Religious Freedom and Human Flourishing
IFWE SELECTS OS GUINNESS TO JOIN TEMPLETON PROJECT ON RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
The Institute for Faith, Work & Economics (IFWE) is pleased to announce that Os Guinness has been selected to join the “Moral Foundations of Freedom and Human Flourishing” book project, an IFWE initiative that is funded in part by the John Templeton Foundation. As one of thirteen contributing scholars, Guinness will provide an introductory chapter to a book that will explore the biblical roots and history of religious freedom and how Christians can become more engaged in preserving it, not just for Christians but for people of all faiths. The book will also explore the relationship between religious freedom, economic freedom, and political freedom. It is scheduled for release in the fall of 2019 by Abilene Christian University Press.
Os Guinness is an author, lecturer, journalist and social critic. Great-great-great grandson of Arthur Guinness, the Dublin brewer, he was born in China in World War Two where his parents were medical missionaries. Present during the climax of the Chinese revolution in 1949, Os witnessed over 5 million people dying or being killed, including his two brothers. He and his parents were expelled with many other foreigners in 1951 and returned to Europe where he was educated in England. For many years after his experience in China, Os struggled and searched for answers for what happened to his family and others, examining many other religions and belief systems before returning to his Christian roots.
Os has written or edited more than thirty books, including, Last Call for Liberty, The Call, Time for Truth, Long Journey Home, Unspeakable, A Free People’s Suicide, The Global Public Square, and Renaissance. Before moving to the United States, Os was a freelance reporter with the BBC. Os is a former visiting fellow at the Brookings Institute and is currently a senior fellow at the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics in Oxford, England.
Guinness’s contribution to the IFWE book on religious freedom will target the next generation through Christian colleges and universities, as well as current thought leaders and policy makers.
IFWE executive director Hugh Whelchel indicated that more educational material and marketing will be needed to help the IFWE project reach a larger audience of Christians in schools, churches, and in the marketplace. “Please keep this religious freedom project in prayer and consider joining us in this effort financially. Our prayer is that Christians would grasp the biblical roots of religious freedom and see how religious freedom is a prerequisite for human flourishing; where it doesn’t exist or is threatened, economic and political progress and freedoms have difficulty taking root.”
Please prayerfully consider making an end-of-year contribution toward the work of IFWE and this religious freedom project today.