Climate Changes: Planetary, Religious, and Theological

Dr. Michael S. Hogue

Thursday, March 5, 11:30-12:45, Leggett Center of Millsaps College
Lunch provided – Reserve your spot now: mailto:raydk@millsaps.edu or 601.974.1337
Sponsored by the Religious Studies Dept. and the John Templeton Foundation

In a context of religious pluralism, how might religious leaders and public theologians most creatively engage globally scaled moral challenges such as climate change? In response to this question, this talk begins with an analysis of the moral structure of planetary climate change, interpreted as an illustration of the need to move beyond environmental thinking. Following this, the question is raised of whether the globalizing present might be described as not merely a time after the secular, but also, paradoxically, after religion. Might this post-religious ethos, against common sense, actually present new openings for public theological engagement of global challenges like climate change? The talk closes with reflections on this possibility by outlining the emphases of a pragmatic public theology.

Dr. Michael Hogue is Assistant Professor of Theology at Meadville Lombard Theological School in Chicago, Illinois. He received his doctoral degree from the University of Chicago Divinity School in 2005. He was awarded a Templeton Prize for Theological Promise in 2008, based on his first book, The Tangled Bank: Towards an Ecotheological Ethics of Responsible Participation. He has published articles and reviews in various academic journals and currently serves as review editor of The American Journal of Theology and Philosophy, as secretary of the Highlands Institute of Theology and Philosophy, and on the planning committee of the AAR's Empiricism and Pragmatism in Religious Thought group. At the moment, his research and teaching focus especially on questions of public theology and theological pragmatism. Dr. Hogue is currently completing a second book on religious ethical responses to climate change and pluralism.