The Bampton Lectures 2022

By
The Revd Dr William Lamb

 

On 10th and 17th May, we will welcome Professor Alec Ryrie FBA, University of Durham, as our Bampton Lecturer. The Bampton Lectures are prestigious lectures which have taken place at the University Church since the 1780s. The lecturer is invited to address an aspect of Christian Theology, and over the years lectures have ranged from science and religion, to biblical studies, church history and apologetics. This year, Professor Ryrie will be speaking about ’The Age of Hitler and how we can escape it’. His thesis is that ever since the Second World War, Western culture has used the narrative of the Second World War to define its values - our only true fixed moral reference point has been our shared rejection of Nazism. 

But is this true? Is Adolf Hitler now a more potent moral figure than Jesus Christ? Certainly, the shadow of the Second World War hangs heavy over modern Europe, whether it is the contemporary politician stirring up nationalistic fervour by appealing to the legacy of Winston Churchill, or the Russian propaganda that seeks, rather absurdly, to justify Putin's war against Ukraine as a project of ‘de-Nazification’. Do our theological commitments help us to critique populism and nationalism? Or, in the context of the ‘culture wars’ in Europe and North America, are those same theological commitments being used in order to validate them? 

These lectures will certainly be provocative and controversial. Professor Ryrie will challenge us to think about the assumptions which underpin our own moral reasoning as well as the ways in which the Christian Church might contribute fruitfully to public debate at a time when secular values appear increasingly brittle and fractured. The lectures will be available online as well as in person. You can book by following the link below.

https://www.universitychurch.ox.ac.uk/content/bampton-lectures