Mark Douglas (ethicist)

Last updated

Mark Douglas (born 1966) [1] is a professor of Christian ethics at Columbia Theological Seminary and he is known for his work on religious language in the public sphere, medical and business ethics, the American philosophical tradition of pragmatism, the environment, just war and pacifism, and the role of religion in political philosophy.

Contents

Career

Douglas received a B.A. from Colorado College (1989), a M.Div. from Princeton Theological Seminary (1993), a Th.M. from Princeton Theological Seminary (1994), and a Ph.D. from the University of Virginia (2000). Beginning in 1997, he became an adjunct faculty member at Virginia Commonwealth University. He also served as the co-pastor at Tabor Presbyterian Church in Crozet, Virginia (1997–1999) before coming to Columbia Theological Seminary, where he took the position of assistant professor of Christian ethics (1999–2005). [2]

Douglas currently still serves at Columbia Theological Seminary as professor of Christian ethics and the director of the seminary's Master of Theology program (ThM). Additionally, he serves as the chair of the board of Georgia Interfaith Power and Light, the largest faith-based environmental organization in Georgia.

Thought

Douglas' work extends into a wide range of areas within the field of ethics. He has published several books and has contributed numerous articles and book chapters to variety of publications. He also is the founding and current editor of @ This Point: theological investigations in church and culture, the online journal of Columbia Theological Seminary, and serves on a number of other editorial and professional boards.

As a Christian ethicist his main focus is integrating religion and justice both within and outside of the church. In 2015 he participated in a teach-in at Columbia Theological Seminary where he gave a lecture titled, Reformed Theology and Capital Punishment. [3] He currently serves on the Study Team on Prospects for a Just Peace in Israel and Palestine, which will report to the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). As part of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) his role on this committee is to look "at a range of possibilities consistent with the church’s commitment to justice, peace, self determination and related values." [4] He advocates for the Church to create "a more capacious space for disagreement which can be the starting point for learning how to live with each other." [5]

Honors

Publications

Related Research Articles

Christian fundamentalism, also known as fundamental Christianity or fundamentalist Christianity, is a religious movement emphasizing biblical literalism. In its modern form, it began in the late 19th and early 20th centuries among British and American Protestants as a reaction to theological liberalism and cultural modernism. Fundamentalists argued that 19th-century modernist theologians had misunderstood or rejected certain doctrines, especially biblical inerrancy, which they considered the fundamentals of the Christian faith.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reinhold Niebuhr</span> American Reformed theologian (1892–1971)

Karl Paul Reinhold Niebuhr was an American Reformed theologian, ethicist, commentator on politics and public affairs, and professor at Union Theological Seminary for more than 30 years. Niebuhr was one of America's leading public intellectuals for several decades of the 20th century and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1964. A public theologian, he wrote and spoke frequently about the intersection of religion, politics, and public policy, with his most influential books including Moral Man and Immoral Society and The Nature and Destiny of Man.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Union Theological Seminary</span> Christian seminary in New York City

Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York is a private ecumenical liberal Christian seminary in Morningside Heights, Manhattan, affiliated with Columbia University. Columbia University lists UTS among its affiliate schools, alongside Barnard College and Teachers College. Since 1928, the seminary has served as Columbia's constituent faculty of theology. In 1964, UTS also established an affiliation with the neighboring Jewish Theological Seminary of America. Despite its affiliation with Columbia University, UTS is an independent institution with its own administration and Board of Trustees. UTS confers the following degrees: Master of Divinity (MDiv), Master of Divinity & Social Work dual degree (MDSW), Master of Arts in religion (MAR), Master of Arts in Social Justice (MASJ), Master of Sacred Theology (STM), Doctor of Ministry (DMin), and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Graduate Theological Union</span> Group of private American theological schools

The Graduate Theological Union (GTU) is a consortium of eight private independent American theological schools and eleven centers and affiliates. Seven of the theological schools are located in Berkeley, California. The GTU was founded in 1962 and their students can take courses at the University of California, Berkeley. Additionally, some of the GTU consortial schools are part of other California universities such as Santa Clara University and California Lutheran University. Most of the GTU consortial schools are located in the Berkeley area with the majority north of the campus in a neighborhood known as "Holy Hill" due to the cluster of GTU seminaries and centers located there.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harvard Divinity School</span> Divinity school at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts

Harvard Divinity School (HDS) is one of the constituent schools of Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The school's mission is to educate its students either in the academic study of religion or for leadership roles in religion, government, and service. It also caters to students from other Harvard schools that are interested in the former field. HDS is among a small group of university-based, non-denominational divinity schools in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chongshin University</span> Christian university in Seoul, South Korea

Chongshin University (Korean: 총신대학교) is a Christian university in Seoul, South Korea. It has deep historical ties to conservative Presbyterianism, reformed theology, and belongs to the Presbyterian Church in Korea (HapDong). The current president is Park Seong-gyu.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stanley Hauerwas</span> American theologian (born 1940)

Stanley Martin Hauerwas is an American Protestant theologian, ethicist, and public intellectual. Hauerwas originally taught at the University of Notre Dame before moving to Duke University. Hauerwas was a longtime professor at Duke, serving as the Gilbert T. Rowe Professor of Theological Ethics at Duke Divinity School with a joint appointment at the Duke University School of Law. In the fall of 2014, he also assumed a chair in theological ethics at the University of Aberdeen. Hauerwas 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 theologian to deliver the prestigious Gifford Lectures at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland in over forty years. His work is frequently read and debated by scholars in fields outside of religion or ethics, such as political philosophy, sociology, history, and literary theory. Hauerwas has achieved notability outside of academia as a public intellectual, even appearing on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yale Divinity School</span> Graduate school of Yale University

Yale Divinity School (YDS) is one of the twelve graduate and professional schools of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.

Darryl G. Hart is an American religious and social historian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edwin David Aponte</span> Puerto Rican-American cultural historian

Edwin David Aponte is a Puerto Rican-American cultural historian, religious studies scholar, and contributor to the development of Christianity among Hispanic and Latino/a Americans. His research focuses on the interplay between religion and culture, especially Hispanic/Latino(a) religions, African-American religions, North American religious history, and congregational studies. He is one of a small number of U.S. Hispanic historians of Christianity.

Gabriel Joseph Fackre (1926–2018) was an American theologian and Abbot Professor of Christian Theology Emeritus at Andover Newton Theological School in Newton, Massachusetts. He was on the school's faculty for 25 years before retiring in 1996. Previous to that he was Professor of Theology and Culture at Lancaster Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania, teaching there from 1961 through 1970. Fackre has also served as visiting professor or held lectureships at 40 universities, colleges, and seminaries. His papers are housed in Special Collections at Princeton Theological Seminary Libraries, Princeton, New Jersey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Donald A. Crosby</span> Philosopher

Donald Allen Crosby is an American theologian who is professor emeritus of philosophy at Colorado State University, since January 2000. Crosby's interests focus on metaphysics, American pragmatism, philosophy of nature, existentialism, and philosophy of religion. He is a member of the Highlands Institute of American Religious and Philosophical Thought and has been a leader in the discussions on Religious Naturalism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gary Dorrien</span> American social ethicist and theologian (born 1952)

Gary John Dorrien is an American social ethicist and theologian. He is the Reinhold Niebuhr Professor of Social Ethics at Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York and Professor of Religion at Columbia University, both in New York City, and the author of 25 books on ethics, social theory, philosophy, theology, politics, and intellectual history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Katie Cannon</span> American theologian (1950–2018)

Katie Geneva Cannon was an American Christian theologian and ethicist associated with womanist theology and black theology. In 1974 she became the first African-American woman ordained in the United Presbyterian Church (USA).

Kathy L Dawson is a certified Christian educator and ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). Her work is focused primarily on the development of educational resources and the accessibility of resources for all educators. In 2015, she was recognized as the Educator of the Year by the Association of Presbyterian Church Educators. She is currently the Benton Family Associate Professor of Christian Education at Columbia Theological Seminary.

Eric D. Patterson is an American political scientist whose work focuses on international relations, just war theory, and the intersection of religion and public policy. His advanced degrees are from the University of California, Santa Barbara and the University of Wales at Aberystwyth. He serves as President & CEO of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation in Washington, DC. He worked for five years as Executive Vice President and President at the Religious Freedom Institute in Washington, DC, and previously served as Dean and Professor of the Robertson School of Government at Regent University in Virginia Beach, VA. Before that he worked at Georgetown University's Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs in Washington, DC. His government experience includes service as an Air National Guard commander, the White House Fellowship, and time as a William C. Foster Fellow working at the U.S. State Department's Bureau of Political-Military Affairs. His academic articles have appeared in Public Integrity, Journal of Military Ethics, Survival, International Studies Perspectives, International Journal of Religious Freedom, Democracy and Society, Journal of Human Security, International Journal of Applied Philosophy, International Politics, Foreign Policy Journal, International Journal of Intelligence and CounterIntelligence, Journal of Political Science, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, and Security Studies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary C. Boys</span> American theologian

Mary C. Boys, a member of the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, is an American scholar specializing in religious studies. Currently, Boys is the Skinner and McAlpin Professor of Practical Theology at Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York. At Union, Boys served as the Dean of Academic Affairs for many years. She was formerly Professor of Religious Education at Boston College, where she served for 17 years.

The Pyongyang Theological Seminary is a Protestant theological seminary in Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea. It is run by the government-controlled Korean Christian Federation (KCF) and trains pastors and evangelists for it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom F. Driver</span> American theologian (1925–2021)

Tom Faw Driver was a theologian, preacher, lecturer, author, and peace activist. He is best known for his combined interest in theology, theater, and ritual studies. Tom F. Driver is also known for his numerous publications and lectures on similar topics, which range from academic and popular articles to sermons and books. These culminate in works that condemn war and advocate justice. Driver was also the photographer and director of two documentary films about the violence in Colombia, both of which were written and narrated in collaboration with his wife, historian Anne L. Barstow. Since his retirement from teaching (1991), Driver has actively been included in a number of projects that promote peace, justice, and human rights in Haiti and Colombia. He has advocated nonviolent resistance to evil, as well as the rejection of war. In 2014, Tom and his wife were the first recipients of the annual Anne Barstow and Tom Driver Award for Excellence in Nonviolent Action in Retirement, given by the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beverly Wildung Harrison</span> American feminist theologian (1932–2012)

Beverly Jean Wildung Harrison (1932–2012) was an American Presbyterian feminist theologian whose work was foundational for the field of feminist Christian ethics. She taught at Union Theological Seminary in New York City for 32 years.

References

  1. "Author: Mark Douglas". Library. Columbia Theological Seminary.
  2. "Mark Douglas". Faculty Directory. Columbia Theological Seminary.
  3. "Teach-in on Capital Punishment and the Church". Columbia Connections Blog. Columbia Theological Seminary.
  4. "ACSWP names five people to Study Team on Prospects for a Just Peace in Israel and Palestine". The Presbyterian Outlook. The Presbyterian Outlook.
  5. "Our Challenging Way". Presbyterian Church (U.S.A). Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).