Playing God: The Gift and Risk of Human Power

(Fall 2015)

Christians, and perhaps all people, have an ambiguous perspective on power. Many have bought into Lord Acton’s dictum that power corrupts and are therefore wary of claiming any power at all, fearful of falling into the temptation to abuse or misuse power. At the same time many of us are aware that the very fact of our privileged, secure and educated lives, gives us a tremendous amount of power. How should we think about power? Must power always corrupt? What can safeguard its proper uses? Andy Crouch has thought long and hard about such things and he has learned much from his conversations with others in various parts of the world.  His recent book, Playing God: Redeeming the Gift of Power is an astute reflection on the dynamic between power and vulnerability. We are very pleased to welcome Andy Crouch as our keynote speaker at this fall’s Interdisciplinary Studies conference where he will lead us in conversation about these ideas. Andy is a gifted speaker and musician, executive editor of Christianity Today and a senior fellow of International Justice Mission.