Professor David Gushee—Distinguished Professor of Christian Ethics and Director of the Center for Theology and Public Life at Mercer University in Georgia in the United States—will give four lectures on “Christian memory and witness in a time of violence”.
Dr Geoff Troughton, a senior lecturer in Victoria’s School of Art History, Classics and Religious Studies, says Professor Gushee is a prolific author and prominent commentator.
“He is widely regarded as one of the leading Christian ethicists in North America today.”
A leading participant in many conversations about issues of public significance and the role of religion in American public life, Gushee is active in a wide range of civic and professional organisations and in the promotion of human rights and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender acceptance.
In addition to over 100 articles, he is the author or editor of 20 books. The best known include Righteous Gentiles of the Holocaust, the award-winning Kingdom Ethics—which has been published in eight languages—and, most recently, Changing our Mind (2014).
A past member of the Committee on Ethics, Religion and the Holocaust at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Professor Gushee has also been a Fellow of the American Jewish Committee’s Christian Leadership Initiative.
The St John’s Visiting Scholar in Religion programme was launched in 2010 to strengthen the partnership between St John’s in the City, which funds the programme, and Victoria University and to promote the public understanding of religion and theology.
“It aims to bring internationally renowned theologians and scholars of religion to Wellington each year to share their knowledge with us,” says Dr Troughton.
Professor Gushee will deliver four public lectures at different venues next week:
Remembering the Holocaust: The witness of the ‘Righteous Gentiles’
Monday 3 August, 6pm
MacLaurin lecture theatre 103, Kelburn Parade
Christian witness in public life: What value does it add?
Tuesday 4 August, 12.30pm
Loaves and Fishes Hall, Wellington Cathedral of St Paul, corner of Hill and Molesworth Streets
Remembering Jesus and the task of Christian ethics
Wednesday 5 August, 7pm
St John’s in the City, Willis Street
Changing my mind: Theology, ethics and same-sex relationships
Thursday 6 August, 7pm
St John’s in the City, Willis Street