The Centre for Theology and Public Issues (CTPI) is a research centre based in New College, the School of Divinity at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

. Founded in 1984 by

Duncan B. Forrester Duncan Baillie Forrester (10 November 1933 – 29 November 2016) was a Scottish theologian and the founder of the Centre for Theology and Public Issues at New College, University of Edinburgh. He was latterly honorary fellow and professor emerit ...

, CTPI promotes Christian theological reflection and research on important public issues. CTPI research is global in orientation and rooted in the tradition of

public theology Public theology is the Christian engagement and dialogue within the church and especially with the larger society. It seeks the welfare of the state and a fair society for all by engaging issues of common interest to build the common good. This is ...

. Issues are examined by bringing together theologians, social scientists, church leaders, policy makers and the public. CTPI has particularly close relations with the Scottish Parliament and other institutions of Scottish public life. The current director is Jolyon Mitchell.

History

CTPI was created to carry on New College's long tradition of public engagement. The founding director of CTPI, Duncan Forrester, reflected in the mid-1990s on the purpose of the Centre: 'Theology and the problems of the world have tended to drift apart, as theology has sometimes seen the academic world as a refuge from relevance. Nor is it any longer possible to expect a magisterial theology which descends from above to interpret and resolve the world's problems, more or less on its own. We clearly need to develop a theology which is neither deductive nor inductive, but which grows out of a dialectic between the tradition and the praxis of those who are involved in endeavoring to transform the situation.' CTPI was intended to foster such dialectical theological research. Forrester goes on to describe CTPI's working method as a three-step process: # Engage the experience of those affected by a public issue. Here an emphasis is placed on hearing the testimonies of the most vulnerable. #Gather the best available social scientific analysis of the issue. #Reflect theologically on the experiential and social scientific findings. Produce a cogent theological response that empowers Christian advocates and policy makers. Forrester stepped down from the Centre in 2000, handing over his directorship to Will Storrar. Storrar is now the Director of the Centre of Theological Inquiry, in Princeton. Whilst at Edinburgh, he founded the Global Network for Public Theology, which connects academic research centres in public theology from around the world. Subsequent directors includ
Cecelia Clegg
an
Jolyon Mitchell
Since its founding, CTPI research has resulted in a number of conferences and publications. Topics have included poverty and welfare, justice and the penal system, peace and international security, suicide and public health, finance and ethics, national identity, and devolution and citizenship.

Recent Activities

Peacebuilding through Media Arts

CTPI is currently launching a three-year research project on Peacebuilding through Media Arts. In addition to producing scholarly research on the relationship between peace, violence and religion in media arts, the major aim of the project is to increase public awareness of peacebuilding through arts events, workshops, lectures and seminars. The project is funded by the Binks Trust, and begins in 2011 with an art exhibition
Shadows of the Divine
The exhibition, which runs from 14 May-11 June, showcases select pieces fro
the Methodist Art Collection
alongside works from Scottish and Scotland-based artists. These original artworks are displayed with one of Scotland's rare first editions of the 1611

King James Version The King James Version (KJV), also the King James Bible (KJB) and the Authorized Version, is an Bible translations into English, English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, which was commissioned in 1604 and publis ...

of the Bible, combining historic words and artistic images in the 400th anniversary year of its publication. According to the exhibition organizers, King James sought to bring together conflicting religious groups through a new translation of the Bible. The exhibition aims to explore how pictorial and literary creations can represent and contribute to the search for peace.

Religion and Ethics in the Making of War and Peace

The project o
Religion and Ethics in the Making of War and Peace
(Relwar) studies the relationships between military, political and religious dimensions of the making of war and peace today and in the past. Under the direction o
Dr George R Wilkes
the project brings together a network of partners from across the world, both within academia and from militaries and humanitarian and peacebuilding organisations. Relwar researchers are involved in academic research, dialogues, and consultations on a number of topics, including military ethics education; grassroots post-conflict reconciliation, with a special focus on the

former Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yu ...

; public discussion of ethical debates over war and peace; cross-conflict

interreligious dialogue Interfaith dialogue refers to cooperative, constructive, and positive interaction between people of different religious traditions (i.e. "faiths") and/or spiritual or humanistic beliefs, at both the individual and institutional levels. It is ...

; and the lessons of past wars for present conflicts. In 2010 Dr Wilkes moved Relwar from

the University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

to Edinburgh University, where it is housed in CTPI in association with th
Just World Institute
and other University research centres. CTPI leadership is closely involved in supporting the project.

Theology in the Public Square

Theology in the Public Square was a two-year research project aimed at resourcing Scottish churches for public engagement. It was led by Rev. Dr Graham K. Blount and funded by the Binks Trust. The project duration was from the autumn of 2008 until the summer of 2010. The project had two main goals: #To review and reflect upon the perspectives and strategies of Christian engagement in Scottish public debate since devolution. #To identify, in consultation with the churches, policy areas where there is need for theological resourcing and to develop—in partnership with churches and others—theological perspectives on these issues. Twenty-five church representatives gathered in April 2009 to discuss a starter paper on the project. In 2010 three conferences were held addressing different aspects of Scottish public life. The first, Building Home, Building Hope, addressed the theology of the home. It was put on by CTPI in partnership with Scottish Churches Housing Action, the Salvation Army and Bethany Christian Trust. The proceedings from the conference are available on CTPI's blog
link
. The second, Families Today: Where Are We Now?, gathered practitioners, policy makers and academics to discuss issues facing Scottish families in the twenty-first century. The third event was the

Henry Duncan Henry Duncan may refer to: * Henry Duncan (minister) (1774–1846), Scottish minister, geologist and social reformer; founder of the savings bank movement * Henry Duncan (naval officer, born 1735) (1735–1814), Naval captain and Deputy Comptroller ...

Bicentenary Conference. Duncan, a Scottish minister, was an early initiator of the savings bank movement in Britain. The bicentenary event celebrated his legacy in the context of contemporary efforts to extend banking to the poor. The proceedings from this conference are also on CTPI's blog
link
.

Other Recent Events

CTPI regularly sponsors lecture series and colloquiums on topics of public concern. During the 2011 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, CTPI co-sponsore
Murray Watts's
one man pla
''Mr. Darwin's Tree''
In autumn 2010 and winter 2011, CTPI joined the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

and

Christian Aid Christian Aid is the relief and development agency of 41 Christian (Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox) churches in the UK and Ireland, and works to support sustainable development, eradicate poverty, support civil society and provide disaster ...

in sponsoring a series of lectures on the

Millennium Development Goals The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were eight international development goals for the year 2015 that had been established following the Millennium Summit of the United Nations in 2000, following the adoption of the United Nations Millenniu ...

. From December 2009 to January 2010 CTPI co-sponsored a series of six lectures on the influence of John Calvin and the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

Leadership

The current director of CTPI i
Prof Jolyon Mitchell
Prof Mitchell's research is in the areas of communications, arts, ethics and religion, with a special interest in violence and peacebuilding. Associate directors include Drs

Alison Elliot Alison Elliot CBE FRSE (born 27 November 1948) is an honorary fellow at New College, Edinburgh. She was the former Associate Director of the Centre for Theology and Public Issues at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. In 2004 she became the ...

, Alison Jack, Joshua Ralston and Geoffrey Stevenson, and Profs

Oliver O'Donovan Oliver Michael Timothy O'Donovan (born 28 June 1945) is a British Anglican priest and academic, known for his work in the field of Christian ethics. He has also made contributions to political theology, both contemporary and historical. He w ...

, and David Fergusson.

Publications

Books

Public Concerns Series

In 2003 CTPI began a partnership with Saint Andrews Press to publish a new book series entitled Public Concerns. Will Storrar and

are the series editors. The first book in the series was ''God in Society: Doing Social Theology in Scotland Today'', edited by Will Storrar and Peter Donald (2003). ''God in Society'' features essays written by the members of the Centre's Theological Panel as the outcome of a CTPI research project on how different Scottish theological traditions and churches—Reformed, Catholic, Evangelical, Feminist and Ecumenical—relate the Gospel to public issues in Scotland, especially in the new political context of devolution. In 2004 two books were published in the series. The first was ''Honouring Children: The Human Rights of the Child in Christian Perspective'', by child lawyer Kathleen Marshall and New College theologian Paul Parvis. That book was accompanied by a study guide for churches, subtitled ''Rights in Christian and Family Life''. The second Public Concerns book that year was ''Netting Citizens: Exploring Citizenship in the Internet Age'', edited by Johnston R. McKay. ''Netting Citizens'' brings together papers from a 2002 Edinburgh conference on the same theme.

and Heidi Poon edited a diverse collection of essays for the 2009 publication ''Growing Citizens: An Interdisciplinary Reflection on Citizen Education''. In this book educationalists, philosophers, theologians, scientists, community leaders and political scientists explore various facets of contemporary citizenship.

Other Recent Books

In 2002 a colloquium on the future of public theology was held in Edinburgh. Will Storrar and Andrew Morton edited together a number of the papers presented there into the volume ''Public Theology for the 21st Century'' (London: T&T Clark, 2004). José Miguez-Bonino,

John de Gruchy John W. de Gruchy (born 18 March 1939) is a Christian theologian known for his work resisting apartheid. He is presently Emeritus Professor at the University of Cape Town and Extraordinary Professor at the University of Stellenbosch. Biography ...

Stanley Hauerwas Stanley Martin Hauerwas (born July 24, 1940) is an American theologian, ethicist, and public intellectual. Hauerwas was a longtime professor at Duke University, serving as the Gilbert T. Rowe Professor of Theological Ethics at Duke Divinity Schoo ...

, Ann Loades,

Jürgen Moltmann Jürgen Moltmann (born 8 April 1926) is a German Reformed theologian who is Professor Emeritus of Systematic Theology at the University of Tübingen and is known for his books such as the ''Theology of Hope'', ''The Crucified God'', ''God in Creat ...

, and

Max Stackhouse Max Lynn Stackhouse (July 29, 1935 – January 30, 2016) was the ''Rimmer and Ruth de Vries Professor of Reformed Theology and Public Life Emeritus'' at Princeton Theological Seminary. He was ordained in the United Church of Christ and was the pr ...

are among the contributors. In 2008 CTPI published a collection of essays written in celebration of Alison Elliot's sixtieth birthday, ''Christian Faith and the Welfare of the City: Essays for Alison Elliot''. The wide range of subjects includes women in the church, contemporary ecumenism, the

National Conversation The National Conversation was the name given to the Scottish Government's public consultation exercise regarding possible future changes in the power of the devolved Scottish Parliament and the possibility of Scottish independence, a policy obj ...

on Scotland's future, the concept of human dignity, farming and sustainability, and prisons and prisoners.

Full Book List

The following is a complete list of books published by CTPI: * ''Christianity and the Future of Welfare'',

, Epworth, 1985. * ''The Scottish Churches and the Political Process Today'',

and

(eds.), 1987.
Google Books
* ''Discerning Images: The Media and Theological Education'', Derek Weber, 1991.
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* ''The End of Punishment: Christian Perspectives on the Crisis in Criminal Justice'', Chris Wood, 1991. * ''Opportunities and Limitations in Religious Broadcasting'', Peter Elvy, 1991.
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* ''Capital: A Moral Instrument? Members of Working Group on Finance and Ethics'', 1992. * ''Voices in the Andes: The Churches Use of Radio in Ecuador'', Alice May Mitchell, 1993.
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* ''Beyond Fear: Vision, Hope & Generosity'', Andrew R. Morton (ed.), Saint Andrew Press, 1998. * ''God in Society: Doing Social Theology in Scotland Today'',

William Storrar William F. Storrar is a Scottish Christian theologian who is the Director of Center of Theological Inquiry, known for his contribution on public theology. Biography He obtained his Doctor of Philosophy degree in practical theology at New College, ...

and Peter Donald (eds.), Saint Andrew Press, 2003. * ''Public Theology for the 21st Century: Essays in Honour of Duncan Forrester'',

and Andrew R. Morton, (eds.), T&T Clark International, 2004. * ''Honouring Children: The Human Rights of the Child'', Kathleen Marshall and Paul Parvis, Saint Andrew Press, 2004. * ''Netting Citizens: Exploring Citizenship in the Internet Age'', Johnston R. McKay (ed.), Saint Andrew Press, 2004. * ''Christian Faith and the Welfare of the City: Essays for Alison Elliot'', 2008.
Google Books
* ''Growing Citizens: An Interdisciplinary Reflection on Citizen Education'',

and Heidi Poon (eds.), Saint Andrews Press, 2009.

Discussion Papers

CTPI has published a number of discussion papers by leading scholars. The papers were made available by CTPI at a small price, between £0.50 and £2.00. * ''The Virtues of the Progressive Educator'',

Paulo Freire Paulo Reglus Neves Freire (19 September 1921 – 2 May 1997) was a Brazilian educator and philosopher who was a leading advocate of critical pedagogy. His influential work '' Pedagogy of the Oppressed'' is generally considered one of the found ...

, 1988.
Google Books
* ''The Radical Anglo-Catholic Social Vision'',

Kenneth Leech Kenneth Leech (15 June 1939 – 12 September 2015), also known as Ken Leech, was an English Anglican priest and Christian socialist in the Anglo-Catholic tradition. Life and career Leech was born into a secular working-class family in Ashton-und ...

, 1989.
Google Books
* ''Encountering Illness'',

Michael Ignatieff Michael Grant Ignatieff (; born May 12, 1947) is a Canadian author, academic and former politician who served as the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada and Leader of the Official Opposition from 2008 until 2011. Known for his work as a histo ...

, 1989.
Google Books
* ''A Rationale for Religious Communication'', Chris Arthur, 1988.
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* ''The Good Society Today'', David Jenkins, 1994.
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* ''Cool Dads: What Do Children Need?'', Cynthia Milligan and Alan Dowie, 2000.
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* ''An Apt and Cheerful Conversation on Marriage'',

John Witte John August Witte (January 29, 1933 – March 17, 1993) was an American football tackle who played one season with the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League. He was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams in the ninth round of the 195 ...

, 2000.
Google Books
* ''Building a Citizens Welfare State'', Ruth Lister, 2001.
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* ''Out of the Shadows: Christianity and Violence against Women in Scotland'', Lesley Orr Macdonald, 2001.
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* ''The End of Equality? A Strange Silence in Public Debate'',

, with responses from

Christopher Rowland Christopher John Salter Rowland (26 September 1929 – 5 November 1967) was a British politician. He was rated one of the more effective of the Labour Party's 1964 intake to Parliament, but died at the age of 38. Student life Rowland went to ...

, Rev. Kathy Galloway and Church Action on Poverty, 2002.
Google Books

Occasional Papers

Between 1984 and 2003, CTPI published nearly fifty occasional papers. These were substantive collections of scholarly essays on a variety of topics, many of which are available in their entirety online: # Does he know how frightening he is in his strangeness?' A Study of Attitudes towards Dementing People'', Hugh M. D. Petszch, 1984.
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# ''Family, School and Church in Religious Education'', Leslie J. Francis et al., 1984.
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# ''Welfare State or Welfare Society?'', Robin Downie et al., 1985.
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# ''From Captivity to Liberation: Some Theological and Pastoral Perspectives on Chronic Renal Failure'', Gillian M Morton, 1985.
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# ''The New Right and Christian Values'', Lord Harris et al., 1985.
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# ''The End of Professionalism?'', William F. May et al., 1985.
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# ''Poverty Today'', Peter Townsend et al., 1986.
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# ''Faith in the Scottish City'', Richard O'Brien et al., 1986.
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# ''Education and Community'', Ruth Jonathan et al., 1986.
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# ''Law and Order: Prospects for the Future'', Malcolm Rifkind et al., 1986.
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# ''Finance and Ethics'', Ronald Preston et al., 1987.
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# ''The Scottish Churches and the Political Process Today'', eds.,

and

, 1986.
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# ''Northern Ireland: A Challenge to Theology'', Enda McDonagh et al., 1987.
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# ''Inequalities in Health in the 1980s'', ed.,

, 1988.
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# ''Distribution of Wealth and Income: Patterns and Trends'', Fred Twine, 1988.
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# ''The Economics of the Distribution of Income and Wealth'', John Sleeman, 1988.
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# ''Dependency: Dependence, Independence, Inter-dependence in Culture and Society'', ed., Chris Clark, 1988.
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# ''The Renewal of Social Vision'', eds, Alison J. Elliot and Ian Swanson, 1989.
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# ''Justice, Guilt and Forgiveness in the Penal System'', ed., David Garland, 1990.
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# ''The Market and Health Care'', David Jenkins et al., 1990.
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# ''Christianity and Social Vision: Looking to the Future of Scotland'', Duncan Forrester et al., 1990.
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# ''Justice and the Market'', Gordon A. Hughes et al., 1990.
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# ''Third World Debt – First World Responsibility'', David Knox et al., 1991.
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# ''Vision and Prophecy: The Tasks of Social Theology Today'', ed., Michael S. Northcott, 1991.
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# ''The Future of Broadcasting in Britain'', Brian Marjoribanks et al., 1991.
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# ''Peacemaking and Security in the 1990s'', Hugh Beach et al., 1991.
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# ''The Animal Kingdom and the Kingdom of God'', Ruth Page et al., 1991.
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# ''Penal Policy: The Way Forward'', Rod Morgan et al., 1991.
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# ''Seeing Scotland, Seeing Christ'', David McCrone et al., 1993.
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# ''AIDS, Sex and the Scottish Churches'', ed., Michael S. Northcott, 1993.
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# ''Care, Community and State'', ed., Sandy Wynd, 1994.
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# ''God's Will in a Time of Crisis: A Colloquium Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the Baillie Commission'', ed., Andrew R. Morton, 1994.
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# ''After Socialism? The Future of Radical Christianity'', ed., Andrew R Morton, 1994.
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# ''Christian Responsibility and the New Europe'', ed., Andrew R Morton, 1994.
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# ''Justice and Prosperity: A Realistic Vision? A Response to the Report of the Commission on Social Justice'', ed., Andrew R Morton, 1995.
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# ''Domestic Debt: Disease of Consumer Society?'', ed., Andrew R Morton, 1996.
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# ''Security, Solidarity and Peacemaking'', ed., Andrew R. Morton, 1996.
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# ''Work, Worth and Community: Responding to the Crisis of Work'', eds, John Hughes and Andrew Morton, 1996.
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# ''The State of Imprisonment'', ed., Andrew R Morton, 1997.
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# ''Catholicism and the Future of Scotland'', eds, Gerard Hand and Andrew Morton, 1997.
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# ''When Maize and Tobacco Are Not Enough: A Church Study of Malawi's Agro-Economy'', ed., Peggy Owens, 1997.
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# ''The Future of Welfare'', ed., Andrew R. Morton, 1997.
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# ''What do children need from their fathers? '', Cynthia Milligan and Alan Dowie, 1998.
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# ''A Turning Point in Ireland and Scotland? A Challenge to the Churches and Theology Today'', ed., Andrew Morton, 1998.
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# ''A Europe of Neighbours? Religious Social Thought and the Reshaping of a Pluralist Europe'', eds, Andrew Morton and Jim Francis, 1999.
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# ''The Sorrows of Young Men: Exploring their Increasing Risk of Suicide'', eds, Andrew Morton and Jim Francis, 2000.
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# ''Couples in Transition: Integrity and Brokenness'', ed., Andrew R. Morton, 2000.
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# ''High Ideals & Sobering Realities: Public Lectures on Public Issues'', Jim Wallace et al., 2003.
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References

External links

Centre for Theology and Public Issues

School of Divinity, the University of Edinburgh

Global Network for Public Theology
{{New College, Edinburgh Research institutes established in 1984 University of Edinburgh