Stanley Hauerwas

Stanley Hauerwas (born July 24, 1940) is an American theologian, ethicist, and public intellectual. Hauerwas is currently the Gilbert T. Rowe Professor of Theological Ethics at Duke Divinity School with a joint appointment at the Duke University School of Law. Before coming to Duke Hauerwas was a longtime professor at the University of Notre Dame. He is considered by many to be one of the world's most influential living theologians and was named "America's Best Theologian" by Time Magazine in 2001. He was also the first American to deliver the prestigious Gifford Lectures in over forty years. Though Hauerwas is most widely-known for his work related to Christian ethics, the relationship between Christianity and politics, and ecclesiology, his work is interdisciplinary, as his writings often deal with subjects such as systematic theology, philosophical theology, political theory, the philosophy of social science, law, bioethics, and medical ethics. Hauerwas is known for his outspoken advocacy of pacifism and nonviolence, as well of his fierce criticism of both liberal Christianity and Christian fundamentalism, as well as American civil religion. Hauerwas has achieved notability outside of academia as a public intellectual, even appearing on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Hauerwas's work draws from a number of theological perspectives, including Methodism, Anabaptism, Anglicanism, and postliberal theology. He is commonly-cited as a member of the evangelical left. Hauerwas's book, A Community of Character: Toward a Constructive Christian Social Ethic, was named as one of the one hundred most important books on religion in the 20th century by Christianity Today. His most widely-known book, however, is likely Resident Aliens: Life in the Christian Colony, which was co-written with William Willimon.