Yale Religion

In this lecture, William Sloane Coffin, Jr. challenges the church to respond to biblical mandates “like truth-telling, confronting injustice and pursuing peace” while avoiding use of “theological sledgehammers bludgeoning people into rigid orthodoxy.” Coffin, who died a year after delivering this lecture, served as Yale University chaplain from 1958 to 1975. (April 28, 2005)

In this lecture, Mary Evelyn Tucker highlights the spiritual and ethical dimensions of the environmental crisis, arguing that the religious and environmental communities should make common cause in protecting the ecology of planet earth. Tucker is a research scholar and senior lecturer at Yale University, with joint appointments at Yale Divinity School, the Yale School of Forestry and Environmenta...

In this sermon delivered at Rhinebeck Reformed Church in Rhinebeck, NY, Willis Jenkins argues the case for a “civic restlessness” -- characterized by humility, mercy and justice -- that builds a culture of sustainability linking community and land. Jenkins is the Margaret Farley Assistant Professor of Social Ethics, Yale Divinity School. (April 29, 2007)

Jon Butler, Dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and the Howard R. Lamar Professor of American Studies, delivers a talk on religion in twentieth century America at the Alumni Reunion Weekend.

Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne delivers the keynote address at Yale Divinity School’s Faith and Citizenship conference on May 3, 2007. Dionne, a respected political observer and former reporter for The New York Times, spoke in favor of engaging the theologies of justice developed in the civil rights as well as the rich tradition of Catholic social though and aspects of the Protestant Social...

In this panel discussion led by Yale Law School Dean Harold Koh, activists, academicians and former diplomats covered subjects that included the international community’s inability to intervene in Darfur, citizenship in the face of globalization, and to what extent religion informs U.S. foreign policy. Panelists included Jennifer Butler, Executive Director, Faith in Public Life; Heidi Hadsell, Pre...

In this panel discussion led by Yale Law School Professor Harlon Dalton, academicians, journalists and activists examined the intersection between faith and politics in American life. Panelists included Randall Balmer, Ann Whitney Olin Professor of American Religion, Barnard College; Serene Jones, Titus Street Professor of Theology, Yale Divinity School ; Michael Kieschnick, President and Co-found...

Kristen Leslie, Associate Professor of Pastoral Care and Counseling at Yale Divinity SchoolKristen Leslie, Associate Professor of Pastoral Care & Counseling at Yale Divinity School, discusses sexual assault in the United States Air Force Academy and the subsequent religious intolerance of chaplains at the Academy.