David P. Gushee is a Christian ethicist and

public intellectual An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and reflection about the reality of society, and who proposes solutions for the normative problems of society. Coming from the world of culture, either as a creator or ...

Work and membership

David P. Gushee is Distinguished University Professor of Christian Ethics and formerly the Director of the Center for Theology and Public Life at

Mercer University Mercer University is a private research university with its main campus in Macon, Georgia. Founded in 1833 as Mercer Institute and gaining university status in 1837, it is the oldest private university in the state and enrolls more than 9,000 s ...

. He is also Chair of Christian Social Ethics at the Faculty of Religion and Theology at

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam The Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (abbreviated as ''VU Amsterdam'' or simply ''VU'' when in context) is a public research university in Amsterdam, Netherlands, being founded in 1880. The VU Amsterdam is one of two large, publicly funded research ...

in cooperation with the International Baptist Theological Study Centre (IBTS Centre) in Amsterdam. He was formerly the Graves Professor of Moral Philosophy and the Senior Fellow of the Carl F. H. Henry Center for Christian Leadership at

Union University Union University is a private Baptist Christian university in Jackson, Tennessee, with additional campuses in Germantown and Hendersonville. The university is affiliated with the Tennessee Baptist Convention (Southern Baptist Convention). It is ...

in Jackson, Tennessee. Gushee was elected in 2015 Vice President and 2018 Vice President of the

American Academy of Religion The American Academy of Religion (AAR) is the world's largest association of scholars in the field of religious studies and related topics. It is a nonprofit member association, serving as a professional and learned society for scholars involv ...

. In January 2016 he was elected President-Elect of the

Society of Christian Ethics The Society of Christian Ethics (SCE) is a non-denominational academic society that promote scholarly work in Christian ethics and the relation of Christian ethics to other ethics traditions. Its members are faculty and students at universities, c ...

. Gushee served as president of Evangelicals for Human Rights, an organization advocating for an end to torture, especially that sponsored by the United States government; this organization has since become th
New Evangelical Partnership for the Common Good
Gushee has also served on The Constitution Project's Detainee Treatment Task Force since December 2010. He helped draft the Evangelical Climate Initiative's ''Call to Action''. He served on the

Sojourners ''Sojourners'' is a progressive monthly magazine and daily online publication of the American Christian social justice organization Sojourners, which arose out of the Sojourners Community. It was first published in 1971 under the original titl ...

board of directors. Gushee is a columnist for

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, and has written for

Religion News Service Religion News Service (RNS) is a news agency covering religion, ethics, spirituality and moral issues. It publishes news, information, and commentaries on faiths and religious movements to newspapers, magazines, broadcast organizations and religi ...

, ''

Christianity Today ''Christianity Today'' is an evangelical Christian media magazine founded in 1956 by Billy Graham. It is published by Christianity Today International based in Carol Stream, Illinois. ''The Washington Post'' calls ''Christianity Today'' "evan ...

,''

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, and

Scholarship and recognition

Gushee is an internationally recognized Holocaust scholar and ethicist, based on his 1994 book ''Righteous Gentiles of the Holocaust''. He was appointed in 2008 by the

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) is the United States' official memorial to the Holocaust. Adjacent to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the USHMM provides for the documentation, study, and interpretation of Holocaust h ...

to serve as a member of the Church Relations and the Holocaust Committee. He taught a summer seminar for college faculty at the USHMM. Gushee's most important books include ''Kingdom Ethics'' (with Glen Stassen, 2003), ''The Sacredness of Human Life'' (2013), and ''Changing Our Mind'' (2014). ''Kingdom Ethics'' was ''Christianity Today's'' Theology/Ethics Book of the Year for 2004, and has been translated into eight languages. A second edition was released in 2016. Gushee is the author of well over one hundred scholarly articles, chapters and reviews and has written or edited twenty books. Gushee was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...

to the Gospel Ministry at Walnut Hills Baptist Church in

Williamsburg, Virginia Williamsburg is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 15,425. Located on the Virginia Peninsula, Williamsburg is in the northern part of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. It is ...

in 1987. He has received the Evangelical Press Association's Christian Journalism Award for 1991, 1992 and 1997, recognition of excellence in opinion writing. Gushee was granted an honorary

Doctor of Divinity A Doctor of Divinity (D.D. or DDiv; la, Doctor Divinitatis) is the holder of an advanced academic degree in divinity. In the United Kingdom, it is considered an advanced doctoral degree. At the University of Oxford, doctors of divinity are ran ...

(D.D.) degree in May 2009 by the

John Leland Center for Theological Studies __NOTOC__ The John Leland Center for Theological Studies is a Baptist theological institute in Arlington, Virginia, with several satellite locations elsewhere in Virginia. Leland is partnered with the Baptist General Association of Virginia and t ...

Education

Gushee received his Ph.D. in Christian ethics from Union Theological Seminary in 1993, having earned his

M.Phil. The Master of Philosophy (MPhil; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. In the United States, an MPhil typically includes a taught portion and a significant research portion, during which a thesis project is conducted under supervision. An MPhil ...

from Union Theological Seminary in 1990. Gushee earned his M.Div. from

Southern Baptist Theological Seminary The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS) is a Baptist theological institute in Louisville, Kentucky. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention. The seminary was founded in 1859 in Greenville, South Carolina, where it was a ...

in 1987. He graduated

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...

with a B.A. from the

College of William and Mary The College of William & Mary (officially The College of William and Mary in Virginia, abbreviated as William & Mary, W&M) is a public research university in Williamsburg, Virginia. Founded in 1693 by letters patent issued by King William ...

in 1984.

Controversy

As a Christian ethicist, Gushee has periodically been outspoken about current controversial societal topics. His positions on such issues as

climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...

, torture, and

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rights have often put him into conflict with his traditional evangelical constituency. For example, In 2015, Russell Moore, also a well known Evangelical ethicist, implied that Gushee was not a true Evangelical because of his change of belief supporting LGBT civil rights. Gushee describes himself as "post evangelical” and attends both Catholic Mass and Baptist services.

Books

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *''After Evangelicalism: The Path to a New Christianity''. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press. 2020. *''Introducing Christian Ethics: Core Convictions for Christians Today''. Ann Arbor: Front Edge Publishing. 2022. ISBN 978-1641801249

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gushee, David Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Christian ethicists Historians of the Holocaust College of William & Mary alumni Southern Baptist Theological Seminary alumni Union Theological Seminary (New York City) alumni Constitution Project