Student Alex Holbein contemplates a writing assignment during a creative writing session of the Arts Village. |
At a Glance
Theme:
Christ’s Passion: Why Did Jesus Have To Die?
Faculty Speaker:
Dr. Stanley Hauerwas, Gilbert T. Rowe Professor of Theological Ethics
Lectionary Texts:
Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Psalm 22; Hebrews 10:16-25; Luke 22-23
Evening Worship:
Rev. Sally Bates, Chaplain of Duke Divinity School, led us in a somber and meditative service tonight on Christ’s Passion. As we were largely in silence during the service, Rev. Bates preached on the silence of Jesus in the face of much ridicule and violence, even unto death. She helped us to reflect on the strange way in which our Christ responded to persecution, with forgiveness and obedience to the Father, in situations to which our human response would be revenge and retaliation.
Reflections on the Lecture
After having been introduced by Faculty Director Fred Edie as a “provocative” speaker, Dr. Stanley Hauerwas opened his lecture with the insistence that “this isn’t provocative; this is true.”
Hauerwas said he wasn’t entirely sure how to bridge the 50-year age gap between him and the average DYA student, and he offered a critique of the way in which youth in America are formed to think – specifically, that belief in Christianity is simply choice among others in a consumer culture.
So why did Jesus have to die? Hauerwas’ discussion of American youth tied to his claim that Jesus’ life, death and resurrection are inextricably political. He observed that in America, people will unquestionably die for their country but rarely, if ever, for their faith.
As the theme for the day’s plenary was “Christ’s Passion,” Hauerwas used as a common thread the age-old question: why did Jesus have to die? Hauerwas said that answers such as “for our sins” or “because he loved us” are far too simplistic. If Jesus was simply about love, he said, then there is no way we can begin to make sense of Jesus’ death. If God is really “the big OK” to the world, and if Jesus came for the sole purpose of proclaiming that we should love our neighbor, then why was he rejected, despised and crucified?
The answer, Hauerwas said, is that Jesus’ work is political. Jesus was crucified because he was perceived to be a threat to the Roman Empire. Jesus’ proclamation of love wasn’t the problem. He and his disciples were disturbers of the peace, a community that stood against the status quo, and for that he was killed.
Jesus refuses to use the world’s violence to achieve peace, said Hauerwas, who is widely known for his pacifist views. The purpose of nonviolence is not to rid the world of war, he added. Rather, in a world of violence, Christians present an alternative way of nonviolence. Living nonviolently means that we must be prepared to die rather than fight back, and worse, that there may come times when we must watch innocent people suffer for our beliefs.
Quotable Quotes from the Plenary Lecture
“We are born into the story of God’s love. You don’t get to make your mind up about God. You get to worship God.”
“Politics is speech. Jesus is at once the speech of the Father and the Speaker.”
“Jesus refused to use the violence of the world to achieve peace. But that doesn’t mean he’s not for peace or that he’s not political.”
“Hell is where you get what you want and have to live with it.”
Overheard in the halls of the divinity school...
“Is there any such thing as a moral war?”
— Kurt Spitzer
What’s ahead...
We will be up bright and early on Saturday morning to glean collard greens with the Society of St. Andrew. We then will have lunch and worship near the worksite before returning to campus.
On Sunday morning we will attend worship at Duke Chapel and spend the remainder of the day observing Sabbath rest. On Sunday night we will share our performing talents at the first Duke Youth Academy “Dessert Theater.”
< Day 4 | Days 6 & 7 >
| 
