I have just listened to an interesting interview with Professor Stanley Hauerwas, who is the Gilbert T. Rowe Professor of Theological Ethics at Duke Divinity School with a joint appointment at the Duke University School of Law.
He was named “America’s Best Theologian” by Time magazine in 2001. His response to that accolade was, “Best is not a theological category” which brought a smile to my face and encouraged me to listen more carefully to what he has to say.
He is speaking primarily about the American University scene, but there are things that we can apply to the Australian Universities too.
For instance; people like Richard Dawkins say that there is no place for theology in Universities and that the subject should be removed. Professor Hauerwas argues strongly against this idea and is extremely critical of Dawkins.
In Professor Hauerwas’ mind, theology is not a ghetto discipline associated only with training people for Christian ministry. Theology is about the most important aspects of who we are and if a University does not even attempt to address this issue through a theology department it is less than it should be.
Professor Hauerwas points out that the great difficulty with the secular world today, particularly with men like Dawkins, is that they don’t know anything about Christianity. Anyone who does not realise this should read the book; “Atheist Delusions” by David Bentley Hart , who is an Eastern Orthodox philosopher, writer, and cultural commentator. His book exposes the unbelievable false histories that people like Dawkins tell. (This book is available from http://www.crossroadbooks.com.au).
Professor Hauerwas’ describes modern Universities in America as ‘incoherent’ and as existing today for the people in power and to serve the people with money. Something we want to avoid at all costs in Australia I would hope.
All is not lost however and Professor Hauerwas is encouraged that Christianity is attracting wonderful scholars whose task is going to have to be to think about the very modes of knowledge that legitimate the various sciences taught at Universities.
For those interested in reading more, Professor Hauerwas has written a book entitled; ‘The state of the University. Academic Knowledge and the Knowledge of God’, Blackwell Publishing, available at http://www.amazon.com/State-University-Knowledges-Knowledge-Illuminations/dp/1405162481
The whole interview that I am referring to above can be viewed at; http://www.publicchristianity.org/Videos/christianity_and_the_university.html
