system that says one thing but does not allow for what it says, such as a good family life, a better standard of living?” Gerald M. Boodoo, Drexel Society Professor of Theology, Xavier University, New Orleans “What one should see is creation in bondage to powers, to principalities, to corruption, to death—to all the things that have been conquered decisively by Christ.” David Bentley Hart, Orthodox theologian "A society that is open to this Pentecost event is a society that also says that God's other gifts-gifts of talent and intellect and labor-should be freely given and utilized. But you can't do that when there are roadblocks based on class or one's income." David D. Daniels III, professor of church history, McCormick Theological Seminary "I'm not sure that most of us in most circumstances can go beyond to forgiveness without first being angry." L. William Countryman, Sherman E. Johnson Professor in Biblical Studies, Church Divinity School of the Pacific, on testimony against BTK serial killer Dennis Rader. "The language of war is inaccurate because it isn't clear who the adversary is. … Using war language really distorts our view in serious ways." Whitney Bodman, assistant professor of world religion, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, on the war on terrorism. "People can be monetarily well off and still feel excluded from their cultures and their societies and be deeply offended morally by the dominant culture." Jayne Seminare Docherty, associate professor of conflict studies, Eastern Mennonite University, on reasons behind the London bombings "His motives may have been impure, but, in general, I say 'Thank God for Deep Throat.'" Dennis McNutt, provost, Vanguard University "The idea that religious congregations or communities need the sort of affirmation that a publicly sanctioned display provides is profoundly misguided." Michael L. Budde, professor of political science, DePaul University, on Supreme Court rulings regarding displays of the Ten Commandments "Certain symbols of church hegemony, such as public displays of the Ten Commandments, are no longer that helpful." Douglas M. Strong, professor of church history, Wesley Theological Seminary "I hope for- and expect-from Pope Benedict XVI fidelity to the Gospel in its fullness and to the renewal of the church that began with the Second Vatican Council." Robert P. George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence, Princeton University "His views such as anti-condom in Africa as hundreds of thousands die, or his interference in national politics-as he did against Democrats in the United States last fall." Martin Marty, Cone Distinguished Professor emeritus, University of Chicago Divinity School, on his fears for the pontificate of Benedict XVI "Ordination of women, responsible birth control, freedom of theology." Jurgen Moltmann, professor emeritus of systematic theology, University of Tübingen, Germany, on his hopes for the pontificate of Benedict XVI "I would fear an intensification of ecumenical polarization that would result form the combination of needlessly polemical statement of Catholic beliefs and a Protestant reaction which failed to see the intolerance of its own ideological distaste for authority." Michael Root, dean and professor of systematic theology, Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, on his fears for the pontificate of Benedict XVI ""I expect Pope Benedict XVI to proclaim the historic Christian faith, which he holds in a classic form." Geoffrey Wainwright, Cushman Professor of Christian Theology, Duke University Divinity School, on his hopes for the pontificate of Benedict XVI "God didn't want those people murdered by Nichols. It's not what he intended for Nichols' life. It's not what he intended for (the victims') lives." John Sanders, research professor of philosophy and religion, Huntington University, on the theology expressed by Ashley Smith, who helped capture murder suspect Brian Nichols in Georgia "The common assumption that we all know who God is and that we just disagree" about minor differences is "one of the great obfuscations of contemporary discourse." Joe R. Jones, professor emeritus of theology and ethics, Christian Theological Seminary "There is some pain and embarrassment about the harsh realty that much of what Cosby is saying is true." Cheryl Kirk-Duggan, professor of theology and women's studies, Shaw University, on the comedian's controversial comments. “The opening of the Islamic world by John Paul II was every bit as spectacular as the opening to the Jews.” David Burrell, Hesburgh Professor of Theology and Philosophy, University of Notre Dame “What I really admired about Pope John Paul II is that he never contented himself to talk about the least common denominator that united the monotheistic faiths.” Sohail Hashmi, associate professor of international relations, Mount Holyoke College “There was, in the inner circle, a sense that theologians who go too far by Vatican standards would be questioned.” Francis X. Clooney, Boston College professor of theology “Just-war theorists have not taken on board the way in which just-war tradition has been deeply implicated in wars that are clearly unjust.” Linda Hogan, lecturer, Irish School of Ecumenics, Trinity College, Dublin “In a sense this is the story of the universe. The whole thing is the world in a wafer.” Samuel Wells, dean of the chapel, Duke University “I would question whether the laudable passion to protect the vulnerable has become an untenable idolatry of life itself.” M. Therese Lysaught, associate professor of religion, University of Dayton “We don’t have to preserve life at all costs. We couldn’t make sense of the martyrs if that was the case. John Berkman, associate professor of moral theology, Catholic University “I think, for example, that doctors who make diagnoses on the basis of videotapes ought to be ashamed of themselves. Allen Verhey, professor of Christian ethics, Duke University Divinity School “People who die of cholera or malaria or dysentery because of ‘normal’ conditions—normal meaning underdeveloped—are no less victims than people who die when a 100-foot wave crashes into their village. They just aren’t as newsworthy.” Douglas A. Hicks, University of Richmond ethicist “In Darfur, serious pursuit of peace calls for multilateral intervention to establish the most basic requirement of peace—the cessation of genocide. David Hollenbach, Margaret O’Brien Flatly Professor of Theology, Boston College “I think it’s safe to say that one of the last things on his mind was stirring up trouble.” Charles Marsh, professor of religion at University of Virginia, on Martin Luther King’s appointment in Birmingham “Going it alone means a perpetual and exhausting opposition to the legitimate interest of all other people.” Glen H. Stassen, Lewis B. Smedes Professor of Christian Ethics, Fuller Theological Seminary “Political discourse is now marked by high levels of deception, self-deception, condescending simplification and aggressive manipulation.” John Langan, Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Professor of Catholic Social Thought, Georgetown University, in his presidential address to the Society of Christian Ethics “We are not at all sure what the virtues are or ought to be, and our easy talk of heroes is often fraught with nostalgia and ambiguity, even pandering.” Larry D. Bouchard, professor of religion, University of Virginia “Through the ‘70s and beyond, liberal Christianity in America made a decisive shift toward personal liberation rather than social liberation.” R.R. Reno, professor of systematic theology, Creighton University |
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