The Rev. Dr. Daniel M. Bell, Jr.
Associate Professor of Theological Ethics and
Director of Methodist Studies
One of the wonderful things about my position in “theological ethics” is that my teaching responsibilities and interests are allowed (indeed, encouraged) to trample the artificial boundaries designated by “theology” and “ethics.” This is, of course, as it should be, insofar as the great twentieth century theologian Karl Barth had it right when he said that what generally passes for ethics coincides exactly with sin and that what we should be about when we speak of ethics is nothing other than the confirmation of the truth of the grace of God as it is addressed to humanity.
Lifting up what God is doing to/for/in us in Christ through the Spirit is the focus of my teaching, whether that be the basic course in Christian ethics, courses on seminal figures of the tradition like Augustine, Aquinas and Barth, or courses engaging such pressing contemporary issues as theology and economy or race and reconciliation. This is to say, my passion is exploring how Christian confessions/the gospel are gracefully made visible/incarnate through their social and political embodiment in the world for the sake of the world.
 This exploration of the ways the church embodies the gospel in the world takes shape beyond the classroom in several ways. My research and writing energies are currently centered on how Christian practices of forgiveness and justice engage contemporary political economy (see, for example, my book Liberation Theology After the End of History in the Radical Orthodoxy series published by Routledge, 2001). Beyond the realm of the academy, I am involved with seminarians in a variety of works of mercy, from prison ministry, to Habitat for Humanity, to volunteering at local homeless shelters.
As an ordained Elder in The United Methodist Church, I am also active preaching and teaching in the local church as it seeks to live out the gospel and offer Christ in the midst of a terminally bored culture.
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In January , 2009 – Professor Bell will lead a group to Honduras. Experience a week of living, working, and worshiping with the inhabitants of a remote Honduran village.
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B.A., Stetson University;
M.Div., Ph.D., Duke University
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