Clough, David L. 1968–

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Clough, David L. 1968–

PERSONAL:

Born June 6, 1968. Education: Cambridge University, B.A., M.A., 1989; St. Cross College, Oxford University, M.St., 1993; Yale University, Ph.D., 2000.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Department of Theology & Religious Studies, University of Chester, Parkgate Rd., Chester CH1 4BJ, England. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Academic. Methodist preacher; University of Durham, Durham, England, St. Chad's College, F.D. Maurice postdoctoral research fellow, 1999-2000, St. John's College, director of studies and tutor in ethics and systematic theology, 2000-07; University of Chester, Chester, England, senior lecturer in theology, 2007—.

MEMBER:

Society for the Study of Christian Ethics (honorary secretary).

WRITINGS:

Ethics in Crisis: Interpreting Barth's Ethics, Ashgate (Burlington, VT), 2005.

(With Brian Stiltner) Faith and Force: A Christian Debate about War, Georgetown University Press (Washington, DC), 2007.

SIDELIGHTS:

David L. Clough is an academic. Clough was born on June 6, 1968. He earned a bachelor of arts degree and a master of arts degree from Cambridge University in natural sciences and theology in 1989. In 1993, Clough earned an M.St. from St. Cross College at Oxford University. This was followed in 2000 by a Ph.D. from Yale University, where his doctoral thesis considered the ethics of the Swiss theologian Karl Barth and his early commentary on Romans and compared this with Church Dogmatics.

In the final year of completing his doctoral dissertation, Clough was an F.D. Maurice postdoctoral research fellow at St. Chad's College at the University of Durham. He worked at the University of Durham's St. John's College in Cranmer Hall as the director of studies and tutor in ethics and systematic theology from 2000 to 2007. In 2007, he became a senior lecturer in theology at the University of Chester. His research interests include the theological place of all animals, church response to poverty, ethical and theological implications of modern technological developments and the Internet, and the theological ethics of investment. Clough is a Methodist preacher, and serves as an honorary secretary for the Society for the Study of Christian Ethics.

Clough published his first book, Ethics in Crisis: Interpreting Barth's Ethics, in 2005. Drawing on research themes from his doctoral dissertation, the book examines the views of Barth on the crisis faced in Germany's twentieth century theological circles during the rise of Nazism. Clough implies that a similar crisis is faced in the twenty-first century, noting postmodern uncertainty and fundamentalist certainty.

Clough published Faith and Force: A Christian Debate about War with Brian Stiltner in 2007. Clough, a Methodist pacifist, and Stiltner, a Catholic supporter of just-war theory, contrasted their opposing views of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, sharing only their Christian faith. The two, who initially shared their views with each other over e-mail conversations, respectively thought that the war violated Christian tenets and was a viable option to remove a violent dictator from power. The resulting book mixes each viewpoint with theological arguments and scriptures.

Gary P. Gillum, writing in Library Journal, commented that "invoking ethics from both reason and revelation," the authors "provide a balanced view of all Christian aspects concerning war." Booklist contributor Bryce Christensen described the work as "a cogent analysis," adding that "the dual perspective limns the strengths and the weaknesses of the two traditions."