VanDrunen (Westminster Seminary)
Dr. David VanDrunen, professor of Systematic Theology and Ethics at Westminster Seminary, California, will deliver a public lecture at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 6, in Sticht Lecture Hall in the Staley Hall of Arts and Letters at Grove City College.
VanDrunen’s lecture, “After Christendom: Christians and Politics in a Fractured World,” will provide a Biblical case for a wiser approach to politics. The event, sponsored by the departments of Biblical and Religious Studies and History at the College, is free and open to the public.
“Dr. VanDrunen will present a Biblical perspective on why Christians need not despair as Western culture moves further from values that Christians hold dear. Arguing for cultural engagement but against attempting to Christianize American society, he will defend a model of how Christians might engage in politics in a more effective and winsome way that prioritizes the church bearing witness to the Gospel,” Professor of Biblical and Religious Studies and Sociology Dr. George Van Pelt Campbell said.
During his visit to campus, VanDrunen is scheduled to teach a Humanities class and meet with faculty.
In addition to his teaching at Westminster Seminary California, VanDrunen is a minister of the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. He does much of his current research and writing at the intersection of systematic theology, biblical studies, ethics, and legal and political theory.
He is the author or editor of 12 books, most recently “Politics after Christendom: Political Theology in a Fractured World” and “Aquinas Among the Protestants.” His scholarly articles have appeared in many journals, including Journal of Church and State, Journal of Law and Religion, and Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics.
He was the recipient of the Acton Institute’s Novak Award for 2004, a visiting fellow at the Center for the Study of Law and Religion at Emory University in 2009, and a Henry Luce III Fellow in Theology for 2016-17.