Eric Patterson, Ph.D., is President & CEO of the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation in Washington, DC and scholar-at-large and past dean of the Robertson School of Government at Regent University. His expertise, informed by time at the US Department of State and in the military, is on just war thinking, the nexus of religion and national security, and Christian Realism. He is the author or editor of 22 books, including Just American Wars, Politics in a Religious World, and Ending Wars Well.
Memorial Day should remind us of a debt that we, as citizens, owe to those who paid the ultimate sacrifice, and it is a call to action to appropriately honor those who have served in the armed forces.
Eric PattersonMay 31, 2021
Although liberty movements swept the Middle East during the Arab Spring, an assessment of citizen’s rights and liberties in 2021 is disheartening. Little has changed.
Eric PattersonJanuary 25, 2021
Long after his death, Martin Luther King, Jr. continues to stir our hearts with his appeal to the nobility of every human being made in the image of God.
Eric PattersonJanuary 18, 2021
At a time when some challenge the morality and religious character of America’s first founders, the plain facts of the 1620 Mayflower Compact, a theologically informed social compact for believers and non-believers alike, remind us of the good seeds planted in our shared past.
Eric Patterson & Rebecca BlessingNovember 25, 2020
Today would be the 300th birthday of colonial pastor Jonathan Mayhew—a pastor, citizen, and prophet who articulated a rationale for self-defense by British citizens in North America.
Eric PattersonOctober 8, 2020
Rough Transcript Tooley: …to post that online along with a transcript. So, if you have to check out early don’t…
Marc LiVecche & Daniel Strand & Eric PattersonSeptember 29, 2020
Followers of Christian realism generally share these eight assumptions, which can be found in the works of Reinhold Niebuhr, John C. Bennett, Jean Bethke Elshtain, and others.
Eric PattersonSeptember 23, 2020
Mark Tooley interviews Eric Patterson about Christian Realism. He’s executive vice president of the Religious Freedom Institute and scholar-at-large with…
Eric Patterson & Mark TooleyAugust 10, 2020
Luke Goodrich’s “Free to Believe – The Battle Over Religious Liberty in America” is desperately needed because religious freedom is poorly understood and under assault across America. If it is lost here, can it thrive anywhere else?
Eric PattersonJune 15, 2020
In his interview with Mark Melton, Eric Patterson, executive vice president of the Religious Freedom Institute, speaks about religious violence,…
Eric Patterson & Mark MeltonMay 27, 2020
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.