Einladung zum Gastvortrag

Referentin: Rev. Dr. Morwenna Ludlow

Christian parrhesia and its effects: bold speech, free speech, satire and invective.

Morwenna Ludlow ist Professorin für christliche Geschichte und Theologie an der Universität Exeter und Priesterin beim Dom Exeter. Sie interessiert sich für Gregor von Nyssa, Karl Rahner, Kunst und Theologie und die Möglichkeit des universalen Heils.

Abstract
The term parrhesia is found in several places in the New Testament and the church fathers interpret it in various ways. In this paper I am especially interested in the way in which their reflections on parrhesia relate to their self-reflection on their own modes of writing: are satire or invective, for example, justified as a form of Christian parrhesia and, if so, what might their limits be? What were their anticipated effects? Where are the boundaries between bold speech which is appropriately challenging and bold speech which is needlessly offensive? What is the relationship of these kinds of Christian bold speech to what we might call freedom of speech today? This paper will use a historical approach to these questions as a springboard for thinking about them theologically in the present-day.