Stalcup
Lectures 2008-2009Stalcup
Lectures 2008-2009The Stalcup School of Theology for the Laity of Brite Divinity School presents its 31th series of lectures from September 2008 to April 2009. Featuring lectures from Carolyn Oslek, Patrick Henry, Katherine Godby, and Eugene Boring.
Charles Fischer Catholic Professor of New Testament, Brite Divinity School -
Carolyn Osiek is Charles Fischer Catholic Professor of New Testament at Brite Divinity School. She holds a doctorate in New Testament and Christian Origins from Harvard University, and is a past president of the Catholic Biblical Association and the Society of Biblical Literature. She has taught and lectured internationally, and is the author of fourteen books, including Families in the New Testament World: Households and House Churches (Westminster John Knox, 1997) with co-author David Balch, Philippians and Philemon (Abingdon New Testament Commentaries; Abingdon Press, 2000), and with co-editor David Balch, Early Christian Families in Context: An Interdisciplinary Dialogue (Eerdmans, 2003). Her most recent publications are: Ordained Women in the Early Church, co-edited with Kevin Madigan (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005) and A Woman’s Place: House Churches in Earliest Christianity, co-authored with Margaret MacDonald (Fortress Press, 2005).Date: Saturday, September 13, 2008 (8:30 a.m. - 1:45 p.m.)
Location: University Christian Church, Fort Worth
There has been much hype in recent months about secret revelations not in the Bible: the DaVinci Code, the Gospel of Judas, and the tomb of Jesus, among others. Some say that there has been a conspiracy through the centuries to conceal the truth from believers. Others say these are nefarious plots designed to destroy our faith. Could the truth really lie somewhere in the middle? In fact, there is a rich treasure-trove of early Christian storytelling. Most of it is easily available, and much of it has influenced us whether we know it or not, and whether we like it or not. So are these threatening pieces of literature to be rejected as heretical or are they to be appreciated as wonderful contributions that enrich our understanding? Let’s take a look at some of them to see what they contain and how they might help us to appreciate better the traditions in which we stand.
The
Third Fred B. Craddock Seminar on the GospelsProfessor of New Testament, Brite Divinity School - Warren Carter is Professor of New Testament at Brite Divinity School. He came to Brite in the summer of 2007 after teaching for 17 years at Saint Paul School of Theology in Kansas City. His scholarly work has focused on the gospels of Matthew and John, and he has focused on the issue of the ways in which early Christians negotiated the Roman empire. In addition to numerous scholarly articles, he is the author of ten books including Matthew and the Margins (Orbis Books, 2000), Matthew and Empire (Trinity Press International/Continuum, 2001), The Roman Empire and the New Testament (Abingdon, 2006), and John and Empire (T&T Clark/Continuum, 2008). He has also contributed to numerous church resources and publications such as contributing 15 studies on Matthew in The Pastors Bible Study Vol 1 (Abingdon, 2004). He is a frequent speaker at scholarly and ecclesial conferences.
Date: Saturday, September 27, 2008 (8:30 a.m. - 1:45 p.m.)
Location: Northway Christian Church, Dallas
This course will explore the question: how did the early Christians as followers of one crucified by Rome but raised by God negotiate the Roman empire on a daily basis? There is no evidence for empire-wide, state-instigated persecution of Christians in the first-century though there were some local hostilities. Rather, the New Testament texts exhibit a range of strategies by which followers of Jesus made their way in Rome’s world including accommodation, self-protective resistance, fantasies of revenge and destruction, imitation, and alternative social experiences. We will look at several New Testament texts including Paul, Matthew, and Revelation. Lurking throughout is the very pressing question: how do contemporary followers of Jesus negotiate contemporary forms of empire?
Professor of Theology, United Theological Seminary - Andrew Sung Park has been Professor of Theology at United Theological Seminary (Dayton, Ohio) since 1992. He had also taught at the Claremont School of Theology in Claremont, California. His publications include The Wounded Heart of God: the Asian Concept of Han and the Christian Concept of Sin (Abingdon Press, 1993), Racial Conflict and Healing (Orbis Books, 1996), The Other Side of Sin (SUNY, 2001, co-edited with Susan Nelson), From Hurt to Healing: A Theology of the Wounded (Abingdon, 2004), and Triune Atonement: Christ’s Healing for Sinners, Victims, and the Whole Creation (forthcoming, John Knox/ Westminster, 2008). He is interested in liberation theologies, Christian mysticism, science and religion, cross-cultural theology, ecological theology, and global Christian ethics.
Date: Saturday, October 11, 2008 (8:30 a.m. - 1:45 p.m.)
Location: Northway Christian Church, Dallas
We will compare and discuss church teachings for sinners and victims, unraveling the themes of sin and woundedness (han), guilt and shame, guilt-anger and shame-anger, repentance and resistance, forgiven-ness and forgivingness, justification and justice, holiness (sanctification) and healing, and entire sanctification and jubilee. Sinners go through sin, guilt, guilt-anger, repentance, forgiven-ness, justification, sanctification, and entire sanctification (a journey to salvation), while victims take a route of wounds, shame, shame-anger, resistance, forgivingness, justice, healing, and jubilee (a journey to liberation).
The
Second Jean and Parker F. Wilson SeminarProfessor of First Testament, Lexington Theological Seminary - Lisa W. Davison is Professor of First Testament at Lexington Theological Seminary, where she has taught since 1996. Rev. Dr. Davison graduated in 1988 from Lynchburg College with a B.A. degree, graduating Magna Cum Laude). In 1991 she was awarded a M.Div. from Brite Divinity School, and in 1996 a M.A. degree from Vanderbilt University. Dr. Davison received her Ph.D. in Hebrew Bible from Vanderbilt in 1999. Her publications include, Preaching the Women of the Bible (Chalice Press, 2006), a commentary on Job for The New Interpreter’s Study Bible (Abingdon Press, 2003) and essays for The College Study Bible (St. Mary’s Press, 2007) and for Tabletalk (Chalice Press, 2003). She contributed to the Encyclopedia of the Stone-Campbell Movement and an upcoming publication, Those Preaching Women: A Multicultural Collection. Dr. Davison is a member of the Society of Biblical Literature, Forrest-Moss, and Association of Disciples for Theological Discussion. She is often invited to speak to local congregations and retreats.
Date: Saturday, October 25, 2008 (8:30 a.m. - 1:45 p.m.)
Location: Northway Christian Church, Dallas
What makes a person a prophet? How do we distinguish a
prophet from simply a “clanging cymbal”?
Is there a way to discern a “true” prophet and a “false” prophet? This class
will consider the nature of prophecy and the role of prophets in society and the
world. Beginning with biblical teachings about prophets, we will consider the
prophets of the Hebrew Bible and what their words and actions meant to those
ancient contexts and what they can mean today. Then, we will seek to identify
contemporary prophets and compare them with their biblical counterparts. The
class will end with another consideration of how one defines prophecy and
identifies the true prophet among the clamoring voices in our world today.
Director of Field Education and Associate Professor of Practical Theology, Brite Divinity School - Stephen V. Sprinkle is tenured as an Associate Professor of Practical Theology, and has been Director of Field Education since 1994 at Brite Divinity School. A native of North Carolina, he is an ordained minister of the Alliance of Baptists. He is the first open and out mem-ber of the Brite Divinity School Faculty, and the first gay scholar to be tenured in its 94 year history. Dr. Sprinkle is the author of several articles and chapters in books, and of two books, Disciples and Theology (1997) and Ordination (2004), both published by Chalice Press. His current major research project is to tell the stories of LGBT Hate Crimes victims in the United States, in order to call the country to enact hate crimes laws for the protection of all Americans. He and his partner Rob Rodriguez live in Dallas, Texas.
Date: October 28, November 4, 11, and 18, 2008 (7:00 to 9:00 p.m.)
Location: University Christian Church, Fort Worth
People whose sexual orientations are outside the norm have lived and loved since the dawn of church history. Same-gender-loving people have often played a prominent role in both the laity and the clergy but the relationship has often been contentious, even deadly for LGBT people. This course will examine the intersections of two important human experiences: Gay/Lesbian and Christian experiences. We will consider a core theological question: “What is sexual orientation for in the Church?” Our aim will be to provide bridges of understanding between the Church and the last great social group it is still acceptable to revile. This course is grounded in respect and appreciation for all God’s children, and is not a debate about the morality of sexual minority. Our goal is reconciliation instead of conversion. Participants would be well advised to join the class with open minds.
The
Second Joan and Aubrey D. Gearner SeminarJohn F. Weatherly Professor of Religion, Texas Christian University - Claudia V. Camp is Professor of Religion at Texas Christian University, where she has spent her entire career, beginning in 1980. With degrees from Duke University (B.A., Ph.D.) and Harvard Divinity School (M.Div.), she has published or in press six books (her most recent is Wise, Strange and Holy: the Strange Woman and the Making of the Bible [Sheffield Academic Press, 2000]) and numerous articles on the interpretation of biblical wisdom and narrative literature. Her work is always grounded in feminist criticism, but she intersects that perspective with a wide range of disciplinary approaches: literary, anthropological, and socio-historical. Her current research takes place on two fronts: a study of the origins of the biblical canon and another on the history of interpretation (popular as well as scholarly) of the biblical book of Numbers.
Date: Saturday, November 8, 2008 (8:30 a.m. - 1:45 p.m.)
Location: Northway Christian Church, Dallas
Tales of biblical women are sometimes told, and sometimes interpreted, in stereotyping ways: women may be evil temptresses (Jezebel, Delilah), or obedient mothers and wives (Sarah, Mary), or, occasionally, even virtuous heroines (Deborah, Judith). More often than not, though, stories about women present complex moral and theological dilemmas, as well as raising fascinating questions about women’s lives in ancient times. Though answers may elude us, these sessions will invite you to be intrigued and challenged by the stories of Eve, Delilah, Dinah, and Miriam as we ask questions of them and allow them to question us.
The
Second Schubert M. Ogden Seminar on Systematic TheologyProfessor Emeritus of New Testament, Southern Methodist University - Victor Paul Furnish is University Distinguished Professor Emeritus of New Testament, Southern Methodist University, where he served on the faculty of the Perkins School of Theology from 1959 to 2000. He is an ordained minister of The United Methodist Church and a Past President of the Society of Biblical Literature, a scholarly society of more than 8,000 members worldwide. Furnish holds an undergraduate degree from Cornell College (Iowa), a theological degree from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, and the M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from Yale University. He has done research at several German universities with grants from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, and at the American School of Classical Studies in Athens. He is the author of a number of books, including The Theology of the First Letter to the Corinthians (Cambridge University Press, 1999), a recently published commentary, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians (Abingdon Press, 2007), and the forthcoming 3rd revised edition of The Moral Teaching of Paul: Selected Issues (Abingdon Press, 2009).
Date: Saturday, January 10, 2009 (8:30 a.m. - 1:45 p.m.)
Location: Northway Christian Church, Dallas
The sources of Christian theology are many and varied, as are the sundry social, cultural, and even political forces that make it imperative for Christians to keep thinking through the content and claims of the gospel they profess. While it is evident that the significance of the Christ-event is one of the focal concerns of Christian theology, it is equally clear that Jesus himself was neither the “founder” of Christianity nor the first theologian of the Christian movement. The only viable candidate for the title, “first theologian,” is the apostle Paul. This seminar will consider why Paul merits this title, the subject matter and character of his theological thinking, his theological legacy, and how his pioneering efforts both to understand the gospel and to proclaim it understandably can continue to inform and challenge the church today.
Associate Professor of Homiletics, Perkins School of Theology - Alyce M. McKenzie is Associate Professor of Homiletics at Perkins School of Theology. She received her B.A. from Bryn Mawr College (1977), her M.Div. from the Divinity School of Duke University (1980), and her Ph.D. in Homiletics from Princeton Theological Seminary in 1994. Current research interests include biblical wisdom, the sayings and parables of Jesus, the spiritual life of the preacher, preaching on public, often controversial issues, and the lessons that preachers can learn from creative writers. The Rev. Dr. McKenzie is widely published in periodicals and anthologies. Her books include Preaching Proverbs: Wisdom for the Pulpit (Westminster John Knox Press, 1996), “Matthew” in the Interpretation Commentary Study Series (Westminster John Knox Press, 1998), Preaching Biblical Wisdom in a Self-Help Society (Abingdon Press, 2002), Hear and Be Wise: Becoming a Teacher and Preacher of Wisdom (Abingdon Press, 2004), and The Parables for Today, (Westminster John Knox, 2007). She is currently at work on a book entitled Novel Preaching: Fiction Writing Strategies for Sermons. Dr. McKenzie is a frequently featured teacher and preacher at both lay and clergy workshops and conferences around the United States. She, her husband Murry and their three children Melissa, Rebecca, and Matt live in Allen, Texas.
Date: Saturday, February 28, 2008 (8:30 a.m. - 1:45 p.m.)
Location: Northway Christian Church, Dallas
With the proliferation of self help books and the stubborn popularity of the “prosperity gospel,” the cultural landscape presents a vision of the good life very much at odds with that presented by the Bible’s wisdom literature. This study will explore themes from Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Job and the aphorisms of the synoptic Jesus, comparing and, often, contrasting them with advice from contemporary sources of “wisdom.”
The
Second W.A. Welsh SeminarProfessor of American Religious History, Brite Divinity School - Mark Toulouse has taught at Brite Divinity School (Professor of American Religious History) for just over twenty-two years. In January of 2009, he begins a new phase of his work as the Principal (and Professor of the History of Christianity) of Emmanuel College at Victoria University in the University of Toronto. Dr. Toulouse holds a Ph.D. from The University of Chicago and is the author of numerous articles and books. An ordained minister of the Christian Church (DOC), he regularly conducts workshops for ministers and lay people on topics in North American Christianity, Disciples history and theology, and theological education. Toulouse was named a Henry Luce III Fellow in Theology for 1997-1998. In 2006, he completed an analysis of the relationship between Christian faith and American public life published by Westminster John Knox under the title God in Public. He and Jeffica, married for thirty-two years, are parents to three adult children.
Date: Saturday, March 14, 2009 (8:30 a.m. - 1:45 p.m.)
Location: Northway Christian Church, Dallas
The relationship between Christian faith and public life in the United States is not always clear, and often mistakenly assumed by Christians to be something that it is not. The transition since the 1950s from an America that often seemed to reflect Protestant values to a thoroughly pluralistic nation today has had a profound effect on Christian groups and their struggles to think about the nature of public life in relation to faith. Examining this relationship with a critical eye, especially recognizing features of our current context, can enable Christians to think differently both about the language of “God in public” that they hear, and the word about “God in public” that they hope the church will be able to provide. This seminar will explore connections between culture and Christian symbols and compare these with the fullness of witness provided by Christian theology, grounded in a profound sense of human finitude and history.
The
Second Jean and Patrick Henry, Jr. SeminarRabbi, Beth-El Congregation - Ralph Mecklenburger is the Rabbi for Beth-El Congregation in Fort Worth, and has long served as adjunct faculty at Brite Divinity School. A past-president of the Southwest Association of Reform Rabbis, he is the Jewish co-chair of the Texas Conference of Churches’ Jewish-Christian Forum, and serves on the national Union for Reform Judaism’s Commission on Worship, Music and Religious Living. The most recent of his many published articles, “In an Age of Broken Myths, Preliminary Thoughts towards a Liberal Jewish Theology of Christianity,” appeared in the Summer 2007 issue of the CCAR Journal (Central Conference of American Rabbis). Rabbi Mecklenburger earned a B.A. from the University of Cincinnati, and holds earned degrees and an honorary doctorate from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, where he was ordained in 1972. He and his wife, Ann, have two adult children, Elissa and Alan.
Date: Saturday, March 28, 2009 (8:30 a.m. - 1:45 p.m.)
Location: Northway Christian Church, Dallas
Jews, beginning in the 19th century and with painful urgency in the 20th, found that science and biblical criticism, and then the Holocaust and the threat of worldwide nuclear and environmental disaster, challenged cherished beliefs. This seminar, which will include discussion as well as lecture, will examine how influential Jewish philosophers, theologians and popular writers sought ways to explain and defend faith, scripture and religious authority. Modern Christians and Jews share these challenges. We have learned, and could yet learn much more, from each other about potential responses. Among the thinkers we shall examine are Martin Buber, Abraham Joshua Heschel, Mordecai Kaplan, Harold Kushner and Elie Wiesel.
The
Third Fay and Alfred Grosse Seminar on Religion and the Literary ArtsProfessor Emerita, Claremont School of Theology - Marjorie Hewitt Suchocki is professor emerita of Claremont School of Theology, where she was the Ingraham Professor of Theology for many years. She is author of seven books, and speaks frequently at schools and church groups. In addition to her writing and speaking, she also directs the Whitehead International Film Festival each January, and frequently serves on the ecumenical juries at film festivals in Montreal and Berlin. She is a co-director of the Center for Process Studies at Claremont, with particular responsibility for the Process & Faith Program.
Date: Saturday, April 18, 2009 (8:30 a.m. - 1:45 p.m.)
Location: Northway Christian Church, Dallas
One would hardly know there were churches in our communities if Hollywood films were all we could go by--the church is singularly absent. In a few films, however, the church plays a significant role. We will critically explore several of these films, asking: 1) What are the suppositions about the church in this film? 2) How does that contrast with our own experience of the church? We will deal with these questions in each of our sessions together. As you view these films in preparation for the seminar, consider the following questions: Session I: Lars and the Real Girl. Who is the ‘real girl’? What makes her ‘real’? What is truth? Session II: Million Dollar Baby. Why does the main character go to church so often? What is the role of the counseling session in the resolution of the film? How does the church help or hinder difficult decisions? Session III: Places in the Heart. How are each of the characters related to the church? Why do so many scenes in the film revert without reference to the town hall? Session IV: A River Runs Through It. What is the role of the final sermon in the film? How does it compare with the final sermon in Places in the Heart?
The
Tenth Joe A. and Nancy Vaughn Stalcup Lecture SeriesGeneral Minister and President of the United Church of Christ (UCC) - John Thomas is charged with the care and nurture of the spiritual life of the Church, is the principal spokesperson of the General Synod, and is the official representative of the UCC in ecumenical and interfaith relations. Serving previously as the Assistant to the President of the UCC for Ecumenical Concerns, he represented the church in theological dialogues and conciliar bodies and was instrumental in the development of the full communion relationship between the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Reformed Church in America, the Presbyterian Church (USA), and the UCC. Rev. Thomas is a graduate of Gettysburg College (1972) and Yale University Divinity School (1975). He studied at the Ecumenical Institute in Bossey, Switzerland in 1988 and is the author of numerous articles on ecumenical issues. He has received honorary Doctor of Divinity degrees from Eden Theological Seminary, United Theological Seminary, and Yankton College in South Dakota.
Date: Sunday, June 14, 2009 (3:00 p.m.)
Location: East Dallas Christian Church, 629 North Peak Street, Dallas
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