The Cross, The Lynching Tree, and the Crosshairs: Racial Violence and American Christianity

Rev. Dr. Joanne Marie Terrell
Associate Professor of Theology, Ethics, and the Arts
Chicago Theological Seminary

April 10, 2018
Grawemeyer Award in Religion

(Dr. James Cone's book, The Cross and the Lynching Tree, won the 2018 Grawemeyer Award in Religion.  Dr. Cone was unable to present a lecture due to personal reasons.  Dr. Terrell, a former graduate student of Dr. Cone's, spoke in his place.)

Dr. Cone's book contrasts the Christian tradition regarding the Cross of Jesus with the Christian response to lynching.  White Christians murdered over 5000 black men, women, and children during the lynching era, and did not see the parallels between the persecution and murder of Jesus on the cross and the death by lynching on the tree.  Anger over this, and the continuing mistreatment of black and brown peoples, is the only reasonable response for a Christian.  The key is to use the anger to move beyond guilt to doing the work of justice and love.  Listen to the lecture.

Black Joy in the Mo(u)rning

Brandon McCormack
Assistant Professor, Pan-African Studies, University of Louisville

March 26, 2018
Black Church Studies Consultation
Psalm 30:5b

The psalmist tells a mourning story as do African Americans who carry the psychic cost of existing in America while black.  The psalmist also reminds us that while mourning is necessary, there will also be a morning when, with God's help, we can reclaim our joy.  Listen to the sermon.

A Just Peace Approach to Ending the Global War on Women

Susan Thistlethwaite
Professor of Theology, Chicago Theological Seminary

Edwards Lecture
November 13, 2014

This lecture focuses on the roles that spiritual leaders and faith communities from all denominations play to respond to the widespread culture of violence against women.  Listen to the lecture.  (Please note that the speaker occasionally refers to images that we do not have the rights to post.)

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.

Greed as Violence: The Role of the Global Church in Addressing the Enduring Spiritual Crisis of Our Time

Dr. Shanta Premawardhana
President of the Seminary Consortium for Urban Pastoral Education

November 14, 2013
The Henry H. and Marion A. Presler  Lecture

Listen to the lecture.

Moving From Fear to Peace

Bradley J. Wigger
Second Presbyterian Church Professor of Christian Education

April 13, 2012
John 20:19-31

The disciples are locked up in the house of fear. Shut in by their own fears. This is living inside the box, living inside the tomb. Listen to the sermon. Read the sermon in PDF.

The Name of a Happy Ending

Heather Thiessen

Former Coordinator of the Women’s Center at LPTS

February 17, 2012
Job 42:10-17

The elimination of violence against women and girls is completely possible. It is simply asking for what most kindergarten teachers routinely ask for in their classrooms: no hitting, no hurting our neighbors, taking turns and keeping our hands to ourselves. If we can expect it of the average 5-year-old, we can surely expect it of the average person.  Listen to the sermon.  Read the sermon in PDF.

We Have a Strong City

Heather Thiessen

Part-time Director of the Women’s Center at LPTS

Feb 18, 2011

Isaiah 26:1-13

In a week of worship focused on the theme of violence against women, the text of Isaiah 26:1-13 challenges the people of God to remember that faithful response takes the shape of trusting, and working for, the transformation of suffering in the direction of joy, responding to God's promised redemption by longing and laboring to make it more concretely imaginable. Listen to the sermon. Read the sermon in PDF.

Genesis 16

Elizabeth Johnson Walker

Professor of Pastoral Care and Counseling

October 15, 2010—Domestic Violence Awareness Month

Genesis 16

1 Samuel 16-20

Domestic violence and God’s good intention for creation have lived in tragic tension for centuries. In the first family we are reminded that in a fit of jealousy and rage, Cain killed his own brother Abel. Domestic violence is a sin that separates and isolates victims from sources of value and meaning in God’s good creation. Listen to the sermon. Read the sermon in PDF.

Confessing Our Sins: Forgiveness and Reconciliation in the Global Church

Kathryn L. Johnson
Professor of Historical Theology and Paul Tudor Jones Professor of Church History

April 26, 2010
Festival of Theology Lecture

Confession of faith sometimes involves recognition of sinfulness, and one particular legacy that touches many is the willingness to use violence in order to conform belief and practice. Mainline churches in North America can learn from the global Church, particularly in the global south, as those churches aggressively learning how to thrive with unity and diversity. Listen to the lecture.

The Vision Thing

Johanna W. H. Bos
Dora Pierce Professor of Bible and Professor of Old Testament

Feb 19, 2010
Habakkuk 1:2-2:4

Parallels are drawn between the burden of violence the prophet saw, and the burden of violence and lack of justice experienced by modern women around the world. Listen to the sermon. (The text of this sermon is not available.)

Some Sympathy for King Herod

Dr. Timothy B. Tyson
Winner, Grawemeyer Award--Religion (2007)
Author of Blood Done Sign My Name

April 19, 2007
Matthew 2:1-23

Timothy B. Tyson, winner of the 2007 Grawemeyer Award in Religion, reflects on how King Herod's strategy for dealing with the threat to his kingship posed by the birth of the messiah parallels the "measured military responses" favored by U.S. leaders today. But, such "rational" strategies are not permissible within a Christian framework because they are not undergirded by love. Through the course of the sermon, Dr. Tyson moves steadily from his starting position of "sympathy for King Herod," to a crescendo of criticism of the present war in Iraq and a stirring call to all Christians to make their voices heard. Listen to the sermon.