Truett Seminary Lecture to Discuss War and Ethics

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Baylor University's George W. Truett Theological Seminary will host the inaugural T.B. Matson Foundation Ethic Lecture at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 31, at the Paul W. Powell Chapel in the seminary, 1100 S. Third Street.
The lecture, called "The Audacity of Hope and the Violence of Peace: Obama, War, and Christianity," will be presented by Jonathan Tran, Ph.D., assistant professor of religion and theological ethics at Baylor.
"The lecture will discuss President Obama's war policies and [how] Christians might morally think about them," Tran said. "Though this lecture will deal specifically with the present administration, it will make some general conclusions about why America is so often at war, and offer the church as an alternative. It will be an opportunity for the Baylor and Waco community to think through these important and complex issues in an election year."
Todd Still, Ph.D., professor of Christian scriptures at the George W. Truett Theological Seminary and primary organizer of the event, said the lecture is an important topic in Christianity today.
"I think it is significant because this is a perennial question: How do Christians respond to the reality of war?" Still said. "Jesus said there will be wars and rumors of war, but that reality does not make that ethical quandary raised by war any easier to negotiate. What is the role of the Christian person? It raises questions of patriotism, of loyalty and who is due our ultimate allegiance."
The lecture is free due to the sponsorship of the T.B. Maston Foundation, a foundation dedicated to promoting the legacy of Fort Worth minister and religion teacher Dr. T.B. Maston, and it is open to the Baylor and Waco community.
For more information visit the George W. Truett Theological Seminary or call (254) 710-7347.
by Carmen Galvan, student newswriter, (254) 710-6805