Skip to content
  • Apply
  • Request Info
  • Donate
  • Contact
  • Alumnx
  • Kwaray
  • Apply
  • Request Info
  • Donate
  • Contact
  • Alumnx
  • Kwaray
Start Your Journey
Facebook-f Instagram Twitter Linkedin Caret-right
  • Admissions
    • What Makes PSR Unique?
    • Request Info
    • How To Apply
    • Financing Your Seminary Education
    • Veterans Benefits
    • International Students
  • Academics
    • Stackable Curriculum
    • Distance Education
    • Degrees & Graduate Certificates
      • Doctor of Ministry
      • Master of Divinity
      • Master of Arts in Social Transformation
      • Master of Theological Studies
      • Certificate of Spirituality & Social Change
      • Certificate of Sexuality & Religion
      • Certificate of Theological Studies
    • Current Course Offerings
    • All Course Descriptions
    • Academic Catalog
    • Academic Calendar
    • Community Engaged Learning
    • Learning Outcomes
    • Registrar
  • Students
    • Chapel
    • Community Life
    • Health & Wellness
    • Security & Safety
    • Accessibility
    • Housing
    • Resources
  • Centers
    • Badè Museum of Biblical Archaeology
    • Center for LGBTQ & Gender Studies in Religion (CLGS)
    • Ignite Institute
    • Theological Education for Leadership (TEL)
  • Giving
    • Giving With Impact
    • Ways To Give
    • Endowment Giving
  • About
    • A Transformative Future
    • Fast Facts
    • History
    • Leadership
    • Faculty & Staff
    • Denominational Partners
    • Careers at PSR
    • Contact Us
  • News/Events
    • Events
    • PSR Newsroom
    • Press
    • PSR in the News
  • Admissions
    • What Makes PSR Unique?
    • Request Info
    • How To Apply
    • Financing Your Seminary Education
    • Veterans Benefits
    • International Students
  • Academics
    • Stackable Curriculum
    • Distance Education
    • Degrees & Graduate Certificates
      • Doctor of Ministry
      • Master of Divinity
      • Master of Arts in Social Transformation
      • Master of Theological Studies
      • Certificate of Spirituality & Social Change
      • Certificate of Sexuality & Religion
      • Certificate of Theological Studies
    • Current Course Offerings
    • All Course Descriptions
    • Academic Catalog
    • Academic Calendar
    • Community Engaged Learning
    • Learning Outcomes
    • Registrar
  • Students
    • Chapel
    • Community Life
    • Health & Wellness
    • Security & Safety
    • Accessibility
    • Housing
    • Resources
  • Centers
    • Badè Museum of Biblical Archaeology
    • Center for LGBTQ & Gender Studies in Religion (CLGS)
    • Ignite Institute
    • Theological Education for Leadership (TEL)
  • Giving
    • Giving With Impact
    • Ways To Give
    • Endowment Giving
  • About
    • A Transformative Future
    • Fast Facts
    • History
    • Leadership
    • Faculty & Staff
    • Denominational Partners
    • Careers at PSR
    • Contact Us
  • News/Events
    • Events
    • PSR Newsroom
    • Press
    • PSR in the News

Earl Lectures

Home » Alumnx » Earl Lectures

2024 Earl Lecture Series: Disruptive AI, Christian Nationalism & Democracy

2024 Earl Lecture Series: Disruptive AI, Christian Nationalism, and Democracy

The rise of Christian Nationalism in the U.S., along with other forms of religious nationalisms around the world, threaten to turn back the clock on hard fought progress on issues of equality, diversity, and justice. At the same time, the speed at which AI is developing raises serious concerns about its largely unregulated impact on everything from the way we work to the way we govern. Together, these profound challenges raise significant questions for both democracy and civil society today.  

PSR’s 2024 Earl Lecture Series, Disruptive AI, Christian Nationalism, and Democracy seeks to speak to the intersection of these forces. 

Part 1: AI & Religion at the Dawn of a New Era

AI & Religion as Technologies of Communal Meaning Making

What was Meant for Evil: Making AI & Religion Work for Us

Manufacturing Hope: Leveraging Religious and Technological Connectivity to Advance the Common Good

LEARN MORE

About the Earl Lectures

For more than a hundred years, PSR has hosted the Earl Lectures and Leadership Conference, addressing critical theological, pastoral, and social issues of the day.
Founded in 1901 with a gift from Edwin T. Earl, the purpose of the Lectures was, according to PSR’s Board of Trustees, “to aid in securing…the adequate presentation of Christian truth, by bringing to Berkeley, California…eminent Christian scholars to lecture upon themes calculated to illustrate and disseminate Christian thought, and minister to Christian life…” Over the years, the content of the Lectures has reflected the important theological, political, economical, and social trends of their times, with a uniformly high standard of scholarship and boldness.
Lecturers have been Biblical scholars, educators, historians, authors, activists, church leaders, and scholars of literature, among others; some of the featured Lecturers were well-known within their field but little-known outside of it, while others were household names. Some of the names we recognize today include such international figures as Theodore Roosevelt, Elie Wiesel, Howard Thurman, Maya Angelou, Paul Tillich, Alice Walker, and Robert Reich.
The Lectures have taken different forms over the years: sometimes small gatherings held on the PSR campus, other times large gatherings that filled lecture halls at the University of California. For much of the last century, the Lectures were held annually.
Today, rather than standing alone, the Earl Lectures are incorporated into PSR’s key public events. The E. T. Earl fund continues to support public presentation of excellent scholarship through sponsored lectures throughout the year.

Past Earl Lectures

The 2017 Earl Lecture: Borders and Identity

Under the theme of “Borders and Identity,” the Earl Lectures at Pacific School of Religion was held March 17-18, 2017. Borders and Identity engaged participants in a discussion about how migration across all kinds of borders—both physical and metaphorical—are reshaping our understanding of identity across boundaries of race, culture, religion, gender identity, and nationality. The Earl Lectures were presented in partnership with our Center for LGBTQ and Gender Studies in Religion‘s Boswell Lecture, and held in conjunction with Pacific School of Religion’s Alumni/ae Reunion Weekend.

The keynote address was delivered by Jose Antonio Vargas, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, filmmaker, immigration activist, and founder of Define American.

Earl Lectures and Ignite Institute The Story of Work Annie Leonard

A lifelong environmentalist, Annie Leonard is currently the Executive Director of Greenpeace USA. She has over 25 years experience investigating, organizing and communicating about the environmental and social impacts of all our stuff: where it comes from, what it is made out of, and where it goes after we get rid of it. Her 2007 online film, The Story of Stuff, has been viewed over 40 million times making it the most watched online environmental film to date. In 2010, she authored a book of the same title which takes a deeper dive into the issues in the film.

  • 2015 Be | Art | Now

    The 112th Earl Lectures and Leadership Conference Be|Art|Now held January 29-31, 2015 brought together activists, artists, and progressive people of faith to experience the intersection of art, spirituality, and social transformation. Participants experienced performances, exhibits, public arts, and worship to explore innovative ways they could integrate art into their vocations and spiritual lives. Keynote speaker and preacher Adriene Thorne, speaker Tim Holmes, and performances by Michael Franti and Jinho “The Piper” Ferreira led members of the conference into deep explorations of art and social justice.

     

    Michael Franti {musician, filmmaker}

    Adriene Thorne {pastor, dancer}

    Jinho “The Piper” Ferreira {playwright, musician, police officer}

    Tim Holmes {sculptor, philosopher}

    Rossitza Schroeder {assistant professor of arts and religion, PSR}

  • 2013 We Are Family: Real Families, Real Faith in the Real World

    The 111th Earl Lectures and Leadership Conference, We Are Family: Real Families, Real Faith, in the Real World held January 29-31, 2013, brought together scholars and faith community leaders to explore what family means in a modern historical context within U.S. society.

    In the company of Dr. Margaret A. Farley, and the Rev. Dr. Miguel A. De La Torre and inspired by the preaching of the Rev. Barbara J. Essex, participants explored questions about who decides what makes a family and how the Divine is reflected in the stages and activities of family life.

     

    Dr. Margaret A. Farley, R.S.M.

    Stephanie Coontz

    Rev. Dr. Miguel A. De La Torre

    Rev. Barbara J. Essex

  • 2011: Our Daily Bread: Faith, Work, and the Economy

    The 110th Earl Lectures and Leadership Conference, Our Daily Bread: Faith, Work, and the Economy, brought together religious and secular leaders to teach, preach, and strategize about issues of economic justice.  Joined by Robert Reich, Shaykh Hamza Yusuf, Kim Bobo, Rev. Alexia Salvatierra, Bishop Yvette Flunder, and many more renowned speakers and presenters, members of the PSR community came together to strive to live out the Gospel message to care for “the least of these.”

     

    Robert Reich

    Shaykh Hamza Yusuf

    Kim Bobo

    Rev. Alexia Salvatierra

    Bishop Yvette Flunder

  • 2010: Spiritual but not Religious: Chasing the Divine

    Earl Lectures 2010 explored the increasingly popular phrase spiritual, but not religious. What is the essential difference between spiritual and religious? What can religious institutions learn from those who claim to be one and not the other? And what kind of critique can those who call themselves “religious” be asking about the description “spiritual, but not religious“?

     

    Matthew Fox

    Scotty McLennan

    Melissa Wilcox

    Donna Allen

    Linda Tillery and the Cultural Heritage Choir

  • 2009: Behold… a New Thing: Emerging Expressions of Faithfulness

    There is something new emerging inside, alongside, and even outside the familiar institutions and expressions of Christianity in North America. What will this “new thing” be, and how will it affect the traditional church? The 2009 Earl Lectures provided an opportunity to experience and reflect critically on new forms of spirituality and worship associated with the emerging church.

    The 108th Earl Lectures and Leadership Conference was held in the Ecumenical Center of Berkeley, the former University Christian Church, and marked the first time the lectures had been held on Holy Hill since 1949.  Speakers guided explorations of popular culture, generational change, and religious innovation in North America.

     

    Jay Bakker

    Bruce Reyes-Chow

    Karen Ward

    Gerardo Marti

    Boyung Lee

  • 2008: O for a World: Faith, Community, and Sustainability

    In the 21st century, we face not only the degradation of the environment, but also a growing disparity between those who have access to resources and those who are deprived. Now is the time for progressive people of faith to address not only the ecological but also the moral and social burdens weighing down the generations. What can we do to build just and sustainable communities? How can people of faith work for justice and help sustain lives savaged by hunger and fear?

    With its focus on “Faith, Community, and Sustainability,” the 2008 Earl Lectures and Pastoral Conference addressed these vital questions. Preachers, lecturers, and workshop leaders helped connect the liberal Protestant concern for social justice with the need for environmental justice.

     

    Karen Baker-Fletcher

    Daniel A. Buford

    Clarence L. Johnson

    Ken Medema

    Chandra Muzaffar

    Mayra Rivera Rivera

    Mary E. Westfall

  • 2007: All the Rivers of Paradise: Christian Responsibility in an Interfaith World

    In Genesis, a single, unnamed river flows out of Eden and branches into tributaries that run to different parts of the world, providing us with a metaphor for the world’s religions and reminding us that Americans today live in an interfaith world in ways never imagined in our history. “We the people” now include Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Zoroastrians, and new varieties of Christians and Jews, while the original people of this land still hold fast to their own sense of the sacred. Members of all the world’s religions now live in the same neighborhoods, profoundly affecting schools, markets, and the halls of government. And all the while the world bristles with the weapons and wars of religious intolerance.

    The 2007 Earl Lectures grappled with these momentous questions, challenging and informing our thinking about the place of Christianity among the world’s religions and changing our practice as we become profoundly involved with people of other faiths.

     

    Mahmoud Mustafa Ayoub

    Bernice Powell Jackson

    Tat-siong Benny Liew

    Choan-Seng (C.S.) Song

  • 2006: Gathering the Beloved Community: Voices of Faith for the Public Square

    What is the meaning and potential of progressive Christianity? What streams of theology and practice does it bring together? How can progressive Christian movements attain greater visibility in national public life? Who speaks for progressive Christianity?

     

    James Forbes, senior minister at the Riverside Church in New York City

    Diane Winston, Knight Chair in Media and Religion at the University of Southern California

    Hubert Locke, former trustee and acting president of PSR and dean emeritus of the Graduate School of Public Affairs at the University of Washington

    Delwin Brown, dean emeritus of PSR

    Kwok Pui Lan, William F. Cole Professor of Christian Theology and Spirituality at Episcopal Divinity School

  • 2005: Sex and the City of God: Intimacy and Wholeness

    The 2005 Earl Lectures on the theme “Sex and the City of God” attracted one of the largest audiences in the event’s 104-year history.  Discussion focused on the dilemmas in the definition of and right to marriage and on clergy and sexuality during two panel discussions.  In addition, the 31 workshops of the Pastoral Conference enabled participants to delve deeper into specific issues, such as sex in the Bible, queer theology, pastoral care responses to sex, coming out, youth ministry and sexuality, sexual ethics, issues in Asian/Pacific Islander and African American families and congregations, and HIV/AIDS ministry.

     

    Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of New Hampshire and the first openly gay Episcopal bishop

    Eric H.F. Law, missioner for congregational development of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles and author of The Wolf Shall Dwell with the Lamb: A Spirituality for Leadership in a Multicultural Community

    Christine E. Gudorf, professor at Florida International University and author of Body, Sex, and Pleasure: Reconstructing Christian Sexual Ethics

    Douglass Fitch, pastor of Glide Memorial United Methodist Church

  • 2004: We Are Called: Vocation in a Swiftly Changing World

    Gary Dorrien, Episcopal priest, Parfet Distinguished Professor and Dean of the Stetson Chapel at Kalamazoo College in Michigan

    Vincent G. Harding, Professor of Religion and Social Transformation at Iliff School of Theology in Denver, Colorado and former director of the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Center in Atlanta, Georgia

    Karen Lebacqz, Robert Gordon Sproul Professor of Theological Ethics at PSR and United Church of Christ minister

    Ann M. Svennungsen, a Lutheran pastor and newly elected President of the Fund for Theological Education

    Mary Donovan Turner, PSR Carl Patton Associate Professor of Preaching and a minister of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

     

    This year’s event featured a special celebration honoring Earl Lecturer and PSR ethics professor Karen Lebacqz’s world-renowned scholarship and her many years of service at PSR. She will be retiring from her teaching duties at the school in summer 2004.

  • 2003: For the Living of These Days: Theology as a Public Resource

    Inspired by the life and ministry of the late PSR Professor Robert McAfee Brown (1920–2001), the three-day event explored ways that faith communities can take a greater leadership role in shaping public discourse in a troubled world.

     

    Gustavo Gutiérrez, renowned Latin American liberation theologian

    Nancy Ammerman, sociologist of religion at Hartford Seminary

    Gary Dorrien, theologian and chaplain at Kalamazoo College

    Kah-Jin Jeffrey Kuan, PSR Associate Professor

    Thomas Hoyt, Bishop of the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church and President of the National Council of Churches.

    Sydney Brown, Director of the Northern California Interfaith Council on Economic and Environmental Justice

    Daniel Ellsberg, best known for his release of the Pentagon Papers

    John Fife, Presbyterian minister and one of the founders of the US Sanctuary Movement

    C. Welton Gaddy, Executive Director of The Interfaith Alliance

    Leontine T.C. Kelly, retired United Methodist Bishop

    Richard Land, President of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission

    Hubert Locke, Professor Emeritus at the University of Washington Graduate School of Public Affairs

  • 2002: Image to Insight: The Power of Film in Faith and Culture

    Lectures, workshops and public conversations with national leaders in film and television, artists who are renewing worship through the use of multi-media, and people of faith in the film industry.

     

    Michael Morris, Professor of Religion and Arts at the Dominican School of Theology and Philosophy in Berkeley

    Edward McNulty, a Presbyterian minister and editor of Visual Parables

    Michael Rhodes, Emmy-award winning director of the feature films Romero, and Entertaining Angels: The Dorothy Day Story

    Bruce Joel Rubin, Oscar winning writer

    Linda Seger, screenwriter

    Ron Shelton, director of Bull Durham and several other major films

    Terry Sweeney, Senior Vice-President of Paulist Productions

    Judy Fentress Williams, Professor of Hebrew Studies at Hartford Seminary

    Michael G. Bausch, adjunct faculty member in technology and ministry at Dubuque Theological Seminary

    Yvette Flunder, pastor of City of Refuge UCC in San Francisco

    Nancy L. Wilson, Vice Moderator of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches.

  • 2001: Into All the World: Christian Mission in a Pluralistic Age

    Abuna Elias Chacour

    Purity Nomthandazo Malinga

    Sharon Welch

  • 2000: Conflict and Reconciliation: New Models for Hope

    Robin Meyers

    Richard Rodriguez

    Mary A. Tolbert

    Michael Lerner

    William W. Rankin

    Anthony B. Robinson

  • 1999: Building Healthy Communities: Partners in Faith and Wellness

    Nancy Eiesland

    Gary Gunderson

    A. Cecil Williams

  • 1998: Cross-Currents in Faith and Culture

    Robert M. Berdahl

    Michael Eric Dyson

    Miriam Therese Winter

  • 1997: Equipping Faith Communities for a Changing World

    Kathleen Norris

    Frederick J. Streets

    Barbara Wheeler

  • 1996: Religion and Science

    Ian G. Barbour

    Rita Nakashima Brock

    William F. May

  • 1995: Jesus Beyond the Bible: A Cultural Debate

    John Dominic Crossan

    Chung Hyun Khung

    Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr.

  • 1994: Body, Sexuality and Spirituality: Sexual Christians and the Church’s Renewal

    William Sloan Coffin

    Margaret R. Miles

    James B. Nelson

  • 1993: Creeds and Ordination: Help or Hindrance?

    Brian A. Gerrish

    Glenda Hope

    Cynthia Rembert-James

    Mariellen Sawada

    Marjorie H. Suchocki

  • 1992: Spirituality

    Virgil P. Elizondo

    Parker J. Palmer

    Phyllis Trible

  • 1991: Preaching, Healing and Teaching

    Sharon Daloz Parks

    Craig Dykstra

    Roy I. Sano

  • 1990: Preaching

    Fred. B. Craddock

    Justo L. Gonzalez

    Catherine Gunsalus Gonzalez

    Prathia Hall Wynn

  • 1989: Theological Truths from the Biblical Wilderness

    Walter Brueggemann

    Elizabeth Schussler Fiorenza

    J. Alfred Smith, Sr.

  • 1950s: E.T. Earl Lectures – 1950s: Graduate Theological Union Digital Library

  • 1902-1985 Earl Lecturers

  • 1988 ANSLEY COE THROCKMORTON

    “The Dominion of God: Is There Holy Ground?”; “The Sovereignty of Christ: How Does Christ Rule?”; “The Wind of the Spirit: Where Does the Spirit Blow?”

  • 1988 FAZLUR RAHMAN

    Swift Distinguished Service Professor of Is­lamic Thought, University of Chicago
    “Islam and Other Religions in the Qu’ran”; “Islamic Fundamentalism”

  • 1988 R.J. ZWIWERBLOWSKY

    Martin Buber Professor of Comparative Religion at the Hebrew University of  Jerusalem
    “From Plurality to Pluralism or Why We Should Dialogue”; “Absoluteness or Relativity or Who Is Afraid of Dialogue”

  • 1988 EMILIO CASTRO

    General Secretary, the World Council of Churches
    “Christian Missionary Identity”; “Guidelines for Interreligious Encounter: A Christian Perspective”

  • 1987 SAMUEL G. PROCTOR

    Pastor, Abyssinian Baptist Church, New York; former Ring Memorial Chair in the Graduate School of Education, Rutgers
    University
    “The Worth of Persons in a Marketplace”; “The Meaning of Freedom in a Controlled Environment”; “The Abundant Life in Secular Society”

  • 1987 WILLIAM LEE MILLER

    Chair Professor of Religious Studies and Rhetoric, University of Virginia; author, The First Liberty: Religion and the American Republic
    “The Constitution, the Churches, and American Politics”

  • 1987 ELIZABETH BETTENHAUSEN

    Associate Professor of Social Ethics and Theology, School of Theology, Boston University
    “We the People”

  • 1986 MAYA ANGELOU

    Author, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

  • 1986 ALICE WALKER

    Author, The Color Purple

  • 1986 WILLIAM De VALENTINE

    A bass who has performed internationally with major symphonies and opera companies
    ‘”Mozart”; “Negro Spirituals”; “Mini-Recital”

  • 1986 STEPHEN DeSTAEBLER

    Bay Area sculptor
    “The Spirit in Art: Some Thoughts of an Artist”

  • 1986 JAMES BREECH

    Associate Professor of New Testament, York University, Toronto
    “If Jesus is the Answer, What is the Question?”; “Narrative Decisions and Moral Choices”; “Did Jesus Tell True Stories”

  • 1985 ORLANDO E. COSTAS

    Dean, Andover Newton Theological Seminary
    ‘”Daring Leadership at the Crossroads”

  • 1985 MASAO TAKENAKA

    Professor of Christian Ethics and Sociology of Religion and former dean, Doshisha University School of Theology, Kyoto, Japan
    “Theology as Atmosphere”

  • 1985 RICHARD D. LAMM

    Governor, State of Colorado
    “The Heresy Trial of the Rev. Richard D. Lamm”; “Copernican Politics and Copernican Ethics”; “Toward an Ethical and Sane Future”

     

  • 1984 JAMES FORBES, JR.

    Associate Professor of Worship and Homiletics, Union Theological Seminary of New York
    “Beneath Our Ups and Downs”; “The Locus and Focus of Prophetic Fire”; “The Power of the Presence”

  • 1984 J. ALBERTO SOGGIN

    Associate Professor of Hebrew Language and Literature, The Institute of Near Eastern Studies
    “Preaching on the Old Testament and Old Testament Theology”

  • 1984 ROSEMARY RADFORD REUTHER

    Georgia Harkness Professor of Theology, Garrett-Evangelical Seminary
    “Language for God: Image and Ideology”; “Feminism and Ministry”; “Women’s Liberation and the Nature and Mission of the
    Church”

  • 1983 FREDERICK BUECHNER

    Presbyterian minister and writer; called by the New York Times, “the leading
    clergyman/writer of the United States”
    “Faith and Ferment”

  • 1983 LISA SOWLE CAHILL

    Associate Professor Theology, Boston College
    “Human Sexuality”

  • 1982 JURGEN MOLTMANN

    Professor of Systematic Theology at Tubingen University, Germany
    “God With the Human Face”

  • 1982 ELISABETH MOLTMANN-WENDEL

    Internationally known theologian, teacher, author, and essayist, author of Frau and Religion
    “Women Experiencing God”

  • 1981 ELIE WEISEL

    Andrew Mellon Professor of Humanities at Boston University
    “Portraits and Legends in Judaism”

  • 1981 JOHN B. COBB, JR.

    Ingraham Profcsor of Theology at the School of Theology at Claremont and Avery Prof es- sor at Claremont Graduate School
    “Nirvana and the Christian Faith”

  • 1980 C. ERIC LINCOLN

    Professor of Religion and Society at Duke University
    “The Black Church: A New Responsibility”

  • 1980 JAMES M. GUSTAFSON

    University Professor of Theological Ethics at University of Chicago Divinity School
    “Utilitarianism and Anthropocentrism; The Problems of Religion and Culture”

  • 1979 JOSEPHINE MASSYNGBERDE FORD

    Associate Professor of New Testament. University of Notre Dame
    “A New Look at the Book of Revelation”

  • 1979 GABRIEL FACKRE

    Professor of Theology, Andover Newton
    “A Christian View of the Future”

  • 1978 ROBERT McAFEE BROWN

    Professor of Ecumenics and World Christianity, Union Theological Seminary
    “Toward a New Theology of Work: or Can the Rat Race be Redeemed?”

  • 1978 SYDNEY THOMSON BROWN

    Lecturer, Field Education, Union Theological Seminary

  • 1978 DAVID ALLAN HUBBARD

    President and Professor of Old Testament, Fuller Theological Seminary
    “Work and Wisdom: Musings on Christian Vocation in the Light of Israel’s Sages”

  • 1977 HOWARD THURMAN

    San Francisco Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples
    “The Dilemma of the Religious Professional”

  • 1977 DOROTHEE SOLLE

    Universiity of Cologne
    “Beyond Mere Dialogue: Being Christian and Socialist”

  • 1976 ROBERT F. DRINAN

    Roman Catholic (Jesuit); Democratic Member of Congress
    “Moral Principles and the Formation of American Policy”

  • 1975 KOSUKE KOYAMA

    Senior Lecturer, Otago University, Dunedin, New Zealand
    “Take Up Your Cross and Follow Me, or Take Up Your Lunch Box and Follow Me”

  • 1974 FLORENCE MAHONEY

    Fullbright Professor of African History. Spellman College, Atlanta; church leader, The Gambia, West Africa
    “Black Women of Two Worlds and the Way to Salvation”

  • 1974 BEVERLY ASBURY

    Chaplain, Vanderbilt University

  • 1973 ARTHUR McGILL

    Professor of Theology, Harvard Divinity School
    “Poverty in America: Some Strictly Theological Reflections”

  • 1973 WILLIAM SLOANE COFFIN, JR.

    University Chaplain, Yale University

  • 1972 LANGDON GILKEY


    Professor of Theology, Divinity School, University of Chicago
    ‘Reflections on Politics and Theology”

  • 1972 JOSE MIGUEZ-BONINO

    Dean Postgraduate Studies, Higher Institute of Thcoiogical Studies, Buenos Aires
    “The Christian and the Revolutionary Third World”

  • 1971 MARTIN E. MARTY

    Associate Professor, of Church History, University of Chicago
    .”The Moment Between World Views”

  • 1971 PAUL L. LEHMAN

    Briggs Professor of Systematic Theology, Union Theological Seminary
    “New Testament Paradigms of Revolutionary Action”

  • 1970 IAN G. BARBOUR

    Professor of Physics and Chairman, Department of Religion, Carleton College, Northfield, Minnesota
    “Science and Secularity”

  • 1970 NATHAN A. SCOTT, JR.

    Professor of Theology and Literature, Divinity School, University of Chicago
    “The Sacramental Imagination”

  • 1969 W.A. ‘tHOOFT

    Honorary President. World Council of Churches, Geneva
    “Ecumenical Progress”

  • 1969 ALBERT C. OUTLER

    Professor of Theology, Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas
    “The Mystery of Being Human”

  • 1968 LJ. CARDINAL SUENENS

    Archbishop of Malines, Brussels, Belgium
    “The Signs of Our Times”

  • 1968 JOSEPH SITILER

    Professor of Systematic Theology, Divinity School, University of Chicago
    “The Present World and an Expanded Doctrine of Grace”

  • 1967 JAMES S. STEWART

    Emeritus Professor of New Testament Language, Literature and Theology, New College, University of Edinburgh
    “The Preaching of the Word”

  • 1967 JOHN C. BENNETT

    President and Niebuhr Professor of Social Ethics, Union Theological Seminary
    “The Church Amidst Social Controversy”

  • 1966 CHARLES P. TAFT

    Attorney and business leader; Former President of Federal Council of Churches
    “The Economic Aspects of the Christian Response to the Revolution of Our Times”

  • 1966 BROOKS HAYS

    Former Congressman; White House Consult• ant; Vanderbilt Professor in Government, Rutgers University
    “The Political Aspects of the Christian Response to the Revolution of Our Times”

  • 1966 WILLIAM G. POLLARD

    Executive Director, Oak Ridge Institute of Nuclear Studies, Tennessee
    “The Scientific Aspects of the Christian Response to Our Times”

  • 1966 GERHARD EBELING

    Professor Theology, University of Zurich
    “God and the Word”

  • 1965 LESLIE NEWBIGIN

    Director, Division of World Mission and Evangelism, World Council of Churches, Geneva
    “Honest Religion for Secular Man”

  • 1965 KRISTER STENDAHL

    Frothingham Professor of Biblical Studies, Harvard Divinity School
    “The Piety of the Early Church”

  • 1964 HENRY PITNEY VAN DUSEN

    President Emeritus, Union Theological Seminary
    “Christian Unity in Crisis”

  • 1964 PAUL EHRMAN SCHERER

    Visiting Professor of Homiletics, Princeton Theological Seminary
    “The Word God Sent”

  • 1963 DONALD O. SOPER

    Minister, West London Mission, Kingsway Hall
    “The Ideology of Jesus”

  • 1963 PAUL TILLICH

    Nuveen Professor of Theology, University of Chicago
    “The Irrelevance and the Relevance of the Christian Message”

  • 1962 H. RICHARD NIEBUHR

    Sterling Professor of Theology and Christian Ethics, Yale Universiity
    “Christian Responsibility”

  • 1962 TOM F. DRIVER

    Assistant Professor of Christian Theology, Union Theological Seminary
    “A Rebirth of Motives”

  • 1961 MERRIMON CUNNINGGIM

    Director-Designate, Danforth Foundation
    “The Protestant Stake in Education”

  • 1961 HERBERT H. FARMER

    Professor of Divinity (retired), Cambridge University
    “Christ Our Reconciliation”

  • 1960 O. HOBART MOWRER

    Professor of Psychology, University of Illinois
    “Psychoanalysis and the Judea-Christian Ethic”

  • 1960 WILHELM PAUCK

    Professor of Church History, Union Theological Seminary
    “The Christian Faith and Historical Thinking”

  • 1959 DANIEL DAY WILLIAMS

    Professor of Systematic Theology, Union Theological Seminary
    “The Gospel of Reconciliation and a Divided Humanity”

  • 1959 NORMAN COUSINS

    Editor, The Saturday Review
    “The Headwaters of Immortality”

  • 1958 RAJAH B. MANIKAM

    Bishop of Tranquebar, Federation of Evangelical Lutheran Churches, South India
    “Freedom and Christian Liberty in East Asia”

  • 1958 ALBERT EDWARD DAY

    Chaplain and Director of Spiritual Life. Wesley Theological Seminary, Westminster, Maryland
    “Existence Under God”

  • 1957 ROBERT J.McCRACKEN

    Minister, Riverside Church, New York
    “Pathways to God”

  • 1957 ROGER L. SHINN

    Professor of Theology, Divinity School, Vanderbilt University
    “God of the Living”

  • 1956 NELS F. S. FERRE

    Professor of Philosophical Theology, Vanderbilt University
    “Towards a Reformulation of Christology”

  • 1956 JAMES MUILENBURG

    Davenport Professor of Hebrew and Cognate Languages, Union Theological Seminary
    “The Major Contexts of Biblical Faith”

  • 1955 EMIL BRUNNER

    Swiss theologian; Professor of Philosophy of the the Christian Religion. International Christian University, Tokyo
    “Problems of Theology”

  • 1954 GEORGE BUTTRICK

    Pastor, Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church, New York City
    “God and Suffering”

  • 1954 ROLAND H. BAINTON

    Titus Street Professor of Ecclesiastical History, Yale University
    “The New England Way”

  • 1953 CHARLES W. RANSON

    General Secretary, International Missionary Council
    “The Unfinished Reformation”

  • 1952 WILLIAM FOXWELL ALBRIGHT

    Professor of Semitic Languages, Johns Hopkins University
    “Archaeology and Religion in the O.T.”

  • 1952 HARRY EMERSON FOSDICK

    Pastor Emeritus, Riverside Church, New York City
    “A Faith for Tough Times”

  • 1951 REUBEN K. YOUNGDAHL

    Pastor, Mount Olivet Lutheran Church, Minneapolis
    “Building the Church in the Twentieth Century”

  • 1951 WALTER W. VAN KIRK

    Executive Secretary, Department of lnternational Justice and Goodwill, National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.
    “The Christian Minority”; “The Churches Have a Beachhead”

  • 1950 TOYOHIKO KAGAWA

    World-renowned Japanese Christian leader
    “Communism and the Mission of Christianity in Asia”

  • 1950 BISHOP STEPHEN NEILL

    Associate Secretary, World Council of Churches; Assistant to the Archbishop of Canterbury, London
    “Christian Witness”; “Word of Truth”; “Christian Conversion”

  • Georgia Harkness

    1949 GEORGIA HARKNESS

    Educator, author, Professor of Applied Theology, Garrett Biblical Institute

  • 1948 ROBERT P. TRISTRAM COFFIN

    Pulitzer Prize poet, Pierce Professor of English, Bowdoin College

  • 1948 SEWARD HILTNER

    Executive Secretary of the Department of Pastoral Services of the Federal Council of
    Churches of Christ in America

  • 1948 HENRY SLOANE COFFIN

    President Emeritus, Union Theological Seminary

  • 1947 LEWIS MUMFORD

    Author, lecturer

  • 1946 JACK FINEGAN

    Professor and Head of Department of Religion, Iowa State College

  • 1946 EDWIN R. EMBREE

    President, Julius Rosenwald Fund

  • 1946 RALPH W. SOCKMAN

    Minister, Christ Church, New York City

  • 1946 GEORGE KENNEDY ALLEN BELL

    Bishop of Chichester

  • 1945 ARTHUR L. SWIFT, JR.

    Union Theological Seminary

  • 1945 FRANCIS J. McCONNELL

    Bishop Emeritus, Methodist Church

  • 1945 SAMUEL A. ELIOT

    Minister Emeritus, Arlington Street Church, Boston

  • 1945 BISHOP W. L. CHEN

    Chairman, National Christian Council of China

  • 1944 J. MERLE DAVIS

    Director, Department of Social and Economic Research and Counsel, International Missionary Council

  • 1944 THADDEUS HOYT AMES

    M.D., New York City

  • 1944 ROY A. BURKHARDT

    Minister, First Community Church, Columbus, Ohio

  • 1943 HALFORD E. LUCCOCK

    Professor of Homiletics, Yale Divinity School

  • 1943 LLOYD C. DOUGLAS

    Congregational minister, author

  • 1942 D. ELTON TRUEBLOOD

    Chaplain and Professor of Philosophy of Religion, Stanford University

  • 1941 TULLY CLEON KNOWLES

    President, College of the Pacific

  • 1941 ADOLF KELLER

    Director, Central Bureau for Relief of the Evangelical Churches of Europe, Geneva

  • 1940 GERALD HEARD

    British author and scientist
    “I Work for Peace, Notwithstanding”

  • 1940 WALTER MARSHALL HORTON

    Professor of Religion and Systematic Theology, Oberlin College
    “Jesus as Leader, Saviour, Victor”

  • 1940 JERRY VOORHIS

    Representative from California
    “I Work for Peace, Notwithstanding”

  • 1939 EDGAR J. GOODSPEED

    Professor Emeritus of New Testament, University of Chicago
    “Why Translate the Bible”; “Who First Published the New Testament”

  • 1939 WILLIAM ADAMS BROWN

    Professor Emeritus of New Testament, University of Chicago
    “Where Next in the Church?”

  • 1939 CHARLES PHELPS TAFT

    Eminent attorney and churchman
    “The Christian Community in Relation”; “The Christian Community and the Economic
    Problem”; “The Christian Community in Relation to the Use of Force in Politics”

  • 1938 HENRY KENDALL BOOTH

    Pastor, First Congregational Church, Long Beach, California
    “Portents on the Social Horizon”

  • 1938 HENRY AGARD WALLACE

    Secretary of Agriculture
    “Capitalism”; “Democracy”; “The Religion of the Whole Man”

  • 1937 Y.T. WU

    Editor-in-Chief, Literature Division of the Y.M.C.A., China
    “My Spiritual Pilgrimmage in Revolutionary China”

  • 1937 RUFUS M. JONES

    Professor of Philosophy, Haverford College
    “Continuous Revelation”

  • 1936 JOSEPH ANDERSON VANCE

    Pastor, First Presbyterian Church, Detroit
    “Our Part in the Great Adventure”

  • 1936 GREGORY VLASTOS

    Associate Professor of Philosophy, Queens University
    “Traits of the Religious Person in the World Today”

  • 1936 ARTHUR HOLLY COMPTON

    Professor of Physics, University of Chicago
    “The Freedom of Man”

  • 1935 HARTLEY BURR ALEXANDER

    Professor of Philosophy, Scripps College
    “The Honor of God”; “Reason and the Future Life”; “Metaphysical Faiths in Scientific Knowledge”

  • 1935 ROGER WARD BABSON

    Statistician and economist
    “Capitalism, Socialism, Communism, and Fascism”; “My Belief About God”; “The New Deal in the Light of Christian Teachings”; “The Truth About Church Attendance and its Significance”; “The Business Depression and the Way Out”

  • 1934 ERNEST FREMONT TITTLE

    Pastor First Methodist Episcopal Church, Evanston, Illinois
    “Tensions and Religion”

  • 1933 CHARLES CLAYTON MORRISON

    Editor, The Christian Century
    “Public Problems and Religion”

  • 1932 FREDERICK BOHN FISHER

    Bishop, Methodist Episcopal Church of India
    “Statesmen of the Living East”

  • 1931 JOHN HUSTON FINLEY

    Assoc. Editor, The New York Times
    “Predestinating America”

  • 1930 JAMES HENRY BREASTED

    Director, Oriental Institute, University of Chicago
    “Recent Research on the Origin and Development of Civilization”

  • 1929 WILLIAM ALLEN WHITE

    Author; Editor, Emporia Gazette
    “Religion in a Changing World”

  • 1928 CHESTER HARVEY ROWELL

    Publicist, Regent of the University of California
    “Discovering the Twentieth Century”

  • 1927 THEODORE GERALD SOARES

    Head, Practical Theology Department, University of Chicago
    “Education”

  • 1926 ALBERT MANSBRIDGE

    Chairman, World Association for Adult Education
    “The Spiritual Basis of Adult Education”

  • 1925 HAMILTON HOLT

    Former Editor, The Independent
    “World Federation”

  • 1924 CHARLES REYNOLDS BROWN

    Dean, Divinity School, Yale University
    “Why I Believe in Religion”; “The Pastor and the Parish”

  • 1923 TERROT REAVELEY GLOVER

    Classical Lecturer, Cambridge University
    “Paul of Tarsus”

  • 1923 CARL SAFFORD PATTON

    Pastor, First Congregational Church, Los An-geles
    “Contemporary Religious Thought”

  • 1922 S. PARKES CADMAN

    Pastor, Central Congregational Church, Brooklyn, New York
    “Church and State”

  • 1921 GERALD BIRNEY SMITH

    Professor of Christian Theology, University of Chicago
    “The Making of a Christian World”

  • 1920 FRANCIS JOHN MCCONNELL

    Bishop, Methodist Episcopal Church
    “Popular Authority and Divine Sovereignty”

  • 1919 WILLIAM ERNEST HOCKING

    Professor of Philosophy, Harvard University
    “The Philosophy of History”

  • 1918 JAMES HENRY BREASTED

    Chairman, Oriental Language Deptanmcnt, Univeristy of Chicago
    “The Civilization of Egypt and its Place in History”

  • 1917 GEORGE HERBERT PALMER

    Professor Emeritus, Harvard University
    “Formative Types of English Poetry”

  • 1916 GEORGE EDGAR VINCENT

    President, University of Minnesota (later President, Rockefeller Foundation)
    “Self and Society”

  • 1914 JAMES L. BARTON

    Secretary, American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions
    “The Dynamics of Religion”

  • 1913 SHAILER MATHEWS

    Dean of the Divinity School, University of Chicago
    “The Social Aspects of Christian Doctrine”

  • 1912 ARTHUR CUSHMAN McGIFFERT

    Professor (later President), Union Theological Seminary
    “Rise of Modem Religious Ideas”

  • 1912 BLISS PERRY

    Professor of English Literature, Harvard University
    “The American Spirit in Literature”

  • 1911 THEODORE ROOSEVELT

    Former President, United States of America
    “Realizable Ideals”

  • 1910 HENRY CHURCHILL KING

    President, Oberlin College
    “The Moral and Religious Challenge of Our Times”

  • 1910 WALTER RAUSCHENBUSCH

    Professor of Church History, Rochester Theological Seminary
    “The Churches of America and Their Social Tasks”

  • 1909 GEORGE ADAM SMITH

    Principal of Aberdeen University
    “Religion of Israel in the Seventh Century B.C.”

  • 1909 JAMES BRYCE

    Formerly Ambassador of Great Britain to the United States
    “Religion and Ethics in Modem Life”

  • 1908 WILLIAM HERBERT PERRY FAUNCE

    President, Brown University
    “Problems in Moral and Religious Education”

  • 1907 FRANCIS GREENWOOD PEABODY

    Professor of Christian Morals, Harvard University
    “The Approach to the Social Question”

  • 1906 WILLIAM HEWETT TUCKER

    President, Dartmouth College
    “Modern Christianity”

  • 1905 HENRY VAN DYKE

    Professor of English, Princeton University
    “The Service of Poetry”

  • 1904 LYMAN ABBOTT

    Editor, The Lookout
    “Christianity and the Church”

  • 1902 JOHN HENRY BARROWS

    President, Oberlin College
    “The Christian Idea of God, the Ruling Thought of the Twentieth Century”

Students
  • Academic Catalog
  • SONIS Student Portal
  • Moodle
  • Office of Community Life
  • Health and Wellness
  • Accessibility
  • Housing
  • Library
  • Security and Safety
  • Worship
  • Registration
Admissions
  • The PSR Difference
  • How to Apply
  • Degrees and Certificates
  • Tuition and Fees
  • Financial Aid
  • Scholarships
  • Housing
Academics
  • Academic Calendar
  • Academic Catalog
  • Accreditation
  • Course Offerings
  • Degrees and Programs
  • Faculty
  • Shared Governance
Alumnx & Giving
  • Alumnx Council
  • Alumnx News
  • Giving with Impact
  • Ways to Give
  • Endowment
  • Planned Giving
Community Engagement
  • Community Engaged Learning (CEL)
  • Theological Education for Learning (TEL)
Resources
  • Calendar
  • Campus Store
  • Consumer Information Disclosure
  • COVID-19
  • Directory
  • Faculty & Staff
  • Job Opportunities
  • News
  • State Authorization
  • Students
  • Privacy Policy
Follow Us
Facebook-f Instagram
Youtube Linkedin

Content © 2022 Pacific School of Religion

Technology & Design ©2022