On the day of the Spending Review, the Christian theologian and ethicist described by Time magazine in 2001 as 'America's Best Theologian', Stanley Hauerwas, was the special guest at a Theos event in parliament last night.

MPs, theologians, journalists and political staff packed the Grand Committee Room for the indepth and wide ranging interview, conducted by the journalist Christopher Landau. Professor Hauerwas talked about his life, understanding of politics, war, establishment and the recovery of confident Christian speech.

'I'm a theocrat,' said Hauerwas. 'Christians should have a problem with war,' he added. 'Few things are more important for the free American churches than finding out what it is to be free.'

'To be a Christian is to learn to live in a story you haven't chosen,' he said.

Professor Hauerwas has taught at the University of Notre Dame and is currently the Gilbert T. Rowe Professor of Theological Ethics at Duke Divinity School with a joint appointment at the Duke University School of Law.

Christopher Landau joined the BBC as a news trainee after graduating in Theology (also with a Masters degree in Elizabethan Church History) from Trinity College, Cambridge. Until recently he was religion correspondent for the World Service.

Stanley Hauerwas' latest book is Hannah's Child: A Theologian's Memoir. Click here for more details.

To listen to the podcast of the event, click here.