A Sabbatical Visit to Australia

Posted on August 18, 2016 by J Richard Middleton

I haven’t had a chance to write much for this blog in quite a while, since I am hard at work on papers and talks that I will present in Australia during my sabbatical, this Fall.

I will be in Australia for a month, as Visiting Theologian-in-Residence first at St. Barnabas College, Adelaide (Sept. 18-Oct. 1, 2016) and then at St. Mark’s National Theological Centre, Canberra (Oct. 2-15, 2016), both member schools of Charles Sturt University.

My activities in Adelaide include:

Being interviewed on Life FM radio in Adelaide by Lynn Arnold, past premier of South Australia, who is presently an Anglican priest.
Presenting a paper on the Aqedah (Abraham’s attempt to sacrifice his son in Genesis 22), and responding to a paper on suffering and the Gospel of Mark, at a symposium on “Lament in Scripture and Life” (with ten other biblical scholars), St. Barnabas College, Sept. 22-23, 2016.
Preaching at St. Peter’s Cathedral, Sept. 25, 2016.
Public lecture on the lament psalms, St. Peter’s Cathedral originally scheduled for Sept 28, 2016; postponed to Sept. 30, 2016, due to inclement weather.
Discussion with students in a course on Missional Hermeneutics and Theological Interpretation, which uses my book A New Heaven and a New Earth, St. Barnabas College, Sept. 29, 2016

My activities in Canberra:

Informal talk for a Postgraduate Student Seminar, St. Mark’s National Theological Centre, Oct. 5, 2016.
Public lecture on the lament psalms, Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture, Oct. 5, 2016.
Presenting a paper on the imago Dei and suffering in Job, at a Biblical Seminar (with seven other biblical scholars), entitled “Encountering God: Teasing (Out) Themes in Biblical Theology,” sponsored by the Centre for Public and Contextual Theology, Charles Sturt University, Oct. 7, 2016.
Responding to a seminar paper by Professor Mona Siddiqui on Law and Love in Christianity and Islam, at the Centre for Public and Contextual Theology, Charles Sturt University, Oct. 13, 2016.

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When I return from Australia, I will give the J. J. Theissen Lectures (on Lament), at Canadian Mennonite University, Winnipeg, MB, October 25-26, 2016.

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These presentations are all related to research for my book, tentatively called The Silence of Abraham, The Passion of Job: Explorations in the Theology of Lament (to be published by Baker Academic).

No Need to Fear Evolution

Posted on July 22, 2016 by J Richard Middleton

An excellent blogger on science and religion issues, who goes by the handle RJS, has just posted an introduction to my first BioLogos blog (Why Christians Don’t Need to Be Threatened by Evolution) on the website Musings on Science and Theology. RJS’s posts are then re-posted on the Jesus Creed website, where comments are allowed (Jesus Creed is a blog run by New Testament scholar Scot McKnight; it is hosted by Patheos, which hosts a variety of religion blogs).

The post by RJS is called No Need to Fear and it goes beyond introducing my BioLogos blog. It goes on to explain (very well) my argument about Genesis 1 and what it means to be made in God’s image from my book The Liberating Image: The Imago Dei in Genesis 1.

But then RJS has blogged about The Liberating Image before in no less than nine posts! And I did an invited follow-up post on how my thinking about the imago Dei has developed since the book. RJS also did a nine-part series on my more recent book A New Heaven and a New Earth: Reclaiming Biblical Eschatology. (For anyone who doesn’t have time to read either book, these blogs give a pretty accurate portrayal of my argument).

Having done my introductory BioLogos post on my approach to evolution (Why Christians Don’t Need to Be Threatened by Evolution) and then a second post on cosmic creation (The Ancient Universe and the Cosmic Temple), my next post will be on what it means to be created in God’s image according to the Scriptures and how that might intersect with what science is telling us about human evolution.

Interestingly, the blog by RJS (No Need to Fear) introduces some of the themes I will touch on in my third BioLogos post. So you can check it out if you want an advance taste of what I might say on that topic.

Michael Gorman to Give Keynote Lecture at Northeastern Seminary Theology Conference

Posted on January 1, 2016 by J Richard Middleton

Northeastern Seminary will be hosting its second Theology Conference on Saturday, March 19, 2016 (the first was held in October 2013 on the theme of New Creation).

The topic for 2016 is Participation in God’s Mission, and the plenary speaker will be Dr. Michael J. Gorman, Raymond E. Brown Professor of Biblical Studies and Theology at St. Mary’s Seminary and University, Baltimore, MD.

Well-known for his writings on Pauline theology and ethics, Dr. Gorman will be speaking on the shaping of the cruciform Christian life through participation in God’s mission, a theme that blends spirituality and ethics with mission.

Dr. Gorman will present a public lecture for a general audience (on the apostle Paul) on the Friday evening before the conference; then he will give the keynote lecture (on the Gospel of John) for the conference on Saturday morning. Both lectures will be based on his current sabbatical research, for which he was awarded a Henry Luce III Fellowship.

Besides Dr. Gorman’s keynote address, the conference will feature concurrent sessions with papers on topics related to the conference theme. Many paper proposals were submitted before Christmas and they are continuing to come in. The deadline for receiving proposals is currently January 4, but there is a rumor it might be extended by a week. But those interested should still get their proposals in ASAP.

The Call for Papers can be accessed here, and further information about the conference will be posted on the Northeastern Seminary website and Facebook page.

This event is held in partnership with the Canadian Evangelical Theological Association (CETA).

For those interested, you can check out Dr. Gorman’s books here and you can access his blog (called Cross Talk) here.