Walter Wyman
Dr. Walter E. Wyman, Jr., Ph.D. University of Chicago (1980), Professor of Religion and Weyerhaeuser Professor of Biblical Literatures.
All of my courses explore modern western religious thought, with an emphasis on the Christian tradition. By "modern" I mean the period since the Enlightenment. Religion 228 (Modern Western Religious Thought I: Crisis and Renewal) and Religion 229 (Modern Western Religious Thought II: The 20th Centuries) survey representative thinkers and themes. Religion 227 treats 20th century Christian ethics. Religion 350 (The Problem of God) and Religion 358 (Feminist and Liberation Theologies) are devoted to special problems of contemporary interest. Religion 202 is an exploration of the New Testament in light of 20th century historical critical scholarship.
My main research interest is German Protestant Liberal Theology, with special attention to the thought of Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768-1834) and Ernst Troeltsch (1865-1923). What interests me about both figures is the way in which they explored the implications of modernity for the meaning of a religious tradition whose roots are in the ancient world. I am presently working on a book on Friedrich Schleiermacher's systematic theology, The Christian Faith.