Emory University News Release

Release date: Oct. 16, 2002
Contact: Elaine Justice, Associate Director, University Media Relations,
at 404-727-0643 or ejustic@emory.edu

Judge Noonan to Lecture on Moral Teachings of Jesus

John T. Noonan, justice emeritus of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and an influential religious writer and thinker, will deliver a series of lectures on "Jesus and the Masters of Morality" as the 2002 McDonald Distinguished Visiting Professor for the Study of Jesus and Culture at Emory University.

Noonan, who also is Robbins Professor of Law Emeritus at the University of California-Berkeley and current holder of the Maguire Chair in Ethics at the Kluge Center of the Library of Congress, will explore how the teachings of Jesus on issues such as marriage, divorce, slavery and banking were received and understood by different cultures.

The lecture schedule is as follows:

• 7:30 p.m., Monday, Oct. 28 —"Jesus and the Judges" (reception to follow);

• 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 29 —"Jesus and the Bankers;"

• 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 30 —"Jesus and the Adulterous Woman;" and

• 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 31 —"Jesus and the Slave Girl" (reception to follow).

The lectures are free and open to the public and will be held each night in the Agnor Room of Gambrell Hall, Emory Law School, 1301 Clifton Road.

A Roman Catholic, Noonan testified at the Pontifical Commission on Birth Control in 1965, and continues his interdisciplinary work of demonstrating the complex relationships between law and religion. He is the author of a dozen books, including this year’s "Narrowing the Nation’s Power: The Supreme Court Sides with the States." Among his other publications are "Bribes" in 1987 and "The Lustre of Our Country: The American Experience of Religious Freedom" in 1998.

The McDonald Chair is a distinguished visiting professorship at Emory devoted to the person and teachings of Jesus and their cultural impact. The focus of the chair is the appreciation of the ways in which Jesus has affected culture, and the ways in which culture has helped shape the figure of Jesus.

Interdisciplinary in character, the professorship allows scholars to approach the subject from a variety of perspectives. The constants in the professorship are its focus on the figure of Jesus and its involvement both with the faculty and students of Emory and the Atlanta community through public lectures and performances.

The McDonald Chair was established with funds from The McDonald Agape Foundation, a private charitable foundation established by Alonzo McDonald, long-time member of the Emory board of trustees.

The foundation is dedicated to the encouragement and support of non-denominational, Christ-centered activities and programs that can influence the thinking of future leaders.

Parking is available in Lowergate South Parking Deck, 1717 Lowergate Dr., off Gambrell Drive, Emory. For more information, call 404-727-6322.