Weddle returns to speak at Cornell

David Weddle, a former longtime Cornell College religion professor who is now retired from the faculty at Colorado College, will speak on “Christianity Without The Cross: A Critique of Religious Sacrifice” at 11 a.m. Thursday, Feb. 22, in Hedges Conference Room, the Thomas Commons.

Weddle recently published his third book, “Sacrifice in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam” (NYU Press, 2017). A description of his talk considers the question, what would religion be without sacrifice? Weddle will discuss how religions that honor Abraham still regard offering his son to God with deep ambivalence and interpret his act in ways that soften its moral offense. He will also talk about how Christianity understands Abraham’s near-sacrifice as foreshadowing the crucifixion of Christ and how Christian tradition early settled on sacrifice as the meaning of the cross—and ask if that decision was necessary and if Christianity could give up its theology of redemptive violence.

Signed copies of Weddle’s book will be available at the Cornell Bookstore.

Weddle is professor emeritus of religion at Colorado College, where he taught courses in comparative religion, ethics, philosophy of religion, and served as chair of the department. He is the author of numerous scholarly articles and three books. He taught at Cornell College for 27 years from 1973–2000. Weddle and his wife, Sharon, live in Woodland Park, Colorado.

This event is co-sponsored by the Humanities and Arts Interest Group (HAIG) and Spiritual Life Office.