Stephen H. Webb

Stephen H. Webb is a theologian and philosopher of religion.

Webb graduated from Wabash College in 1983, earned his Ph.D. at the University of Chicago, and has been teaching at Wabash College as Professor of Religion and Philosophy since 1988. Born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana, he grew up at Englewood Christian Church, an evangelical church in the Restoration Movement. He recounts his experiences there in Taking Religion to School (Brazos Press, 2000). He joined the Disciples of Christ during graduate school but soon became disenchanted with their theological direction. He was briefly a Lutheran, and spent several months considering the Roman Catholic Church. On Easter Sunday, 2007, he officially came into full communion with the Roman Catholic Church.

He is known for his scholarship and journalism on animals, vegetarianism, and diet. He co-founded the Christian Vegetarian Association (ChristianVeg.com), but was removed from his position as co-chairman in 2006 after writing several articles in which he admitted to eating meat occasionally, while promoting vegetarianism. He defends the value of animals by reaffirming traditional notions of human uniqueness and human responsibility for nature. Many animal rights arguments are influenced by a leveling of the differences between humans and animals as well as a levelling of the differences between God and the world. This vision of a non-dogmatic and non-legalistic vegetarianism linked to traditional biblical principles rather than the pantheism of the New Age movement or the abdication of human uniqueness entailed in animal rights legislation has been controversial in both theological and philosophical circles.

Most recently, Dr. Webb has turned his attention to politics, culture, and popular culture. Within this field, Webb has generated positive and negative reviews with his book "American Providence" (Continuum, 2004) in which he defends the idea that the doctrine of providence has been a crucial ingredient in American history and American identity. Providential interpretations of American national aspirations went into decline after the Vietnam War, but with President Bush's openness regarding the role of faith in his presidency, providence has returned to the public square. Webb argues that even anti-Americanism is dependent upon providential logic, because conspiracy theories about how evil America is grant America a special role in world history. He also argues that the future belongs to the triad of capitalism, democracy, and various forms of evangelical Christianity, not limited to explicitly evangelical churches (a statement concerning Catholicism's role in this mission is forthcoming).

Dr. Webb is also known for his work in what he calls theo-acoustics, or a theology of sound. He wrote a comprehensive history of Christianity and sound in "The Divine Voice: Christian Proclamation and the Theology of Sound" (Brazos Press, 2004). This book, which was named the Religious Communication Association's Book of the Year for 2005, is divided into three parts. The first part surveys the biblical tradition on the importance of the human voice as a medium of revelation in the Bible. The second part focuses on the Protestant Reformation as the revival of that tradition. The third part discusses the transformations of that tradition in contemporary culture, which is increasingly oriented toward the visual over the auditory. He also discusses the role of deafness in Christian history and various theological debates over the question of how God created the world through sound. He ends that book talking about wordless music and the decline of authenitc vocalization in rock and roll, so it was a natural progression to turn Bob Dylan in his next book, "Dylan Redeemed: From Highway 61 to Saved" (Continuum, 2006). This book, which as been written about in many Dylan blogs, is a reassessment of Bob Dylan's musical career that focuses on Dylan's mid-life conversion to Christianity.

Dr. Webb has written about C. S. Lewis in "The Chronicles of Narnia and Philosophy" (ed. by Jerry Walls, Open Court Publishing, 2005), Indiana small town basketball in "Basketball and Philosophy" (University of Kentucky Press, 2007), and eschatology and politics in "The Oxford Handbook of Eschatology" (Oxford University Press, 2008). He also wrote the commendation for John Updike for the Presentation of the Christianity and Literature Lifetime Achievement Award at the Modern Languages Association Meeting in December, 2006. His remarks, and Updike's generous response, appear in "Christianity and Literature", vol. 56, No. 3 (Spring 2007), pp. 481-485. He has given invited lectures at Aberdeen University, Calvin College, Wheaton College, Bangor, Maine, Arizona State University, Pepperdine University, Butler University, Hartford Seminary, Creighton University, Wilfrid Laurier University, Hope College, Kalamazoo College, Purdue University, Elmhurst College, and Loyola University in Baltimore.

He is currently working on a book entitled, "Christianity and Its Enemies" as well as a new book on compassion and animals. He also contributes to "First Things", "Books & Culture", "Christianity Today", and other magazines and journals.

Stephen Webb lives in Brownsburg, Indiana with his wife, Diane Timmerman, who is an Associate Professor of Theatre at Butler University, and their three children (Charis, Barek and Asher) and two Dachshunds (Max and Herbie).

Bibliography

* "Dylan Redeemed: From Highway 61 to Saved" (Continuum, 2006)
* "The Divine Voice: Christian Proclamation and the Theology of Sound" (Brazos Press, 2004)
* "American Providence: A Nation with a Mission" (Continuum, 2004)
*"Good Eating: The Bible, Diet and the Proper Love of Animals" (Grand Rapids: Brazos Press/Baker, 2001)
*"Taking Religion to School: Christian Theology and Secular Education."(Brazos Press, 2000, 253 pages with notes)
*"On God and Dogs: A Christian Theology of Compassion for Animals" (With a Foreword by Andrew Linzey) (Oxford University Press, 1998)
*"The Gifting God: A Trinitarian Ethics of Excess" (Oxford University Press, 1996)
*"Blessed Excess: Religion and the Hyperbolic Imagination" (SUNY Series in Rhetoric and Theology) (Albany: SUNY Press, 1993)
* "Refiguring Theology: The Rhetoric of Karl Barth" (SUNY, 1991)

External links

* [http://www.stephenhwebb.com Stephen H. Webb: American Theologian]
* [http://www.christianitytoday.com/bc/2005/006/13.14.html Christianity Today/Books and Culture article] In "Revenge of the Ebionites," a book review of "Holy Cow!: Does God Care About What We Eat?" by Hope Egan, Webb confesses his recent "semi-vegetarianism" (as a result, he was asked to step down as co-chairman at the request of the Christian Vegetarian Association)For an online journal publication of an essay by Dr. Webb about theology and animals, see http://www.theotherjournal.com/print.php?id=171 For two articles about liberal arts education by Dr. Webb from LiberalArtsOnline, see http://liberalarts.wabash.edu/cila/home.cfm?news_id=1449 and http://liberalarts.wabash.edu/cila/home.cfm?news_id=1446For a review of "American Providence" in the journal First Things, see http://www.firstthings.com/article.php3?id_article=145&var_recherche=Stephen+H.+WebbFor an article about Dylan, see http://www.firstthings.com/article.php3?id_article=5336For a review of "Dylan Redeemed", see http://spacemonkeylab.com/dylandaily/blog/archives/00000475.php and, for an interview of Webb on Dylan in the UK's The Guardian, see http://education.guardian.co.uk/egweekly/story/0,,2217255,00.html