Category Archives: Critical thinking

Jesus and Social Engagement (in Jamaica)

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This Sunday afternoon (September 13, 2015 at 4:00 pm) my friend Dr. Eric Flett, Professor of Theology and Culture at Eastern University (in Philadelphia), will deliver the fourth annual Zenas Gerig Memorial Lecture at Jamaica Theological Seminary (JTS), in Kingston.

Dr. Zenas Gerig was the founder of JTS (in 1960), and its first Principal (then, its first President). I got to know him when I attended JTS in the seventies, and he taught the first formal Bible courses I took at JTS (on the Pentateuch and the Historical Books). Not only was he a prime mover behind the Caribbean Evangelical Theological Association, but he founded the Caribbean Graduate School of Theology in Kingston in 1986. He was an amazing man who had a significant impact on the church and on theological education both in Jamaica and in the rest of the Caribbean.

Dr. Gerig passed away September 14, 2011 and I had the privilege of delivering the first Zenas Gerig Memorial Lecture in September 2012.

Like Zenas Gerig, Eric Flett is an American. But whereas Zenas lived 43 of his years in Jamaica, Eric’s knowledge of and love of the Caribbean comes from his marriage to a Trinidadian and his extensive travel in the region.

Eric accompanied me to Jamaica in January 2010 to participate in the Forum on Caribbean Theology, sponsored by JTS, at which I presented a paper entitled “Islands in the Sun: Overtures to a Caribbean Creation Theology.”

Although Eric’s participation in the Forum was limited to a panel discussion, he later wrote an invited essay that was included in A Kairos Moment for Caribbean Theology, the volume of essays from the 2010 JTS Forum that I edited with Garnett Roper.

Eric’s essay was entitled “Dingolayin’: Theological Notes for a Caribbean Theology.” Trinidadians will know what Dingolay means; but the rest of us might need to look it up.

In this year’s Zenas Gerig Memorial Lecture Eric Flett will address the implications for social engagement that flow from Christian orthodoxy, particularly the doctrine of the Trinity.

Dr. Flett summarizes his topic this way:

“Here is the argument I would like to make: that Christology and creation, salvation and social engagement, are all of one piece . . . , and are sustained harmoniously by a robust doctrine of the Trinity.”

In the context of this Trinitarian doctrine, the lecture will focus on the identity of Jesus, as:

  • The Son of the Father;
  • The Messiah of the Jews;
  • The Image of God; and
  • The sender of the Spirit.

Dr. Flett explains:

“When the doctrine of the Trinity becomes marginalized or misunderstood it threatens the intellectual coherence of the Christian faith and, subsequently, the effectiveness, faithfulness, and endurance of its social witness. There’s no divide here between orthodoxy or orthopraxy . . . .”

I wish I could be in Kingston this weekend to hear Dr. Flett’s lecture in person.

If you are interested, and in the area, I encourage you not to miss this opportunity to be engaged by this significant theologian in serious reflection on “Jesus and Social Engagement,” a vital topic for the Caribbean church and the wider society.

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.

 

Global Evangelical Theology—CETA Conference and Call for Papers

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The Canadian Evangelical Theological Association (CETA) will hold their next Fall theology conference in Toronto, on October 3, 2015.

Every year since 2012 CETA has been co-sponsoring a Fall theology conference with a different theological institution, in order to promote serious theological reflection between younger and more established scholars in the broad area of theology (including biblical studies, dogmatics, history, ethics, ministry, etc.), for the sake of the Canadian church.

Previously, the CETA Fall conference has been co-sponsored with McMaster Divinity College (2012), Northeastern Seminary (2013), and Wycliffe College in connection with the Institute for Christian Studies (2014).

This year, the CETA Fall conference will be co-sponsored with Tyndale University College and Seminary, the largest theological school in Canada, on their new Bayview campus.

Registration is available online at the Tyndale website.

Because the Call for Papers went out a bit late this year, the CETA executive have extended the deadline for paper proposals until July 25.

The keynote speaker will be Dr. Las Newman, president of the Caribbean Graduate School of Theology, in Kingston, Jamaica. Dr. Newman holds a PhD in church history from the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies. He is an alumnus of Tyndale, and received an honorary doctorate from his alma mater in 2013.

The theme for the Fall CETA conference will be Global Evangelical Theology. Papers that attempt to make a connection to this theme are especially encouraged.

Lest you think that the advertised theme excludes your idea for a paper, Global Evangelical Theology is being interpreted as widely as possible. In other words, proposals do not need to explicitly address theology in specific geographical regions. Rather, the conference is soliciting proposals for papers (which could be in any theological discipline) that are of relevance for the worldwide church.

I myself proposed a paper on Genesis 2-3 (I think that’s of global significance).

The Call for Papers, with information about word length, where to send proposals, etc., can be downloaded here.

Graduate students, post-docs, and pre-tenured faculty are invited to submit finished papers by September 15 for the Jack and Phyllis Middleton Award for Excellence in Bible and Theology. Full rules for the theology award may be found on the CETA website.