Exploring "Faithful Presence" Within Medicine: Christian Theological Perspectives on James Davision Hunter's Book, "To Change the World: The Irony, Tragedy, and Possibility of Christianity in the Late Modern World"
Moderator - Ryan Antiel, M.D., University of Pennsylvania
Panelists-
Ryan Nash, M.D., The Ohio State University Center for Bioethics and Medical Humanities
Abraham Nussbaum, M.D., Denver Health
Jon Tilburt, M.D., Mayo Clinic
Travis Pickell, M.Div, University of Virginia (Ph.D. candidate, Religious Studies)
This panel brings together Christian scholars and practitioners in medicine and religion to reflect on James Davison Hunter’s recent work on Christian faith under the cultural conditions of late modernity. Responding to Hunter’s analysis of cultural change, this panel will explore various Christian theological perspectives that would imagine what “faithful presence” might entail in the vocational sphere of medicine.
Hunter argues that current attempts by Christians in North America have tended to operate on the assumption that culture is constituted by ideas held by a given majority. As a result, Christians naively aim to change the culture by changing the hearts and minds of ordinary people. Hunter lays out an alternative theory of social change, namely the significance of overlapping networks of elites as critical for true cultural change. Hunter then offers a criticism of the three dominant stances amongst Christians toward culture:
1)“Defensive Against” (the Christian Right)
2)“Relevance To” (the Christian Left)
3) “Purity From” (the Neo-Anabaptists).
Hunter proceeds to argue that Christians have largely followed the general trend in society to view politics as the overarching force for generating change within American society at large, and that the dominant religious narratives make it all but impossible for Christians to wield political power in a way that does not compromise the Christian public witness. Hunter writes, “The tragedy is that in the name of resisting the internal deterioration of faith and the corruption of the world around them, many Christians--and Christian conservatives most significantly--unwittingly embrace some of the most corrosive aspects of cultural disintegration they decry. By nurturing its resentments, sustaining them through a discourse of negation toward outsiders, and in some cases, pursuing their will to power, they become functional Nietzscheans, participating in the very cultural breakdown they so ardently strive to resist."
Hunter concludes his work by laying a theological foundation for a different paradigm of active cultural engagement which he calls, “Faithful Presence Within.” This presence is based on the model of Jesus’ incarnation and the way Christ was faithfully present within the world through pursuit, identification, and the offer of life through His sacrificial love. Hunter then argues that “faithful presence” would mean that Christians work faithfully in their respective vocational spheres of influence to create conditions conducive to flourishing for all. Evoking Jeremiah’s exhortation to the Jewish people to “seek the welfare” of their Babylonian captors (Jeremiah 29:4“7), Hunter envisions Christianity in the modern world as an exile within the predominantly secular culture—preserving Christian identity with deep integrity to avoid assimilation into the dominant culture while also findings ways of participating fully in the life of the larger culture to contribute to the common good.
This panel will bring together Christian scholars and practitioners to respond to Hunter’s analysis of cultural change as summarized above, while also offering theological reflections that specifically relate to the vocational sphere of medicine. We propose 3-4 panel members who would represent the distinct theological perspectives of Catholicism, Protestantism, and Orthodoxy, as well as a theologian who will present a summary of Hunter's analysis to frame the discussion.
Panel members will address the questions:
(1) “What theological resources does their Christian tradition bring to bear on the challenges and opportunities in the vocational sphere of medicine?
(2) What would it mean to exhibit a “faithful presence” in medicine”?
(3) What it might mean for the institutions that shape medicine to truly enhance the communities in which they live?”
Panelists-
Ryan Nash, M.D., The Ohio State University Center for Bioethics and Medical Humanities
Abraham Nussbaum, M.D., Denver Health
Jon Tilburt, M.D., Mayo Clinic
Travis Pickell, M.Div, University of Virginia (Ph.D. candidate, Religious Studies)
This panel brings together Christian scholars and practitioners in medicine and religion to reflect on James Davison Hunter’s recent work on Christian faith under the cultural conditions of late modernity. Responding to Hunter’s analysis of cultural change, this panel will explore various Christian theological perspectives that would imagine what “faithful presence” might entail in the vocational sphere of medicine.
Hunter argues that current attempts by Christians in North America have tended to operate on the assumption that culture is constituted by ideas held by a given majority. As a result, Christians naively aim to change the culture by changing the hearts and minds of ordinary people. Hunter lays out an alternative theory of social change, namely the significance of overlapping networks of elites as critical for true cultural change. Hunter then offers a criticism of the three dominant stances amongst Christians toward culture:
1)“Defensive Against” (the Christian Right)
2)“Relevance To” (the Christian Left)
3) “Purity From” (the Neo-Anabaptists).
Hunter proceeds to argue that Christians have largely followed the general trend in society to view politics as the overarching force for generating change within American society at large, and that the dominant religious narratives make it all but impossible for Christians to wield political power in a way that does not compromise the Christian public witness. Hunter writes, “The tragedy is that in the name of resisting the internal deterioration of faith and the corruption of the world around them, many Christians--and Christian conservatives most significantly--unwittingly embrace some of the most corrosive aspects of cultural disintegration they decry. By nurturing its resentments, sustaining them through a discourse of negation toward outsiders, and in some cases, pursuing their will to power, they become functional Nietzscheans, participating in the very cultural breakdown they so ardently strive to resist."
Hunter concludes his work by laying a theological foundation for a different paradigm of active cultural engagement which he calls, “Faithful Presence Within.” This presence is based on the model of Jesus’ incarnation and the way Christ was faithfully present within the world through pursuit, identification, and the offer of life through His sacrificial love. Hunter then argues that “faithful presence” would mean that Christians work faithfully in their respective vocational spheres of influence to create conditions conducive to flourishing for all. Evoking Jeremiah’s exhortation to the Jewish people to “seek the welfare” of their Babylonian captors (Jeremiah 29:4“7), Hunter envisions Christianity in the modern world as an exile within the predominantly secular culture—preserving Christian identity with deep integrity to avoid assimilation into the dominant culture while also findings ways of participating fully in the life of the larger culture to contribute to the common good.
This panel will bring together Christian scholars and practitioners to respond to Hunter’s analysis of cultural change as summarized above, while also offering theological reflections that specifically relate to the vocational sphere of medicine. We propose 3-4 panel members who would represent the distinct theological perspectives of Catholicism, Protestantism, and Orthodoxy, as well as a theologian who will present a summary of Hunter's analysis to frame the discussion.
Panel members will address the questions:
(1) “What theological resources does their Christian tradition bring to bear on the challenges and opportunities in the vocational sphere of medicine?
(2) What would it mean to exhibit a “faithful presence” in medicine”?
(3) What it might mean for the institutions that shape medicine to truly enhance the communities in which they live?”