Mission Statement

The mission of the T. B. Maston Foundation is to promote the legacy of Dr. T. B. Maston, a lifelong advocate for the deeper understanding and wider application of the life and ethical teaching of Jesus Christ.

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About the Foundation

Biography of Dr. T. B. Maston
- Written by Dr. A. Jase Jones, his student and friend

History of the Foundation's beginnings and early years
- Also written by Dr. Jones, the first chair of the Foundation
(click here to view a video of Dr. Jones presenting this history at the Foundation's 1993 Award Banquet, upon accepting the T. B. Maston Christian Ethics Award)

How to Apply for a T. B. Maston Foundation Scholarship in Christian Ethics

List of honorees presented with the biennial T. B. Maston Christian Ethics Award

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Voices for Living Christian Ethics

T. B. Maston Foundation e-Newsletter No. 3, March 2012

The Audacity of Hope and the Violence of Peace: Obama, War, and Christianity

by Jonathan Tran
Assistant Professor of Theological Ethics,
Baylor University

Presented as Inaugural Ethics Lecture at Truett Seminary, sponsored by the TBMaston Foundation
January 31, 2012
Paul Powell Chapel, George W. Truett Theological Seminary at Baylor University

Both/And: Religion and Spirituality

by James Hassell
Pastor, Agape Baptist Church, Fort Worth, Texas;
and member, T. B. Maston Foundation Board of Trustees

Originally published in Weighty Matters, the blog of the T. B. Maston Foundation, on February 16, 2012

Introduction
It is humbling to give this, the first TBMaston Foundation Lecture in Christian Ethics, which is a gift to Baylor and the church. I want to thank the Maston family and Foundation, as well as Dean Garland and the Truett community, for hosting this occasion for remembrance and reflection.

I'm going to be speaking about war this morning and, specifically, certain war policies of the Obama administration, reviewing and critically analyzing that policy from a theological perspective. Being that I'm going to be critical, I should qualify what I'm going to say. My assessment of President Obama, especially as it relates to his war policies, is meant neither to endorse his political rivals, such as the Republicans, nor to stump for any political position as defined in terms of the nation-state. I'm not here to critique one partisan position in favor of another.

Rather, what I hope to do is to help those of us who call ourselves Christians to think through the enormously complex questions of warfare, using the considerable tools of theology. I suppose, if I have a side, I would want to claim the side of the church, not only the church's alternative position on such things as war (including the just war tradition or, closer to my heart, Christian pacifism), but – most importantly – the church itself as an alternative to war. For ultimately, the church is not a series of religious platforms or values but, most directly, God's alternative to the world's violence, an invitation to the world to be more than world, a call to the world to more fully understand itself as participating in God's trinitarian life.

The title of my presentation, "The Audacity of Hope and The Violence of Peace," draws from two books, Barack Obama's well-known The Audacity of Hope, where he speaks of hope and its available lights, and The Violence of Peace, where Yale Law School Professor Stephen Carter tries to show how . . . Read entire article

Jeff Bethke recently posted a popular video to YouTube. The video, entitled "Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus," has garnered more than 19 million views. Bethke works for a non-profit called Jubilee Ranch in Tacoma, Washington, and he promotes himself as a Christian speaker (see his website here). Bethke's video created a stir among many of my colleagues and friends. A long line of Facebook friends posted the video, with comments such as: "This is great," and "He speaks the truth!" I've also been asked for my opinion regarding Bethke's video on numerous occasions, because I have expressed some skepticism.

The video is quite interesting, especially since Bethke raps through a catchy poem. Yet, there seem to be some holes in his argument, namely, that one ought to hate religion in favor of loving Jesus. Bethke even puts forward that Jesus hated religion. Some points of biblical evidence, however, point out ways in which Jesus and his followers embraced religion. For instance, Jesus was reared by his parents in the Jewish religion, and it is quite clear that both Mary and Joseph faithfully followed the Law. Jesus even argued the tenets of religion from a young age, and seemed excited to be "doing his Father's work" in the Temple. Later in his life, Jesus taught in synagogues, frequented the Temple, and called the Temple a "house of prayer for the nations." This evidence hardly suggests that Jesus disdained religion. Perhaps it is more biblically accurate to say that Jesus disdained corrupted religion.

Disdain for corrupt religious practices pervades the entire Bible. For example, the prophets (especially Isaiah and Amos) call out religiously pious people for . . . Read entire article