Harry Stout

Harry Stout, Jonathan Edwards Professor of American Christianity at Yale University and Calvin College graduate, will provide a thought-provoking analysis of the American Civil War, specifically the moral decisions in a time of war. Applying the ethical precepts of "Just War" theory as it has evolved from Augustine and Calvin through Reinhold Niebuhr and Michael Walzer, Dr. Stout focuses on the command decisions made by President Lincoln and his generals to expand the Civil War from a limited war to a "modern" or "total" war in which civilian suffering figured deliberately in the overall strategic planning. In his discussion of this agonizing decision-making process, Dr. Stout will inquire into the relationship of the Civil War and President Lincoln to the emergence of a "civil religion" in American society.

Presentations at Calvin University

Rethinking the American Civil War: Spirituality and Morality in America's Costliest War
Part of the: January Series
Monday, January 20, 1997 12:30:00 PM
Covenant Fine Arts Center Auditorium