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The Alonzo L. McDonald Lecture Materials

The Alonzo L. McDonald Family Chair on the Life and Teachings of Jesus and Their Impact on Culture is supported by gifts from the McDonald Agape Foundation, chaired by Alonzo L. McDonald. The McDonald Agape Foundation "supports lectures and other public presentations that deal creatively and imaginatively with the person and teachings of Jesus as they shape and form culture."

The Pitts Theology Library Archives holds and makes available a variety of materials from these lectures. A complete listing of the archival holdings is available in this online finding aid.

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Series 1: Jaroslav Pelikan, 2001 McDonald Lectures on Christ and Culture

Distinguished historian Jaroslav Pelikan delivered five lectures on "The Russian Christ." Pelikan has served as the Sterling Professor Emeritus of History at Yale University and the Distinguished Visiting Professor of Ancient Rhetoric in the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. He was also appointed a senior distinguished visiting scholar at the Library of Congress. Pelikan's groundbreaking book Jesus Through the Centuries quite literally served as the blueprint guiding the design of the McDonald Chair.

Pitts Theology Library has a VHS cassette copy of each lecture available for check-out. Additionally, a CD-ROM disc with video in .mov format is available for Lecture 5.

Series 2: John T. Noonan, 2002 McDonald Chair for the Study of Jesus and Culture

The Honorable John T. Noonan gave four lectures on Jesus and the Masters of Morality in his role as the 2002 McDonald Chair for the Study of Jesus and Culture.

John T. Noonan received his MA and PhD from the Catholic University of America and his LLB from Harvard Law School. He has been an visiting professor at Southern Methodist, Stanford, UCLA, Harvard, and Notre Dame universities. He has received 7 honorary Doctor of Law degrees from various universities including the University of Notre Dame. He engaged in private practice at Herrick & Smith in Boston, MA, and has held a number of government positions including that of special member of the Presidential Commission on Population, and consultant to the National Endowment For The Humanities. He was appointed to The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in 1985 by President Ronald Reagan.

Noonan is Robbins Professor of Law Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley, and the author of a dozen books, including, Bribes (1987), The Lustre of Our Country: The American Experience of Religious Freedom (1998), and Narrowing the Nation's Power: The Supreme Court Sides with the States (2002).

Pitts Theology Library has a VHS cassette copy of each lecture available for check-out.

Series 3: Alice Parker, 2003 McDonald Chair in the Study of Jesus and Culture

Acclaimed composer, conductor and teacher Alice Parker served as the 2003 McDonald Chair in the Study of Jesus and Culture. Parker was educated at Smith and the Juilliard School, and she was a long-time collaborator with Robert Shaw. She is the founder and director of Melodious Accord, a 16 voice professional choir. A composer whose works span all choral forms, from opera to cantata, from sacred anthems to settings of contemporary poets, she has been commissioned by such well-known groups as Chanticleer, the Vancouver Chamber Singers, and the Atlanta Symphony. Parker directed the Candler Choraliers in an evening concert, held 3 break-out sessions, and led an outdoor sing-a-long for musicians and non-musicians alike.

Pitts Theology Library has VHS cassettes and audio cassettes from each session available for check-out.

Series 4: Wayne A. Meeks, 2004 McDonald Visiting Distinguished Professor in the Study of the Person and Teachings of Jesus

Well-known biblical scholar Wayne A. Meeks gave five lectures on "Christ is the Question." "In the age of bumper sticker religion, Jesus is all too familiar, yet still he comes to us, as Albert Schweitzer said, as one unknown," says Meeks, Woolsey Professor of Biblical Studies Emeritus at Yale University. Meeks' lectures encompass such controversial contemporary Christian issues as the quest for the historical Jesus, conflicting biblical interpretations, Christian evangelism and the the identity of the early Christian movement.

Pitts Theology Library has a DVD copy of each lecture available for check-out.

Series 5: John Witte, Jr., 2005-06 McDonald Distinguished Visiting Professor

John Witte Jr., Jonas Robitscher Professor of Law at Emory University School of Law, served as the 2005-06 McDonald Distinguished Visiting Professor. The chair appointment adds to Witte's long list of achievements. An expert on the history of marriage law, legal history, and religious liberty, Witte has published 21 books and 150 articles, and delivered more than 200 major public lectures at universities throughout North America, Europe, Israel, Japan, and South Africa. He has been selected nine times by Emory law students as Most Outstanding Professor, and received a score of other awards for his research and teaching. He founded the Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Religion (CISR) in 2000 with a $3.2 million grant from The Pew Charitable Trusts. The CISR, which merged with Emory's Law and Religion Program in the fall of 2005 to become the Center for the Study of Law and Religion (CSLR), has drawn hundreds of major scholars as project leaders, participants and lecturers, including former President Jimmy Carter, Archbishop Desmond M. Tutu, Judge John T. Noonan, Jr., and Professor Martin E. Marty.

Pitts Theology Library has a DVD copy of each lecture available for check-out.

Series 6: Herbert Kessler, 2007 Alonzo L. McDonald Family Chair on the Life and Teachings of Jesus and Their Impact on Culture

Dr. Herbert Kessler, of Johns Hopkins University, one of the world's most distinguished and prolific scholars of medieval art delivered three public lectures as 2007 Chair