Moral Compass Project to become Moral Compass Centre
The Moral Compass Project began in 2018 with six subprojects, all of which have now been completed. Stichting Paradosis is now funding new projects which, from 1 September 2026 onwards, will come together in the new Moral Compass Centre.
The Moral Compass Centre investigates the contemporary significance of theological approaches to the good. Our time is characterised by a great diversity of views on the good, on how one should live and live together. This can create confusion, paralysis, or lead people to absolutise their own perspective.
The language of the good
The language of the good also carries a theological dimension. It expresses the experience of the good as something greater than what human beings can conceive or realise, and as something that makes an appeal to people. In the Jewish and Christian tradition, these experiences are reflected in visions of the good as divine or transcendent in the form of God’s will or law, or God’s coming Kingdom.
Researchers
The researchers of this centre investigate the transcendent character of the good in Jewish and Christian sources with a view to its significance for living together in the present day. They contribute their own expertise from systematic theology, ethics, philosophy, art history, biblical studies, and Jewish studies. The research has four main lines:
- images of God implied in the divine appeal to the good
- the relationship between visions of the appeal of the good and the self-understanding of groups
- the critique of the human capacity to give shape to the appeal to the good, as represented in the tradition of the seven deadly sins, and
- the significance of the appeal to the good when war threatens
All researchers of the MCC meet monthly to discuss their research in light of the shared theme. They regularly organise public events and academic study days in collaboration with researchers from other institutions.
Opening of the Moral Compass Centre
The centre will be officially opened on 8 December 2026 with an afternoon symposium on Responding Differently to Moral Unrest and the first Moral Compass Lecture by Prof. Dr Luke Bretherton (Oxford). The programme will follow at a later date.
