CHARLESTON, W.Va. — One of the leading theologians in the United States will be in West Virginia, this week, to make his case that Christians in America should be opposed to war.
Dr. Stanley Hauerwas, the Gilbert T. Rowe Professor of Theological Ethics at Duke Divinity School, said Christians must be pacifists. “It is God’s very nature that we are called to witness to as Christians in the world, that is the central fact that sustains Christian non-violence,” he said.
Hauerwas will speak on “God & Violence in American Culture,” along with Rev. Eric Mounts, the senior pastor at Bible Center Church in Charleston, on Tuesday, Nov. 19 at the University of Charleston.
The UC Speaker Series event was scheduled for 6:30 p.m. in Rigglemen Hall’s Geary Auditorium. UC President Ed Welch will serve as the moderator.
Organizers said the conversation will focus on the impact that belief in God has on actions that promote peace, justice, conflict and aggression. One of the central questions will be the following: How does a nation based on principles of faith develop an international reputation for high instances of violence?
At times, Hauerwas admitted, non-violence appears to go against the fundamentals of Christianity.
“You cannot defend the innocent by the use of violence which means that one of the hardest things about being committed to non-violence is you may well have to watch the innocent suffer for your convictions,” he said.
Hauerwas, who was named Time’s “America’s Best Theologian” in 2001, was a guest on a recent edition of MetroNews “Talkline.”