January 2008
Theology & Peacemaking
Examining questions stemming from the human problem of violence.
14-18 January 2008

This course will attempt to answer a series of related
questions stemming from the human problem of
violence. The pathway they lead us on will prove
richly rewarding theologically, with particular
reference to the present social and historical context of
Christian faith.

At the outset there are basic human questions: What is
violence? How deeply rooted is it in human behavior?
How is culture based in violence? Quickly we discover
the prompting of these questions comes from the bible
itself, from its singular concern with the issue of
violence. Further questions then arise: What is the
biblical understanding of what it means to be human?
What is the biblical future of humanity? And
necessarily connected: What is the meaning of God in
relation to violent humanity? Or, to the open or
transformative human horizon that the biblical God
seems to propose.

The anthropologist René Girard leads us in the first
two areas of questioning. The theologian Karl Rahner
helps us with the third. Rahner’s theological
anthropology provides a framework in which to
understand the strong biblical dynamic presented in
Girard. At the same time Girard’s anthropology can
provide an important critical perspective on Rahner's
transcendental viewpoint. Adding Thurman and King
gives us concrete material in which to apply and
further understand our pathway of reflection. All of
this together constructs a course that is as much about
theology as it is about peacemaking, and as much
about peacemaking as it is about theology.

Dr. Anthony Bartlett
Assistant Professor of Bible Studies

D. Phil., Syracuse University, New York
S.T.L, Lateran University, Rome, Italy
B.D., London University, England
L. Phil., Heythrop Pontifical Athaneum, Oxford, England

Born 1946 in Epping, England, to Charles and Julia Bartlett. Brought up in Gloucester, the Isle of Wight and Portsmouth, south of England. Joined Novitiate of Religious Order of Claretian Fathers in 1964, attended Jesuit Athaneum, Heythrop, Oxfordshire and London University, then Lateran University, Rome. Degrees summa cum laude in philosophy and honors in theology. Ordained to Roman Catholic priesthood in 1973. Worked as director of a youth retreat center near Cambridge, then in a parish in West London. Spent a year in a community of prayer and manual work in Spello, Italy, 1983-84. In same year he resigned the sacramental priesthood, employed as director of Tower Hamlets Mission for the homeless in London's East End. He married in 1986. He and his wife, Linda, have three children, Christopher, Susannah and Liam. Joined doctoral program of Syracuse University Department of Religion in 1993 and gained Ph.D. in 1999. Published Cross Purposes, The Violent Grammar of Christian Atonement (Trinity, 2001) and contributor in Stricken By God? (Eerdmans, forthcoming 2007). Linda works as a nurse. Anthony teaches biblical studies and theology at Bexley Hall, Rochester, and is a freelance teacher, speaker and author. Together with his wife he founded Wood Hath Hope, a bible education project and small
group community.

Application and Registration forms may be found on our web site at www.bexley.edu/forms

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