Archbishop of Canterbury visits PKU
Jun 07, 2015
Peking University, June 6, 2015: On May 29, the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, together with the delegates of the Church of England, visited Peking University. Welby gave a lecture about “Christianity and Business Ethics” at Lee Shau Kee School of Humanities.
In his lecture, Welby said that it is necessary for Christianity to pay attention to “business ethics”, and to observe the ethical connotations of business activities. In his opinion, business activities have the potential to shoulder the moral responsibilities of being “good”. It is thus crucial to find a way to ignite this potential. He analyzed three possible types of “good actions”: the ethics of obligations, effects and morals. Christianity has the responsibility to help everyone become a “whole person”, rather than being confined to issues of the “soul”. In other words, since business activities hinder people’s pursuit of becoming a “whole person”, Christian intervention is needed to create a perfect community full of love. The Christian concern of reality offered by the lecture thus greatly touched the audience and provoked them to think about important theoretic issues of religion and economic ethics.
As the official Christian church in England, the Church of England plays an important role in English political and social life. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the spiritual leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury.
Background Information:
The Archbishop's lecture is the 30th lecture of the Xu Yun Lecture Series. The Series is named after a Chinese hierarch Xu Yun. This series aims to interpret the humanistic values of diverse religions and to promote interreligious communication and toleration.
Written by: Xu Penghang
Edited by: Xu Liangdi
Source: PKU Office of International Relations
