This two-part course traces the historic development of Christian thought about peace and war. The first session explores the transition from a pacifist paradigm based on Jesus’ teachings in the Sermon on the Mount to a paradigm in which the violence of the state was legitimated as a result of the Constantinian turn. The second session explores the development of the just war tradition within the latter paradigm and the impact Christian pacifism has had on just war theory since the Reformation.
Facilitator: Rev. Steven Savides
Steven T. Savides is a PhD Candidate at the University of Notre Dame’s Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies and Department of Theology. His doctoral work examines the extent to which decoloniality can be applied as a theological hermeneutic in the post-apartheid South African context and how it might bring about a new social imaginary in a society still ensnared in the paradigms of war and difference that accompanied the spread of Christianity through imperialism, colonialism, and apartheid. He has taught Christian Perspectives on War, Peace, and Revolution in the theology department at Notre Dame. A former journalist, Steven currently teaches media law and ethics and journalism at Principia College in Elsah, IL, where he researches the role of the media in shaping opinions about war and peace.
When: Mondays, April 4 & 11, 6:30-8pm
Where: Zoom (register)