Lancaster Theological Seminary professor Lee Barrett will deliver two lectures about anxiety as part of Wilson College's Orr Forum on Monday, Nov. 6. The talks, which will be held at noon and 4:30 p.m. in the college library, are free and open to the public.
 
Talk 1 - Noon  
Is Anxiety the Root of All Our Ills?
Christianity and other world religions have often identified the root of all human evil, with such vices as lust, selfishness, worldliness or pride. The Danish philosopher/theologian Soren Kierkegaard proposed another possibility: perhaps all human evil is the fruit of an unresolved anxiety. Barrett will explore what Kierkegaard meant by this seemingly odd claim and why this diagnosis may be plausible.
 
Talk 2 - 4:30 p.m.
Anxiety and the Travail of Contemporary Culture
Modern theology has often identified anxiety as the ultimate source of social injustice, hurtful interpersonal behavior and individual despair. We will test out this thesis and consider the ways in which a host of cultural woes may be explained in terms of the inability to deal in constructive ways with the phenomenon of anxiety.  
 
The second lecture will be followed by a reception.
 
Barrett is the Henry and Mary Staeger Professor of Theology at Lancaster Theological Seminary, where he has taught for 24 years. His most recent books include Kierkegaard: Foundations of Theology and Eros and Self-Emptying: The Intersections of Augustine and Kierkegaard. Barrett has received all of his degrees, including a doctorate, from Yale University. When he is not writing about Kierkegaard, he frolics with his three Shih-Tzu puppies.