Daniel Strand

Daniel Strand

Daniel Strand is a professor who teaches courses on the just war tradition, ethics and leadership, and contemporary political ethics. He was a postdoctoral fellow at Arizona State University (2015-19) in the History Department and the Program in Political History and Leadership. Strand’s research interests include the political and moral theology of Augustine of Hippo and the Augustinian tradition, ethics and foreign policy, the just war tradition, bioethics, and moral theory. He is the author of the forthcoming Gods of the Nations (Cambridge University Press), a historical study of Augustine’s political theology in The City of God. He has published articles and book chapters on Augustine of Hippo, Hannah Arendt, and the ethics of euthanasia. He is a contributing editor at Providence. He received his BA from the University of Minnesota, MDiv from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and PhD in religion and ethics from the University of Chicago.

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Book Review Samuel Moyn Christian Human Rights
The Secret History of a Popular Idea

Samuel Moyn’s Christian Human Rights argues that human rights should not be associated exclusively with the secular liberal left and liberal politics when the Christian right was historically involved with this project.

Pope Francis Beauty Danger of Humility Islamic Terrorism
The Beauty and Danger of Humility

One can maintain the preeminence of humility in the Christian life while also rightly naming the sources of the contemporary scourge of terrorism that finds its motivation in a twisted religious fundamentalism.

Disinterestedness: Promoting the Public Interest in an Age of Faction
Disinterestedness: Promoting the Public Interest in an Age of Faction

The founders of our nation strove to embody disinterestedness. Rather than seeking personal gain in terms of economic benefit or advancement of your own faction or tribe, disinterestedness pushed citizens to seek the good of the republic and its wellbeing, thereby securing the liberty of the citizenry through participation.

Obama Doctrine Revised
Damned if you Do, Damned if you Don’t: Obama Doctrine Revised

Obama and Bush demonstrate the dangers of overly aggressive and overly passive foreign policies, but they share something in common: a deeply moral vision of America’s role in the world.

Chaos Vancouver Riots
Chaos: The Fundamental Problem of Human Society

At any and every corner of personal and social life, the primary threat to human flourishing is the disordering of the human soul and social relations into self-centered, prideful, tribal, or sentimental factions. Chaos is a cancer that manifests itself within the soul of the individual and social relations when order disintegrates.

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby Enthronement Ceremony
Three Cheers for the Archbishop of Canterbury & British Realism!

At the Church of England’s General Synod last November, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby delivered one of the most rousing calls to a truly Christian realistic approach to the civil war in Syria and the rise of Islamic radicalism in recent memory.

Roman Forum
The Origins of Government

Historically, Christians have talked about the fall of Adam in conjunction with the origins of government.

Grace of Government
The Grace of Government

Protestants have called the good of peace and justice that governments supply “common grace.” Why? First, it’s common to all people regardless of race or creed or geography. Second, and more controversial, it is a grace. Yes, it is grace!!

Great Divide Between Politics and Ethics
The Great Divide: Bridging the Divide in Politics & Ethics

Leaving aside the rightness or wrongness of any particular policy, it seems clear that there is a deep division between the worlds of policy making and the worlds of moral reflection.

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Providence's biggest event of the year takes place the final Thursday and Friday of each October, attracting close to 100 students and professors from around the country to spend two days hearing lectures and discussing the intersection of Christian ethics and foreign policy. For $300, Providence can afford to feed and house a student flying in from California, Texas, and other parts of the country for the conference. Christianity & National Security is unique; there is no other such event examining national security in light of Just War Theory and realist ethics in the Christian tradition. Please consider making a donation to allow us to continue hosting Christianity & National Security.

Christianity & National Security 2023

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