Details
Article on Dr. Hauerwas

DETAILS:
Friday, October 26: open to the public, no charge
7:00 p.m. in the Sanctuary
Lecture: Sacrificing the Sacrifices of War
Reception following, books available
AUDIO - Friday Q&A in Sanctuary

Saturday, October 27: limited enrollment
9:00 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. in Heaton Hall
Three-part Seminar:
Part I – In The Beginning
Part II – The Sermon on the Mount: Reflections from Bonhoeffer and Yoder
Part III – The Way of the Church: Matthew 7
$45 registration fee includes continental breakfast and lunch
Call 704.334.7232, ext 15 for more information
Sunday, October 28: open to the public
9:45 a.m. in Heaton Hall
Adult Forum: The Parables
11:00 a.m. in the Sanctuary
Sermon: Trained to Sin

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CHRISTIANS AS RESIDENT ALIENS: A HAUERWASIAN* WEEKEND
(*Hauerwasian: a theological term for witty, ironic, controversial)
By Carol Reid

A former student of Dr. Stanley Hauerwas once provided an evocative image of the Duke University theology professor: "Of all the Christian pacifists over the centuries, Stanley Hauerwas is the one I would want on my side in a bar fight." Described as a volatile, complex person with an explosive personality and high energy, he seems an unlikely pacifist.

"I think Christian nonviolence is very active confrontation with violence," asserts Hauerwas. He believes that if we’re committed to nonviolence we’re committed to truth, and that conflict is often the only way to unearth truth. At the same time, Hauerwas calls on Christians to be very patient in the face of evil. In a March 2003 article he wrote, "It is God who deals with evil, and it’s presumptuous for humans to assume that our task is to do what only God can do." Hauerwas commented recently, "In the world of war, we cannot imagine anything other than nonviolence as faithful disciples of Christ. We must work all the harder to build those forms of life that can witness to others that there’s an alternative to violence." This radical pacifism leads him to condemn all forms of nationalism and patriotism.

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Hauerwas’ speech is salty and lectures are both thought-provoking and entertaining. "Imagine James Carville as a theologian," says Princeton professor James Stout. Hauerwas challenges American Christians to follow the radical messages of Jesus rather than becoming complacent in our wealthy, powerful culture. "What possesses the souls of mainline Christians in America? Greed! Christians are called not to be heroes or shoppers, but to be holy!"

Hauerwas is professor of theological ethics at Duke University Divinity School. A graduate of Yale Divinity and Yale University Graduate School, Hauerwas taught at Notre Dame until 1984 when he joined the faculty of Duke. He has engaged pressing cultural issues in more than 25 books and hundreds of essays, articles, sermons, homilies, prayers, and popular writing. His book, A Community of Character: Toward a Constructive Christian Social Ethic, was selected as one of the 100 most important books on religion of the 20th century. Among his other books are Resident Aliens: Life in the Christian Colony; Performing the Faith: Bonhoeffer and the Practice of Nonviolence; and his newest, Matthew, an insightful, provocative theological interpretation.

The delightfully irascible Hauerwas was named "America’s Best Theologian" by Time Magazine in 2001. While affirming that Christians are called first and foremost to faithful worship within our chosen communities, he also proclaims that faith is a performance, not a script. Faith is "embedded in a community of practices that make those beliefs work and give us a community by which we are shaped." He calls for Christians to create countercultural communities that house the poor and work for peace and social justice.

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Dr. Hauerwas has been termed a prophet in the best and biblical sense of that word, meaning he broadcasts a message from God that challenges the status quo. He says that nothing is more important for Christians than to demand the truth from our ministers. An admiring NC minister recently commented, "I don’t know of a church that would call him as pastor or if they did, who would keep him long. He’s too willing to challenge sacred assumptions and civil religion especially."

During his weekend at Myers Park Baptist, Dr. Hauerwas will present a series of lectures. The weekend will open with a Friday night lecture in the sanctuary, free and open to the public. At that time Dr. Hauerwas will explore Christian theology and ethics in connection with terrorism, patriotism and the war in Iraq. On Saturday there will be a three-part seminar in Heaton Hall (tickets still available – see below). Dr. Hauerwas will share his exploration of Matthew, focusing on the Sermon on the Mount as illuminated by theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer and ethicist John Yoder.

Dr. Hauerwas’ activities at the church will conclude with a Sunday morning Adult Forum on the parables and a sermon guaranteed to be thought-provoking entitled, Trained to Sin.

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The Jesus in the 21st Century series of lectures and discussions are intended to offer the Charlotte community access to the best of contemporary Christian scholars in the hope of stimulating an exchange of ideas and deeper awareness of spiritual questions and issues. The scholars invited to speak by the church bring different scholarly backgrounds, interests and perspectives, but share a desire to reach beneath Christian creed and dogma to explore the life of Jesus of Nazareth, and to help Christians better understand how Jesus’ teachings can influence the way we treat one another politically, economically and socially.

This year’s event follows visits in past years from religious scholars as diverse as Bart Ehrman, Elaine Pagels, Marcus Borg, Harvey Cox, and John Dominic Crossan among many others.

In 2009, Myers Park Baptist Church will welcome Dr. Sandra Schneiders as part of the lecture series. Dr. Schneiders is professor of New Testament Studies and Christian Spirituality at the Jesuit School of Theology, Berkley. Her professional interests include New Testament literature, particularly Johannine literature and biblical hermeneutics, and Christian biblical spirituality, feminism, religious life and the theory of the field of spirituality. Sandra Schneiders commands respect as one of the most significant and influential figures in the emergence of the study of Christian spirituality as an academic discipline. She is the author of many articles and books, including Written that You May Believe: Encountering Jesus in the Fourth Gospel.

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