Honorary Degrees
1918 - Present
 



Schubert M. Ogden 
Doctor of Humane Letters  1994
Status: conferred

During his 34 years of teaching on the faculty of Southern Methodist University, Schubert M. Ogden set a standard of excellence that has become a recognized model at home and abroad for systematic theology and for the life of the Academy. In six books and in innumerable essays, articles, and translations, he has addressed the central questions of contemporary theological reflection with uncompromising intellectual rigor and supple creativity of spirit - in short, with wisdom. He has defined and defended theology's integrity as an academic discipline that rightfully retains its ancient place among the disciplines that constitute a university. He has deepened and enhanced the emerging theological discussion among religious traditions, especially the dialogue between Christianity and Buddhism; and he has done so without diluting the specific character of these traditions or evading the great central question of religious truth. Not least among his achievements, he has throughout his career enriched his colleagues and his students with his clarity of vision and his unflagging pursuit of what is true and what is just. For his invaluable contribution to the shaping of contemporary theological discourse and for his inestimable contribution to the life of this University and its School of Theology, we gratefully confer upon Schubert M. Ogden the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa.