Category Archives: Canada

Is Yahweh a God of Violence?

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This is a heads-up about an upcoming lecture for anyone in the Rochester area.

This Friday afternoon (September 4, 2015) there will be a public lecture on the campus of Roberts Wesleyan College, entitled: “Yahweh, a God of Violence? Understanding God’s Old Testament Reputation.”

The lecture will be held at 3:00 pm in the Ellen Stowe dining room.

The speaker is Tyler Williams, an excellent Old Testament scholar, who is currently lead pastor at Greenfield Community Church in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He previously taught at Taylor University College and Seminary and at The Kings University College. he continues to serve as an adjunct professor at King’s.

I got to know Tyler Williams some years ago when he was teaching full-time, before he began his pastoral position at Greenfield. He has amazing expertise in biblical languages, and has done a lot of work on the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament.

I still remember his paper at a biblical studies conference, where he demonstrated that the Greek version of Psalm 151 (found in the Septuagint) was original, and the Hebrew version in the Dead Sea Scrolls was derivative (an expansion of the Greek). He argued this counter-intuitive point so well, by careful exegesis of the psalm, that I have been convinced ever since.

This is his website with resources on biblical studies, including some of his course syllabi.

In his lecture at Roberts, Tyler will address the impression many people (both Christians and non-Christians) have, that the God of the Old Testament is a violent deity.

Please join me in attending this fascinating lecture, if you are able to. It is free and open to the public.

Click here for a flyer of the event.

 

A Theology Conference in Toronto with a Global Reach

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We are almost at the deadline for early bird registration for the next Fall conference of the Canadian Evangelical Theological Association (CETA), which will be held on October 3, 2015 on the campus of Tyndale University College and Seminary in Toronto.

There’s still an hour and a half to go if you want to beat the deadline for lower registration costs!

Here is where you can register online (don’t worry if you missed the deadline; it’s only $10.00 more after).

The Call for Papers this year drew almost fifty proposals on some aspect of “Global Evangelical Theology,” which is the theme of this Fall’s conference. With our keynote speaker, Dr. Las Newman, president of the Caribbean Graduate School of Theology in Jamaica, we can expect an excellent selection of papers on historical, theological, and biblical aspects of the conference theme.

For more on this upcoming CETA conference, see my initial post on the topic, as well as my follow-up post on registration.

Registering for the Fall Conference of the Canadian Evangelical Theological Association

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I recently posted about the upcoming Fall conference of the Canadian Evangelical Theological Association (CETA), which will be held on October 3, 2015 at Tyndale University College and Seminary in Toronto.

Although the Call for Papers is closed, registration for the conference is now available online at the Tyndale website.

The deadline for discounted early-bird registration is August 31, 2015 (registration goes up by $10.00 on September 1, 2015).CTR

CETA members receive an extra discount equal to half their  membership dues. Registration for student members is discounted by $10.00 and registration for regular members by $20.00.

Since CETA membership comes with a subscription to the Canadian Theological Review, this is a great deal (and since the journal is a bit behind publication schedule, current members will receive more than a year’s worth of issues).

I hope you will consider attending the conference if you are able.