Category: Conferences

Rutgers Analytic Theology Seminar – CFP Deadline Oct 15, 2023.

The Rutgers Analytic Theology Seminar solicits abstracts for papers in analytic theology, for a conference to be held March 10-12, 2024, at Rutgers University’s New Brunswick campus. Papers are welcome in all areas of analytic theology, including analytical historical theology. Abstracts should be a maximum of 500 words in length, and should be prepared for blind review. Those sending abstracts should specify whether the final paper will be colloquium (3000 word) or symposium (4-5000 word) length. At most one paper will be accepted for a submitted symposium; some who send an abstract for a symposium slot may be offered a colloquium slot instead. Some whose papers are not accepted may be offered commentator slots. All sessions will be single-reader; there will be no “panels.”

Abstracts are due by October 15, to frederick.choo AT rutgers.edu. Decisions will be announced by December 1.

Keynote and symposium sessions will be read-ahead, with commentators. Colloquium papers will be read out, and may or may not have commentators. Keynote and symposium sessions may last 90 minutes or two hours; colloquium sessions will be one hour. Keynote speakers will be Thomas McCall (Asbury), Samuel Lebens (Haifa), and Hud Hudson (Western Washington).

Further information on the conference will be forthcoming.

Faithful to the Call: Renewing Theological Ethics from the Ground Up

May 11-13th, 2022 | McDonald Centre, Oxford 

What does faithfulness to the call of Christ demand within the political, economic, and social orders of today’s world? Where can Christians turn for help in discerning that call, and how can Christian ethicists serve those who must make difficult moral decisions? 

In May of 2022, prominent ethicists, theologians, philosophers, and practitioners will gather in Oxford to honour Professor Nigel Biggar’s efforts to do Christian ethics from the ground up. Our presenters will mark fifteen years of Biggar’s work as Regius Professor of Moral and Pastoral Theology by offering creative and constructive proposals across a wide range of issues, including bioethics, just war, political theology, and academic freedom.


Speakers include: 

Chris Eberle • Jennifer Herdt • Gerald McKenny • James Orr • Daniel Philpott • Charles Mathewes • Patrick Smith • Eric Gregory • Krishan Kumar • Baroness Onora O’Neill

The McDonald Distinguished Lectures will be given by:

Professor Oliver O’Donovan & Professor Nigel Biggar


Register to attend either in person or virtually here.

Note that in-person registrations are currently limited due to Covid.

The Spring 2022 Los Angeles Theology Conference is Rescheduled for March 15-17, 2023

The LATC conference scheduled for spring of this year (2022) has been reschedule to March 15-17, 2023. The announcement from the LATC website is copied below.


“Dear Friends and Supporters of the Los Angeles Theology Conference (LATC) series,

We are writing to let you know that after much careful thought and reflection, we have decided to reschedule LATC 2022 to 2023. This is due to the ongoing situation with the pandemic, and the complications this raises for in-person conferences like ours. We have always maintained that the in-person experience is vital to the success of LATC, which is all about discussion, engagement, and reflection on the Christian tradition of the past for the purposes of constructive systematic theology for today and tomorrow. For this reason we have decided to reschedule rather than to move the conference online. We remain committed to the vision of LATC, and to its future. But we think it would not be responsible to run the conference this March given the current state of affairs. So, we will now have the conference on March 15-17, 2023 at Biola University in La Mirada, California. The theme remains the same: ecclesiology. We trust that you will understand the reasons for this change given the extraordinary circumstances we are all having to navigate, and look forward to seeing you in California in March 2023!

—Oliver, Fred, and Katya (the LATC Team)”


Speakers and breakout topics are the same as originally scheduled, for now. (Images and content are from LATC website .

Plenary Speakers

Natalie Carnes – Baylor University – “Nature, Culture, Church: Reconsidering the Church-World Divide”

Millard J. Erickson – Independent scholar – “Ecclesiology in a Postmodern Age”

Tom Greggs- University of Aberdeen -“Creatura Verbi: Hearing the Living Word through the Spirit in the Church”

Jennifer Powell McNutt -Wheaton College -“Exilic Ecclesiology: Suffering and Apostolicity in Early Modern Reformed Theology”

Paul T. Nimmo – University of Aberdeen – “The Sanctification of the Church: Contemplating the Progress of the People of God”


Breakout Papers

Kimlyn J. Bender, George W. Truett Theological Seminary
“Confessing Christ, Confessing the Church”

Beau Branson, Brescia University
Jordan Wessling, Lindsey Wilson College
“The Church as a Singular, Persisting Institution”

Joshua Cockayne, University of St. Andrews
D. T. Everhart, University of St. Andrews
“‘Members of One Another’: Towards a Kierkegaardian Ecclesiology”

Stephen T. Davis, Claremont McKenna College
Eric T. Yang, Santa Clara University
“God’s Story and the Sameness of the Church Over Time”

Steven Duby, Phoenix Seminary
“‘Bond of Peace’: Ecclesial Unity as Participation in the Son and Spirit”

Daniel L. Hill, Dallas Theological Seminary
“Bound Together in the Holy Fire: Purgation and the Unity and Holiness of the Church”

Jonathan Hill, University of Exeter
“Communion of Saints: Knowledge and Love in Heaven and Earth”

Alex Irving, St. Mellitus College, East Midlands
“The Body of Christ: A Soteriological Basis for the Theological Marks of the Church”

Matt Jenson, Torrey Honors College, Biola University
“Either/Or: On the Necessary, But Maverick, Distinction between Church and World”

Adam Johnson, Torrey Honors College, Biola University
“The Cruciform Ministry of the Church: Refracting the Saving Work of Christ”

Marguerite Kappelhoff, University of Divinity, Melbourne
“The Marks of the Church and the Triune God: ‘Seeking and Creating Fellowship’”

Kimberley Kroll, Grand Canyon University
“Holy Branches: A Constructive Model of the Spirit’s Presence in the Church”

Steven Nemes, North Phoenix Preparatory Academy
“The Church and Infallibility”

Winter Seminar on Progress in Theology. Jan 27-29, 2022 (Abraham Kuyper Center)

From the 27th till the 29th of January 2022 the Winter Seminar on Progress in Theology will take place. The program schedule is now online!

We are looking forward to a great discussion on the status of the discipline of theology. Among the speakers are Katherin Rogers, Kevin Schilbrack, Benedikt Göcke and Jennifer Frey. Join the seminar to discuss the theological epistemology, the influence of secularization on the discipline of theology, the intellectual tasks of theology, and many more interesting topics.

Description

Whereas many contemporary universities originated from theological programs, over the past centuries the status of theology as a proper academic discipline has become heavily contested. Among the many allegations levelled against theology is the idea that there is no progress in theology. The aim of this Winter Seminar is to investigate under which conditions, if any, theology can still function as an intellectually respectable player in the field of public academic studies. In particular, it zooms in on the notion of progress in theology. Is there any such progress? If not, is that a problem? If so, what shape does such progress take and are there ways in which theology might make more progress?

More information and registration

The seminar is organized by the Abraham Kuyper Center, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, as a part of the research project on Epistemic Progress in the University.

The seminar takes place online and on location at the Pakhuis de Zwijger, Amsterdam.

Online attendance is free. Click here to register through Eventbrite.

More information can be found on the website of the Abraham Kuyper Center.

ESSSAT book/dissertation & student essay prizes. Submission deadlines approaching (Nov 30 / Jan 15).

ESSSAT Prizes for Studies in Science and Theology 2022  

In connection with ECST XIX (2022, in Ålesund/Norway), two ESSSAT  prizes are open for competition between early career scholars working in Europe. 

The ESSSAT Research Prize (of 2500 €) will be awarded for an outstanding original  contribution at book length, e.g. a doctoral thesis, submitted to the ESSSAT Prize Responsible  by November 30th 2021.  

The ESSSAT Student Prize (of 1500 €) will be awarded for an essay of 10.000 words  maximum, written in an academic context at undergraduate or postgraduate level, submitted to  the ESSSAT Prize Responsible by January 15th 2022.  

The works, whose topic may address any aspect of the interface between religion/theology and  the natural sciences, should exemplify the aims of ESSSAT to advance open and critical  communication between the disciplines of theology, religious studies and science, to promote  their cross-fertilization, and to work on the solution of interdisciplinary problems. The prize 

winning contributions should be outstanding reflections bearing on the relationship between  religion, theology and natural sciences in contemporary culture. The submissions will be  evaluated based on their originality, quality, and relevance. 

A candidate for the Research or Student Prize must be nominated by a senior faculty member of a university or similar institution of higher education in Europe. ESSSAT membership is not  required. The work must be based on research done in Europe (with allowance for a period of  research elsewhere of at most one year) and have been accepted for academic credit, presented  or published in 2020-2022. It may be in any major European language. It need not have been  published.  

The prizes will be presented at the Nineteenth European Conference on Science and Theology  (ECST XIX), in Ålesund/Norway, 4-8May 2022. The prize winners are required to attend the  conference. Their conference fees will be covered. 

See official posts here —> a CfP for the European Society for the Study of Science and Theology (ESSSAT), 

For applications, mail to ESSSAT prize organizer Andreas Losch (andreas.losch @uzh.ch). 

Each application must include: 

(a) The work itself as a pdf-file.  
(b) A brief curriculum vitae of the author (stating nationality); and 
(c) A letter of nomination. 
(d) Applications for the research prize need to add a ten-page summary of the work in English  (1.5 line spacing, font size 12). 

Submitted material will not be returned. 

The Organizer of the ESSSAT prizes: 

Andreas Losch 
Le-Corbusier-Platz 6 
CH-3027 Bern 
Switzerland 
Email: andreas.losch @ uzh.ch

Register soon! Online conference Nov 8-9 on Dutch theologian K. H. Miskotte’s recently translated wartime text – Biblical ABC’s

The Aberdeen Centre for Protestant Theology is delighted to be working with colleagues in the Netherlands at the PThU, De Nieuwe Bijbelschool and Miskotte-Stichting to host an online conference on 8th-9th of November 2021 on Kornelis H. Miskotte’s book ‘Biblical ABCs’. This important wartime text has been newly translated into English this year and published this autumn by Rowan and Littlefield.

Katherine Sonderegger, Philip Ziegler, Susannah Ticciati, Christopher Chalamet, Rinse Reeling Brouwer, Collin Cornell, Eleonora Hof and Mirjam Elbers will all contribute to the discussion of the meaning and topicality of K.H. Miskotte’s theology of resistance. 

You can register now at: https://www.miskotte.com/.

Registration is open until 5th November 2021.

Tickets are only – €10.50

All those who register will receive a 50% discount code to put toward purchase of the book.

Bavinck Centenary Conference – December 6-7, 2021 – Brisbane School of Theology.

To mark the centenary of the death of Dutch theologian and statesman, Herman Bavinck (1854-1921), Brisbane School of Theology will be convening a two-day conference. Five plenary sessions will examine the contours of Bavinck’s theology, two roundtables will consider Bavinck’s relevance for contemporary Christianity, and short papers will address various aspects of Bavinck’s life, thought, and legacy. Previously planned for June, the conference was postponed 6 months on account of COVID-19. It will be convened in person (this December) in Brisbane but with a Zoom option for those who cannot attend because of travel restrictions

Plenary Sessions

‘Herman Bavinck’s Use of Scripture’ Koert van Bekkum, Kampen Theological University
‘Herman Bavinck’s Appropriation of Reformed Sources’ Henk van den Belt, Free University of Amsterdam
‘Herman Bavinck’s Use of Philosophy’ Oliver Crisp, University of St Andrews
‘Herman Bavinck as a Trinitarian Theologian’ Graham Cole, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School
‘Herman Bavinck as a Politician’ James Eglinton, University of Edinburgh

Short Papers

Registration

  • Registration for In Person Attendance closes November 22.
  • Registration for Zoom Attendance – closes December 5.

See website for registration links and attendance costs.

ACCOMMODATION – Click here for official conference webpage and accommodation links.

Kuyper, Science, and Philosophy: A Centenary Celebration

The Faraday Institute for Science and Religion would like to invite you to our online Academic Workshop ‘Kuyper, Science, and Philosophy: A Centenary Celebration’ on 2nd – 4th September 2021.  

Speakers include Prof. Richard Mouw, Prof. René van Woudenberg, Dr Deborah Haarsma, Professor Gerrit Glas, Professor Lydia Jaeger, Dr Jordan Ballor, Revd Dr Craig Bartholomew. The topics covered include Kuyper’s philosophy of science, the doctrine of creation, and the Reformed approach to scientific practice.  

For more information and to sign up for the workshop go to this link: faraday.institute/KuyperWorkshop

Theological Genealogies of Modernity (July 8-11)

The conference will run from 13:00-16:15 (BST) each day.

Genealogies of modernity are broad narrative accounts of the rise and nature of our present cultural condition. Theology nearly always features, in some way or another, in narratives about the formation of modernity, even if its role is just being a discourse and set of practices that was gradually marginalized by the onset of a more secular age. This conference gathers together an international team of scholars to explore genealogies of modernity sympathetically and to evaluate them critically. The contributors will discuss a range of important figures and focused topics, and they will pay special attention to stories that are often, though perhaps unhelpfully, understood as decline narratives—accounts of modernity that do not associate it unambiguously with progress. So-called decline genealogies have significant influence within theology across several confessional traditions, but like any narrative with the massive scope of a genealogy of modernity, making a case for them is necessarily complex. How are “decline” narratives and other accounts constructed? If these stories seek to do something more than just to describe historical processes, how do subtly normative dimensions enter into them? How do genealogical narratives look from the perspective of constituencies that are often marginalized?

Register here: theogenealogies.eventbrite.co.uk

Twitter.com/theogenealogies

Facebook.com/theogenealogies

*Please note that this event is limited to 500 attendees on a first-come-first-served basis, so we recommend that you join each session a few minutes early to ensure a spot.

The Edinburgh Dogmatics Conference

The Edinburgh Dogmatics Conference will take place by Zoom Conference on Tuesday 1stand Wednesday 2nd June 2021.

The conference is organised by the Rutherford Centre for Reformed Theology.

The subject is the Doctrine of the Church and the speakers are: Professor Gerald Bray; Dr Andrew Clarke; Professor Oliver Crisp; Professor David Fergusson Professor Tom Greggs; Professor Tony Lane; Professor Tom Noble; and Professor Stephen Williams.

The Cost of the Conference is £25.

The conference is intended for academics, postgraduate students, ministers and others with a serious interest in academic theology. 

To book a place at the conference, email:  director@rcrt.scot Those who book will receive a full programme and information about how to pay.

ETS/EPS Southwest Regional Meeting – The Problem of Evil (April 23-24, 2021)

The 2021 ETS/EPS Southwest Conference will be virtually hosted by University of the Southwest and will feature live webinars and virtual paper presentations.

Plenary Speaker: Eleonore Stump (SLU)

ETS and EPS members of any rank (including graduate students) from any region may submit a proposal to present a paper virtually at this teleconference. Plenary and individual presentations will be held through virtual meetings. Accepted presenters must provide their own meeting weblinks. The proposal may be related to topics in the fields of Biblical Studies, Theology, Church History, Philosophy, Ethics, or Ministry though preference will be given to papers related to the problem of evil.

To register for the conference, please go to:

https://ti.to/sw-region-of-ets/sw-regional- conference-ets-eps-2021

Development of Doctrine – Conference & Call for Papers: June 10-12, 2021.

The Sacra Doctrina Project and St. Bernard’s School of Theology and Ministry are co-sponsoring a conference and call for papers on the topic of….

Title: Development of Doctrine: Revelation, Magisterium, and Human Reason.

Date & Location: June 10-12, 2021| Rochester, NY

Speakers: Matthew Levering (keynote) Stephen Loughlin (plenary) & Fr. Aquinas Guilbeau, O.P. (plenary)

VISIT: https://www.sacradoctrinaproject.org/conference

Vatican I declares that “right reasoning . . .  illumined by [the light of faith], perfects the knowledge of divine things,” but also that, “the doctrine of faith . . . has not been handed down as a philosophic invention to the human mind to be perfected, but has been entrusted as a divine deposit to the Spouse of Christ, to be faithfully guarded and infallibly interpreted.” (Dei Filius, 4)


How does reason perfect faith? How does the theologian perfect knowledge of divine things while faithfully guarding the revelation entrusted to the Church? If, as St. John Henry Newman says, “here below to live is to change, and to be perfect is to have changed often,” how does our faith stay alive while remaining the same? How do we distinguish between organic and inorganic development of doctrine?

These questions cut to the heart of philosophy and theology as disciplines in service to the Church. Differing answers to these questions are the source of the contemporary crisis in Catholic thought.


Call for Papers:

Please submit a ~300 word abstract by May 12021 to sacradoctrinaproject@gmail.com.

Priority consideration will be given for proposals received by April 1, 2021.

*Proposals already accepted in the 2020 call for papers do not need to resubmit.*

European Academy of Religion – Annual Conference & Call for Papers

It is with great pleasure that the European Academy of Religion announces its fourth Annual Conference, which will take place in Münster (Germany) between Monday, August 30th and Thursday, September 2nd, 2021. Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster will be the organizing institution. As in previous years, the scientific program will be composed of working sessions (panels and book presentations) and keynote lectures that will focus on the overarching topic Religion and Change. (click link for details)

The call for proposals is open: proponents will be able to submit their panels and AMC sessions until Monday, March 1st, 2021 (23:59, GMT+1). (click link for details)

Due to the COVID-19 related emergency, the conference will be moved online in case the sanitary measures should not allow to host it in presence. Conference cancellation will be announced in due time, with further information on how to run the sessions online.


While registrations to the conference will open in early 2021, important dates for proposal submissions are
as follows:


~ Opening of the resubmission of 2020 panels Friday, December 4th, 2020
~ Opening of the call for panels and AMC proposals Friday, December 4th, 2020
~ Deadline for the resubmission of 2020 panels Wednesday, December 23rd, 2020
~ Opening of the call for papers (within accepted panels) Monday, February 1st, 2021
~ Deadline for panel and AMC submissions Monday, March 1st, 2021
~ Deadline for paper proposal submissions Wednesday, April 21st, 2021
~ Deadline for sending the final details of all accepted sessions Wednesday, April 21st, 2021
~ Deadline for requesting changes regarding the scheduling of all sessions included in the conference program Wednesday, June 6th, 2021

2021 Evangelical Theological Society Northeast Region Annual Meeting

Date and Location

Saturday, April 10, 2021
Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (near Boston)
130 Essex Street
South Hamilton, MA 01982

Keynote Speaker

Dr. Michael S. Horton, J. Gresham Machen Professor of Systematic Theology and Apologetics, Westminster Seminary California
“Are We Living in a ‘Secular Age'”?

What: Two plenary sessions by Dr. Horton, with a Q&A session, and 3 sessions of paper presentations by ETS members.

When: Saturday, April 10th — 9:30 AM through 4:30 PM

Where: Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, 130 Essex Street, South Hamilton, MA 01982

Who: ETS Members, students & the general public all welcome.

COVID: Safety protocols (masks, spacing, occupancy, etc.) will be followed. Refunds will be issued for COVID cancellations.

Cost: Registration [includes lunch] is $45.00* / Students only $20.00*
*Deduct $5.00 if you register before March 15, 2021.

REGISTER ONLINEwww.etsnortheast.org

Download Flyer With Mail-in Registration Form and Online Registration link

Follow the links below for additional information, including paper proposals, for the 2021 Northeast Regional Meeting

Important Update for: “Women and God” Call for Papers (Logia Postgraduate Interdisciplinary Conference)

PLEASE NOTE TWO UPDATES FROM THE CONFERENCE ORGANIZERS:
(a) Call for Papers deadline has been extended to Jan 31, 2021
(b) The corrected email to send papers to is logiatheology @gmail.com


Conference date: Thursday 27th, May 2021
(See conclusion of of posting for submission deadlines and other dates)

Call for Papers

We invite short paper submissions on the theme of “Women and God”. Any student currently enrolled in a postgraduate degree programme is welcome to apply by submitting a 100-250 word abstract. Topics might include, but are not limited to: Feminist philosophy of religion and theology; Feminist hermeneutics; The life or thought of women in relation to spirituality; Close engagement with female theologians or philosophers; Theological depictions of women in the arts; Questions of religious authority and female bodies; Female-images of the divine or other feminine religious symbols (e.g. the church as the ‘bride of Christ’, Gaia, Uzza, or The Morrίgan); Discussions of religious devotion that have been historically associated with women’s spirituality; The role of women in religious movements.

Call for Respondents

We are also looking for volunteers from female postgraduate students, post-doctorates, or University faculty to be respondents to papers and chair sessions. Respondents can approach us in connection with a prospective author or independently. Those who are submitting papers may volunteer to be a respondent also.

Registration for this conference is free of charge and open to everyone. All inquiries, abstract submissions or volunteer respondents should email: logiatheology at gmail.com

Keynote speakers

Prof Kate Kirkpatrick is a Tutorial Fellow in Philosophy and Christian Ethics at the University of Oxford. Her research focuses on intersections between philosophy, religion, and culture in twentieth-century French phenomenology, existentialism, and feminism – especially in the works of Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre. Her books include, Sartre and Theology, The Mystical Sources of Existentialist Thought, and most recently Becoming Beauvoir: A Life.

Prof Sabine Hyland is an anthropologist and ethnohistorian at the School of Divinity, University of St Andrews. Her research involves both 400-year old Spanish manuscripts and travel to remote mountain villages in Central and Southern Peru to meet with native community leaders, local healers and diviners. Her books include, The Chankas and The Priest: A Tale of Murder and Exile in Highland Peru, God of the Andres: An Early Jesuit Account of Inca Religion and Andean Christianity and many more. Prof Sabine also features on the History Channels recent documentary Mankind – The Story of All of Us.

Important Dates

Deadline for Abstract Submissions: January 31st, 2020
Notification of Accepted Papers: February 14th, 2021
Papers to be pre-circulated to Respondents: May 8th, 2021
Conference Date: May 27th, 2021

Logia is an organisation within the St Mary’s Divinity School at the University of St Andrews that seeks to support and promote female scholars. https://logos.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/logia/
Many thanks go to the St Leonards Postgraduate Fund (University of St Andrews) for their generous support of this conference. https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/pgstudents/stleonards/

Call For Papers – Negotiating Good Life in Times of Crisis: Voices of Theology and Religious Studies


Call For Papers

PThU International Conference warmly invites you to submit a paper proposal, to participate in this international conference, and to reflect with us on good life from various contexts, in times of crisis and beyond.

We invite paper and panel proposals on, but not restricted to, the following topics:

  1. Historical perspectives on negotiating good life in times of crisis.
  2. Discussions of texts and religious sources that relate to crisis.
  3. Christian understanding and practices as a source for the good life.
  4. Reflections on the relationship between various types and levels of crisis (ecological, health, economical, global and local disparity) and religion.
  5. The critical role of academic theology and/or religious studies when reflecting on crisis, good life and lived religion.
  6. Case studies of empirical practices in past and present through which the good life is negotiated and furthered.
  7. The role of interreligious dialogue and cooperation in negotiating responses to crises and establishing criteria for good life.
  8. Philosophical reflections, such as on the ontology and epistemology of the good life.

Guidelines for submitting proposals – Determine which type of proposal you wish to submit. You can either submit an individual paper proposal or a panel session proposal.

Paper proposal – A paper written by you (and possibly a co-author) that you will present in response to the conference theme. The timeslot for a paper presentation is 20 minutes.  Please submit the title of your proposal, and an abstract of 300 – 400 words describing the content of the proposed paper on the website ( https://www.pthu.nl/en/news-and-events/events/2021/10/pthu-international-conference-negotiating-good-life-in-times-of-crisis-voices-of-theology-and-religious-studies/ )

Proposals must include one’s name, email-address, and current affiliation and position, if any.

Panel proposal – A proposal of a complete session of 3 or 4 different papers on a common theme related to the conference theme, complete with its own description, title, a presider, paper presentations, and (optionally) a respondent. Presenters in a panel session must submit their proposals (each also with a title and abstract of 300-400 words) to the panel session organiser, who in turn is responsible for submitting the entire proposal.

Timeslot for a panel is 60 or 90 minutes, with each paper presentation lasting no longer than 15 minutes. The proposal should include for all participants one’s name and current affiliation or position, if any.

Deadline for submitting proposals: 31 March, 2021.


Conference

Dates of the conference: 25-28 October, 2021
Venue: De Thomas, Prinses Irenestraat 36, 1077 WX Amsterdam
Theme: Negotiating Good Life in Times of Crisis: Voices of Theology and Religious Studies

Keynote lectures by
Dr. Cynthia Rigby, USA
Dr. Allan Boesak, South-Africa
Dr. Aruna Gnanadason, India
Rabbi Awraham Soetendorp, The Netherlands

Young theologians’ panel with
Thandi Soko-de Jong
Ruben van Zwieten
Almatine Leene o.v.
Martijn Stoutjesdijk

Conference Overview

Theologians and scholars in religious studies are called to reflect on good life. This international conference seeks to create a platform for reflecting together on good life in the face of the interrelated crises of today’s world. The conference aims to explore what constitutes a ‘good life’ and in what way ‘good life’ is envisioned and promoted in religion. We will inquire sources as well as beliefs and practices, in both historical and contemporary perspective. How do Christians and others negotiate ‘good’ life in times of crisis?

Crisis situations have an enormous impact on people’s lives. Natural disasters, illness, conflict or violence: they all affect people’s health, mind and social wellbeing. It’s during such times that people reconsider what it means to live a ‘good’ life. How can they flourish when they’re confronted with economic or environmental collapse? How do they give meaning to their lives when their job is on the line? And what makes their lives worth living when they’ve contracted a fatal illness?

Theologians and religious scholars ask questions like:

  • Which sources do we use to define what good (and bad) life is? How do people implement those sources?
  • What makes a source or an activity that furthers good life in times of crisis ‘religious’?
  • What does a Christian understanding and how do Christian practices contribute to good life?
  • How do competing views and practices of good life relate and interact?
  • Can various ways of looking at what good is and how it is obtained, exist side by side?
  • Can we learn from takes on good life that differ from ours?
  • And, importantly, is good life in times of crisis for one compatible with good life for another? Can good life for humans also be good for animals and nature – and the other way around?

Good life is about meaning: Good life is often connected to living a meaningful life: a life worth living, that contributes to flourishing. It can be applied in many other contexts, as well: when coping with crises, vulnerability, fragility, hardships and suffering or in context of care and ageing, communities that deal with disaster and in response to ecological challenges.

Good life from a religious perspective: Viewed from a religious perspective, good life typically relates to a transcendent and ultimate reality. It is, for example, characterised by being created in the image of God, by a covenant, good deeds, salvation, reconciliation, liberation, grace, discipleship, love, service, responsibility, compassion, community and, what has been called, eschatological imagination.

Christian theologians may refer to divine presence and intervention, to God, revelation in the Bible, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, cultural and religious experience. Other religions may call upon different sources. Religious studies scholars don’t necessarily identify with the various religious phenomena and sources they study. This may, in fact, also be the case with theologians when they refer to sources, beliefs and practices from the past. Those were once authoritative and inspiring, but are now challenged by new developments. This hermeneutical challenge also holds for developing views on what is good life in religious perspective in times of crisis.

Renegotiating visions of a good life: Visions of good life need to be negotiated time and again, within a person, within a religion, and between persons, religions, and different contexts and situations. They may coincide or collide with other forces and ideals: political, economic, national, ecological, religious, cultural and many more. This is not only a phenomenon of our time. Throughout history and across the globe, cultural and religious traditions have interacted and often clashed, triggered by processes of globalisation,  human mobility, and economic disparity. Aspects of religions that were long taken for granted are challenged by religious diversity, sexual diversity, awareness of gender, racism and ecology.

Shifting visions on good life during a crisis: In times of crisis, religious identities react and shift. For example, the ecological crisis fundamentally calls into question the anthropocentric worldview of Western Christianity. The current racial struggles challenge the way we read and interpret our religious sources. Health crises involve negotiating moral views on life and death. All these factors challenge existing views of what is good.

Globalisation and good life: Globalisation is an ambivalent process, from many perspectives, including a religious one. On the one hand, a global world triggers world-wide solidarity by religious communities. A multi-cultural and (digital) network society bears the possibility for mutual enrichment of religions. It enables inter-religious dialogue. On the other hand, unchained globalisation may cause wars, excessive migration, poverty, and global natural, economic and health crises, which also bear local and personal effects. In today’s world, the individual, local, regional, national and global levels are inextricably connected. In turn, such crises may bring out the good in people. They learn to appreciate their local communities and environment and display solidarity and care for each other. They take a break from the rat race and may even decide to change their lifestyle drastically.

Religious sources for negotiating good life in times of crisis: History has known other periods with extensive globalisation, such as the periods of Persian, Greek and Roman dominion. The Mediterranean world in this period is the cradle of Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, the classical rabbinic literature, and the Koran were consolidated or written in this period. These sources bear witness to similar crises and responses to crises in different periods. Yet many of them are considered authoritative or inspiring to the present day. Throughout history, theological reflections on, additions to, and interpretations of these sources have been produced continuously, and they do until the present day. These reflections and interpretations, including those of people from the margins, have led to new practices and rituals. Asian religions such as Buddhism are currently gaining followers far away from their places of origin. Together with new religious forms, they offer sources for, and ways of dealing with good life and crisis.

Dates of the conference: 25-28 October, 2021

Venue: De Thomas, Prinses Irenestraat 36, 1077 WX Amsterdam

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us: conference2021 @ pthu.nl

Organising Committee

Prof. dr. Henk de Roest
Prof. dr. Heleen Zorgdrager
Dr. Lieve Teugels
Shingi Masunda, MA
Drs. Albert Nijboer, International Officer
Esther van Beem, Communication Advisor

Protestant Theological University

The PThU is a specialised university for the study of Christian theology, whose proud history stretches back over 150 years. Its renowned predecessors from Kampen, Leiden and Utrecht joined forces in 2007 to form the Protestant Theological University. Since 2012 the PThU has had its campuses in Groningen and Amsterdam. https://www.pthu.nl/en/

Research

Scientific research at the PThU is divided into two research groups. In the Moving Identities research programme, we ask about the influence of global processes on the identity formation of people and communities. Our research programme Mediating Good Life focuses on the question: what is a ‘good life’? https://www.pthu.nl/en/research/

Society for the Study of Christian Ethics 2021 Postgraduate Conference – Cities of God: Politics, Theology and Ethics

Society for the Study of Christian Ethics 2021 Postgraduate Conference will run from
9am-5pm on Friday, 12 March 2021.

Event Description – This year’s postgraduate conference explores how Christianity informs political realities. We welcome submissions from postgraduate students interested in Christian ethics as well as related disciplines such as moral, historical and practical theology, biblical and religious studies, and doctrine.

Our keynotes speakers are Prof Joshua Hordern (University of Oxford) and Prof Wai-luen Kwok (Hong
Kong Baptist University).

Call For Papers

We will consider several different approaches within theological ethics including, but not limited to:

  • How do the affections, worship and desire shape our political life?
  • How might Christianity shape our understanding of the public sphere, suffering, justice, protest and/or civil disobedience?
  • How does moral philosophy intersect with political theology?
  • What role does the Bible have in our political theologies?
  • In what ways can patristic tradition inform political theology today?
  • How does the doctrine of God and Christology inform our political and ethical lives?
  • How do scripture and doctrine critically engage or undergird political visions?
  • Case studies on how Christianity has shaped the ethical outlooks of particular communities.
  • How does Christian Ethics interact with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights?
  • Papers related to: economies, feminisms, ecologies and climate issues, gender and sexualities, racialisations, citizenship, migration, place and displacement colonialisms, critical and queer theory, disability studies, medical ethics, technologies and artificial intelligence, fictions and poetics, public scholarship and creative pedagogies.

Details

This year SSCE is partnering with the Journal of the Oxford Graduate Theological Society. Attached to the
submission, please indicate in a short sentence whether you would be willing to have your paper
considered for publication in a special edition of the journal.

The deadline for submission is 11 January 2021. Paper presentations will be 20 minutes in length. To submit
a proposal, please email a 200-300 word abstract to pg-convener @ ssce.org.uk. The conference will run from
9am-5pm on Friday, 12 March 2021.

Registration details: https://www.ssce.org.uk/pg-forums.

Three Virtual Sessions on Science-Engaged Theology; Hosted by (NViTA) New Visions in Theological Anthropology.


New Visions in Theological Anthropology (NViTA), an initiative in science-engaged theology 

The NViTA team are excited to announce we will be running three virtual sessions examining topics in science-engaged theology around the AAR and SBL Virtual Meetings. As a member of the emerging science-engaged theology community we would like to invite you to take part in these sessions. You are welcome to attend all or just one of the sessions. 

1.        Teaching science-engaged theology. – Tuesday 1st December 2020  

2.       Puzzles in science-engaged theology. – Tuesday 8th December 2020  

3.       Science-engaged theologies: variations on a common theme? – Thursday 10th December 2020 

For full details including descriptions, a list of presenters and how to register please go to https://set.wp.st-andrews.ac.uk/virtual-sessions/

The NViTA team 

John Perry, Joanna Leidenhag, Sarah Lane Ritchie, Mikael Leidenhag, Kevin Nordby