Stanley Hauerwas, professor of Christian ethics at Duke University Divinity School, will present the annual H. Shelton Smith lecture at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 10 in Whitley Auditorium, located on the Elon University campus.
Hauerwas is the author of 25 books and hundreds of essays and articles, and was named “America’s Best Theologian” by Time magazine in 2001. His book, “A Community Character: Toward a Constructive Christian Social Ethic,” has been selected as one of the 100 most important books on religion in the 20th century. Before many of his subjects received widespread mainstream publication, he wrote extensively on pacifism, attitudes toward people with disabilities and genetic manipulation.
Hauerwas’s speech, titled “On Truth and Politics: Bonhoeffer on America,” will discuss the thinking of German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer as it relates to the nature of American politics. Bonhoeffer spoke out against Adolf Hitler during World War II, and opposed governments that accommodate the interests of powerful people.
The speech is part of the H. Shelton Smith Lecture Series, named for a pioneering theologian and Elon graduate, which has been bringing noted theologians to campus since 1993. The speech, sponsored by the Chaplain’s Office and the Department of Religious Studies, is free and open to the public.
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