Category Archives: Ethics

Call for Papers for the Canadian Evangelical Theological Association Annual Meeting in Calgary, May 29, 2016

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The Canadian Evangelical Theological Association (CETA) has two theology conferences each year. One occurs at the end of May/early June, in conjunction with the Congress of Humanities and Social Sciences of Canada. The other (which was inaugurated in 2012) is held in the Fall (usually in October), in conjunction with a local theological seminary or college.

This year both CETA conferences will be in Western Canada, giving the Association an opportunity to reach out to professors, graduate students, and pastors from the region who are interested in theological reflection for the sake of the church.

CETA Congress Meeting (May 29, 2016)

This year the Congress of Humanities and Social Sciences will meet at the University of Calgary, and the CETA meeting will be on Sunday, May 29, 2016.

The executive of CETA have extended the deadline for receiving paper proposals for the Calgary meeting until February 15. You can download the extended Call for Papers here.

CETA Fall Conference (October 15, 2016)

The Fall CETA theology conference will be held in conjunction with the Associated Canadian Theological Schools (ACTS seminaries), a consortium of theological schools located on the campus of Trinity Western University, in Langley, BC. The date for the Fall conference is Saturday, October 15, 2016, and the keynote speaker will be Iain Provan, Marshall Sheppard Professor of Biblical Studies at Regent College, in Vancouver, BC. When the Call for Papers for this conference is ready, I will post an announcement.

NES Theology Conference (March 18-19, 2016)

Remember that registration is open for the theology conference at Northeastern Seminary on March 18-19, 2016, with Michael Gorman as the keynote speaker (Gorman will give a public lecture the Friday evening of March 18, and another lecture during the conference proper on Saturday, March 19). The response to the Call for Papers was phenomenal, with the result that there will likely be about forty concurrent papers offered on a variety of topics under the broad umbrella of the conference theme, Participation in God’s Mission. Discounted registration lasts until February 8.

Discounted Registration for Michael Gorman Conference Extended for One More Week (till February 8)

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This is an update to my previous posts about the theology conference at Northeastern Seminary with Michael Gorman (entitled Participation in God’s Mission).

Discounted registration has now been extended to February 8, with a further discount available to students.

More details about the conference can be found in my previous blog post here.

This is the registration link for the conference.

A full schedule of the conference (Friday evening March 18 and all-day Saturday March 19), including descriptions of Dr. Gorman’s keynote lectures (on “Paul, the Mission of God, and the Contemporary Church” and “John: The Nonsectarian, Missional Gospel“), can be found on the Northeastern Seminary theology conference page.

There will be about forty papers presented on various aspects of the conference theme in concurrent sessions.

I hope to see you there!

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.