Category Archives: Theology

“To Love What God Loves”: Holistic Eschatology Presentation at Cornell University (September 25, 2015)

Posted on by

This Friday (September 25, 2015) I will be giving a talk, based on my eschatology book A New Heaven and a New Earth, at Cornell University, in Ithaca, NY.

The talk is entitled “To Love What God Loves: Understanding the Cosmic Scope of Redemption.” I will address the Bible’s vision of God’s intent to redeem creation and the implications of this holistic eschatology for our lives today.

The talk is co-sponsored by the Asian-American Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship at Cornell together with Chesterton House, a innovative Christian study center on the Cornell campus.

The talk will be presented in the large group meeting of the Asian-American IVCF chapter, which begins at 7:15 p.m. in the Robert Purcell Community Center (RPCC), second floor auditorium.

Prior to the talk there will be a Q&A where I will be interviewed by Karl Johnson, the director of Chesterton House, at 5:00 p.m. in the Robert Purcell Community Center, with pizza provided for attendees.

Further details about the talk can be found at here (including a map, with directions).

Is Yahweh a God of Violence?

Posted on by

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

Posted on by

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.