Why might Christians affirm free speech and what, if any, might be its proper limits, in the academy and society generally? Christians are committed to using free speech for ‘the common good’ – to enrich our academic environments and disciplines, and to promote the flourishing of wider society. Yet while we seek to be those displaying humility and expressing civility, we will at times find ourselves bound to confront certain views, including problematic views of free speech itself, in ways that some may find challenging, even offensive. How can we intelligently and faithfully negotiate these challenges?
On Saturday, 4 November at 0930 UTC, Dr Jonathan Chaplin, Honorary Fellow at Wesley House, Cambridge and a member of the Faculty of Divinity, will propose a Christian account of academic pluralism that strongly affirms the pursuit of truth as the overriding purpose of the university, while equally defending broad institutional space for a boisterous and challenging array of divergent basic standpoints, and commending an ethos of academic civility to frame all discussions.
In preparation for the webinar, consider reading the introduction to his Faith in Democracy, which serves as the basis for his presentation. The ideas therein, while addressed to the political community, will be applied to the different institutional setting of the university.
