Thinking After

Category: Public Lectures

  • Providence Public Lecture

    If you’re in the Winnipeg area tonight and looking for something to do, consider dropping by the McNally Robinson bookstore for my free public lecture:  “‘It’s the End of the World as We Know It’: Reclaiming an Eschatological Imagination.”  If you’re not able to make it, but are interested in the topic, you’ll have another chance to hear the lecture on Tuesday at the Cultural Arts Centre in Steinbach, MB.  Failing that, you could always consider registering for my upcoming modular course the week of March 4-8 at Providence Theological Seminary on “The Holy Spirit and Last Things.”

     

  • The 2019 Providence Public Lecture Series

    The Providence Public Lecture Series kicks off tonight at the McNally Robinson bookstore in Winnipeg.  Over the next seven weeks faculty from Providence University College and Theological Seminary will be delivering lectures that aspire to make their scholarly work accessible to a broader audience.  Each presenter will deliver their lecture on a Friday night in Winnipeg and then on the following Tuesday evening in Steinbach at the Cultural Arts Centre. (more…)

  • Responding to “A Plea for Pointless Preaching” – A Guest Post by Lissa Wray Beal

    On Thursday, November 1, a surprisingly large and energetic group of pastors, professors, seminary students, and college students gathered at Providence to hear and engage in conversation surrounding my paper, “A Plea for Pointless Preaching.”  The paper was an abbreviated version of an essay that I wrote for Minding the Web: Making Theological Connections.  In the essay, I suggest that the work of “two Stanleys” – the evangelical mega-church pastor Andy Stanley and the theological ethicist Stanley Hauerwas – present two contrasting homiletical paths open to preachers today.  Since that volume will soon be appearing in print, I will not be reproducing the essay here.  However, my colleague Lissa Wray Beal, who served as the respondent to the paper, has graciously allowed me to publish her insightful engagement with the essay here on the blog. (more…)

  • Upcoming Lecture: A Plea for Pointless Preaching

    If you’re in the Winnipeg area on November 1, think about joining us at Providence Theological Seminary for my upcoming public lecture, “A Plea for Pointless Preaching.”  My colleague Lissa Wray Beal, Professor of Old Testament, will be responding to the presentation. Here’s a little teaser for the lecture to whet your appetite: (more…)

  • Teaching Preaching in a Time of Cultural Change

    The Canadian Society of Presbyterian History has released videos of the papers that were presented this past Saturday at the CSPH annual meeting at Knox College in Toronto.  Here’s the video of my presentation of a paper entitled, “Teaching Preaching in a Time of Cultural Change: The Forgotten Story of John J.A. Proudfoot, Knox College.”

  • Back in Toronto: Upcoming CSPH Conference

    I am going to be back in Toronto on the weekend of September 29 to present a paper at the Canadian Society of Presbyterian History annual conference at Knox College.  The subject of my paper is the curious case of J.J.A. Proudfoot, the son of the distinguished 19th century Southwestern Ontario Presbyterian church planter William Proudfoot. (more…)

  • Proclaiming the Crucifixion

    The following is the conclusion to a lecture I recently gave, entitled “Parsing the Grammar of Atonement.”

    All of the biblical metaphors for atonement are needed.  They serve as necessary imaginative windows into the utterly irreducible reality of the reconciliation accomplished in the person of Christ.  “The metaphors,” Colin Gunton observes, “are the means by which it is possible to speak of the meaning of the gospel narratives taken as a whole.”[1. Colin E. Gunton, The Actuality of Atonement: A Study of Metaphor, Rationality and the Christian Tradition (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1989), 42.] This quotation from Gunton is helpful as it gestures towards two significant aspects of how metaphors function, both of which are sometimes forgotten when the metaphors are pressed in an overly theorized direction. (more…)

  • Back by Popular Demand

    Those who missed my presentation at last year’s Wycliffe College Preaching Day will have an additional opportunity to join me in reflecting upon the realities of preaching with Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  I will be leading a workshop at the upcoming Tyndale Preaching Conference on March 6 on the theme “Confessing Christ in Troubled Times: Bonhoeffer as a Resource for Preachers.”  You can find more information about the conference and how to register here. (more…)

  • Bonhoeffer: Following Jesus in a Fragmented World

    I’m going to be delivering a series of presentations on the life and thought of Dietrich Bonhoeffer at Whitby Christian Assembly.  The series will run for four Wednesday evenings starting at 7:00 pm, beginning on January 17.  If you’re in the neighbourhood, come on out and join us. (more…)

  • Reformation Resources

    On September 16, 2017, the Centre for Mentorship and Theological Reflection hosted a special event at Tyndale Seminary to mark the 500th anniversary of the Reformation.  It was a rich evening of fellowship and reflection upon the life, theology, and legacy of Martin Luther.  Video of the evening’s presentations have now been posted online.  (more…)