Canadian Evangelical Theological Association Upcoming Conference (May 31, 2015)

Posted on January 3, 2015 by J Richard Middleton

Although I have completed my term as president of the Canadian Evangelical Theological Association (CETA), I am still on the executive for this year, and plan to be involved with the Association for many years to come. It’s been a formative academic society for me as a scholar since 1991.

CETA meets every Spring as part of the Congress of Humanities and Social Sciences in Canada, along with some 80 plus other academic societies. I typically attend the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies (CSBS) and the Canadian Theological Society (CTS), along with CETA.

This year the Congress will be held at the University of Ottawa in Canada’s capital city. The CETA annual meeting is on May 31; CSBS meets May 30-June 1; and CTS meets June 1-3.

As usual CETA is soliciting paper proposals for the annual meeting; the deadline is the end of January. You can download the full (corrected) Call for Papers in PDF format here.

I hope to see you in Ottawa.

The Advent of Justice

Posted on December 13, 2014 by J Richard Middleton

Back when I was working on my PhD in Canada I was asked to contribute to a book of Advent meditations in honor of Citizens for Public Justice (CPJ), a Canadian justice organization run by Christians. To that end Sylvia Keesmaat, Brian Walsh, Mark VanderVennen, and I each wrote meditations for one of the four weeks of Advent readings from the daily Lectionary (seven meditations apiece); all of us had been involved in some way with this important justice organization.

I had been personally impacted by CPJ, including their published literature on a Christian approach to the political sphere and the helpful guides they provided to the various issues as each Canadian election approached. I was also impressed by their political advocacy in the name of Christ on behalf of those negatively affected by unjust social policies in the context of our modern consumer society. CPJ had been an important voice in helping me think through the political implications of my own Christian faith.

Since the Old Testament readings for that Advent season all focused on passages from Isaiah, which connected faith with justice, we decided to make this the focus of our meditations, while also drawing connections to the Gospel readings for each day.

These meditations were published back in 1993 by the CJL Foundation (an arm of CPJ), as a short book called The Advent of Justice. That book was then adopted by the Anglican Diocese of Toronto as an Advent study guide for that year.

A well-known Toronto artist, Willem (Bill) Hart, graciously contributed watercolors for the book cover and as introductions to each week’s meditations.

The Advent of Justice was reprinted the following year (1994) by Dordt College Press; and it’s been used on and off by lots of different people over the years as a guide to reflecting on the meaning of the Advent season.

The Advent of Justice has just been reprinted by Wipf and Stock publishers in time for this year’s Advent season. I was delighted that Northeastern Seminary decided to give copies away at their annual alumni reception (held a week ago). And they have just this past week posted my own Advent reflections from the book (with permission from the publisher) on the Northeastern Seminary website.

For anyone interested, the post for the first day of the week (Sunday) can be found here. The posts for the other days (Monday through Saturday) can be accessed from the right hand column of the website.

A flyer about the book can be accessed here.

Wishing you a blessed and meaningful Advent season.

Recent Middleton Posts on the Baker Academic Blog

Posted on December 12, 2014 by J Richard Middleton

While I’m getting ready to post some substantial reflections on evolution and the fall (via a book review), I thought I might just note that Baker Academic, which published my eschatology book, A New Heaven and a New Earth, recently posted a number of items relevant to the book on their blog.

I’ve been struck not only by the high quality of the editing my manuscript received (extremely careful, and attentive to my needs), but also by the significant publicity and marketing Baker has done on behalf of the book (including giving away over 300 copies at the reception of the Institute for Biblical Research in San Diego this past November—seeding the market, they called it).

I’ve also been consistently impressed by the quality of my relationship with the various editors I’ve worked with at Baker Academic (kudos to Jim Kinney and Brian Bolger) and with the marketing and publicity people I’ve got to know (Steve Ayers, Bryan Dyer, Mason Slater, and Trinity McFadden). This is a great press, and I’d work with them again in a minute.

So here’s what they posted at the Baker Academic Blog concerning my book.

First they posted my own introductory reflections, which they had me write specifically for the website:

J. Richard Middleton – “Whatever Happened to the New Earth?” (posted on December 8, 2014)

Then they posted a notice about the book’s publication, with advance reviews; then a list of some of my upcoming speaking engagements; then an excerpt on cosmic redemption, that gets at the heart of the book:

New Release: A New Heaven and a New Earth (posted on December 9, 2014)

Upcoming Events with J. Richard Middleton (posted on December 10, 2014)

Colossians 1 and The Redemption of All Things – an Excerpt from A New Heaven and a New Earth (posted on December 11, 2014)

If you’re interested, you might check some of them out.