“So what?” This simple question of purpose drives Terrence Tilley ‘76, GTU’s 2008 Alumnus of the Year and professor and chair of the department of Theology at Fordham University, to make theological inquiries meaningful. He pushes his students to ask the same “so what” query.

In The Evils of Theodicy, published in 1991, and The Disciples’ Jesus, published in 2008, Tilley attempts to account for the presence of suffering in the world. His research on suffering has been fueled by his personal encounters, some while he was a nursing orderly at St. Mary’s Hospital in San Francisco, prior to his teaching career. Tilley reflects that he worked hard to relieve the burden of families coping with the loss of loved ones.

Despite the fact that many of Tilley’s students have rejected their own faith traditions, he hopes that through their coursework in his classroom they discover religion as a “live option” — discovering, according to Tilley, its beauty, truth, and role in promoting peace and justice.

Look for a more in-depth article on Terrence Tilley in the spring 2009 edition of Currents.