JACKSON, Tenn. — April 7, 2015 — Sex, marriage and society will be the topic for the next Town and Gown series at 51社区 on Thursday evenings from April 9-May 7.
The Town and Gown series is an opportunity for community members interested in various topics to attend lectures and participate in discussions in a classroom setting. The classes are free and open to the public.
Justin Barnard, associate professor of philosophy at Union and associate dean of the Institute for Intellectual Discipleship, said Western culture is rapidly approaching a point in which traditional religious convictions regarding marriage and human sexuality are not only eroding, but are no longer regarded as worthy of being discussed in civil discourse.
鈥淚n such a climate, those who wish to preserve a traditional religious perspective on marriage and human sexuality must recover two things,鈥� Barnard said. 鈥淔irst, we must recover a solid understanding. Traditional religious communities need to be able to understand and articulate the basic tenets of their convictions regarding human sexuality and marriage for themselves.
鈥淪econd, we need to recover the capacity to speak winsomely about these matters in the public square.鈥�
Barnard said this series is an effort to do both by aiming to equip participants with a basic understanding of a biblical view of marriage and human sexuality while taking into consideration the cultural climate.
鈥淭his means that we will come to understand the current legal situation, present sociological research and think about the future of religious freedom,鈥� Barnard said. 鈥淎ll of this will be oriented toward helping people navigate in an increasingly pluralistic and sometimes hostile age."
The schedule for the series is:
- April 9, 鈥淭he Green Book鈥檚 Revenge: The Cultural Consequences of Rejecting Reality鈥� at 6 p.m., by Barnard, and 鈥淢an as Male and Female in the Image of God鈥� at 7:30 p.m. by Susan Nash, a Doctor of Ministry candidate at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.
- April 16, 鈥淢arriage and Historic Christianity: An Overview,鈥� at 6 p.m., by Henry Allen, visiting assistant professor of history at Union; 鈥淐hange We Can Be(have) In: Pope John Paul II and the Church鈥檚 Sexual Imagination,鈥� at 6:45 p.m., by Zack Clemmons, a Christian thought and tradition major at Union; and 鈥淢arriage and Sexuality in Biblical Perspective,鈥� at 7:30 p.m., by George Guthrie, Benjamin W. Perry Professor of Bible at Union.
- April 23, 鈥淭he End of the World As We Know It: Political, Cultural and Legal Changes Over the Past 50 Years,鈥� at 6 p.m., by Sean Evans, associate professor of political science at Union, and 鈥淎 Decent Proposal: Marriage, Pluralism and the Whole Counsel of God,鈥� at 7:30 p.m., by Micah Watson, associate professor of political science at Union.
- April 30, 鈥淢arital Conflict: The Fight Over Marriage and Its Implications for Families, Children and Society,鈥� at 6 p.m., by Phil Davignon, assistant professor of sociology at Union; 鈥淚nside the Polis: The Abolition of Marriage in Madison County,鈥� at 7:30 p.m., by Bree McCuin, a political science major at Union; and 鈥淐ounseling and Christian Moral Conscience,鈥� at 8:15 p.m., by Melissa Davignon, a national certified counselor.
- May 7, 鈥淪exual Liberation and Religious Liberty,鈥� at 6 p.m., by C. Ben Mitchell, Union provost and Graves Professor of Moral Philosophy, and 鈥淗ow Christians Are Becoming Heretics in American Society,鈥� by Hunter Baker, associate provost and dean of instruction at Union.
All classes meet in Harvey Auditorium in the Barefoot Student Union Building. For more information, call Barnard at (731) 661-5963 or email him at jbarnard@uu.edu.