DOCSLIB.ORG

Full Reclaiming Jesus

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text

Load more

Reclaiming Jesus A Confession of Faith in a Time of Crisis e are living through perilous and polarizing times as a na- tion, with a dangerous crisis of moral and political lead- ership at the highest levels of our government and in our Wchurches. We believe the soul of the nation and the integ- rity of faith are now at stake. It is time to be followers of Jesus be- repentance is to turn around. It is time to fore anything else—nationality, political lament, confess, repent, and turn. In times party, race, ethnicity, gender, geography— of crisis, the church has historically learned our identity in Christ precedes every other to return to Jesus Christ. identity. We pray that our nation will see Jesus is Lord. That is our foundation- Jesus’ words in us. “By this everyone will al confession. It was central for the early know that you are my disciples, if you have church and needs to again become cen- love for one another” (John 13:35). tral to us. If Jesus is Lord, then Caesar was When politics undermines our the- not—nor any other political ruler since. If ology, we must examine that politics. Jesus is Lord, no other authority is abso- The church’s role is to change the world lute. Jesus Christ, and the kingdom of God through the life and love of Jesus Christ. he announced, is the Christian’s first loyal- The government’s role is to serve the com- ty, above all others. We pray, “Thy kingdom mon good by protecting justice and peace, come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in rewarding good behavior while restrain- heaven” (Matthew 6:10). Our faith is per- ing bad behavior (Romans 13). When that sonal but never private, meant not only for role is undermined by political leadership, heaven but for this earth. faith leaders must stand up and speak out. The question we face is this: Who is Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “The Jesus Christ for us today? What does our church must be reminded that it is not the loyalty to Christ, as disciples, require at master or the servant of the state, but rath- this moment in our history? We believe it er the conscience of the state.” is time to renew our theology of public dis- It is often the duty of Christian lead- cipleship and witness. Applying what “Je- ers, especially elders, to speak the truth sus is Lord” means today is the message we in love to our churches and to name and commend as elders to our churches. warn against temptations, racial and cul- What we believe leads us to what we tural captivities, false doctrines, and polit- must reject. Our “Yes” is the foundation ical idolatries—and even our complicity in for our “No.” What we confess as our faith them. We do so here with humility, prayer, leads to what we confront. Therefore, we and a deep dependency on the grace and offer the following six affirmations of what Holy Spirit of God. we believe, and the resulting rejections of This letter comes from a retreat on Ash practices and policies by political leaders Wednesday, 2018. In this season of Lent, which dangerously corrode the soul of the we feel deep lamentations for the state of nation and deeply threaten the public in- our nation, and our own hearts are filled tegrity of our faith. We pray that we, as fol- with confession for the sins we feel called lowers of Jesus, will find the depth of faith to address. The true meaning of the word to match the danger of our political crisis. ReclaimingJesus.org I. WE BELIEVE each human being is made ment, and assault of women that has been moral documents. We commit ourselves to in God’s image and likeness (Genesis 1:26). further revealed in our culture and politics, opposing and reversing those policies and That image and likeness confers a divine- including our churches, and the oppression finding solutions that reflect the wisdom of ly decreed dignity, worth, and God-given of any other child of God. We lament when people from different political parties and equality to all of us as children of the one such practices seem publicly ignored, and philosophies to seek the common good. God who is the Creator of all things. Ra- thus privately condoned, by those in high Protecting the poor is a central commit- cial bigotry is a brutal denial of the image positions of leadership. We stand for the re- ment of Christian discipleship, to which of God (the imago dei) in some of the chil- spect, protection, and affirmation of wom- 2,000 verses in the Bible attest. dren of God. Our participation in the glob- en in our families, communities, workplac- al community of Christ absolutely prevents es, politics, and churches. We support the IV. WE BELIEVE that truth is morally any toleration of racial bigotry. Racial jus- courageous truth-telling voices of wom- central to our personal and public lives. tice and healing are biblical and theological en, who have helped the nation recognize Truth-telling is central to the prophetic issues for us, and are central to the mission these abuses. We confess sexism as a sin, biblical tradition, whose vocation includes of the body of Christ in the world. We give requiring our repentance and resistance. speaking the Word of God into their so- thanks for the prophetic role of the historic cieties and speaking the truth to power. black churches in America when they have III. WE BELIEVE how we treat the hungry, A commitment to speaking truth, the called for a more faithful gospel. the thirsty, the naked, the stranger, the sick, ninth commandment of the Decalogue, and the prisoner is how we treat Christ “You shall not bear false witness” (Exo- THEREFORE, WE REJECT the resurgence himself. (Matthew 25: 31-46) “Truly I tell dus 20:16), is foundational to shared trust of white nationalism and racism in our na- you, just as you did it to one of the least of in society. Falsehood can enslave us, but tion on many fronts, including the highest these who are members of my family, you Jesus promises, “You will know the truth, levels of political leadership. We, as fol- did it to me.” God calls us to protect and and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32). lowers of Jesus, must clearly reject the use seek justice for those who are poor and vul- The search and respect for truth is crucial of racial bigotry for political gain that we nerable, and our treatment of people who to anyone who follows Christ. have seen. In the face of such bigotry, si- are “oppressed,” “strangers,” “outsiders,” or lence is complicity. In particular, we reject otherwise considered “marginal” is a test of THEREFORE, WE REJECT the practice white supremacy and commit ourselves to our relationship to God, who made us all and pattern of lying that is invading our help dismantle the systems and structures equal in divine dignity and love. Our proc- political and civil life. Politicians, like the that perpetuate white preference and ad- lamation of the lordship of Jesus Christ is rest of us, are human, fallible, sinful, and vantage. Further, any doctrines or political at stake in our solidarity with the most vul- mortal. But when public lying becomes strategies that use racist resentments, fears, nerable. If our gospel is not “good news to so persistent that it deliberately tries to or language must be named as public sin— the poor,” it is not the gospel of Jesus Christ change facts for ideological, political, or one that goes back to the foundation of our (Luke 4:18). personal gain, the public accountability to nation and lingers on. Racial bigotry must truth is undermined. The regular purvey- be antithetical for those belonging to the THEREFORE, WE REJECT the language ing of falsehoods and consistent lying by body of Christ, because it denies the truth and policies of political leaders who would the nation’s highest leaders can change the of the gospel we profess. debase and abandon the most vulnerable moral expectations within a culture, the children of God. We strongly deplore the accountability for a civil society, and even II. WE BELIEVE we are one body. In Christ, growing attacks on immigrants and refu- the behavior of families and children. The there is to be no oppression based on race, gees, who are being made into cultural and normalization of lying presents a profound gender, identity, or class (Galatians 3:28). political targets, and we need to remind moral danger to the fabric of society. In the The body of Christ, where those great hu- our churches that God makes the treat- face of lies that bring darkness, Jesus is our man divisions are to be overcome, is meant ment of the “strangers” among us a test of truth and our light. to be an example for the rest of society. faith (Leviticus 19:33-34). We won’t accept When we fail to overcome these oppressive the neglect of the well-being of low-income V. WE BELIEVE that Christ’s way of leader- obstacles, and even perpetuate them, we families and children, and we will resist re- ship is servanthood, not domination. Jesus have failed in our vocation to the world— peated attempts to deny health care to those said, “You know that the rulers of the Gen- to proclaim and live the reconciling gospel who most need it.
Recommended publications
  • The Partisan Trajectory of the American Pro-Life Movement: How a Liberal Catholic Campaign Became a Conservative Evangelical Cause

    The Partisan Trajectory of the American Pro-Life Movement: How a Liberal Catholic Campaign Became a Conservative Evangelical Cause

    Religions 2015, 6, 451–475; doi:10.3390/rel6020451 OPEN ACCESS religions ISSN 2077-1444 www.mdpi.com/journal/religions Article The Partisan Trajectory of the American Pro-Life Movement: How a Liberal Catholic Campaign Became a Conservative Evangelical Cause Daniel K. Williams Department of History, University of West Georgia, 1601 Maple St., Carrollton, GA 30118, USA; E-Mail: [email protected]; Tel.: +1-678-839-6034 Academic Editor: Darren Dochuk Received: 25 February 2015 / Accepted: 3 April 2015 / Published: 16 April 2015 Abstract: This article employs a historical analysis of the religious composition of the pro-life movement to explain why the partisan identity of the movement shifted from the left to the right between the late 1960s and the 1980s. Many of the Catholics who formed the first anti-abortion organizations in the late 1960s were liberal Democrats who viewed their campaign to save the unborn as a rights-based movement that was fully in keeping with the principles of New Deal and Great Society liberalism, but when evangelical Protestants joined the movement in the late 1970s, they reframed the pro-life cause as a politically conservative campaign linked not to the ideology of human rights but to the politics of moral order and “family values.” This article explains why the Catholic effort to build a pro-life coalition of liberal Democrats failed after Roe v. Wade, why evangelicals became interested in the antiabortion movement, and why the evangelicals succeeded in their effort to rebrand the pro-life campaign as a conservative cause. Keywords: Pro-life; abortion; Catholic; evangelical; conservatism 1.

  • Pacem in Terris Peace and Freedom Award

    PACEM IN TERRIS PEACE AND FREEDOM AWARD SEPTEMBER 30, I999 ST. AMBROSE UNIVERSITY DAVENPORT, IOWA PACEM IN TERRIS 1999 PEACE AND FREEDOM PACEM IN TERRIS AWARD PEACE AND FREEDOM AWARD The Pacem in Terris Peace and Freedom Award was created in 1964 by the Davenport Catholic Interracial Council. Since 1976, the award has been presented by the PROGRAM Quad Cities Pacem in Terris Coalition. The award honors Pope John XXIII and commemorates his 1963 encyclical letter, Pacem in Terris (Peace on Earth), which Music Randy Pobanz called on all people to secure peace among all nations. Introduction Kai Swanson MEMBERS OF THE 1999 PACEM IN TERRIS COALITION Welcome Dr. Edward Rogalski Dan Ebener DIOCESE OF DAVENPORT Opening Prayer Sheila Funderburk Joe Dillion Rev. Bill Dawson History of Award Sr. Ritamary Bradley Rev. Ed Dunn Sheila Funderburk ST. AMBROSEUNIVERSITY Honoring Past Recipients Rev. Charles Landon Rev. Charles Landon Rev. Charlotte Justice Saleska CHURCHESUNITED OF THE QUAD CITY AREA Biography of Adolfo Perez Esquivel Cristina Greene Kai Swanson Rev. Jim Winship AUGUSTANACOLLEGE Presentation of the Jill Goldesberry Pacem in Terris Award Most Rev. William Franklin THE STANLEYFOUNDATION Cristina Greene Acceptance Address Adolfo Perez Esquivel BLACKHAWK COLLEGE Robert Mata Closing Prayer Pastor Kristi Bummer LULACCOUNCIL #10 SPECIAL THANKS The Pacem in Terris Coalition extends a thank you to all who Please join us for a public reception contributed to this year's award presentation, especially to: in the basement of Christ the King Chapel The volunteers who helped put together the event tonight. immediately following the ceremony Ambrosians for Peace and Justice for lending helping hands.
  • “This World Is Not My Home”: Richard Mouw and Christian Nationalism

    “This World Is Not My Home”: Richard Mouw and Christian Nationalism

    religions Article “This World Is Not My Home”: Richard Mouw and Christian Nationalism Aaron Pattillo-Lunt Spring Arbor University, Spring Arbor, MI 49283, USA; [email protected] Academic Editors: Mark T. Edwards and Christine A. James Received: 6 November 2016; Accepted: 23 December 2016; Published: 27 December 2016 Abstract: American evangelicalism has often been punctuated by dual commitments to the United States and to God. Those commitments were strongest within politically conservative evangelicalism. Though representing a solid majority among professing evangelicals, conservatives could not speak for the movement as a whole. Politically progressive evangelicals, beginning in the 1960s, formed a dissenting opinion of the post-World War II revival of Christian nationalism. They dared to challenge American action abroad, noticeably during the Vietnam War. Their critique of Christian nationalism and conservative evangelicals’ close ties to the Republican Party led them to seek refuge in either progressive policies or the Democratic Party. A third, underexplored subgroup of evangelicalism rooted in reformed theology becomes important to consider in this regard. These reformed evangelicals sought to contextualize nationalism in biblical rather than partisan or political terms. This goal is championed well by Richard Mouw, resulting in a nuanced look at evangelical Christians’ difficult dual role as both citizens of the Kingdom of God and the United States. Keywords: evangelicalism; nationalism; Mouw; reformed; Calvinism; Kuyper; Biblicism 1. Introduction Evangelicalism is one of the most pervasive and dominant movements in United States’ history. Yet it has no cut and paste definition. It is diverse and adaptive. Despite this changeability, evangelicals can be loosely defined by their theological views.
  • The United States and Its Climate Change Policy: Advocating an Alignment of National Interest and Ethical Obligations, 23 Notre Dame J.L

    The United States and Its Climate Change Policy: Advocating an Alignment of National Interest and Ethical Obligations, 23 Notre Dame J.L

    Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy Volume 23 Article 11 Issue 2 Symposium on the Environment February 2014 The nitU ed States and Its Climate Change Policy: Advocating an Alignment of National Interest and Ethical Obligations John Holland Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarship.law.nd.edu/ndjlepp Recommended Citation John Holland, The United States and Its Climate Change Policy: Advocating an Alignment of National Interest and Ethical Obligations, 23 Notre Dame J.L. Ethics & Pub. Pol'y 623 (2009). Available at: http://scholarship.law.nd.edu/ndjlepp/vol23/iss2/11 This Note is brought to you for free and open access by the Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy at NDLScholarship. It has been accepted for inclusion in Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics & Public Policy by an authorized administrator of NDLScholarship. For more information, please contact [email protected]. NOTES THE UNITED STATES AND ITS CLIMATE CHANGE POLICY: ADVOCATING AN ALIGNMENT OF NATIONAL INTEREST AND ETHICAL OBLIGATIONS JOHN HOLLAND* I. INTRODUCTION The global climate change debate is shrouded in uncertainty. Much of the science remains uncertain and will not be known for years;1 the ethics of global warming is still "very much in its infancy;"2 and it is unsettled whether immediately addressing global warming is in the national interest of the United States. Many questions thus remain unanswered. As the world's biggest per capita polluter and most power- ful country, does the United States have a unique ethical obligation? Considering
  • Political Engagement.Pdf

    Political Engagement.Pdf

    Political Engagement A New Article of Lived Faith Dawn Morais Where then is hope? not a nail hammered true, no joist firm without. Nor could roof sustain airborne, ceiling bone dry in driving rain, like spread wing over fledgling; grace beyond dumb duty. Fires fare in face of cold; someone invoked someone breathes on behalf. Daniel Berrigan, “Block Island” COVID-19 forced all of us to hunker down in our homes. But for almost half of all the men, women, and children in Hawaiʻi living in or on the edge of poverty, and especially for the thousands living on the sidewalks and beaches, home is without firm joists, often without a roof, and too often without hope. Will the disease that literally takes our breath away teach us to breathe new life into our faith? Will we get beyond the beautiful hymns sung on Zoom, beyond the fervent prayers? Will faith be expressed with the same clarity and earnestness in the civic square? It will—IF people in the pews—and those who have left—challenge faith leaders who have helped advance political agendas that hurt people. As the prophet Isaiah instructed, we must declare what we see with our votes, testimony, and vigi­ lance as watchmen to ensure that public policy serves the public (Isa. 21). Some have spoken out about the need to feed the hungry, shelter the houseless, care for prisoners, tend to the sick, and more. Such advocacy can define how faith is lived here, if people of faith assert themselves as “church,” and embrace engagement in political life.
  • Bonhoeffer and Arendt at One Hundred” James Bernauer, S.J

    Bonhoeffer and Arendt at One Hundred” James Bernauer, S.J

    Studies in Christian-Jewish Relations 2/1 (2007): 77-85 Studies in Christian-Jewish Relations A peer-reviewed e-journal of the Council of Centers on Jewish-Christian Relations Published by the Center for Christian-Jewish Learning at Boston College “Bonhoeffer and Arendt at One Hundred” James Bernauer, S.J. Boston College 2/1 (2007): 77-85 http://escholarship.bc.edu/scjr/vol2/iss1/art6 Bernauer, “Bonhoeffer and Arendt at One Hundred” 77 http://escholarship.bc.edu/scjr/vol2/iss1/art6 Studies in Christian-Jewish Relations 2/1 (2007): 77-85 1. Introduction system, it is interesting to note that even George Kateb, who takes Arendt as “adamantly untheological” goes on to note While they were both born in 1906 and in Germany at that the “wonder and gratitude for being” which pervades her that, I understand those who would doubt that bringing work and which is in opposition to totalitarianism’s “contempt Hannah Arendt’s political thought into conversation with for the given” is “religious in quality.”3 My essay shall draw Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s theological text is a promising direction out some implications of her religious interest and aim to for research. Certainly he did not know of her and, to my emphasize certain insights in Bonhoeffer’s thought that knowledge, his name makes only one appearance in her Arendt’s thirty years longer life span was able to confirm and published works, and that in a letter in which Karl Jaspers develop. Both of them had to confront the toxicity of western recommends him to her study of resistance in Nazi culture’s spiritual dynamics, Bonhoeffer primarily in terms of Germany.1 She did not take his advice and perhaps his the exploitation of Christian categories by such groups as absence is not surprising because many would regard her the Deutsche Christen, Arendt principally in the abuse of philosophy as entailing a dismissive lament over the ultimate religious perspectives during the struggles of the Cold War.
  • Transcript Produced from Tape Recordings.] 2

    Transcript Produced from Tape Recordings.] 2

    1 THE BROOKINGS INSTITUTION MORAL VALUES, POLITICS, AND THE FAITH FACTOR Tuesday, January 18, 2005 Washington, D.C. [TRANSCRIPT PRODUCED FROM TAPE RECORDINGS.] 2 Introduction: John Podesta President and CEO, Center for American Progress Moderator: E.J. Dionne, Jr. Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution; Co-editor, One Electorate Under God; Columnist, Washington Post Writers Group Panelists: Jim Wallis Founder, Sojourners; Convenor, Call to Renewal; Author, God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get it (HarperSanFrancisco 2005) Dr. Richard Land President, Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission Rev. J. Bryan Hehir Parker Gilbert Montgomery Professor of the Practice of Religion and Public Life, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University Marian Wright Edelman President, Children's Defense Fund 3 THIS IS AN UNCORRECTED TRANSCRIPT. P R O C E E D I N G S MR. PODESTA: Welcome, everyone. I think that the standing-room- only crowd just indicates both the timeliness and the importance of Jim's new book and the topic that we're here to discuss today. I am John Podesta. I'm the president of the Center for American Progress. We're happy to co-sponsor this along with the Brookings Institution. The title of today's program is Moral Values, Politics, and the Faith Factor. The panel that's been assembled clearly represents, I think, some of the most important voices in that discussion today. We're honored and privileged to have moderating this discussion my friend E.J. Dionne, who, of course, is a senior fellow here at Brookings.
  • Books on Race

    Books on Race

    TABLE OF CONTENTS Getting Diving Inspiring Started Deeper to Action NAME AND AUTHOR Click on the title to read its synopsis. Lists by category at the end The New Jim Crow- Michelle Alexander White Rage- Carol Anderson Black Theology and Black Power- James H. Cone The Cross and the Lynching Tree- James H. Cone Dixie’s Daughters- Karen L. Cox The Half Has Never Been Told- Edward Baptist Black Power- Kwame Ture (Stokley Carmichael) The Souls of Black Folk- W.E.B. Dubois Tears We Cannot Stop- Michael Eric Dyson I May Not Get There With You- Michael Eric Dyson Where Do We Go from Here- Martin Luther King Jr. When Affirmative Action Was White- Ira Katznelson The Color of Law- Richard Rothstein Men of Mark- William J. Simmons 1 Race Matters- Cornel West Black Labor, White Wealth- Claud Anderson Practical Theology for Black Churches- Dale P. Andrews To Serve This Present Age- Ayres, Danielle L. and Williams Jr, Reginald W Agendas and Instability in American Politics- Baumgartner, Frank R. and Jones, Bryan D. True to Our Native Land- Brian K. Blount and Cai n Hope Felder Radical Reconciliation- Alan Boesak and Curtiss Paul DeYoung Stand Your Ground- Kelly Brown Douglas Blow the Trumpet in Zion!- Iva E. Carruthers and Frederick D. Haynes III Beyond Respectability- Brittney C. Cooper God of the Oppressed- James H. Cone Freedom Is a Constant Struggle- Angela Y. Davis and Frank Barat What Truth Sounds Like- Michael Eric Dyson The Ground Has Shifted- Walter Earl Fluker Ferguson and Faith- Leah Gunning Francis Ida: A Sword Among Lions- Paula J.
  • Spire Fall04.Cover

    Spire Fall04.Cover

    VOLUME 26, NUMBER 1 FALL 2005 TheSPire Vanderbilt University Divinity School, Graduate Department of Religion, and Oberlin Graduate School of Theology the Gift of Confinement In Celebration of Reunion and Homecoming 2005 Vanderbilt University Divinity School announces the 106th Cole Lectures to be delivered by The The Reverend Jim Wallis SPire public theologian, political activist, and editor of Sojourners Volume 26 • Number 1 • Fall 2005 Features The Spire is published biannually by Vanderbilt University Divinity School in cooperation with the Office of Advancement Communications 10 Alumni/ae and the Office of Development and Relations. Letters from readers are welcomed Alumni/ae Scriptio Divina: Women Writing, and God by the editor. of the Divinity School, From the illuminations of Saint Hildegard of Bingen to the novels of Virginia the Graduate School’s Department of Religion, Woolf and from the poetics of Julia Kasdorf to the essays of Fanny Howe, and the Oberlin Graduate School of Theology Antoinette Brown lecturer Stephanie Paulsell examines the ways in which are encouraged to submit news of their per- medieval and contemporary women have articulated the spiritual dimension of Thursday, October 13, 2005 sonal and professional accomplishments. the practice of writing. Readers may correspond by U.S. mail to: 7:00 p.m. The Spire Benton Chapel Office 115, John Frederick Oberlin Divinity Quadrangle 18 411 21st Avenue, South The lecture will be followed by a reception Nashville, Tennessee 37240-1121 The Gift of Confinement For his act of civil disobedience in protesting the in the Divinity School Refectory. by telephone: 615/343-3964 practices of the Western Hemisphere Institute for [email protected] Security, Professor Donald F.
  • The New Left and Evangelical Radicalism Author(S): DAVID R

    The New Left and Evangelical Radicalism Author(S): DAVID R

    The New Left and Evangelical Radicalism Author(s): DAVID R. SWARTZ Source: Journal for the Study of Radicalism, Vol. 3, No. 2 (FALL 2009), pp. 51-79 Published by: Michigan State University Press Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41887630 . Accessed: 18/02/2015 07:16 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Michigan State University Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Journal for the Study of Radicalism. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 66.31.143.47 on Wed, 18 Feb 2015 07:16:46 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions DAVIDR. SWARTZ UNIVERSITY OFNOTRE DAME, DEPARTMENT OFHISTORY The New Left and Radicalism Evangelical 1968 Bill Milliken,a religiousyouth workerin the gang-infested Lower East Side of New YorkCity, met a fieryproponent of Students In fora DemocraticSociety (SDS). Santos condemned Christianityfor failingto address social problems.A particularlypointed conversation, in whichSantos told Millikenthat his "sweet,smiling Jesus" was tryingto make "house niggersout of us,"prompted the young evangelical to pace a Manhattanbridge in the middle of the nightand ponder a technocratic, "death-producing"America: Thesilhouettes ofgray buildings lost their beauty.

  • Pacem in Terris Peace and Freedom Award

    Pacem in terris Peace and Freedom Award Tuesday, April 9, 2019 DAVENPORT, IOWA His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama is the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism. He was born in 1935 to a farming family in a small hamlet located in Taktser Amdo, Northeastern Tibet. At the age of two, he was recognized as the reincarnation of the previous 13 Dalai Lamas. At age fifteen, on November 17, 1950, he assumed full temporal political duties. In 1959, following the brutal suppression of the Tibetan national uprising in Lhasa by Chinese troops, His Holiness was forced to flee to Dharamsala, Northern India, where he currently lives as a refugee. He has lived in exile for 60 years in northern India, advocating nonviolently and steadfastly on behalf of the Tibetan people for preservation of their culture, language, religion and well-being. China views the Dalai Lama as a threat to its efforts to control Tibet and Buddhism. He was awarded the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize for his non- violent efforts for the liberation of Tibet and concern for global environmental problems. On Oct. 17, 2007, the Dalai Lama received the U.S. Congressional Gold Medal, our country’s highest civilian honor. His Holiness has traveled around the world and spoken about the welfare of Tibetans, the environment, economics, women’s rights and nonviolence. He has held discussions with leaders of different religions and has participated in events promoting inter-religious harmony and understanding. "The world doesn’t belong to leaders. The world belongs to all humanity." His Holiness the Dalai Lama 2 2019 Pacem in Terris Peace and Freedom Award program MUSICAL PRELUDE Christopher Clow WELCOME James Loftus, PhD Vice President, Enrollment Management St.
  • How the Gospel Brings Hope to a World Divided

    How the Gospel Brings Hope to a World Divided

    JUNE How the Gospel Brings Hope to a World Divided • Wallis is the author of two New York Times bestselling books and a major voice on the national religious and political scene • Author regularly appears on major outlets such as CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, and NPR • Appeals to a renewed interest in the social implications of Jesus’s life and teaching im Wallis thinks our life together can be better. In this timely and Jprovocative book, he shows us how to reclaim Jesus’s ancient and compelling vision of the common good—a vision that impacts and inspires not only our politics but also our personal lives, families, churches, neighborhoods, and world. Now available in paperback with a new preface. “Personal/political, religion/politics, faith/power, ideology/pragmatism . Jim Wallis is a wrestler of values, ideas, and policies and how they interact to shape the world we live in. His deep, melodious voice is easy to listen to, but what he says takes a harder commitment to live by.”—Bono, lead singer of U2; cofounder of ONE.org “Wallis persuades more powerfully here than ever before. He lays out the theology of [Jesus’s gospel of the kingdom] and then issues to all Christians a rallying cry to apply that theology both in private life and in the arena of public activity.”—Phyllis Tickle, author of Emergence Christianity “Jim Wallis has long been an influential voice on Christian ethics and public life. A fresh take on the interplay of faith and politics in America.” —Relevant The (Un)Common Good Jim Wallis VITAL INFORMATION ABOUT THE AUTHOR MORE ENDORSEMENTS Available: June 17 Jim Wallis is president and CEO “Jim Wallis and I have a variety of differences on domestic $15.99 of Sojourners and editor in chief and international policy, but there is no message more timely 978-1-58743-362-7 of Sojourners magazine.