Challenging Modern Perceptions: Dr. Grace Hamman Speaks at Veritas Lecture Series

This fall, the Institute for Global Engagement (IGE) and the C.S. Lewis Institute Dallas welcomed Dr. Grace Hamman, author of Ask of Old Paths, for the latest Veritas Lecture Series held at Dallas Baptist University.

The IGE serves as a means for moral and spiritual renewal in our culture, providing opportunities to discuss how we, as Christians, can faithfully engage with cultural issues through a Christian worldview. This year, the IGE partnered with C.S. Lewis Institute Dallas, whose purpose is to develop disciples of Jesus who will live out their faith effectively in their lives.

Guest speaker Dr. Grace Hamman, author and independent scholar of late medieval poetry and writing, shared insights from her book, Ask of Old Paths, which explores the ancient Christian traditions of the seven capital virtues: humility, love, meekness, fortitude, mercy, abstinence, and chastity and their corresponding vices: pride, envy, wrath, sloth, avarice, gluttony, and lust.

Following a lecture given by Dr. Hamman, Jonathan Fechner, DBU's Chief of Staff and Executive Director of the IGE, moderated a discussion with Dr. Hamman, diving deeper into the ideas she presented.

Exploring the topic of virtues, Dr. Hamman explained how they are not something to achieve, but rather formed over time through spiritual formation, habits, community, and education. These interactions create possibilities for growth in learning how to act and respond to differing views. "Those are the opportunities for you to practice or not practice the virtues and the vices," Dr. Hamman said.

As Dr. Hamman connected the development of virtues to sanctification, she highlighted how Christ saved us from sin while simultaneously inviting us to participate in becoming more Christlike, showing how people cannot cultivate virtues on their own just like they cannot be saved on their own.

Throughout the evening, Dr. Hamman addressed modern views of virtues and vices, including wrath versus anger and meekness as strength.

Dr. Hamman described how anger is defined by Augustine and other theologians as a morally neutral passion that can become a virtue or the vice of wrath, depending entirely on how one acts upon their anger.

Leading into the virtue of meekness, Dr. Hamman compared the modern perception of the word as a symbol of weakness or timidity to the medieval Christian understanding of meekness as strength, self-possession, and a resistance to violence.

Dr. Hamman then emphasized how Christ was the ultimate example of meekness, highlighting how Jesus maintained His commitment to truth, justice, and love without turning to violence.

As the Veritas Lecture Series aims to encourage Christians to engage in today's society in a Christlike manner, Dr. Hamman challenged the audience to interact with those who disagree or hold a different perspective with meekness, holding onto truth and love. "Virtues can open doors between very unlikely causes and unlikely friends," Dr. Hamman concluded.

To learn more about the IGE or to subscribe to upcoming events, visit the Institute for Global Engagement website at dbu.edu/IGE.