Category Archives: Canada

The Very Best Christian Analysis of ISIS (By Brian Stiller)

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Brian Stiller (a Canadian) has been Global Ambassador for the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) for the past four years. In this capacity he has visited dozens of countries (including Somalia, Japan, Nepal, Iraq, Egypt, South Sudan) to witness and liaise with Christian groups, especially those suffering persecution.

He has recently edited, along with other scholars, a volume entitled Evangelicals Around the World: A Global Handbook for the 21st Century (Thomas Nelson, 2015).

Along the way Stiller has gained a deep knowledge of the nature and problem of extremist Islam.

His four-part analysis of ISIS is the best and clearest I have found, and should be helpful to anyone wanting to understand the roots, development, character, and goals of this movement. It is particularly helpful in being informative yet non-ideological, while acknowledging the genuine danger of this form of extremist religion.

Stiller’s analysis originated as four “Dispatches from the Global Village” sent as emails to interested persons, which are now compiled into one succinct, yet comprehensive, article. The four parts are:

ISIS Part I: What it is

ISIS PART II: Four central questions

ISIS PART III: Six underlying realities; seven stages in conquest

ISIS PART IV: A Christian response

This is well-worth reading by anyone who wants to be informed on the subject.

 

Creatures of God: Human Nature & Evolution for Evangelicals & Catholics

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I recently began a series of blog posts on evolution and human nature, but I’ve had to put that aside for a while so I could prepare a lecture I will be giving in a few days in Vancouver, BC, as part of a two-day symposium funded by BioLogos.

The syposium is entitled “Creatures of God: Human Nature & Evolution for Evangelicals & Catholics” and is organized by Dr. Paul Allen, Associate Professor, Department of Theological Studies, Concordia University, Ottawa, ON.

Dr. Allen and his team have staged three prior symposia on related themes in three other Canadian contexts: Crandall University in Moncton, NB; Wycliffe College in Toronto, ON; and the Kings University College in Edmonton, AB.

At each of these events, theologians, philosophers, and scientists addressed different audiences of faculty, students, and members of the lay public on the question of human nature in the context of the orthodox claims of theological anthropology and the emergence of the human species according to Darwin’s theory and later revisions of it.

The symposium I’m a part of is addressed specifically to Evangelicals and Catholics, with presentations on the biblical and scientific sides of things.

I’ve been asked to speak on a biblical theology of humanity as imago Dei. I will give my lecture at Regent College (an Evangelical graduate school of theology affiliated with the University of British Columbia) at 7:00 pm on Thursday, October 29, 2015. The title of my lecture is: “Being Human: Engaging the Opening Chapters of Genesis in Light of Hominin Evolution.”

The following evening, Dr. Jeff Schloss (BioLogos Senior Scholar and T. B. Walker Chair of Natural and Behavioral Sciences at Westmont College) will be speaking at St. Mark’s College (the Catholic theological college of the University of British Columbia). His lecture is entitled: “Uncommon Nature Through Common Descent? Evolution and the Question of Human Exceptionalism.”

Each evening there will be a number of respondents to the paper that is presented, followed by an open discussion of the topic.

More information about both lectures can be found by downloading this flyer.

A Final Plug for the Global Theology Conference in Toronto this Saturday (October 3, 2015)

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The Canadian Evangelical Theological Association (CETA) will hold its fourth annual Fall theology conference on Saturday, October 3, 2015 at Tyndale University College and Seminary in Toronto.

The theme of the conference is “Global Evangelical Theology.” The keynote speaker, Dr. Las Newman (president of the Caribbean Graduate School of Theology in Jamaica), will address the topic: “Theology on the Move: Discerning Global Shifts in Theological Thinking from the Global South.”

The conference runs from 8:00 am (beginning with registration and a continental breakfast) through 4:30 pm (ending with the presentation of the annual theological excellence award and a closing liturgy).

There will be about 50 paper presentations, in six concurrent sessions, on topics historical, theological, biblical, and missional—relating to the conference theme.

Click here for the conference schedule. And click here for online registration (though you can also register at the door). The registration site also has information about overnight accommodation if you want to travel to Toronto the night before.

If you want to check out my previous blog posts on this conference, they are here, and here, and here (in chronological order).