Featuring

Christopher Eberle

Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Department of Leadership, Ethics, & Law, United States Naval Academy

Nigel Biggar

Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology, Christ Church, Oxford

What role does religion play in war and violence? For most of the past century, scholars believed that ideology, nationalism, ethnic conflict, or imperial aggression were the leading causes of violent conflict. Today, however, religion is often blamed as a major impetus of terrorism and war. In this panel, two scholars working in different intellectual and religious contexts--one a professor of theology at Christ Church in Oxford, England, and one a professor of philosophy at the U.S. Naval Academy--will seek to untangle and illuminate the complex relationship among religion, war, and peace.

Christopher Eberle has taught philosophy at the U.S. Naval Academy since 2001. He is the author of Religious Conviction in Liberal Politics and numerous journal articles on religion in politics and democracy. Eberle was a fellow at Notre Dame’s Center for Philosophy of Religion from 2004-05, and before that he taught philosophy at Concordia University.  He is working on a new book titled, God and War: An Exploration.

Nigel Biggar is the Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology at Christ Church, Oxford. After studying modern history at Worcester College, he studied religion, theology, and ethics in Canada and the United States. Back at Oxford, he became librarian and research fellow at Latimer House, then chaplain and fellow of Oriel College. He took the Chair of Theology at the University of Leeds and Chair of Theology and Ethics at Trinity College, Dublin. Biggar is working on a book titled, Justifying War: Outstanding Issues.

This panel, which is free and open to the public, is the opening lecture of a scholarly symposium at Notre Dame that focuses on Eberle’s and Biggar’s new books.

Sponsored by
Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies
Henkels Interdisciplinary Lecture Grant from the Institute for Scholarship in the Liberal Arts, College of Arts and Letters