A Centennial Conversation with John Green
As part of its Centennial Celebrations, Christian Theological Seminary is excited to welcome New York Times bestselling author, tuberculosis advocate, digital creator, and proud Indiana resident John Green to its CTS Talks series on Thursday, February 6. This event, which sold out in less than 24 hours, features Green considering themes of apocalyptic anxiety, despair, and the potential for radical hope in a world that often feels on the brink of collapse.
Green is a highly acclaimed author, known for his young adult novels that often tackle deep themes like love, loss, mental health, and self-discovery. Some of his most well-known books include The Fault in Our Stars, Looking for Alaska, and Paper Towns. The Fault in Our Stars in particular became a massive success, both as a book and a film, resonating deeply with readers for its portrayal of young love and the challenges of living with terminal illness. His writing tackles profound themes of identity, mental health, love, suffering, and the search for meaning. His upcoming non-fiction book Everything is Tuberculosis comes out on March 18.
Beyond his writing, Green is also an advocate for mental health awareness and has been open about his own struggles with anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder. He co-created the YouTube channel vlogbrothers with his brother Hank Green, where the two discuss a range of topics, from science and literature to current events and social issues. They inspire viewers to engage deeply with the complexities of life and encourage people to contribute to the flourishing of others. The Green brothers also launched the YouTube channel Crash Course, where John, Hank, and a range of other hosts teach humanities and science courses. Crash Course has over 10.7 million subscribers and 1.2 billion views. Green has also been involved in various charitable efforts, including the Project for Awesome, a fundraiser to support charities through creative content, and Good.Store, an online shop selling everyday products that donates 100% of profits to stop medical injustice at the root. The project has helped fund more than $8 million in donations to Partners in Health.
This CTS Talk was planned in large part due to Green’s alignment with and embodiment of CTS’s core values. Our 100th Anniversary has led us to reflect on those values and the ways they have guided our seminary community in the past. It has also caused us to ask how we are living out those values now and the ways we will be guided by them in the next 100 years.
Some may not realize that John Green initially pursued a path in religious studies before turning to writing. After graduating from college, Green attended seminary as he sought to prepare for a future in ministry. During his studies, he completed a chaplaincy internship, offering spiritual care to patients in a hospital setting. This experience provided him with profound insights into human suffering, death, and faith, but it ultimately led him to reconsider his calling. Despite his deep engagement with spiritual matters and the connections he formed with individuals in crisis, Green decided that he did not want to pursue a career as a pastor. This realization marked a turning point, as he left the seminary and chose to focus on his passion for writing, which ultimately led to his success as an author.
While Green’s decision to move away from pastoral ministry might seem like a departure from his early ambitions, it influenced his writing in significant ways and proved to be a continuation of pursuing authentic calling. His exploration of complex themes, such as mortality, love, and the meaning of life, often draws from the insights he gained during his seminary training and chaplaincy work. Green has said that his time in those roles helped him understand the vulnerability and resilience of people facing life’s most challenging moments, experiences that now shape the emotional depth and authenticity of his characters and stories. His written works, video projects, and humanitarian efforts prove that faith, scholarship, and the pursuit of social good are not mutually exclusive.
Green’s exploration of what it means to cultivate a hope that can withstand the struggles of our time promises to be powerfully relevant in our current context. We look forward to his insights as he considers powerful questions like whether nonhuman animals might be better than humans at experiencing consciousness, why suffering is so unjustly distributed, and what our responsibility is in the face of such inequality.
While CTS Talks: John Green is a sold-out event, those who are interested can join a waitlist to see if registrations become available. Even if you cannot attend, we encourage you to stay connected with CTS as we continue to celebrate our Centennial and explore the meaningful connections between faith, scholarship, and social engagement. John Green’s reflections on radical hope in the face of despair will undoubtedly inspire us to think deeply about how we can each contribute to healing and wholeness in our world. We are grateful for his willingness to engage with our community and for the opportunity to reflect on the ways our own values can guide us as we move forward into the next century.