Setting the Captives Free

Scott C. Williamson
Robert H. Walkup Professor of Theological Ethics

February 23, 2018
Luke 4:14-21

The plight of prisoners once returned to society is the topic of Williamson's sermon.  How to we understand the moral worth and human dignity of all.  Listen to the sermon.

The Ethics of Empathy

Scott C. Williamson
Robert H. Walkup Professor of Theological Ethics

Spring Convocation
February 5, 2015
Hosea 11:1-11
Mark 8:1-6

Recent laboratory studies find that empathy is a poor moral guide, but in biblical thought empathy is a virtue. Is empathy a reliable guide for being good and doing good? Listen to the sermon.

Choosing Life Behind the Veil

Scott C. Williamson
Robert H. Walkup Professor of Theological Ethics
February 21, 2014
Deuteronomy 30:15-20
Listen to the sermon.

The First Temptation: A Sermon on Luke 4:1-13

Scott C. Williamson
Robert H. Walkup Professor of Theological Ethics

February 22, 2013
Luke 4:1-13

The devil tempts Jesus to prove his authority as the Son of God by commanding a stone to become a loaf of bread.  Even though he is famished after forty days of fasting, Jesus trusts that God will provide. This story parallels the experience of Civil Rights figures, like Sister Pollard, who echoed Jesus’ trust in God. During the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955, Sister Pollard, in her seventies, walked to work and refused the offer of a ride by saying “My feets is tired, but my soul is rested.” She shows a faith that endures hardships while trusting in God’s providence.  The good news is that God has given us the bread of life, the bread that satisfies our hunger for justice and thirst for righteousness.  Listen to the sermon.

A Wilderness of Imagination

Scott C. Williamson
Robert H. Walkup Professor of Theological Ethics

February 27, 2009
Mark 1:9-15

Sometimes along the straight and narrow way that Mark describes, we get lost in the wilderness. At times we find ourselves meandering in the wilderness, unable to find our bearings, or get any forward momentum along the way. At times we find ourselves at a crossroads, unable to resolve which path to take. Listen to the sermon. Read the sermon in PDF.