He is a Past President of the Canadian Philosophical Association, the Canadian Society of Christian Philosophers, and the Canadian Jacques Maritain Association. He currently serves as President of the World Union of Catholic Philosophical Societies, as President of the Istituto Internazionale Jacques Maritain (Rome), and as a member of the Steering Committee of the Fédération Internationale des Sociétés de Philosophie.

Jay Newman was former president and long time member of CTS. He was a prominent Canadian scholar with a keen interest in the philosophy of religion. He authored 11 books, seven of which related to religion or the religious life. He was a member of the Department of Philosophy at the University of Guelph from 1971 until his death on June 17, 2007. Professor Newman left a bequest to CTS for the purpose of endowing an annual lecture in the Philosophy of Religion. It is his generosity that enables us to sponsor this annual lecture.

Canadian Theological Society Conference (Congress)

Wilfred Laurier University, May 2012

At our conference in 2011, numerous students expressed concern over their future career prospects. They also invited CTS to consider ways of facilitating some activity that would be helpful to them in their scholarly endeavors.

To this end, at a recent meeting the Executive of the CTS deliberated over the efficacy of the Student Essay Contest, which saw one student paper chosen for presentation at the conference. The contest has seen dwindling entries in recent years (although student participation at the conference is strong) and we wondered about a more efficacious way of supporting graduate students. We have therefore decided not to run the contest this coming year and to redirect our energies and resources to a more active event.

At the May 2012 Conference, the CTS will host a “speed-networking” luncheon whereby students can interact informally, but within a structured environment, with established scholars. There will also be time for interaction following the designated  “speed-networking” portion of the luncheon. Our intention is to provide students with a venue in which to gather practical information regarding careers in theology. We hope this event will complement existing opportunities for interaction among new and established members.

We have not yet finalized the details of the luncheon but will notify members when we have done so. The event will be free for student members.

The Executive of the CTS invites our established members (i.e., tenured, tenure-track, emeritus, contract, retired, honourary) to share their experience and wisdom with students. And we invite students to take advantage of this opportunity.

To register for this event, please email: Doris Kieser (President-Elect, CTS) at < email hidden; JavaScript is required > by April 1, 2012.

Waterloo, Ontario

The theme of this Congress—Crossroads:  Scholarship for an Uncertain World—invites us to reflect on uncertain changes in the disciplines in humanities and social sciences, as well as the need to generate scholarship that addresses challenges facing our uncertain world.  Theologians are often practiced in engaging the uncertainties that surround our religious communities, our vocation, as well as the chronic uncertainties that well up in human life.  Therefore, the theme seems one to which our members may be responsive in diverse ways.

In order to offer a cohesive program, we invite proposals on the theme of Theological Responses to an Uncertain World.  We will also consider proposals on any topic in theology.  We invite submissions in two formats:

1. 20/20 Presentations

We will again follow the 20/20 format that we used for the 2011 Congress, inviting presentations of 20 minutes with 20 minutes discussion to follow.  Typically the presentation will be an account of a larger research project.  Since members work in a variety of fields and specializations, attention should be given to presenting advanced work in an accessible way.

Submission

Submit a proposal that includes:

• Presenter’s name, institution, and contact information
• Title of presentation
• Proposal of 250-300 words which includes an abstract, the problem your scholarship engages, and the contribution you plan to make.
• Requests for audio-visual equipment (A/V equipment will be available only if it is requested in the proposal)

2. Panels

We invite panels on issues that are relevant to members, especially as related to the theme of the annual meeting.  Panel proposals should be developed to foster dialogue among the panelists and with those attending in the audience.  Thus, we discourage panels which consist of the reading of several papers.

Submission

Submit a proposal that includes:

• Convener’s name, institution, and contact information.  The convener will be the link between the panel and the CTS.
• Names, institutions and contact information of all members of the panel
• Either the name and contact information of the moderator, or a request that CTS provide a moderator
• Title of panel
• Length of panel (40 or 80 minutes)
• Proposal of 300-400 words which includes an abstract, the problem your scholarship engages, the contribution you plan to make, and how you plan to foster dialogue among panelists and audience (e.g., use and allotment of time)
• Requests for audio-visual equipment (A/V equipment will be available only if it is requested in the proposal)

All proposals should be submitted in a Word or .rtf file by email attachment by January 15, 2012 to:

Jeremy Bergen, CTS Program Chair
< email hidden; JavaScript is required >

We will confirm receipt of all proposals submitted by email.  If you do not receive such an email confirmation within 3 days of submitting your proposal, call Jeremy Bergen at 519-885-0220 ext 24234.

Selection Criteria

In selecting proposals for 20/20 presentations or for panels, the committee will consider:

• The clarity and significance of the proposal
• The quality of the contribution to scholarship
• The relationship of the presentation to the thematic focus of the annual meeting
• The contribution of the presentation to a diversity of perspectives and approaches
• The potential for inspiring discussion and engagement among the members

Our goal as a Society is to foster collegial discussion of members’ work and of the work of other Canadian theologians.  All presenters and attendees are encouraged to participate in as much of the program as possible.  We welcome all members, students, and other interested persons to join us this year at the annual meeting in Waterloo, Ontario.

2011 Programme

May 30—June 1

All events will be held in Margaret Norrie McCain Hall 101 (Recital Room), St. Thomas University, unless otherwise noted.

Monday, May 30

9:00-9:10         Welcome, Lee Cormie, CTS President

9:15-9:55         Don Schweitzer, St. Andrew’s College, “The Sociality of Jesus Christ”

10:00-10:40     Concurrent sessions

Christopher J. Duncanson-Hales, Saint Paul University, “Divine Detectives: Globalization and Niklas Luhmann’s Challenge to Theology”

Nick Olkovich, University of St. Michael’s College, “Beyond Hauerwas: Bernard Lonergan’s Liberal-Communitarianism” (location: Margaret Norrie McCain Hall 106)

11:00-12:00     Annual Jay Newman Lecture in the Philosophy of Religion

“Miracles, Models and the Laws of Nature,” Robert Larmer, University of New Brunswick

1:15-1:55         Doris M. Kieser, St. Joseph’s College, University of Alberta, “The Magical,

Mystical Penis – or – Why We Need More Marys”

2:00-2:40         John Perry, St. John’s College, University of Manitoba, “The Greed of Traders

and Bankers on ‘Coasts and Continents’”

3:00-3:50         Presidential Address, Lee Cormie, University of St. Michael’s College

3:55-5:00         CTS Annual General Meeting

7:00-8:30         Craigie Lecture (organized by CSBS, sponsored by CTS, CSSR, CSPS, CSCH):

“New Perspectives on the Sect of the Dead Sea Scrolls,” John J. Collins, Yale Divinity School (location: Margaret Norrie McCain Hall 100, Noel Kinsella  Auditorium, St. Thomas University)

Tuesday, May 31

9:00-9:40         Timothy Harvie, St. Mary’s University College, “In Search Of An Ethics Of Hope: Jürgen Moltmann, Catholic Social Thought and an Eschatological Economy”

9:45-10:25       Concurrent sessions –

Abigail Lofte, University of St. Michael’s College, “Who do you say that I am? A Postcolonial Hermeneutic of Resurrection”

Michael Tapper, Saint Paul University, “Other as Opponent: A Look at the Presuppositions of Canadian Evangelicals and their Critics” (location: Margaret Norrie McCain Hall 106)

10:40-11:20     Student Essay Contest winner: Hyunjoon (John) Park, Knox College, “The Hermeneutical Challenges in Interpreting Genesis 13:1-18”

11:25-12:05     Roundtable discussion: Unionization in Theological Schools

Moderator:      Alyda Faber, Atlantic School of Theology

Panelists:         to be confirmed

1:15-1:55         Christopher De Bono, University of St. Michael’s College, “At Sea in the New World of Clinical Chaplaincy: ‘Theology’ Overboard?”

2:00-2:40         Susan Willhauck, Atlantic School of Theology, “The Urban Dictionary, Street Wisdom and God:  An Intersection of Linguistics and Theology”

3:00-4:30         Panel:  “Joanne McWilliam’s Contribution to the Study of Religion in Canada”

Moderator:      Ellen Leonard, University of St. Michael’s College

Panelists:         Mary Ann Beavis, St. Thomas More College

Theodore de Bruyn, University of Ottawa

Jane Barter Moulaison, University of Winnipeg

Peter Slater, Trinity College

5:00-7:00         Presidents’ Reception (Congress event)

Location: Ballroom, Student Union Building, UNB
6:30                 CTS Dinner

Location: Brewbakers, 546 King Street, www.brewbakers.ca

Wednesday, June 1

9:00-9:40         Harold Wells, Emmanuel College, “God and the Rising Seas: Kenosis as Theodicy”

10:00-11:30     Panel: “The Place of Sub-Saharan African Christianity in World Christianity”

Moderator:      Lee Cormie, University of St. Michael’s College

Panelists:         Stan Chu Ilo, University of St. Michael’s College

Iheanyi Enwerem, St. Thomas More College

Joseph Ogbonnaya, University of St. Michael’s College

Also, don’t forget that the Annual Meeting of the CTS will take place in Fredericton, NB, during Congress 2011 from May 30 through June 1, 2011.

DRAFT Schedule: Annual Meeting at Congress 2011, Fredericton, NB

Canadian Theological Society

2011 Programme

May 30—June 1

All events will be held in Margaret Norrie McCain Hall 101 (Recital Room), St. Thomas University, unless otherwise noted.

Monday, May 30

9:00-9:10         Welcome, Lee Cormie, CTS President

9:15-9:55         Don Schweitzer, St. Andrew’s College, “The Sociality of Jesus Christ”

10:00-10:40     Concurrent sessions

Christopher J. Duncanson-Hales, Saint Paul University, “Divine Detectives: Globalization and Niklas Luhmann’s Challenge to Theology”

Nick Olkovich, University of St. Michael’s College, “Beyond Hauerwas: Bernard Lonergan’s Liberal-Communitarianism” (location: Margaret Norrie McCain Hall 106)

11:00-12:00     Newman Lecture, Robert Larmer, University of New Brunswick

1:15-1:55         Doris M. Kieser, St. Joseph’s College, University of Alberta, “The Magical, Mystical Penis – or – Why We Need More Marys”

2:00-2:40         John Perry, St. John’s College, University of Manitoba, “The Greed of Traders and Bankers on ‘Coasts and Continents’”

3:00-3:50         Presidential Address, Lee Cormie, University of St. Michael’s College

3:55-5:00         CTS Annual General Meeting

7:00-8:30         Craigie Lecture (organized by CSBS, sponsored by CTS, CSSR, CSPS, CSCH):

“New Perspectives on the Sect of the Dead Sea Scrolls,” John J. Collins, Yale Divinity School (location: Margaret Norrie McCain Hall 100, Noel Kinsella Auditorium, St. Thomas University)

Tuesday, May 31

9:00-9:40         Timothy Harvie, St. Mary’s University College, “In Search Of An Ethics Of Hope: Jürgen Moltmann, Catholic Social Thought and an Eschatological                                 Economy”

9:45-10:25       Concurrent sessions –

Abigail Lofte, University of St. Michael’s College, “A Postcolonial Hermeneutic of Resurrection: Christological Themes of the Body, Glorification, and Salvation”

Michael Tapper, Saint Paul University, “Other as Opponent: A Look at the Presuppositions of Canadian Evangelicals and their Critics” (location: Margaret Norrie McCain Hall 106)

10:40-11:20     Student Essay Contest winner: Hyunjoon (John) Park, Knox College, “The Hermeneutical Challenges in Interpreting Genesis 13:1-18”

11:25-12:05     Bertha Yetman, Regis College, “Newfoundland and Labrador: Seeking the Common Good after the Cod Disappeared”

1:15-1:55         Christopher De Bono, Regis College, “At Sea in the New World of Clinical Chaplaincy: ‘Theology’ Overboard?”

2:00-2:40         Susan Willhauck, Atlantic School of Theology, “The Urban Dictionary, Street Wisdom and God:  An Intersection of Linguistics and Theology”

3:00-4:30         Panel:  “Joanne McWilliam’s Contribution to the Study of Religion in Canada”

Moderator:      Ellen Leonard, University of St. Michael’s College

Panelists:         Mary Ann Beavis, St. Thomas More College

Theodore de Bruyn, University of Ottawa

Jane Barter Moulaison, University of Winnipeg

Peter Slater, Trinity College

5:00-7:00         Presidents’ Reception (Congress event)

Location: Ballroom, Student Union Building, UNB

6:30                 CTS Dinner (location TBA)

Wednesday, June 1

9:00-9:40         Harold Wells, Emmanuel College, “God and the Rising Seas: Kenosis as Theodicy”

10:00-11:30     Panel: “The Place of Sub-Saharan African Christianity in World Christianity”

Moderator:      to be determined

Panelists:         Stan Chu Ilo, University of St. Michael’s College

Iheanyi Enwerem, St. Thomas More College

Joseph Ogbonnaya, University of St. Michael’s College

The Explorations in Christian Theology and Apocalyptic working group invites individual paper proposals for an Additional Meeting to be held during the 2011 American Academy of Religion meeting in San Francisco, November 19th – 22nd, 2011.

The group will host a panel session on the theme:

Jacob Taubes and Christian Theology.

The organizers would especially invite proposals for papers which engage in constructive theological reflection on the themes and arguments of  Taubes’ Occidental Eschatology (Stanford University Press, 2009) and the essays collected in From Cult to Culture:  Fragments toward a Critique of Historical Reason (Stanford University Press, 2009).

Paper presentation will be approximately thirty minutes in length.  Proposals should include your name, institutional affiliation, and the title of the proposed paper, as well as a 250 word abstract.

Please submit your proposal via email to

Doug Harink
(< email hidden; JavaScript is required >)

and/or

Philip Ziegler

(< email hidden; JavaScript is required >)

no later than April 15, 2010.

You can also find the call for papers on the group’s weblog here:
http://theologyandapocalyptic.wordpress.com/2011/03/21/aar-2011-call-for-papers-taubes-and-christian-theology/

Details of the second session, an invited panel which will engage theologically with apocalyptic motifs of the Gospel of Mark, will be forthcoming.

Should you have any questions about the call for papers or the general work of the Explorations in Christian Theology and Apocalyptic group, please do not hesitate to contact me.  Also,  should you know of other friends and colleagues who would be interested in the work of the group or in presenting a proposal in response to the call for papers, please do forward this post along to them.

Kind regards,
Phil

Dr. Philip G. Ziegler
Senior Lecturer in Systematic Theology
Head of the School of Divinity, History and Philosophy
School of Divinity, History and Philosophy
King’s College, University of Aberdeen
Aberdeen  AB24 3UB
United Kingdom

Douglas Harink
Professor of Theology
The King’s University College
9125-50th Street
Edmonton, AB, Canada  T6B 2H3
Ph. 780-465-3500, ext 8062
Fax. 780-465-3534

The CTS looks forward to hearing Mr. Park deliver his paper at the meetings in Fredericton on Tuesday, May 31 at 10:40am. We hope that you will attend to welcome and encourage this new scholar.

2011 Programme

May 30—June 1

All events will be held in Margaret Norrie McCain Hall 101 (Recital Room), St. Thomas University, unless otherwise noted.

Monday, May 30

9:00-9:10         Welcome, Lee Cormie, CTS President

9:15-9:55         Don Schweitzer, St. Andrew’s College, “The Sociality of Jesus Christ”

10:00-10:40     Concurrent sessions

Christopher J. Duncanson-Hales, Saint Paul University, “Divine Detectives: Globalization and Niklas Luhmann’s Challenge to Theology”

Nick Olkovich, University of St. Michael’s College, “Beyond Hauerwas: Bernard Lonergan’s Liberal-Communitarianism” (location: Margaret Norrie McCain Hall 106)

11:00-12:00     Newman Lecture, Robert Larmer, University of New Brunswick

1:15-1:55         Doris M. Kieser, St. Joseph’s College, University of Alberta, “The Magical, Mystical Penis – or – Why We Need More Marys”

2:00-2:40         John Perry, St. John’s College, University of Manitoba, “The Greed of Traders and Bankers on ‘Coasts and Continents’”

3:00-3:50         Presidential Address, Lee Cormie, University of St. Michael’s College

3:55-5:00         CTS Annual General Meeting

7:00-8:30         Craigie Lecture (organized by CSBS, sponsored by CTS, CSSR, CSPS, CSCH):

“New Perspectives on the Sect of the Dead Sea Scrolls,” John J. Collins, Yale Divinity School (location: Margaret Norrie McCain Hall 100, Noel Kinsella Auditorium, St. Thomas University)

Tuesday, May 31

9:00-9:40         Timothy Harvie, St. Mary’s University College, “In Search Of An Ethics Of Hope: Jürgen Moltmann, Catholic Social Thought and an Eschatological                                 Economy”

9:45-10:25       Concurrent sessions –

Abigail Lofte, University of St. Michael’s College, “A Postcolonial Hermeneutic of Resurrection: Christological Themes of the Body, Glorification, and Salvation”

Michael Tapper, Saint Paul University, “Other as Opponent: A Look at the Presuppositions of Canadian Evangelicals and their Critics” (location: Margaret Norrie McCain Hall 106)

10:40-11:20     Student Essay Contest winner: Hyunjoon (John) Park, Knox College, “The Hermeneutical Challenges in Interpreting Genesis 13:1-18”

11:25-12:05     Bertha Yetman, Regis College, “Newfoundland and Labrador: Seeking the Common Good after the Cod Disappeared”

1:15-1:55         Christopher De Bono, Regis College, “At Sea in the New World of Clinical Chaplaincy: ‘Theology’ Overboard?”

2:00-2:40         Susan Willhauck, Atlantic School of Theology, “The Urban Dictionary, Street Wisdom and God:  An Intersection of Linguistics and Theology”

3:00-4:30         Panel:  “Joanne McWilliam’s Contribution to the Study of Religion in Canada”

Moderator:      Ellen Leonard, University of St. Michael’s College

Panelists:         Mary Ann Beavis, St. Thomas More College

Theodore de Bruyn, University of Ottawa

Jane Barter Moulaison, University of Winnipeg

Peter Slater, Trinity College

5:00-7:00         Presidents’ Reception (Congress event)

Location: Ballroom, Student Union Building, UNB

6:30                 CTS Dinner (location TBA)

Wednesday, June 1

9:00-9:40         Harold Wells, Emmanuel College, “God and the Rising Seas: Kenosis as Theodicy”

10:00-11:30     Panel: “The Place of Sub-Saharan African Christianity in World Christianity”

Moderator:      to be determined

Panelists:         Stan Chu Ilo, University of St. Michael’s College

Iheanyi Enwerem, St. Thomas More College

Joseph Ogbonnaya, University of St. Michael’s College

May 30-June 1, 2011

Fredericton, NB

“Coasts and Continents: Exploring Peoples and Places”

The theme, ‘Coasts and Continents: Exploring peoples and places’ takes advantage of St. Thomas University and University of New Brunswick’s maritime and coastal position in Atlantic Canada and stresses the geographical, historical, literary, artistic, socio-economic and political links across the globe. Place is important as it directly and indirectly shapes an individual’s and a people’s experience. Located strategically within a global context, Congress 2011 provides a bridge to, and a link between, places and peoples.

At the same time ‘Coasts and Continents’ challenges us to reach out to take advantage of our location to embrace the Atlantic world and beyond. This theme opens up further possibilities of interchange — not only between places and peoples but also of ideas. In addition, ‘Coasts and Continents’ suggests the far-reaching potential of the humanities and social sciences for understanding the complexities of our expanding world and for challenging arbitrary borders and boundaries through interdisciplinarity.

The Congress theme of ‘Coasts and Continents: Exploring Peoples and Places’ resonates with many recent emphases in theology, such as:

• ‘globalization’, shifting cultural and religious frontiers and borderlands, new opportunities for dialogue across historic gaps and barriers;
• the emergence of post-Eurocentric Christianity age as the demographic centre of gravity shifts from North to South;
• shifting scholarly landscapes as historically marginalized voices and traditions join global dialogues;
• challenges to familiar readings of the bible, church traditions, and authority;
• fears about ‘syncretism;’ but also creative processes of religious / cultural ‘deconstruction’ and ‘reconstruction, new experiences of ‘inculturation,’ ‘hybridity,’ mestizaje;
• and recognition of theological diversity in an emerging theological pluriverse, so powerfully echoing the ancient symbol of Pentecost for a new world.

We invite papers on these and related themes, or on any topic of theology.

The specific reason for gathering as a Society is to promote discussion, debate, exchange, and collaboration among members.  To this end, the CTS/STC Executive has reconfigured the format of the “Regular Paper.”  The CTS/STC Executive also encourages all presenters to participate in as much of the program as possible.  Please remember that the CTS/STC has an inclusive language policy.

We invite proposals in one of the following three types:

Regular Paper: Presentation of 20 minutes, plus 20 minutes for discussion. Typically the presentation will be an account of a larger research project.  This format offers an opportunity to make a presentation—sketching an area of scholarly debate, key issue(s), and contribution(s) to advancing discussions—and to engage in extended dialogue with participants.  Since CTS members work in a variety of fields and specializations, attention should be given to presenting advanced work in an accessible way.

Special Paper: a formal presentation of 40 minutes, plus a 15 minute prepared response and 30 minutes for discussion.  The proposal must include the name and affiliation of the respondent.

Workshops, Panels, and Seminars: formal presentations and responses and general discussion, lasting 1½ hours. The person organizing such a session is responsible for setting the topic and enlisting participants (including moderator).

Please insure that the abstract does not include identifying information. Proposals will be reviewed anonymously, though exceptions may be made for some panels.

Proposals must have the following:

• presenter’s name, institutional affiliation, and contact information;
• title;
• type of session (regular paper, special paper, workshop, panel, or seminar);
• abstract of 200-250 words, including reference to theological dimensions and/or implications of the project;
• request for audio-visual equipment.

For all types of presentations, please submit proposal (in a Word or .rtf file by email attachment) by Friday, January 14, 2011 to:

Jeremy Bergen, CTS Program Chair
Conrad Grebel University College

e-mail: < email hidden; JavaScript is required >

*If you do not receive such an email confirmation of receipt within 3 days of submitting your proposal, call Jeremy Bergen at 519-885-0220 ext 24234.  It is your responsibility to ensure that your proposal has been received.

The CTS/STC Executive will meet in February 2011 to establish the program.

Subscriptions to SR, as the journal is known by the religious scholars in Canada, is included in the membership fees for CTS. With the development of the new online access to the journal, each CTS full member will continue to receive a print version of the journal as well as online access to the complete archive. Articles will be available online as soon as they are prepared for publication, with the print version arriving as soon as the contents are complete.  It is hoped that this will make articles available on a more timely basis.

In addition to the journal, CTS also participates in the publication series of the CCSR. There continue to be published by the Wilfrid Laurier University Press and Les Presses de l’Université Laval. We encourage CTS members to contribute to all of these publications.

NOTE: Fully-paid members of the CTS should have received an email directly from SAGE regarding online access to the journal. If you have not received your access instructions, please check your membership status with the CTS Secretary at < email hidden; JavaScript is required >. Once you have established your username and password with SAGE, you can access the journal directly from the CTS website (see the link on the menu).

Beyond Christendom: New Maps

Dr. Justo L. González

The nineteenth and twentieth centuries have brought momentous changes to the map of Christianity, so that it is no longer possible to speak of Christendom in either geographical or theological terms. How is not only the present reality, but also on the way we look at the entire history of Christianity, reflected in the interpretation of Christianity’s canonical texts? What does the incarnation of Christianity in a wide variety of often conflicting contexts imply for its unity?

Joint CSPS/CSSR/CSBS/CTS/CSCH Lecture
organized by CTS, with financial support from the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences

Monday, May 31, 2010 at 7:30 p.m.
Concordia University, 1450 Guy (Montreal)
MB 1-210, reception to follow in MB 4-101

Justo L. Gonzalez, author of the highly praised three-volume History of Christian Thought and the two-volume Story of Christianity and other major works, attended United Seminary in Cuba, received his M.A. at Yale, and was the youngest person to be awarded a Ph.D. in historical theology at Yale. Dr. Gonzalez is now on the faculty of the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta.

On the Correlation of the Eucharist with Christ in Peter Martyr Vermigli’s
Oxford Treatise and Disputation on the Eucharist (1549):
Considerations from the Philosophy of Religion Perspective

by Maurice Boutin
John W. McConnell Professor of Philosophical Theology & Philosophy of Religion,
Faculty of Religious Studies, McGill University

Tuesday, June 1st, 2010, 11:30 am-12:30 pm
Concordia University, 1450 Guy (Montreal)
MB 3-430

A new lectureship made possible by the estate of the late Jay Newman, a long time member and former president of the Canadian Theological Society. He was a prominent Canadian scholar with a keen interest in the philosophy of religion. He authored eleven books, seven relating to religion or the religious life. He was a member of the Department of Philosophy at the University of Guelph from 1971 until his death on June 17, 2007. Professor Newman left a bequest to CTS for the purpose of endowing an annual lecture in the Philosophy of Religion.

Panel: The Ecumenist and Critical Theology in Canada
Monday, 31 May, 9:00 – 10:30 (MB 3-210)

Panelists: Christine Jamieson, Concordia University; Scott Kline, St. Jerome’s University, University of Waterloo; David Seljak, St. Jerome’s University, University of Waterloo
Respondent: Gregory Baum, McGill University & Le Centre justice et foi
Chair: Don Schweitzer, St. Andrew’s College

This panel traces the development of The Ecumenist, a small but influential theological journal edited by Gregory Baum, from 1962 to 2004, and David Seljak, from 2004 to the present. Christine Jamieson situates The Ecumenist within the context of Gregory Baum’s critical theology, focusing particularly on Baum’s ethic of solidarity. David Seljak examines a number of the early themes in The Ecumenist, especially the reform of the Roman Catholic Church introduced by the Second Vatican Council, ecumenism and interfaith dialogue (especially with Jews). Scott Kline focuses on themes (such as the work of Karl Polanyi) that emerged in The Ecumenist from the early 1990s to the present, a period which is marked by a certain loss of cultural optimism that lead to Baum to reframe critical theology as a “theology of resistance.”

Panel: William E. Connolly’s Contestations and Augustine of Hippo’s Confessions Regarding Evil
Monday, 31 May, 9:00 – 10:30 (MB 3-445)

Presenter: Peter Slater, Trinity College, University of Toronto
Respondents: Kathleen Skerrett, Grinnell College; Nathan Colborne, University of Nipissing; Michel Despland, Concordia University
Chair: to be determined

In several texts, Connolly targets “the Augustinian imperative” to construe difference as heresy, thereby demonizing “the other,” as a major impetus to “fundamentalist unitarianism.” A pragmatic pluralist, he addresses the political ramifications of confessional discourse, allowing for contestable but not dogmatic transcendentalism, while himself espousing non-secular immanentism owing much to Nietzsche and Foucault.

Peter Slater argues that Connolly’s reading misses dialogical nuances in Augustine’s accounts of the temptations of finite goodness and construal of evil in terms of perversion and privation of loving participation in absolute goodness. Read in the context of his own times, Connolly’s  rejection of Augustine’s sense of hierarchical ordering and privileging of ambiguously embodied, egalitarian freedom raises questions for a contemporary Augustinian theology of divine grace exemplified more by Dietrich Bonhoeffer than by Osama Bin Laden or George W. Bush. The text will be circulated to those at the meeting but not read in full.

Kathleen Skerrett’s review article on Connolly’s reading of Augustine (JAAR 72:2, 2004) and subsequent studies of his tragic reading of Genesis draw attention to his essays at a “postsecular, democratic primer on asceticism for the twenty-first century” which balance moral intelligibility with embodied sensibility in any process of faith seeking understanding, whether political and/or theological.

Student Essay Contest Winner: Gregory of Nyssa’s Contra usurarios and Related Sermons
Andrew Staples, Concordia University
Monday, 31 May, 10:45 – 11:45 (MB 3-210)

Zimbabwe: Religion and Ecology in Convergence?”
Robert Matikiti, University of Zimbabwe
Monday, 31 May, 1:00 – 1:55 (MB 3-210)

Religion is a vital force in Zimbabwe. It provides a way to understand the world, a purpose for living, and power to live by. Closely linked to religion is ecology. The ecological idea is rooted in the worldview and collective experience of the people of Zimbabwe. Both religion and ecology are deeply rooted in culture. Not many examples of indigenous ecological knowledge have been reported in literature in Zimbabwe. There is a particularly marked dearth of such studies. Ecotheology is immensely enhancing the Government’s scientific methods of environmental management. The aim of this paper is describe and examine the sacred indigenous ecological knowledge and its bearing on conservation efforts. Environmental movements have been relatively slow to link traditional ecological knowledge with their ecological agenda. Now, as we face an environmental crisis, people can learn some important lessons from the people of Nharira Hills about how best to manage our natural resources and better protect our environment. In the words of M.L. Daneel (1998:239), ‘insights from the traditions of indigenous traditional people are…important groundings for emerging ecotheology”. This article is based on research in Nharira Hills, which is located 30km to the south west of Harare city in Zimbabwe. The area is located in the heartland of the people who call themselves as ‘Zezuru’. The materials presented in this paper comprise of field surveys and interviews carried out in Nharira Hills. Several persons including the headman, religious functionaries were interviewed and interacted with as regards ways of living crucial in maintaining a balance in nature.

Jesus Christ as Woman Wisdom? Complicating the Gender of Christ
Susanne Guenther Loewen, Conrad Grebel University College, University of Waterloo
Monday, 31 May, 1:00 – 1:55 (MB 3-445)

Feminists like Luce Irigaray criticize Christianity for emphasizing a male Saviour and lacking a female divine figure. How accurate is this claim, however? Is Jesus Christ really straightforwardly male? In response, Elizabeth A. Johnson and Elisabeth Schuessler Fiorenza advocate the retrieval of biblical Wisdom imagery to provide a female divine figure, while Graham Ward and Gavin D’Costa argue against the straightforward maleness of Jesus Christ. Following them, I argue that Wisdom can help complicate the gender of Jesus Christ.

Woman Wisdom is a neglected figure whose words, actions, and even relationship to God correspond strikingly to those of Christ. The retrieval of Wisdom Christology can remind the Church that Jesus is divine, i.e. beyond male or female, and therefore can be imaged as male, female – as in Woman Wisdom – or neither.

The historical man, Jesus of Nazareth, cannot be neglected, but neither can his life be interpreted as misogynistic; he modeled the undoing of injustice, including patriarchy. In feminist/gender theory terms, Jesus can be affirmed as biologically male, but not as conforming to the “patriarchal” socio-cultural male gender of his context. Therefore, the historical life of Jesus Christ does not solidify the male gender of the Saviour, especially since Wisdom performs many of the same actions.

Finally, Jesus Christ is male and female in the members of the Body of Christ, the Church. In the Church, the Wisdom-Word of God is imaged in all believers as their lives conform to his, making the Church the multi-gendered Body of Christ.

Thomas Berry and a Cosmology of Religion
Heather Eaton, Saint Paul University
Monday, 31 May, 2:05 – 3:00 (MB 3-210)

Thomas Berry died in June 2009. Since the 1960s he has been a voice for religious response to the ecological crisis. He has influenced the thought and work of religious scholars, theologians, and activists round the world for almost five decades. Thomas Berry wrote about the need for a cosmology of religion, a larger and more comprehensive understanding than a theology, history or sociology of religion. This paper explores what he means by a cosmology of religion. It will begin with a discussion of religions in their symbolic and historical forms. The presentation will concentrate on what Berry means by religions and religious consciousness as a dynamic of Earth and cosmic processes, and what this implies for theology and religious studies as they respond to the contemporary ecological imperatives.

The Real Impossible Possibility: Reflections on Reinhold Niebuhr’s Relative Justice and the Prospect of Non-Violence
Mark Gingerich, University of Otago
Monday, 31 May, 2:05 – 3:00 (MB 3-445)

Within the writings of Reinhold Niebuhr, a central theme is his notion of imperfect nature of all human action and the subsequent need for the achievement of relative justice.  Rooted in his account of the pervasiveness sinfulness that colours all human striving, Niebuhr rejected a direct relation between the life of Jesus and the possibilities of human action, particularly in its social aspect.  Although this implicates the viability of the practice of non-violence, a careful reading of Niebuhr’s anthropology instead makes available the continuing possibility of non-violent witness.  The structure of this contention is two-fold: first, it will be argued that Niebuhr’s account of human sinfulness makes the achievement of relative justice through violent means uncertain.  That is, a thoroughly Niebuhrean account of human nature questions, rather than supports, the possibility of achieving relative justice with violent action.  Second, it will be shown that Niebuhr’s understanding of the limits of human nature, when engaged Christologically, make non-violent response possible, while remaining faithful to Niebuhr’s conception of the limits of ethical action.  It will be evident then, that Niebuhr’s rejection of pacifism for social politics is, by his own account of human sin, unfounded.  Non-violent response is no more implicated in the imperfection of human action than is violent action; and as well is not necessarily less likely to produce relative justice.  It therefore remains a response that is continually viable, both individually and socially.  The paper will conclude by offering some practices that will help strengthen pacifism’s location within the possibilities of human action.

Presidential Address: Abundance and Wretchedness: Theology as Ethics of Exposure
Alyda Faber, Atlantic School of Theology
Monday, 31 May, 3:20 – 4:10 (MB 3-210)

Beyond Christendom: New Maps
Dr. Justo L. González
Monday, 31 May, 7:30 – 9:00 (MB 1-210), reception to follow
Joint CSPS/CSSR/CSBS/CTS/CSCH Lecture, organized by CTS, with financial support from the Canadian Federation of Humanities and Social Sciences

The nineteenth and twentieth centuries have brought momentous changes to the map of Christianity, so that it is no longer possible to speak of Christendom in either geographical or theological terms. How is not only the present reality, but also on the way we look at the entire history of Christianity, reflected in the interpretation of Christianity’s canonical texts? What does the incarnation of Christianity in a wide variety of often conflicting contexts imply for its unity?

Carl Schmitt and the Political Theology of HBO: John Adams and Rome as sites of discourse on De-differentiated Secularism and the relationship between Violence and Law
Andrew Atkinson, Wilfrid Laurier University
Tuesday, 1 June, 9:15 – 10:10 (MB 3-430)

Since Six Feet Under began airing in 2001, HBO has consistently marketed programming that integrates left wing ideals with various religious traditions.  Aside from SFU, one sees this trend in Curb Your Enthusiasm, Entourage, The Sopranos, and the recent success, True Blood.  The star-studded miniseries, John Adams, and the raucous reinvention of the sword and sandal genre, Rome, are both productions that complicate HBO’s ideological stance and aesthetic.  These two shows delve head-long into theo-political concepts that are usually monopolized by conservatives, such as the friend-enemy distinction, the small and powerful state, and the exceptions permitted to the sovereign.  These concepts find a common focus in the writings of Carl Schmitt, the Nazi Jurist who tightly connected religion and politics in his 1922 publication, Political Theology.  Schmitt wrote, “All significant concepts of the modern theory of the state are secularized theological concepts” (36).  Interest in Schmitt’s concepts on TV has clearly been influenced by what Simon Critchley calls the “Crypto-Schmittianism” of the Bush-Cheney years (Critchley 133-48).  However, while Critchley uses this term derisively there are a great number on the left who actively endorse Schmitt’s concepts even though they are grounded in his right-wing Catholic Christology (Political Theology II 113, 124-5).  Such thinkers include Chantal Mouffe, Giorgio Agamben,  Slavoj Z?iz?ek, and perhaps most importantly Jacob Taubes, who draws our attention to Schmitt’s intellectual engagement with Walter Benjamin over the relationship between violence and law (Taubes 70-6).  This paper will seek to argue that the left-right commonality on violence and law is intimately associated with theological understandings the political; moreover, I will demonstrate that this seemingly arcane academic debate between the iconic left (Benjamin) and right (Schmitt) was significant enough for the general public that HBO produced two very expensive productions that investigated it in detail through dramatic means; they are, of course, John Adams and Rome.

Dusting Off the Doctrine
Catherine MacLean, St. Paul’s United Church, Edmonton
Tuesday, 1 June, 9:15 – 10:10 (MB 3-435)

The purpose of this paper is to enliven the understanding of doctrine in preaching. It addresses regular preaching in denominations that have no strict requirements of doctrine.  Written from within the United Church of Canada, it refers to both the 1925 Doctrine Section of the Basis of Union and the 2006 statement A Song of Faith.

Engaging Anselm’s homiletical theory of faith seeking understanding, I warn of the danger of default doctrine. I establish a discipline to ensure that regular homiletical preparation involves more than simple grace, and engages hard questions. By using one doctrine – grace, say, or hope – often at the neglect of others, we preachers fall into default. The danger is idolatry, losing sight of the fullness of God and centering our faith narrowly. I propose that intentionally preaching doctrine shields the congregation from a preacher’s hobbyhorse, widens biblical study beyond the Common Lectionary, and protects the preacher from excessive use of one dogma.

A preaching practice of dusting off the doctrine moves parishioners beyond a default way of seeing God and life, into deeper theological reflection guided by the traditional wisdom of the church. I propose a discipline for this preaching practice and focus on the doctrine of end things to prove it. United Church preachers tend to be silent on the rapture.

Dusting off articles of theology, one uncovers treasures of meaning which bear on contemporary life in mainstream denominations. This discipline brings coherence not only to the pastoral and intellectual lives of our parishioners but to the fullness of the preaching practice.

Le mimetisme comportemental: un mecanisme de l’apprentissage de la theologie
Frederic Belley, Institut d’archéologie Saint-André, Montreal
Tuesday, 1 June, 10:15 – 11:10 (MB 3-430)

L’objet de cette communication sera de montrer, à la lumière des travaux que nous avons réalisé récemment sur le mimétisme, qu’il existe une manière de parler de la génétique et de la religion qui n’interfère pas avec la théologie.  Les résultats de découvertes récentes en génétique suggèrent qu’une réconciliation est souhaitable, voire nécessaire entre cette discipline, l’archéologie et la théologie.  Cette communication présente les résultats d’un projet de recherche en archéologie et met les résultats dans un cadre plus large.  La religion est-elle l’expression d’actes mimétiques?  La littérature scientifique montre que l’archéologie, la génétique et la théologie sont les interfaces d’un même fait, perpétué sous la forme de vestiges matériels, d’une mémoire génétique et d’une création théologique.  Quand des généticiens, avec la collaboration des archéologues, réalisent des analyses génétiques, ils se heurtent à l’obstacle de la mémoire génétique.  Plus nous voulons connaître les origines d’un personnage et d’un fait historiques et plus un vestige matériel est ancien, plus il est difficile d’en extraire tout l’ADN pour en reconstituer un portrait complet et parfait.  Le contexte sociohistorique révélé par l’archéologie et la génétique est le produit de tentatives de reconstitution du portrait des personnages, comme Jésus, qui sont à la base de la théologie.  Reconstituer des connaissances liées à un personnage historique est un processus d’apprentissage.  Cette communication montre certaines limites aux analyses génétiques, à l’archéologie et réfléchit sur la contribution de ces disciplines à la théologie.  En conclusion, la reproduction d’un acte est le fondement de la mémorisation d’une technique.

Public Hope in Dialogue: The Debate Between Moltmann and Ratzinger as a Means to Public Theology
Timothy Harvie, St. Mary’s University College
Tuesday, 1 June, 10:15 – 11:10 (MB 3-435)

In 2008, eminent theologian of hope, Jürgen Moltmann, published a critical response to Pope Benedict XVI’s encyclical Spe salvi.  This paper will analyze the main contours of Moltmann’s argument in light of a summary of the theological contents of the relevant papal encyclical and highlight the ongoing debate between Moltmann’s public theology and Joseph Ratzinger.  This paper will use the above mentioned debate as a launching point to analyze the relatively unexplored topic of Moltmann’s engagment with Catholic theology (Jean-Louis Souletie, La Croix de Dieu [Cerf: 1997]) with a particular view to the ethical critiques prominent in Moltmann’s account (i.e. Moltmann, Trinität und Reich Gottes [Chr. Kaiser:1980], pp.217-227).  By outlining Moltmann’s eshcatological and ethical theology of hope this paper will analyze the ad hoc engagement with Catholic theologians which Moltmann employs throughout his writings.  The paper will call several of these readings into question utilizing encyclicals from the Catholic social tradition and documents from the Second Vatican Council complimented by the doctrine of hope outlined by St. Thomas Aquinas in his Summa Theologiae (IIaIIae.17-22). This intersection between Moltmann and the Roman Catholic Church on the ethical relevance of theological doctrines raises pertinent issues regarding the potential for an eschatologically informed public theology to be a potential avenue of viable theological dialogue between traditions through a coherent and ecclesiologically informed public ethic.

Newman Lecture
Maurice Boutin, McGill University
Tuesday, 1 June, 11:30 – 12:30 (MB 3-430)

On the Correlation of the Eucharist with Christ in Peter Martyr Vermigli’s Oxford Treatise and Disputation on the Eucharist (1549): Considerations from the Philosophy of Religion Perspective

Reinterpreting the Doctrines of Original Sin and Sanctifying Grace: Integrating Insights from Sociology and the Evolutionary Sciences
Nick Olkovitch, University of St. Michael’s College
Tuesday, 1 June, 1:45 – 2:40 (MB 3-430)

This paper aims to investigate and integrate two complementary attempts to account for what Canadian philosopher and theologian Bernard Lonergan regards as moral impotence, those forms of personal and group egotism – traditionally termed concupiscence – that are central to the classical doctrine of original sin. Whereas proponents of the ‘cultural-transmission model’ such as Piet Schoonenberg account for the universality of moral impotence in neo-Pelagian terms by stressing the prevolitional inheritance of certain culturally mediated predispositions to personal and group egotism, advocates of the ‘evolutionary-transmission model’ – typified by the work of Stephen J. Pope, Philip Hefner and Daryl Domning – argue that this emphasis is at best only half-correct. From a broader perspective that places personal and cultural development within the context of biological evolution, concupiscence refers not only to certain culturally mediated proclivities but also to certain biologically inherited predispositions to disordered forms of self-interest, kin love, reciprocity, and group identification. In the absence of grace, these evolved predispositions constrain the subject’s ability to discern and respond to her emergent desire for cognitive and moral self-transcendence, thereby negatively conditioning the distinctively human process of personal and cultural development. Grace does not negate these predispositions but reintegrates and perfects them by subordinating these proclivities to the subject’s desire for knowledge of, and communion with God. Only this synthesis of sociobiological, sociological and theological insights is capable of providing a sufficiently comprehensive foundation for reinterpreting the anti-Pelagian intention of the doctrine of original sin and for developing a credible, contemporary theology of grace.

Critical Political Theology in an Apocalyptic Key: A Reception of the Work of Jacob Taubes
Kornel Zathureczky, University of Sudbury
Tuesday, 1 June, 1:45 – 2:40 (MB 3-435)

Jacob Taubes’ last lecture on ‘The Political Theology of Paul’ offered a significant opening to help to reconsider – as a phenomenon imbued with the tensions that exists before a an ultimate separation – the central figure of Christian history from the perspective of the tradition of Jewish messianism. Taubes’ other recently translated works, ‘Occidental Eschatology’ and ‘From Cult to Culture,’ generated an added impetus to revisit this hidden core of Christianity. Essential in this enterprise is a reconsideration of the enduring significance of comic Gnostic dualism for a better understanding of what is at stake with the, often suppressed and marginalised, apocalyptic dimension of Christianity and how by retrieving this dimension may serve to construe a critical political theology in what many, including Taubes, consider as a post-Christian stage in history, an epoch that corresponds to Joachim of Fiore’s ‘ecclesia spiritualis.’

The paper’s purpose is thus two-fold: First, it offers a critical reception of the thought of Taubes, one that evaluates his contribution to the genealogy of political theologies. Second, it proposes to draw up the outlines of a contemporary political theology in an apocalyptic key. Here, the recent work of Žižek and Milbank on the apocalyptic substrate of God’s kenosis in Christ serves as a vital conversation partner to further the development of a new political theology in a post-political global bio-polis.

Eco-Theology and the State of Christian Environmentalism in Québec
Robert Smith, Concordia University
Tuesday, 1 June, 2:45 – 3:25 (MB 3-430)

This paper draws from the results of a recent interdisciplinary project at Concordia University entitled “River Ecology, Policies, and Values.” The endeavor is part of a pilot project aimed at creating a multidisciplinary Institute of Sustainability Studies that includes humanistic disciplines like Theological Studies.

The emphasis of this paper centers on the field of Environmental Theology as it relates to socio-spiritual values, and the interface between Church communities and conservation efforts in the Québec region.  An introductory section includes a sociological examination of the human-environmental interactions and challenges of the Saint Lawrence River, as well as a brief discussion on the practical relation between spiritual values, environmental attitudes and behavior.  A second section compares the lack of environmental activism in the mainstream Church in Québec, which tends to separate environmental and social justice issues, with the efforts of more progressive grassroots organizations such as the Green Church and the Guardians of Creation.  This includes an examination of hermeneutical differences, which reflect a shift in the Christian environmental consciousness that corresponds to historical, scientific and technological trends.  A fourth and final section seeks to define (1) how people in the region see the environment as part of their lives, (2) why spiritual values should be understood as part of future environmental policy developments, (3) what approaches have already been tried and what lessons can be learned, and (4) how the Church can collaborate with science and technology to aid society in transitioning towards truly sustainable policies and practices.

Martin Luther on Preaching the Real Presence of Christ
Allan Jorgenson, Waterloo Lutheran Seminary
Tuesday, 1 June, 2:45 – 3:25 (MB 3-435)

In this paper I explore the significance of the so-called Finnish interpretation of Luther Studies for Luther’s theology of the Word and his recommendation of the praxis of preaching.  The Finnish interpretation suggests that Luther’s epistemology was closely aligned with that of his Medieval forebears in his closely linking epistemology to ontology.  This perspective of Luther was lost on many early interpreters of Luther, who operated with the Kantian divorce of epistemology from ontology.  In sum, this view suggests that Luther’s understanding of faith was one in which to know Christ is to know him as present.  In faith Christ himself is present (in ipsa fide Christus adest).  In bringing this insight to bear upon Luther’s theology and praxis of preaching, I explore how preaching itself is an instantiation of the presence of Christ insofar as it calls forth faith.  This understanding of preaching, then, is more carefully connected with sacramental life and so invites the embodied character of the sacraments to be understood as properly a part of proclamation.  In conclusion I consider what this might mean for the praxis of preaching in an age in which the body is too often eclipsed by technology.

World-Making and the Device Paradigm: Constructing a Theology for ‘Connected Understanding’
Kevin Guenther Trautwein, Conrad Grebel University College, University of Waterloo
Tuesday, 1 June, 3:40 – 4:35 (MB 3-430)

The decrease of attention spans is commonly identified as an obstacle to effective teaching and learning, prompting the use of increasingly complex multimedia in the educating enterprise. While such multimedia may be appropriate in scientific, artistic, or political endeavours, the question remains whether they are appropriate for theology. This paper explores the implications of Aleida Assmann’s claim that, like the printing press and the bound book before it, the shift to digital media entails a fundamental change in human cognition, and that attention is what is at stake in this latest development. The loss of attention will be further examined through the lens of Albert Borgmann’s “device paradigm,” according to which the very success of technological devices is responsible for lowering the threshold of effort. While this may seem to be merely a pedagogical concern, Jacques Ellul’s reflections on “words” and “images” provoke questions like, “What happens when the elusive “word” of God becomes a tangible “image” within human control, and is subsequently digitized?” and “Can theology speak of Truth in the face of digital Reality?” These questions are addressed by briefly reviewing historical shifts in media, then describing the current technological milieu and its effects; finally, the majority of the paper is spent outlining a way for theology to move forward. Rather than proposing a luddite retreat from technology, this paper develops Walter Brueggemann’s concept of “world creation” as the positive activity through which theologians contribute to a “connected understanding.”

God’s Patience: Bringing Barth into Dialogue with the ‘Deep Time’ of Evolution
Adrian Langdon, Nipissing University
Tuesday, 1 June, 3:40 – 4:20 (MB 3-435)

Although it has been commonly pointed out that Karl Barth was reluctant to put his theology into dialogue with science, this does not imply that he thought Christian belief to be in conflict with modern science. In this paper I will bring Barth and his theology of time into conversation with notions of deep time found in theories of cosmic and biological evolution. It will be suggested that there are several places in Barth’s thought which invite such a conversation. These openings include his interpretation of Genesis 1-3 as Saga, discussions of the imago dei, his view of natural law and providence, and his general view of the eternity-time relation. But bringing Barth into dialogue with the theory of evolution also entails a critique of Barth, especially his rejection of continuous creation, and suggesting ways in which his theology would need to be supplemented. These supplements include reflections on such topics as divine agency in the process of evolution and a fuller view of the Holy Spirit’s work in creation, both of which point beyond Barth’s focus on divine activity in the history of Jesus Christ.  This constructive and critical dialogue will occur while engaging such thinkers as John Polkinghorne, Arthur Peacocke, and Robert John Russell.

The Suffering Spirit of God: A Pneumatological Critique of the Doctrine of Divine Impassibility
Andrew Gabriel, McMaster Divinity College
Wednesday, 2 June, 9:00 – 9:55 (MB 3-430)

Most trinitarian critiques of the doctrine of divine impassibility focus on the implications that the passion of Christ has for the suffering of God. However, trinitarian doctrines of the divine attributes consistently ignore the implications of pneumatology for the doctrine of impassibility. When these pneumatological implications are adequately integrated into a trinitarian doctrine of the divine attributes, pneumatology confirms for trinitarian theology what has frequently been argued christologically, namely, that God suffers. The biblical texts attribute grief to the Holy Spirit. This divine ‘grief’ includes connotations of suffering, even if one should understand the term ‘grief’ as a metaphor. The notion of the Holy Spirit groaning through and with the prayers of believers as well as the biblical metaphor of ‘rebirth’ further support the conclusion that the Spirit is passible. Lastly, though the Spirit is distinct from creation, the Spirit is indeed immanent to creation and actively enters into the suffering of creation, suffering with creation’s suffering. Overall, these pneumatological perspectives present God as suffering within and along side of that which God has created.

Two Theological Movements in India that complicate Western Reformed Identities
Don Schweitzer, St. Andrew’s College
Wednesday, 2 June, 9:00 – 9:55 (MB 3-435)

This paper argues that Reformed Christian identity tends to lie in characteristics typical of Reformed Christianity, which promote interaction between Reformed churches and the cultures they inhabit. Through this interaction aspects of these cultures enter into their identities. As Reformed churches exist in different cultures around the world, their identities have become diverse and a common Reformed identity difficult to define. The paper then examines how this interaction complicates Western Reformed Christian identities by looking at the challenges posed to Western Reformed Christian identities by two doctrinal developments in India: Indian Christian Theology and Dalit theology.  It examines the demand of Indian Christian theology for the inculturation of the gospel in India, the Christological basis for this, and how this inculturation creates an understanding of the gospel incorporating elements of Hinduism that contrasts sharply with traditional emphases in Western Reformed theology. It analyzes how Western Reformed Christian identities need to be modified in light of this challenge. It then shows how this cross-cultural tension is further complicated by Dalit theology, which demands of Western Christians solidarity with the Dalit struggle against caste oppression, but also resists Western economic and cultural imperialism.

Christian ‘Just War’ Theology and the ‘Eschatological Delay’
David Deane, Atlantic School of Theology
Wednesday, 2 June, 10:05 – 11:00 (MB 3-430)

This paper begins by suggesting a doctrinal answer to the question, “Why, when so many voices from early Christianity offer a pacifist perspective, does Christian pacifism become such a relative rarity after the 5th century?” Central to my argument will be an analysis of a key move Augustine makes that becomes a central facet of Christian Just War theory* ever since, that is, an ‘eschatological delay’ of human participation in the divine life. Augustine, I will argue, is significantly less comfortable with the concept of active embodied participation in the divine life than are many of his predecessors, notably Alexandrian Christian pacifists such as Athenagoras, Origen and Tertullian. Locating coherent participation in the divine life eschatologically, and with it any coherent Christian peacefulness, Augustine must legislate for the now in terms of the hegemony of fallenness. As the now is understood precisely as ‘not the Kingdom’, Christian pacifism begins to be seen in terms of a dereliction of duty towards the, inevitable, victims of violence. I will show that this understanding is inconsistent with other aspects of Augustine’s theology, such as his understanding of sacramentality. I will conclude by suggesting that the reinvigoration of Christian pacifism needs to be based on an active reinvigoration of the soteriological concepts that are avoided in Just War positions, not least, an Alexandrian grammar of theosis. While using doctrinal questions from “Patristic Theology” as its framework, the paper is moving toward the suggestion of a type of soteriology that can fuel Christian pacifism today. As such it could be categorized as historical or systematic theology.

* Not least today through such voices as Oliver O’Donavon and Jean Bethke Elshtain; both of whom use what I call Augustine’s “Eschatological Delay” significantly in their work.

Sexual Theology and Adolescent Female Realities: Integrating Experiences
Doris Keiser, St. Joseph’s College, University of Alberta
Wednesday, 2 June, 10:05 – 11:00 (MB 3-435)

Subject: The Synergy of Psychological Theory and Empirical Evidence Pertaining to Adolescent Females, and Roman Catholic Sexual Theology

Contemporary scholars acknowledge four distinct sources of theology: Scripture, tradition, philosophy, and experience. The fourth source, experience, endeavors to account for the lived realities of persons in the world, both individually, that is, anecdotal evidence and communally, that is, empirical evidence. Thus, theologians address and integrate knowledge from other disciplines as a means of furthering the theological enterprise. However, Roman Catholic sexual theology, particularly official Church teaching, does little to account for the varied developmental and social realities among human persons regarding sexuality and sexual experiences, for instance, adolescent female sexuality. While prematurely sexualizing young females, for example, La Senza Girl, we simultaneously decry their ever earlier sexual debut and the resulting negative consequences, such as sexually transmitted infections or unplanned pregnancies. The Western cultural concern regarding adolescent female sexuality is reflected in the broadly Christian moral insistence on sexual abstinence until marriage. In Canada, however, almost 50% of females will likely engage in sexual intercourse at least once by the time they complete Grade 11. Clearly, the social sexual realities of adolescent females are not in tune with Christian sexual moralities. In this paper, I explicitly engage psychological theory and empirical data pertaining to adolescent female sexualities within a sexual theology accounting for their experiences. I will also address healthy sexuality, as it pertains to adolescent females, in the broader context of sexual flourishing. My purpose is to shed light on young females’ sexual realities and iterate a theology relevant to them.

Please also remember that Congress registration does not constitute membership in the CTS. To become a CTS member, please visit the CTS membership page for instructions.

• 2010 CTS program [updated room assignment for Gonzalez reception and CTS dinner location]
• 2010 CCSR combined program (containing the seessions planned by the CSCH, CSBS, CSSR, CSPS, and CTS)
• Abstracts of the papers at CTS 2010
• CETA program for Congress 2010 [updated with added abstracts]
• Registration for Congress 2010
• CTS membership renewals
• 2010 Registration guide
• Travelling to Montréal for Congress 2010
• Concordia campus map
• Accommodations at Concordia
• Services on campus at Congress 2010

UPDATES:
The Gonzalez lecture on Monday evening will be in room MB 1-210, with a reception to follow in MB 4-101
The CTS dinner on Tuesday evening, June 1st, is at Mesa 14 (1425 Bishop, at the corner of St. Catherine, walking distance from Concordia).

Annual Meeting
Concordia University, Montréal
May 31st to June 2nd, 2010
Connected Understanding

• Abstracts of papers for CTS 2010
• 2010 CCSR combined program (containing the seessions planned by the CSCH, CSBS, CSSR, CSPS, and CTS)
• CETA program for Congress 2010 [updated with added abstracts]
• Registration for Congress 2010
• 2010 Registration guide
• Travelling to Montréal for Congress 2010
• Concordia campus map
• Accommodations at Concordia
• Services on campus at Congress 2010

All papers will be presented in the Molson School of Business, 1450 Guy. The Presidential Reception is in the Grey Nuns Residence, 1185 St. Mathieu. The CTS dinner on Tuesday evening is at Mesa 14 (1425 Bishop, at the corner of St. Catherine, walking distance from Concordia).

There is an early-bird deadline fast approaching on April 1st. “The payment of Congress registration and Association meeting fees are compulsory for every delegate, including speakers, presenters, panelists and those chairing or attending a session.” Congress registration is also required for access to the Book Fair.

When registering, don’t forget to include your registration for the CTS Association meeting. The CTS association meeting fee is only $10 (or $8 for students, retired, and unwaged).

REMEMBER: The Association Fees paid to Congress are not for membership in CTS, they are only for attending the CTS meeting. To join or renew your CTS membership, please visit http://cts-stc.ca/membership/.

Those who have already renewed their CTS membership will be receiving an email from SAGE Publishers soon regarding online access to the journal Studies in Religion. SAGE will be sending you an account number and instructions for access to their website. You will be required to establish a username and password on their website to allow you to access full-text of the latest SR issue and past issues. You will also receive a print copy of the journal.

If you have not yet sent your membership renewal, please download the membership form and send it to Rob Fennell with your membership fee. We will add you to the SR subscription list and ensure that you get back issues.

Membership in the CTS is open to all (students, faculty, researchers, lay, clergy, and members of religious orders). There are a variety of membership categories: regular, student, retired, and unwaged. Each of these categories enjoys the same privileges and responsibilities of membership.

Full membership includes a subscription to Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses (SR). To facilitate membership in other CCSR societies for which SR subscriptions are also included, it is possible to be an associate member of CTS. Associate members have all the privileges of full membership, but do not receive a subscription to SR.

Membership in the CTS follows the calendar year, January to December. This corresponds to the publishing year for the journal. CTS members are encouraged to renew their membership sufficiently early so that their subscription does not lapse. New memberships will be entered for the current year, unless otherwise requested.

Please note: CTS membership fees do not include registration fees for Congress or the CTS annual meeting. These are paid directly to the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences through the Congress website.

To join or renew your CTS membership:

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Atlantic School of Theology
660 Francklyn Street
Halifax, NS
B3H 3B5
CANADA

Journal subscriptions will not be submitted to the publisher until membership fees are received. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the CTS secretary at < email hidden; JavaScript is required >.

Membership fees

Membership fees are for the calendar year. This corresponds to the publishing year of the journal. New memberships will be entered for the current year, unless otherwise requested.

The membership fees are as follows:

* Associate membership is intended for those who receive a journal subscription through full membership of another CCSR society: Canadian Society of Biblical Studies (CSBS), Canadian Society for the Study of Religion (CSSR), Canadian Society of Church History (CSCH), Canadian Society of Patristic Studies (CSPS), Société canadienne de théologie (SCT), and Société québécoise pour l’étude de la religion (SQÉR).

** Honorary members are elected for life by the annual general meeting of the CTS.

Where does your money go?

The fees collected by the CTS consist of membership fees for the CTS and the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, as well as your journal subscription. Here is a breakdown of the fees.

The CTS portion of the fees is established by the annual general meeting at Congress each year. The journal subscription fee is established by the Canadian Corporation for the Study of Religion (CCSR). We are hopeful that CCSR will noticeably lower the subscription fee once Sage, the new publisher, settles on a firm subscription rate for CCSR members (in 2011). The CFHSS fee is a membership fee. Congress registration is a separate transaction payable directly to the CFHSS.

Data privacy

Your address and email address will be used by the CTS to communicate with you. It will also be sent to the CCSR and Sage Publications to facilitate your subscription to the journal, and by the CFHSS to facilitate Congress registration. The CTS membership list is not public, and will not be shared or sold for advertising purposes. Most communication from the CTS will use the new CTS email list, so an accurate email address is essential.

Please forward this message to colleagues in theology who may not be CTS members.

Student Essay Contest

Subject: “Connected Understanding” or another topic in theology

Eligibility: any Canadian student currently registered in a university or theological college, in Canada or elsewhere, or any other student registered in a Canadian university or theological college

Length: 20 pages, typed and double spaced (5,000 words)

Due Date: February 5, 2010 (by e-mail only)

Essays need not be written originally for this contest and may be assignments from a course in theology or religious studies. The topic, however, must be theological in nature. This year’s theme allows for exploration of, for example, theology and globalization, the relation of theology to other disciplines, or the relation of Christianity to other religions.

A letter or e-mail from a member of the theological or religious studies department to which the student belongs, indicating that the student is registered and in good standing with the university or college, must also be submitted for each applicant.

The author of the winning essay will receive a $100 student prize; an invitation to read the paper at the annual meeting of the Canadian Theological Society at Concordia University, Montreal, 31 May-2 June 2010; payment of conference registration and accommodation costs; and a subvention towards travel costs.

Send essays by e-mail by February 5, 2010 to Lee Cormie at < email hidden; JavaScript is required >

Please include with your submission: institutional affiliation, mailing address, phone number(s), and e-mail address. Submission via e-mail attachment in Microsoft Word is preferred.

Send letters verifying a student’s registration in a theological college or university to the above e-mail address, or by mail to Lee Cormie, Faculty of Theology, St. Michael’s College, 81 St. Mary St., Toronto, ON  M5S 1J4

Canadian Evangelical Theological Association

Annual Meeting

Concordia University, Montréal

May 30, 2010

The Executive of the Canadian Evangelical Theological Association (CETA) welcomes proposals for papers to be presented at the May 30, 2010 Annual Meeting to be held in conjunction with the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences at Concordia University in Montréal.

CETA encourages submission of high quality papers on any topic of theological relevance to Canadian Evangelicalism. The theme for this year’s Congress is Connected Understanding (www.congress2010.ca). Papers which address this theme in relation to Canadian Evangelicalism are encouraged.

Papers should be scholarly but not highly specialized presentations aimed at an audience of scholars from across the spectrum of theological disciplines, including biblical studies and historical, systematic, moral and pastoral theology. Proposals from graduate students are welcome.

Proposals should be approximately 250 words in length and should be accompanied by a short CV. To facilitate anonymous review of proposals, please include your name, institutional affiliation, and contact information on a separate page from your paper proposal.  All proposals should be submitted electronically to the address below in either Word or PDF format by February 15, 2010. Please entitle your email “CETA 2010 Paper Proposal.” Papers chosen for participation will be notified by March 5, 2010.

Email all conference paper proposals to:

Dr. Jeffrey McPherson
President, Canadian Evangelical Theological Association
< email hidden; JavaScript is required >

The 2010 Congress of Humanities and Social Sciences theme of “connected understanding” invites an exploration of the impact of digital technology on scholarly research and research-creation, the links that scholars make with their colleagues in other fields and with larger audiences beyond the academic world. Theological reflections on this theme may include topics such as:

• the synergies of interdisciplinary work in theology (with bioengineering, cosmology, ecology, epidemiology, genetics, nanoscience, neuropsychology, political science, popular culture, literature, etc.)
• engagements between theological doctrine and preaching
• digital technology’s influence on church and theological scholarly practice
• public theology and a multi-faith, intercultural society
• engagements with theologies of the global south
• ministry in unconventional settings

While we invite you to submit proposals on any theological subject, we encourage you to consider topics which relate to this theme.

See the complete 2010 Call for Papers.

Congrès annuel
Université Concordia, Montréal
du 21 mai au 2 juin 2010
Le savoir branché

Le thème du Congrès des sciences humaines 2010 évoque l’impact croissant de la technologie numérique sur la recherche et sur la recherche-création.  Il renvoie aussi aux liens que les chercheurs créent avec des confrères travaillant dans d’autres domaines et avec le public au-delà du milieu universitaire.  La réflexion théologique sur ce thème peut inclure des sujets tels que :

• la réflexion théologique interdisciplinaire (en lien avec le génie biologique, la cosmologie, l’écologie, l’épidémiologie, la génétique, les nanosciences, la neuropsychologie, les sciences politiques, la culture populaire, la littérature)
• les relations  entre la doctrine théologique et le sermon
• les effets des technologies numériques sur les communautés religieuses et la réflexion théologique
• la théologie publique et une société multiconfessionnelle et multiculturelle
• l’engagement avec des théologies de l’hémisphère  sud
• le ministère dans les lieux non-traditionnels

Bien que nous vous invitons à soumettre des propositions sur n’importe quel sujet théologique, nous vous encourageons à considérer des sujets reliés à ce thème.

Voir l’appel de communications pour Congrés 2010.

Annual Meeting
Concordia University, Montréal

May 31st to June 2nd, 2010

Connected Understanding

[Cet appel de communications est aussie disponible en français]

The 2010 Congress of Humanities and Social Sciences theme of “connected understanding” invites an exploration of the impact of digital technology on scholarly research and research-creation, the links that scholars make with their colleagues in other fields and with larger audiences beyond the academic world. Theological reflections on this theme may include topics such as:

• the synergies of interdisciplinary work in theology (with bioengineering, cosmology, ecology, epidemiology, genetics, nanoscience, neuropsychology, political science, popular culture, literature, etc.)
• engagements between theological doctrine and preaching
• digital technology’s influence on church and theological scholarly practice
• public theology and a multi-faith, intercultural society
• engagements with theologies of the global south
• ministry in unconventional settings

While we invite you to submit proposals on any theological subject, we encourage you to consider topics which relate to this theme.

We invite you to submit proposals in one of the following four types and in either French or English.

Regular Papers: formal presentation of 40 minutes, plus 15 minutes for discussion.

Special Papers: formal presentation of 40 minutes, plus a 15 minute response and 30 minutes for discussion.

Work in Progress: informal presentation of no more than 20 minutes, plus 20 minutes for discussion.

Workshops, Panels, and Seminars: formal presentations and responses and general discussion, lasting 1½ hours. The person organizing such a session is responsible for setting the topic and enlisting participants.

To facilitate anonymous review of proposals, please include your name, institutional affiliation, and contact information on a separate page from your paper proposal; if you submit your proposal by e–mail, the CTS/STC secretary will remove any information identifying you from the proposal submitted to the executive.

Proposals must have the following information:

• Presenter’s name, institutional affiliation, and contact information on a separate page
• Title and proposed subject
• Request for one of the above categories (Regular Paper, Special Paper, Work in Progress, and Workshops, Panels, and Seminars)
• Abstract of 200-250 words
• Explicit connection of the subject matter to theology
• Audio-visual equipment needed

For all types of papers, please submit proposal (preferably by e-mail) by Friday, January 15, 2010 to:

Jeremy Bergen
Conrad Grebel University College
140 Westmount Rd. N.
Waterloo, ON    N2L 3G6
Phone:  519-885-0220 ext. 24234
Fax:  519-885-0014
e-mail: < email hidden; JavaScript is required >

*Please request a confirmation of receipt when submitting your proposal by e-mail, and if you do not receive such a confirmation within 3 days, call Jeremy Bergen.

The CTS/STC Executive will meet in February 2010 to establish the program. If your proposal is accepted we will notify you shortly after that time and request that you bring a single–spaced, typed copy of your paper for inclusion in the Society’s archives. Please remember that the CTS/STC has an inclusive language policy.

The 2010 Call for Papers is also available in PDF.

Congrès annuel
Université Concordia, Montréal

du 21 mai au 2 juin 2010

Le savoir branché

[This call for papers is also available in English]

Le thème du Congrès des sciences humaines 2010 évoque l’impact croissant de la technologie numérique sur la recherche et sur la recherche-création.  Il renvoie aussi aux liens que les chercheurs créent avec des confrères travaillant dans d’autres domaines et avec le public au-delà du milieu universitaire.  La réflexion théologique sur ce thème peut inclure des sujets tels que :

• la réflexion théologique interdisciplinaire (en lien avec le génie biologique, la cosmologie, l’écologie, l’épidémiologie, la génétique, les nanosciences, la neuropsychologie, les sciences politiques, la culture populaire, la littérature)
• les relations  entre la doctrine théologique et le sermon
• les effets des technologies numériques sur les communautés religieuses et la réflexion théologique
• la théologie publique et une société multiconfessionnelle et multiculturelle
• l’engagement avec des théologies de l’hémisphère  sud
• le ministère dans les lieux non-traditionnels

Bien que nous vous invitons à soumettre des propositions sur n’importe quel sujet théologique, nous vous encourageons à considérer des sujets reliés à ce thème.

Nous vous invitons à soumettre des propositions soit en français soit en anglais dans une des quatre catégories suivantes.

Conférence régulière : présentation formelle de 40 minutes en plus de 15 minutes de discussion.

Conférence spéciale : présentation formelle de 40 minutes en plus d’une réplique de 15 minutes et 30 minutes de discussion.

Travail en chantier : présentation informelle de 20 minutes au maximum en plus de 20 minutes de discussion.

Ateliers, tables rondes, séminaires : présentation formelle, réplique et discussion d’une durée d’une heure et demie. La personne qui organise une telle séance est responsable du sujet et du recrutement des participants.

Afin de faciliter l’arbitrage anonyme des propositions, veuillez inclure votre nom, votre affiliation et votre information personnelle sur une feuille séparée de votre proposition. Si vous le faites par courriel, le / la secrétaire de la STC / CTS enlèvera toute information susceptible de vous identifier à votre proposition.

Les propositions devront inclure :

• votre nom, votre affiliation, votre information personnelle sur une feuille séparée
• le titre et le sujet proposé
• le choix d’une des catégories ci-haut (conférence normale ou spéciale, travail en chantier, atelier, table ronde ou séminaire)
• un résumé de 200-250 mots
• le lien explicite entre le sujet et la théologie

Quelle qu’en soit la nature, veuillez soumettre votre proposition (par courriel de préférence) au plus tard le 15 janvier 2010 à :

Jeremy Bergen
Université Collège de Conrad Grebel
140 Westmount Rd. N.
Waterloo, ON    N2L 3G6
tél.: 519.885.0220 ext. 24234
télécopieur : 519.885.0014
courriel : < email hidden; JavaScript is required >

*Quand vous soumettez votre proposition par courriel, exigez confirmation que celle-ci a bel et bien été reçue. Si vous n’avez pas reçu une telle confirmation dans un délai de 3 jours, téléphonez à Jeremy Bergen.

L’exécutif de la STC / CTS se réunira en février 2009 afin d’établir le programme. Si votre proposition est acceptée, nous vous le ferons savoir peu après cette date et nous vous demanderons d’apporter au congrès une copie de votre conférence (dactylographiée à simple interligne) pour les archives de la STC. Veuillez vous rappeler que la STC / CTS a une politique linguistique inclusive.

L’appel de communication pour Congrés 2010 est aussi disponible en PDF.

The new domain name of the website is CTS-STC.CA. This is intended to be a bilingual address. At this point in time, there is very little French material on this website, but we hope that it will be possible to increase the francophone participation in the CTS and that a volunteer might be found who can translate the existing pages and help us develop new content.

In addition to the website, there is another opportunity made possible by the new domain name. We now have an email listserv. This is an automated email distribution system. This will allow the CTS executive to communicate with the list members quickly and effectively.

• Subscription to the email list is currently open to the public, it is not restricted to CTS members
• This is not a discussion list. The list is intended only for the distribution of CTS- and Congress-related announcements. The CTS Facebook group is available for some discussion
• There is a list archive in case you misplace an announcement
• To avoid spam, the list requires subscribers to reply to a “confirmation email” before their subscription is activated
• The automated list allows subscribers to revise their subscription details (email address, name, html or text, etc…)
• The webmaster can assist with changing subscription details
• Our existing list of CTS members has been automatically subscribed to the new list

To add, edit, or cancel your subscription to the email list, please visit http://cts-stc.ca/email-list or email < email hidden; JavaScript is required >

Finally, one other feature of the website is the new RSS feed. RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a means of distributing new website postings, such as this one. By subscribing to the RSS feed with an RSS reader or aggregator, you will be notified as soon as a new post is added to the CTS website.

May 7-8, 2010

In May, 2010, North America’s largest ecumenical consortium of theological colleges will be hosting a conference celebrating 40 years of preparing people for ministry and academic theology around the world.  The general theme of this conference is to reflect on the ecumenical calling of the Toronto School of Theology and its calling to train and equip men and women in Christian leadership within a world of almost innumerable and often competing claims.  The Christian faith itself is also comprised of numerous and dissonant communities, each claiming to be participants in the one Church.

A keynote address will be delivered by Dr. John McGukin, a professor at Union Theological Seminary who was installed as the first Ane Marie and Bent Emil Nielsen Professor in Late Antique and Byzantine Christian History in 2008. He is a Stavrophore priest of the Orthodox Church (Patriarchate of Romania) who came to New York from England in 1997 where he was formerly a Reader in Patristic and Byzantine Theology at the University of Leeds.  He has authored numerous books, including St. Gregory of Nazianzus: An Intellectual Biography (2000; Nominated for the 2002 Pollock Biography Prize).  In 2005, Prof. McGuckin was invited onto BBC Radio Belfast for a Public Radio discussion on the meaning of salvation in contemporary thought and life. He is also currently working with Co-Director Norris Chumley on a feature film about monastic prayer life, entitled: ‘Sophia Secret Wisdom.’ In 2007 he was on site filming extensively in Sinai, the Egyptian desert, and the monasteries of Transylvania.

We seek proposals from a wide variety of fields that can speak to this issue and its relation to Christianity, including but not limited to systematic theology, philosophy, biblical studies, history, ethics and pastoral theology.

Proposals should be 300 – 500 words and include your name, the title of the paper and your college/university affiliation.  Proposals are due October 30, 2009.  Please send to < email hidden; JavaScript is required >.

Professor Jay Newman

Jay Newman was a former president and long time member of CTS. He was a prominent Canadian scholar with a keen interest in the philosophy of religion. He authored eleven books, seven relating to religion or the religious life. He was a member of the Department of Philosophy at the University of Guelph from 1971 until his death on June 17, 2007. Professor Newman left a bequest to CTS for the purpose of endowing an annual lecture in the Philosophy of Religion. It is his generosity that enables us to launch this annual lecture this year.

We welcome Professor John Schellenberg to give the 2009 inaugural lecture. John Schellenberg holds an Oxford D.Phil. His first book is the well known Divine Hiddenness and Human Reason. He has just finished a trilogy on the philosophy of religion: Prolegomena to a Philosophy of Religion (2005), The Wisdom to Doubt: a Justification of Religious Skepticism (2007), The Will to Imagine: A Justification of Skeptical Religion (2009).

Dr. Schellenberg’s lecture, entitled “Philosophy of Religion: A State of the Subject Report“, will address why philosophy of religion today is so often theologically conservative — the resulting demarcation problem — how both religious and philosophical assumptions are hindering insight in contemporary philosophy of religion — how the resolution of these problems is likely to favour non-conservative rather than conservative theology. The lecture will be given as part of the Annual Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences on Tuesday, May 26th at 11:25 am in the Herzberg Building, room 4351, at Carleton University. For further details, see the complete CTS 2009 program.

Annual Meeting
Carleton University, Ottawa

May 25th to 27th, 2009

The theme of the 2009 Congress of Humanities and Social Sciences is

Capital Connections: Nation, Terroir, Territoire

This theme invites an exploration of identity as physical space, of the space of a people, a nation, and their historic ‘terroir.’ It asks the question: Has globalization produced a sea-change in our understanding of the relationship between place and who we are? Theological reflections on this theme may include topics such as: ecclesiology, missiology, and right relations with First Nations, especially in light of the Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission; the public role of churches in a multi-faith and intercultural society; the affect digital technology on the identity of religious communities and the spaces (physical and virtual) in which they practice. While we invite you to submit proposals on any theological subject, we encourage you to consider topics which relate to this theme.

We invite you to submit proposals in one of the following four types and in either French or English.

Regular Papers: formal presentation of 40 minutes, plus 15 minutes for discussion.

Special Papers: formal presentation of 40 minutes, plus a 15 minute response and 30 minutes for discussion.

Work in Progress: informal presentation of no more than 20 minutes, plus 20 minutes for discussion.

Workshops, Panels, and Seminars: formal presentations and responses and general discussion, lasting 1½ hours. The person organizing such a session is responsible for setting the topic and enlisting participants.

To facilitate anonymous review of proposals, please include your name, institutional affiliation, and contact information on a separate page from your paper proposal; if you submit your proposal by e–mail, the CTS/STC secretary will remove any information identifying you from the proposal submitted to the executive.

Proposals must have the following information:

• Presenter’s name, institutional affiliation, and contact information on a separate page;
• Title and proposed subject;
• Request for one of the above categories (Regular Paper, Special Paper, Work in Progress, and Workshops, Panels, and Seminars);
• Abstract of 200-250 words;
• Explicit connection of the subject matter to theology.
• Audio-visual equipment needed.

For all types of papers, please submit proposal (preferably by e-mail) by Friday, January 16, 2009 to:

Jane Barter Moulaison
Faculty of Theology, University of Winnipeg
515 Portage Avenue
Winnipeg, MB R3B 2E9
Phone: 204-789-1453
Fax: 204-772-2584
email: < email hidden; JavaScript is required >

The CTS/STC Executive will meet in February 2009 to establish the program. If your proposal is accepted we will notify you shortly after that time and request that you bring a single–spaced, typed copy of your paper for inclusion in the Society’s archives. Please remember that the CTS/STC has an inclusive language policy.

The Call for Papers is available for printing and distribution in PDF format here.

Congrès annuel
Université de Carleton, Ottawa

du 25 au 27 mai 2009

Le thème du Congrès des sciences humaines 2009 est

Capital Connections: Nation, Terroir, Territoire

Ce thème nous invite à explorer l’identité en tant qu’espace physique, en tant que l’espace d’un peuple, d’une nation et de son ‘terroir’ historique. Il pose cette question : Est-ce que la globalisation a produit un changement dramatique dans la compréhension que nous avons du rapport entre l’espace et qui nous sommes ? La réflexion théologique sur ce thème peut inclure des sujets tels que : l’ecclésiologie, la missiologie et les relations justes avec les Premières Nations, surtout à la lumière de la Commission de vérité et de réconciliation sur les pensionnats indiens; le rôle public des églises dans une société multifoi et multiculturelle ; l’effet de la technologie numérique sur l’identité des communautés religieuses et sur les espaces (physiques et virtuels) où elles pratiquent. Bien que nous vous invitons à soumettre des propositions sur n’importe quel sujet théologique, nous vous encourageons à considérer des sujets reliés à ce thème.

Nous vous invitons à soumettre des propositions soit en français soit en anglais dans une des quatre catégories suivantes.

Conférence régulière : présentation formelle de 40 minutes en plus de 15 minutes de discussion.

Conférence spéciale : présentation formelle de 40 minutes en plus d’une réplique de 15 minutes et 30 minutes de discussion.

Travail en chantier : présentation informelle de 20 minutes au maximum en plus de 20 minutes de discussion.

Ateliers, tables rondes, séminaires : présentation formelle, réplique et discussion, d’une durée d’une heure et demie. La personne qui organise une telle séance est responsable du sujet et du recrutement des participants.

Afin de faciliter l’arbitrage anonyme des propositions, veuillez inclure votre nom, votre affiliation et votre information personnelle sur une feuille séparée de votre proposition. Si vous le faites par courriel, le / la secrétaire de la STC / CTS enlèvera toute information susceptible de vous identifier à votre proposition.

Les propositions devront inclure :

• votre nom, votre affiliation, votre information personnelle sur une feuille séparée;
• le titre et le sujet proposé;
• le choix d’une des catégories ci-haut (conférence normale ou spéciale, travail en chantier, atelier, table ronde ou séminaire);
• un résumé de 200-250 mots;
• le lien explicite entre le sujet et la théologie.

Quelle qu’en soit la nature, veuillez soumettre votre proposition (par courriel de préférence) au plus tard le 16 janvier 2009 à :

Jane Barter Moulaison
Faculté de théologie, Université de Winnipeg
515, avenue Portage
Winnipeg, MB R3B 2E9
tél.: 204.789.1453
télécopieur : 204.772.2584
courriel : < email hidden; JavaScript is required >

L’exécutif de la STC / CTS se réunira en février 2009 afin d’établir le programme. Si votre proposition est acceptée, nous vous le ferons savoir peu après cette date et nous vous demanderons d’apporter au congrès une copie de votre conférence (dactylographiée à simple interligne) pour les archives de la STC. Veuillez vous rappeler que la STC / CTS a une politique linguistique inclusive.

University of British Columbia, Vancouver
June 2nd to 4th, 2008

These abstracts are taken from the proposals submitted in response to the Call for Papers. The actual titles and topics may vary slightly from that advertised.

Monday, June 2nd, 2008

8:45-8:55 (VST 300) — Welcome & Announcements

9:00-10:30 (VST 300) — Panel: Thinking “Beyond Borders”: Teaching Religious Studies and Theology

Since the advent of Religious Studies, the border that exists between it and theology has often been a hostile one. This panel considers this vexed relationship from the perspective of those engaged “on the front” as educators in both disciplines. The scholars, teachers and chaplains assembled on this panel will speak of the particular challenges and potentialities of working in both worlds, and will consider possibilities for rapprochements of various kinds in the post-foundational and global-oriented intellectual climate of contemporary Canadian universities.

Panelists: Peter Slater (Trinity College), Erin Phillips (University of Lethbridge), Stan Porter (McMaster Divinity College), Robert Kennedy (St. Francis Xavier University).
Chair: Jane Barter Moulaison (University of Winnipeg)

9:00-9:55 (VST 309) — The Influence of William James on the Historical Theology of Ernst Troeltsch

Michael Sohn (University of Chicago Divinity School)

Ernst Troeltsch, the great German liberal theologian of the early 20th century, is usually read by scholars against the background of German intellectual history. While this dominant view certainly holds true as Troeltsch himself explicitly professes to be indebted to this tradition, he also expressed, in two lesser known essays the profound influence that the American pragmatist, William James, had on his thought. Troeltsch refers to James first in an address delivered at the Congress of Arts and Science in St. Louis in 1904, only three years after James came out with his published Gifford Lectures assembled under the title The Varieties of Religious Experience, and again in 1912 in an article written in memory of James’ life and work.

This paper will explore the less well-known influence of James and American pragmatism on Troeltsch, which I shall argue is central to understanding his thought. After all, the central problem with which Troeltsch wrestled throughout his career, namely how one can reconcile religious values and convictions given the facts of historical relativity, presupposes some account of the emergence or genesis of values. And to this prior question, Troeltsch’s formulation of religious experience as a creative and free act of value innovation is thoroughly Jamesian. While this paper aims to illuminate a much ignored aspect of Troeltsch’s thought, I believe it also speaks to pressing problems in our contemporary situation with respect to a concern for values amidst increasing global interactions and consciousness of diversity and plurality.

10:05-11:00 (VST 309) — Truth-Telling and Justice in the Contact Zone: The Truth and Reconciliation Commission on Residential Schools

Denise Nadeau (Interfaith Summer Institute for Justice, Peace and Social Movements)

The upcoming Truth and Residential Commission (TRC) on Residential Schools in Canada allows the opportunity to shine a light on the ” contact zone “– the space where settlers and Aboriginal people meet and interact, both in the past and present, as colonizers and colonized. The residential schools were one of the main vehicles through which European gender relationships were imposed on Native communities and they played a significant role in introducing gender violence as a means of implementing colonialism and white supremacy. With ideologies of gender, race and religion intersecting and informing the racist images of Indigenous and tribal women in European Christianity, the present challenge will be how to forestall the domination in the TRC process of patriarchal Christian religious symbols of forgiveness and healing and to hold up Indigenous Knowledge forms of moral community that include Native women’s sovereignty.

This paper offers a feminist post-colonial reading of the TRC’s contact zone with a focus on the transformative possibilities of truth-telling that address the ongoing asymmetrical relations of power and, in particular, sexism and white supremacy, that permeate continuing Indigenous-settler relations. Drawing from Indigenous cosmologies and the work of Laura Donaldson, Wonhee Anne Joh, Andrea Smith, Jennifer Harvey and Musa Dube, this paper considers how white settlers can use this opportunity to redefine their own religious and cultural identity and explore a moral agency and justice practice that neither abolishes or assimilates the difference of the Indigenous “other.”

10:40-12:15 (VST 300) — Book Panel: Frank Macchia, Baptized in the Spirit: A Global Pentecostal Theology (Zondervan, 2006)

The globalization of Pentecostalism has led classical Pentecostals to rethink and reconstruct their doctrine of baptism in the Holy Spirit. Such theological reflection has challenged a key classical Pentecostal distinctive which understood Spirit Baptism to be an experience distinct from (and usually subsequent to) conversion which is identified by the initial sign of speaking in tongues. Frank Macchia has long been considered a prominent figure in Pentecostal Theology. In 2006 he published a monumental work, Baptized in the Spirit: A Global Pentecostal Theology (Zondervan). Recognizing that global Pentecostalism cannot be identified by the classical understanding of Pentecostal doctrine, Macchia has proposed that Pentecostals expand the metaphor of Spirit Baptism to include the whole of the Christian life, and even the whole of the economy of salvation. Macchia himself recognizes the ecumenical potential for his proposal. This panel will provide a forum for ecumenical reflection on Macchia’s proposal. The panel will begin with a summary of Macchia’s book and the Pentecostal context in which it has arisen. This will be followed by three short response papers, and 20-30 minutes of discussion among the panel and those in attendance. Papers will be presented by Pentecostal, United Church, Anglican and Roman Catholic theologians.

Panelists: Don Schweitzer (St. Andrew’s College), Jane Barter Moulaison (University of Winnipeg), Constance Price (Catholic Office of Religious Education and Liturgy, ON), Andrew Gabriel (McMaster Divinity College)

11:10-12:00 (VST 309) — The Indivisible Whole of God’s Reality: Divine and Human Agency in Bonhoeffer’s Ethics

Christopher Holmes (Providence Theological Seminary)

The Christological realism of Bonhoeffer’s Ethics has not always been adequately appreciated, especially as concerns the extent to which it evokes and creates the space for the exercise of genuine human agency. In Bonhoeffer’s account, Jesus Christ is never to be abstracted from his command, a command that humanizes, for it is by Christ’s command to love others without distinction that one learns to be human before God and thus to live in accordance with him who is the true human being. A careful reading of the Ethics that is sensitive to the dogmatic foundations of Bonhoeffer’s work is therefore necessary, if one is to appreciate Bonhoeffer’s mapping of the kind of agency that the centre of Christian faith—the living Lord Jesus Christ—exercises as he takes form in historical and social reality. The task of this paper will be to expound and illuminate Bonhoeffer’s account of the character of agency exercised by the Centre in relation to the principal task of theological ethics, namely, the engendering of the most humane form of existence possible. Moreover, by demonstrating the manner in which Bonhoeffer preserves his basic insights about the Christological determination of reality, Bonhoeffer’s account of the mandates of work, family, government, and church cannot be understood in such a way as to denote the diminution of the primacy of Jesus Christ’s agency, but rather as the way in which Bonhoeffer ensures that ethics remain concrete in relation to him who is determinative of every sphere of creaturely existence.

1:30-3:00 (VST 300) — The Many Dimensions of Jesus’ Resurrection

Don Schweitzer (St. Andrew’s College), Respondent: Néstor Medina (Emmanuel College)

The resurrection of Jesus has been much discussed in twentieth century Western Christian theology. Drawing on several of these discussions, this paper will argue that Jesus’ resurrection has many dimensions, such that its meaning cannot be summed up under any one heading. It will begin with a look at what can be ascertained about Jesus’ resurrection as a historical event. It will then examine how Jesus’ resurrection gives and receives meaning from its relation to his person and others. It will then briefly examine its meaning for theological understandings of Jesus’ person, the cross, humanity, creation, the church, the Holy Spirit, and God. Jesus’ resurrection is only properly understood when it is recognized to have meaning across a broad range of theological topics. The significance of each of these meanings will vary from one historical context to another.

1:30-3:00 (VST 309) — Paul and the Violence of the Modern State: A Critique of the Liberal Democratic Notion of the ‘People’ through Recent Re-readings of Paul

Kornel Zathureczky (Université de Montréal)

The founding documents of modern Western democracies were predicated on belonging to a people. The very operations of the modern democratic State, however, depend on elected governments and on the divisions brought about by elections, which lead to the formation of minorities within the life of the State. The State is thus based on a contest between presumably equal contestants, ‘the people,’ who then end up being divided into those in power and those outside of power. The paradoxical understanding of this modern democratic understanding of the people is clearly exhibited by the post-election fate of ‘the people’ who while ‘exercising’ their freedoms ultimately have no impact on the operations of the State. This feature of Western democracies has become especially prominent in what is called the age of global Empire. In the following paper, drawing on recent reading of the writings of the apostle Paul (Taubes, Badiou, Žižek, Agamben) the Pauline idea of the ‘people’ will be explored as a theo-political critique of the incipient violence that undergirds modern conceptions of the State. In these re-readings of Paul, the Jew, one may perceive a concept of the people that overcomes the essential violence of modern theories and practices of the State.

3:10-4:05 (VST 300) — Expanding Human Agency / Shifting Ethical Landscapes

Lee Cormie (St. Michael’s College)

“The ‘changed nature of human action’ has turned modern ethics inside out”
(Ceruti and Pievani).

Accompanying the diverse, uneven and often contradictory processes of cultural and religious, political and economic globalization are cascading waves of change transforming the contours, scope and dynamics of social and personal life, emerging global civilization, and its relationships with the Earth. Indeed, these developments are “epochal” in civilizational terms, as well as geological, biological, climatological, and evolutionary terms–analogous to those associated with the impact of a large asteroid 65 million years ago, triggering mass extinctions, and opening a new era in the history of life on earth. At the heart of these developments lie new modes and scales of human agency–to know, to communicate, and to act from nanoscale to society-wide and planetary scales, and beyond, perhaps even cosmic scales–and new centers of human agency–transnational corporations, global markets, global institutions, international treaties, social movements and networks. And these expanding capacities are disrupting established religious, cultural, ethical and political frameworks and institutions, and re-opening the classic religious and philosophical questions concerning human nature and “nature,” the course of history, the future of life on earth. This paper will explore the implications of these developments, still mostly overlooked, for our theologies and ethics.

3:10-4:05 (VST 309) — Sharing Space Beyond Secular and Sacred Borders

Tom Reynolds (Emmanuel College)

In global and inter-religious 21st century Canada, lines demarcating sacred and secular are becoming increasingly unstable and problematic. In this, however, lies great potential. Drawing upon the work of Charles Taylor, Talal Asad, and Jeffrey Stout, this paper argues that the sacred/secular dilemma is a false dilemma, an unhelpful way of framing current debates about religion and public policy. Contrary to what older theories suggest, the secular is indeed a social space hospitable to sacred traditions. For the productive and peaceful co-existence of multiple traditions both depends upon and qualifies such a space, defined not so much by anti- or a-religious ideologies (e.g., “secularism” or “neutrality”) as by public and democratic processes of non-violent interaction. Secularity need not require transferring the authority of sacred claims to non-sacred mediums; but it does mean opening such claims to ongoing public conversations in which contestation and potential redefinition can occur. Lines blur, borders cross, and a “third discourse” emerges, a liminal discourse “in-between” parties that is dialogical and inter-religious in character, wherein continuities are forged amidst differences and the best of what sacred traditions have to offer become salient as means to sharing space beyond the boundaries of their own habitations. Specifically, resources from various traditions on the practice of hospitality can provide theological insights for envisioning the “secular” as a space of sharing charged with religious value. The paper, thus, concludes by highlighting possibilities that might emerge toward this end from a Christian theology of interfaith hospitality.

4:15-5:10 (VST 300) — Dans les frontières, au delà des frontières : une théologie en solidarité entre autochtones et allochtones au Québec

NB: room changed

Denise Couture et  Jean-François Roussel (Université de Montréal)

Comment articuler la solidarité mondiale et la solidarité locale? Penser au-delà des frontières, dans une perspective globale, et penser dans les frontières, dans une perspective locale, voilà la base d’un parcours de solidarité entre autochtones et allochtones. Parcours aux enjeux planétaires, mais pratique localisée, située dans un territoire.

Nous présenterons l’émergence et les premières étapes d’un projet qui s’est mis en place à l’automne 2007 ainsi que son lien avec le Forum mondial théologie et libération tenu à Nairobi au Kenya, en janvier 2007. Nous situerons son contexte sociopolitique et religieux, dans le milieu social québécois. Nous rendrons compte des présupposés théoriques et théologiques. Nous expliquerons aussi en quoi cette expérience déplace les frontières d’identités religieuses et nationales; ainsi que celles du domaine recevable au regard des épistémologies admises et pratiquées en théologie chrétienne contemporaine. Nous porterons particulièrement attention aux dimensions territoriales et postcoloniales de cette pratique, en explorant ses implications pour une théologie chrétienne… ‘au-delà’ de l’universalisme.

[How might one articulate a global solidarity with a local solidarity at once? To think beyond borders in a global perspective, and to think within borders, in a local persepective is to find a basis for such an intersection of solidarity between aboriginals and non—an intersection with planetary concerns, but a localised practice, situated in a particular place.

We will present on the emergence and the first steps of a project that was begun in the autumn of 2007, and also its link with the World Forum on Theology and Liberation held in Nairobi, Kenya in January, 2007. We will situate its sociopolitical and religious context within the social milieu of Quebec and examine its theological and theoretical presuppositions. We will also describe the manner in which such experience displaces the borders of religious and national identities, as well as those of a domain recognized by epistemologies that are accepted and practiced in contemporary Christian theology. We will attend especially to territorial and postcolonial dimensions of this practice, by exploring its implications for a Christian theology beyond universalism.]

4:15-5:10 (VST 309) — Crip/tography: Of Karma and Cosmopolis

NB: room changed

Sharon Betcher (Vancouver School of Theology)

“Picture the world in motion,” theologian Ray Bakke invites us: “the southern hemisphere is coming north, east is coming west, and on all 6 continents migrations are to the city.” Indeed, “globalization as urbanization seems,” postcolonial theorist Gayatri Spivak blithely adds, “one of the least speculative strands in the thinking of globalization.” Such massive urban in-migration implies, however, that formerly colonial territories, held apart by the buffers of ocean, are today humanly enfolded–like origami–into any of the planet’s “global” or “world cities.” “In contemporary cities people connected by imperial histories,” postcolonial theorist Jane M. Jacobs observes, “are thrust together in assemblages barely predicted, and often guarded against, during the inaugural phases of colonialism. Often enough this is a meeting not simply augmented by imperialism but still regulated by its constructs of difference and privilege.” If urbanization provides humanity with its ultimate test case–namely, “to create living patterns harmonized with nature’s rhythms,” to create cities of refuge and solidarity amid difference (including those of religions and their degrees of resort to absolutes), to work out our hopes for “planetarity” (Spivak) and “conviviality” (Gilroy), colonialism lingers on in the choreography of bodies within our urban geography, where “that racism which is not so much ethnic as biological” sorts bodies along the razor edge of the performance of “civility.” Starting with two divergent experiences of living the global city as crip (that is, as a person with disabilities), this paper considers what religious practice might address the need, as postcolonial theorist Gayatri Spivak puts it, to suture ritual responsibility into the human rights agenda (“Righting Wrongs,” 559), given the world-wide apartheid opening out between human bodies aggravated by globalization–namely, between “the dispensers of bounty” as distinct from “the victims of oppression” (536). At present, the streets of the global city are managed via “the aestheticization of fear” (Sharon Zukin) so as–like capitalism itself–to tolerate no impediments to mobility. Freedom in the West, as Richard Sennett puts it, has been correlated to unfettered mobility–”the ability to move anywhere, to move without obstruction, to circulate freely…” (Flesh & Stone, 310).

7:30- (Woodward/IRC, reception to follow in lobby)

Apartheid Comparative Religion: The Ideological Construction of Religious Difference in Antiquity

Daniel Boyarin (University of California at Berkeley)

Dr. Daniel Boyarin holds the Herman P. and Sophia Taubman Chair, Departments of Near Eastern Studies and Rhetoric at the University of California at Berkeley. Daniel Boyarin is one of the foremost cultural and feminist critics and historians of Judaism and Christianity in late antiquity. His whole life’s work has been devoted to questioning and unsettling boundaries, in particular in his latest work, Border Lines (2004), in which he argues that the separation between Judaism and Christianity was extremely late – fourth or fifth century – and largely the result of imperial fiat. Moreover, it was never complete and always negotiated. He is also noteworthy for his works on gender, Carnal Israel (1993) and Unheroic Conduct (1997), in which he argues that the Judaism throughout most of its history projected a masculine ideal opposed to that of the dominant culture, and contributed to the development of the heterosexual norm. Professor Boyarin combines brilliant literary skills – for instance in his early Intertextuality and the Reading of Midrash (1990) – with psychoanalysis, historical acumen, and theoretical sophistication. His intellectual and interdisciplinary range vastly extends beyond the bounds of his particular area of specialization.

In his talk, he will elucidate on the theoretical claim that the distinction of religions (much like the distinction of languages) is always a political act. While using Judaeo-Christianity in antiquity as his primary case study, he will also refer to the politics of the study of religion in southern Africa by western comparativists.

This talk is jointly sponsored by the Canadian Society for the Study of Religion, the Canadian Society for Biblical Studies, the Canadian Society of Patristic Studies, and the Canadian Theological Society, with funding from the Federation.

Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008

9:00-12-15 (Irving K. Barber Learning Centre 261)

CSSR, CETA, CSCH, CCHS, CTS joint panel: Christianity and Ethnicity in Canada?

Chairs: Paul Bramadat (University of Winnipeg) and David Seljak (St. Jerome’s University)

In Christianity and Ethnicity in Canada, eleven scholars explore the complex relationships between religious and ethnic identity within the nine major Christian traditions in Canada. The contributors discuss the ways in which changes in the ethnic composition of these traditions influence religious practice and identity, as well as how the nine religious traditions influence communal and individual ethnic identities.

Participants:
• Wendy Fletcher (Vancouver School of Theology)
• Bruce Guenther (Mennonite Brethren Biblical Seminary / Trinity Western University)
• Bryan Hillis (Luther College, University of Regina)
• Solange Lefebvre (Université de Montréal)
• Royden Loewen (Chair in Mennonite Studies, University of Winnipeg)
• Stuart Macdonald (Knox College)
• Mark McGowan (University of St. Michael’s College)
• Myroslaw Tataryn (St. Jerome’s University)
• Greer Anne Wenh-In Ng (Emmanuel College)

1:40-2:35 (VST 300) — Feminist Christologies at the Crossroads: An Analysis of Different Feminist Approaches to the Doctrine of the Atonement

Student Essay Contest Winner — Cuban Student Ary Fernández Albán (Emmanuel College, Toronto School of Theology)

Most feminist theologians acknowledge the tremendously negative implications the traditional atonement imagery has had for women and other people oppressed by kyriarchal systems. Moreover, not all of them agree on the theological meaning of Jesus’ death. As a crossroads, the cross constitutes a particularly interesting point of discussion both as a point of encounter and separation. As such, the cross is a central point of debate engaged by both feminist theologies and Christian theology in general. In this paper I try to summarize some of these views by grouping them in three main positions: radical critique, ambivalent critique, and constructive critique. Whereas the two first trends are characterized by their total refusal and certain ambivalent relation to the cross, the third position attempts to reinterpret it through a more constructive lens. I analyse these critiques trying to highlight their principal strengths and weaknesses.

2:45-3:40 (VST 300) — Presidential Address: Shifting Identities and the Church: A Postcolonial Challenge to Missiology and Ministry Preparation

Loraine MacKenzie Shepherd (Augustine United Church, Winnipeg)

3:50-4:50 (VST 300) — CTS Annual General Meeting

All members are encouraged to attend

Wednesday, June 4th, 2008

CANCELLED — Work in Progress: Crossing Borders for Global Peace — Musical Performance as Non-Violent Resistance against War

CANCELLED due to circumstances beyond the control of the presenter

Lauren Michelle Levesque (Saint Paul University)

This paper discusses how the conceptualization of musical performance as non-violent resistance crosses disciplinary borders in the pursuit of global peace. Drawing on theological reflections of hope, creative disobedience and non-violence, I argue that musical performance is a site of non-violent resistance against war. Three constituent features of musical performance are pinpointed in this analysis: dynamism, relationality and transformation. The interaction of these features in musical performance suggests it is a powerful forum for building global community and bridging deep religio-political divides. Understanding musical performance as non-violent resistance provides an innovative lens through which to pursue conversations on theology, music and peace in a post-9/11 world. Neil Young’s 2006 album “Living with War,” written in response to the current war in Iraq, is the centerpiece of this discussion.

9:00-9:40 (VST 300) — Work in Progress: The Problem of “Perspicuity”: Luther’s (Unspoken) Reliance on Regula Fidei for Biblical Understanding

Rob Fennell (Atlantic School of Theology)

The hermeneutical principle that the Bible is “essentially clear” is a widely held view, especially among Western Protestants. This claim about Scriptural perspicuity (“claritas”) was emphatically championed by Martin Luther nearly 500 years ago in The Bondage of the Will. However, Luther’s claims about perspicuity do not function in quite the same way as similar claims by some commentators of the present day. Luther did not assume that Scripture’s meaningfulness arose spontaneously, leaping off the page toward any (interested or disinterested) reader. This paper argues that, on the contrary, Luther’s sense of the perspicuity of Scripture was made possible by a number of interlocking factors, including prior catechetical instruction, the work of the Holy Spirit, the faith of the reader, and a loosely defined constellation of doctrines that we understand here as regula fidei. This paper seeks to establish that an idiosyncratic regula fidei — a “rule of faith” — is always operative in Luther’s claims about the Bible’s perspicuity. The paper concludes with a view of the continuing usefulness of regula fidei today.

9:00-9:55 (VST 309) — The Divine Essence Revealed: The Christology of Reinhold Niebuhr

NB: moved from afternoon time period

Mark Gingerich (Providence Theological Seminary)

In the writings of Reinhold Niebuhr the centrality of Christ for understanding the true nature of life and history is often overlooked, yet it remains integral to all his ethical exhortations. In this paper, I unwrap and expound upon the Christology of Niebuhr, paying particular attention to the way in which he understands the Incarnation, the Nature of Christ, and the Work of Christ. Niebuhr’s dialectical approach to the nature of Christ will in particular play a significant role in his understanding of realistic appraisal of Christian ethics, yet a t the same time will severely limit the work the Christ has accomplished over and for humankind.

9:55-10:50 (VST 300) — Catholic Approaches to Just Peacemaking

Scott Kline (St. Jerome’s University) and Megan Shore (King’s University College)

Historically, Christian moral theories of war and peace have fallen into two broad camps: the just war and pacifist traditions. While there were a number of modern theologians, such as Reinhold Niebuhr who largely rejected both just-war and pacifist arguments, it was not until the publication of Glen Stassen’s Just Peacemaking: Transforming Initiatives for Justice and Peace, in 1992, that a constructive, mediating alternative emerged with enough broad-based support to challenge the just war-pacifist impasse. That publication was followed by Just Peacemaking: 10 Practices for Abolishing War, in 1998. Edited by Stassen, this book is a collection of essays by twenty-three Christian ethicists outlining just peacemaking initiatives that include a proposal to expand the authority of the United Nations, the support for non-violence direct action, a call for arms reduction, the advancement of human rights and other such activities. In this paper, we argue that, while just peacemaking theory has made headway into challenging the just war-pacifist dichotomy, there remains little critical examination of what just-peacemaking practices look like when rooted in a particular tradition’s moral reasoning, its institutional structure, and its relationship to the state. The objective of this paper, then, is to identify and examine approaches to just peacemaking that are rooted in the Catholic tradition, including its missionary outreaches, its work in international development, its role in civil society, its diplomatic corps, and its new role in post-conflict rebuilding.

10:05-11:00 (VST 309) — The Mind of Christ in Balthasar and Rahner

NB: time shifted to accommodate Gingerich session

Mark Yenson (University of St. Michael’s College)

Recent notifications by the Catholic Church’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (notably on the work of Roger Haight and Jon Sobrino) suggest that old debates, even those of classical Christology, continue to rear their heads. Karl Rahner once declared that he would rather be an orthodox Nestorian than an orthodox monophysite. He characterized his own Christology as “pure Chalcedonian” in contrast to the “Neo-Chalcedonian” position of Hans Urs von Balthasar. Taking this distinction as its starting point, this paper will contrast the approaches of Rahner and Balthasar to the consciousness of Christ. While both are both committed to maintaining the infinite difference between created and uncreated reality, expressed Christologically in Chalcedon’s adverb asunchut?s, their approaches reveal deep differences in Trinitarian discourse, approach to biblical exegesis and theology, and hermeneutic of retrieval. The critical appropriation of post-Chalcedonian Christology and particularly the Christology of Maximus the Confessor are central to Rahner’s and Balthasar’s differences, calling for a rethinking of the frequently invoked categories of Alexandria and Antioch, implied also in Rahner’s terminology. The interplay between Balthasar and Rahner is thus suggestive for “thinking beyond the borders” of binary opposites in Christological thinking and beyond the borders of modern, western theological biases.

11:00-12:30 (VST 300) — Panel: ‘A Common Word’: Reflections on Muslim, Christian and Jewish approaches to an understanding and practice of the ‘double commandment’

Chair: Kornel Zathureczky (Université de Montréal)

The most significant religious document in recent memory has been A Common Word, signed by an impressively comprehensive group of Islamic clerics and religious leaders, and addressed to an equally comprehensive list of Christian leaders. The document suggested that the twin religious duties of love for God and love for neighbour beckon both Muslim and Christian traditions to take on the responsibility of active peacebuilding vis-à-vis one another. The panel, which brings together Muslim and Christian scholars, proposes to contribute to this challenge by exploring the theological concept of love as elaborated within the two scriptural traditions. The Muslim document is approached, perhaps as intended, as a response to Pope Benedict XVI’s encyclical Deus Caritas Est. The presentations of the panel will therefore be framed by these two documents while drawing on classical, medieval and modern sources of diverse currents within both these traditions. Moving within the above framework, each presenter will explore particular conceptualizations of love within either of these monotheistic traditions and the particular ethical imperatives elicited. As A Common Word, proposes, the monotheistic impulse to pay full devotion to one God and the corresponding duty to treat one’s neighbour with justice and equity are inseparable from one another and offer a sufficiently strong link between two traditions that have experienced much discord and enmity. Although the panel does not propose immediate and facile solutions to overcome centuries of hostility, ill-will, and theological calumny between Christianity and Islam, it nevertheless begins the necessary, constructive, and unavoidably theological work to contribute to building the basis of peaceful co-existence, predicated on Christian and Muslim visions and practices of love.

Panel Participants: Patrice Brodeur (Université de Montréal), Thomas Reynolds (Emmanuel College), Karin Ben Driss (Université de Montréal and the Montreal Center of Sufi Spirituality)

11:10-12:00 (VST 309) — Civic Sacrament and Social Imaginaries in Transition: The Case of the South African Churches and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission

NB: time shifted to accommodate Gingerich session

Stephen Martin (King’s University College)

South Africa’s transition to democracy was widely hailed as a beacon of hope for the world when it took place in the 1990s. At the centre of that transition was its Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Chaired by a cleric dressed in a purple cassock, openly using religious language in a public and political context, and bearing within its discourse a sacred narrative of fall and redemption, the TRC was a polymorphous instrument marking out transitional space and time.

It did this not only for South African society but for the churches in South Africa. It was at the TRC that the New South Africa received its first performance. However, unlike other democratic societies, there was little effort to mark transition to a human rights culture in secularist terms. Religious language was front-and-centre, and part of the cut and thrust of debate about building a new society.

This paper redescribes the TRC as a religio-liturgical marking of the time and space of the new South Africa (a civic sacrament). In doing so, it identifies the way the language of concrete religious communities was borrowed, as well as the contestation of that borrowing by especially African Independent Churches. The paper demonstrates how communal religious bodies are capable of nurturing a distinctive social imaginary even while they “loan out” their discourses for the benefit of a wider public. It is argued that the South African example points out a way for religious communities to negotiate their publicness without losing concreteness as “soul of society”.

This paper, located within the nexus of political theology and ecclesiology, explores the reinforcement, redefinition, and transcendence of civil/political and religious boundaries in South Africa’s transition. As such, I believe it fits the Congress theme, “Thinking Beyond Borders: Global Ideas; Global Values.”

1:25-2:20 (VST 300) — Being thought from beyond our borders: Towards ethical global citizenship

Johann-Albrecht Meylahn (University of Pretoria, South Africa)

A response to the challenge of global citizenship in an age of global crisis. Citizenship has to do with where one feels “at home”, i.e. the space that becomes a place that gifts identity and life. What kind of narrative is necessary to transform global space into a home from where we can go beyond our borders to embrace the other in multidisciplinary research or interfaith praxis? The different models for multidisciplinary research are made possible by the idea that research seeks that which is beyond its borders. This search could be a common space where the different traditions can accommodate one another, but it is not a home. The dominant discourse of this common space is to seek commonality and identities across borders while being aware of, but ignoring differences – identity at the expense of differences. A home founded on identity at the expense of difference will always exclude. Theology can either be interpreted as thinking beyond the borders toward the Divine, or the Divine thinking us. The Exodus, the Incarnation, the Cross are all narratives of the Other crossing borders, liberating from boundaries, deconstructing the laws and norms that exclude. The religious traditions of these sacred narratives have something to offer, namely: to be thought by the Other, to receive life and identity (alien identity) from the Other, the gift of a home which is continuously deconstructed by the home still to come, therefore always open for the other

1:25-2:20 (VST 309) — Mortality and Morality: Different Senses of ‘Death’ in Levinas’ Thought and Its Implications for Conceiving the Limits and Possibilities of the Human

Michael Sohn (University of Chicago Divinity School)

Global dynamics and the increasing interactions between people of different cultures, religious beliefs, and world-views is a fact of our contemporary situation. These world trends towards a situation of global diversity and interrelatedness has, on the one hand, the positive potential for respect and openness to difference, and on the other hand, it has the negative possibility of igniting mutual fear and mistrust of one another, exploding into exclusivism and tribalism.

My paper addresses these two radically different possibilities by looking at the moral anthropology of Jewish philosopher, Emmanuel Levinas. I argue that there are two radically different senses or meanings of ‘death’ in his thought, and these two alternative understandings are the lens through which his view of the human can be comprehended. Death, on the one hand, can signify the ‘summum malum’ and object of fear such that one seeks to flee from it by either satiating material need or metaphysical need. Death, narrowly conceived, grips us in self-enclosed subjectivity, and while self-interestedness may be harmless in civil society, it constantly threatens to regress into a Hobbesian war of all against all. On the other hand, death can signify the mortality of the other which releases us from narrow self-interest in calling us towards a responsibility for the other. By focusing on these two different senses of death, I try to illuminate Levinas’ philosophical and theological anthropology which constantly navigates between self-interested being and the possibility of an other-regarding humanism.

2:20-2:30 — Close of Annual Meeting

University of British Columbia, Vancouver
June 2nd to 4th, 2008

The 2008 CTS annual meeting will be held June 2-4 at Vancouver School of Theology. For more information and registration, visit the Congress 2008 website.

The theme of the 2008 Congress of Humanities and the Social Sciences is

Thinking Beyond Borders: Global Ideas; Global Values
Penser sans Frontières: Idées Mondiales; Valeurs Mondiales

Our theological enterprise carries us beyond the borders of human limitations as we consider the divine. Many of our theologies transgress and expose borders. Some of us locate ourselves and our theologies within the borders of shifting centers and margins. Contextual theologies are becoming increasingly global as they consider both the particular and global impact of climate change and trans-national socio-economic relations. The internet affords immediate, global response and organizational capabilities within social movements and theological gatherings. While we invite you to submit proposals on any theological subject, we encourage you to consider topics which relate to this theme.

• 2008 Call for papers (PDF version)
• 2008 appel de communications
• 2008 Student Essay Contest (.doc)
• Note from the CTS president
• Abstracts for the 2008 CTS programme
  Short descriptions of the proposed papers, lists of panel participants, etc…
• CCSR Combined Programme 2008 (PDF)
  The combined programme for the CSBS, CSSR, CSPS, CSCH, and CTS. Abstracts are not included. See their
  individual websites for further information
• 2008 CETA programme
  The Canadian Evangelical Theological Association will be meeting at Congress on May 31
• Getting around at Congress 2008
  Information from the Congress website regarding buses, taxis, and airport arrivals and departures
• UBC campus maps
  How to find your residence, meeting rooms, meals, and the Congress Book Fair
• The Book Fair
  The Congress Book Fair will be held in the Student Recreation Centre (across the street from the Walter Gage residences) from May 31 to June 7
• Towards a Green Congress
  UBC and the Congress secretariat have been working hard to make this the most environmentally sustainable Congress yet

Monday, June 2nd, 2008

Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008

Wednesday, June 4th, 2008

Annual Meeting
May 31, 2008

University of British Columbia

Note: The CETA programme is posted here for the convenience of CTS members and others interested in attending these presentations. Complete information is available from the CETA website. Please remember to register for CETA through the Congress website.

Location: Buchanan Building, 1866 Main Mall, Seminar Room D317

8:30 am — Welcome and Opening Reflections
– David Guretzki, CETA President (Briercrest Seminary, Caronport, SK)

8:35 am — Ian W. Scott (Tyndale Seminary, Toronto, ON)
“‘To Whom has the Arm of the Lord Been Revealed?’ Metaphor and Truth in Biblical Language”

9:30 am — Hans Boersma (Regent College, Vancouver, BC)
“Evangelicalism and the Bible: ‘Ressourcing’ the Spiritual Interpretation of nouvelle théologie”

10:15 am — Coffee break

10:30 am — Book Panel: Craig D. Allert, “A High View of Scripture? The Authority of the Bible and the Formation of the New Testament Canon” (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2007).
• Craig D. Allert (Trinity Western University, Langley, BC)
• Christopher Holmes (Providence Theological Seminary, Otterburne, MB)
• Pauline Hogan (McMaster University, Hamilton, ON)
• Archie Spencer (Trinity Western University, Langley, BC)

11:50 am — Lunch

1:15 pm — Andrew Gabriel (McMaster Divinity College)
“Jesus, History and the Covenant in Karl Barth’s Doctrine of Creation”

2:15 pm — Jane Barter Moulaison (University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, MB)
“Work, Activity and Freedom: Karl Barth and Feminist Theology on Work’s Efficacy and Scope”

3:00 pm — Coffee break

3:15 pm — Scott Dunham (University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, NB)
“The Moral of the Story: Augustine on God, Creation & Dominion in Genesis.”

4:00 pm — Doug Harink (King’s University College, Edmonton, AB)
“The Transfiguration of Creation: Theological Reflections on 2 Peter 3″

4:45 pm — CETA 2008 Annual General Business Meeting (Presiding: David Guretzki)

5:15 pm — Adjournment of CETA Meeting

Welcome to new members, and greetings to all.

Next year’s meeting of the CTS is June 2-4 in Vancouver. The theme of the 2008 Congress is

Thinking Beyond Borders: Global Ideas; Global Values
Penser sans Frontières: Idées Mondiales; Valeurs Mondiales.

Please post the attached Call for Papers and consider papers and or panels which you would like to propose on the theme or other areas of interest. Although the deadline for proposals is January 11, 2008, I would encourage the membership to begin consideration of possible panels now. I would particularly encourage creative formats for proposals, which may require extra time to prepare. Might we explore together alternative pedagogical styles and theories? Joint sessions with our partner societies, such as CSSR, CSBS, CSCH, and CSPS are also strongly encouraged.

The CTS Executive would like to decide on a speaker for our joint lecture in 2010 as the Congress meets at Concordia. We invite you to consider possible speakers that will appeal to our partner members of the Canadian Society for the Study of Religion, the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies, the Canadian Society of Church History and the Canadian Society of Patristic Studies. In the past we have hosted such renowned scholars as Larry Rasmusssen and Ada Maria Isasi-Diaz. Please send suggested names to us by the end of August so that we may begin initial contact and confirm the speaker’s availability.

I’m looking forward to serving you this year as President of the CTS.

Shalom,
Loraine MacKenzie Shepherd

Annual Meeting

University of British Columbia, Vancouver

June 2-4, 2008

(please see a note from the CTS President)

The theme of next year’s Congress of Humanities and the Social Sciences is

Thinking Beyond Borders: Global Ideas; Global Values
Penser sans Frontières: Idées Mondiales; Valeurs Mondiales

Our theological enterprise carries us beyond the borders of human limitations as we consider the divine. Many of our theologies transgress and expose borders. Some of us locate ourselves and our theologies within the borders of shifting centers and margins. Contextual theologies are becoming increasingly global as they consider both the particular and global impact of climate change and trans-national socio-economic relations. The internet affords immediate, global response and organizational capabilities within social movements and theological gatherings. While we invite you to submit proposals on any theological subject, we encourage you to consider topics which relate to this theme.

We invite you to submit proposals in one of the following four types and in either French or English.

Regular Papers: formal presentation of 40 minutes, plus 15 minutes for discussion.

Special Papers: formal presentation of 40 minutes, plus a 15 minute response and 30 minutes for discussion.

Work in Progress: informal presentation of no more than 20 minutes, plus 20 minutes for discussion.

Workshops, Panels, and Seminars: formal presentations and responses and general discussion, lasting 1½ hours. The person organizing such a session is responsible for setting the topic and enlisting participants.

To facilitate anonymous review of proposals, please include your name, institutional affiliation, and contact information on a separate page from your paper proposal; if you submit your proposal by e–mail, the CTS/STC secretary will remove any information identifying you from the proposal submitted to the executive.

Proposals must have the following information:

• Presenter’s name, institutional affiliation, and contact information on a separate page;
• Title and proposed subject;
• Request for one of the above categories (Regular Paper, Special Paper, Work in Progress, and Workshops, Panels, and Seminars);
• Abstract of 200-250 words;
• Explicit connection of the subject matter to theology.

For all types of papers, please submit proposal (preferably by e-mail) by Friday, January 11, 2008 to:

Jane Barter Moulaison
Faculty of Theology, University of Winnipeg
515 Portage Avenue
Winnipeg, MB R3B 2E9
Phone: 204-789-1453
Fax: 204-772-2584
email: < email hidden; JavaScript is required >

The CTS/STC Executive will meet in February 2008 to establish the program. If your proposal is accepted we will notify you shortly after that time and request that you bring a single–spaced, typed copy of your paper for inclusion in the Society’s archives. Please remember that the CTS/STC has an inclusive language policy.

The Call for Papers is available for printing and distribution in PDF format here.

Congrès annuel
Université de la Colombie-Britannique, Vancouver

du 2 au 4 juin 2008

(please see a note from the CTS President)

Le thème du prochain congrès de la Fédération des sciences humaines est

Penser sans Frontières: Idées Mondiales; Valeurs Mondiales
Thinking Beyond Borders: Global Ideas; Global Values.

Notre projet théologique nous amène au delà des contraintes humaines alors que nous considérons le divin. La plupart de nos théologies trangressent et mettent à nu plusieurs frontières. Certains d’entre nous se situent et situent leurs théologies à l’intérieur des frontières de centres et marges qui sont en mouvement. Les théologies contextuelles sont en train de devenir de plus en plus gobales alors qu’elles considèrent l’impact à la fois particulier et global du changement climatique et des relations socio-économiques transnationales. Internet nous permet une réaction immédiate et globale et des capacités d’organisation au sein de mouvements sociaux et rassemblements théologiques. Nous vous invitons à soumettre des propositions sur n’importe quel sujet théologique, mais nous vous encourageons à considérer des sujets reliés à ce thème.

Nous vous invitons à soumettre des propositions soit en français soit en anglais dans une des quatre catégories suivantes.

Conférence régulière : présentation formelle de 40 minutes en plus de 15 minutes de discussion.

Conférence spéciale : présentation formelle de 40 minutes en plus d’une réplique de 15 minutes et 30 minutes de discussion.

Travail en chantier : présentation informelle de 20 minutes au maximum en plus de 20 minutes de discussion.

Ateliers, tables rondes, séminaires : présentation formelle, réplique et discussion, d’une durée d’une heure et demie. La personne qui organise une telle séance est responsable du sujet et du recrutement des participants.

Afin de faciliter l’arbitrage anonyme des propositions, veuillez inclure votre nom, votre affiliation et votre information personnelle sur une feuille séparée de votre proposition. Si vous le faites par courriel, le / la secrétaire de la STC / CTS enlèvera toute information susceptible de vous identifier à votre proposition.

Les propositions devront inclure :

• votre nom, votre affiliation, votre information personnelle sur une feuille séparée;
• le titre et le sujet proposé;
• le choix d’une des catégories ci-haut (conférence normale ou spéciale, travail en chantier, atelier, table ronde ou séminaire);
• un résumé de 200-250 mots;
• le lien explicite entre le sujet et la théologie.

Quelle qu’en soit la nature, veuillez soumettre votre proposition (par courriel de préférence) au plus tard le 11 janvier 2008 à :

Jane Barter Moulaison
Faculté de théologie, Université de Winnipeg
515, avenue Portage
Winnipeg, MB R3B 2E9
tél.: 204.789.1453
télécopieur : 204.772.2584
courriel : < email hidden; JavaScript is required >

L’exécutif de la STC / CTS se réunira en février 2008 afin d’établir le programme. Si votre proposition est acceptée, nous vous le ferons savoir peu après cette date et nous vous demanderons d’apporter au congrès une copie de votre conférence (dactylographiée à simple interligne) pour les archives de la STC. Veuillez vous rappeler que la STC / CTS a une politique linguistique inclusive.

Abstracts

Papers

Michelle Baker (Concordia University), “The ‘Gospel Ethic’ and Consumer Sovereignty”

In his book, An Interpretation of Christian Ethics, Reinhold Niebuhr describes the gospel ethic of Christ as a perfect, transcendent, “Impossible” ethic. In this same work he describes how early orthodox and liberal Christian misinterpretations of the gospel ethic were used toward unjust ends. In this paper I propose that the moral assumptions underlying the acceptance of individualism in the free market can be regarded as a contemporary instance of the misinterpretations that Niebuhr describes. These assumptions lead to the success of the idea of consumer sovereignty which, in turn, helps to support the free market economy that we know today. I argue that, in ways similar to those by which Niebuhr demonstrates the unjust use of the gospel ethic, neo-liberal economics exploits the difficulties faced by efforts at ethical consumption. The desire to consume responsibly is channeled into the ideology of consumer sovereignty, whereby the consumer is made to believe that s/he has choices which in fact are illusory and support the unjust practices s/he seeks to mitigate.

Peter Bisson (Campion College, University of Regina), “Making Religion Public: Engaged Religion Bridging the Secular-Religious Divide”

Socially and politically engaged religion integrates social consciousness into religious consciousness, which makes religion public in a way it was not before the Enlightenment religious-secular division. In Western culture, social consciousness emerged in post-Enlightenment emancipatory commitments and uses of reason, which are typically construed as secular, not religious, and therefore apt for use in public life or civil society. Engaged religion – such as faith-based NGOs like Kairos, liberation and feminist theologies, engaged Buddhism, or the systematic social commitments of various religious orders like the Jesuits – is active in civil society, so its practitioners become religious agents in the public, secular sphere, generally on the left. By incorporating traditionally secular social consciousness into religious consciousness, engaged religion transposes religious practice and belief in social terms, which in turn reconstrues religious consciousness in public and seemingly secular ways. This new configuration of religious identity and agency bridges the secular-religious divide, and can be fruitfully analyzed by means of Bernard Lonergan’s idea of differentiations of consciousness and Paul Ricoeur’s idea of second naïveté or second immediacy.

Nathan Colborne (Nipissing University), “Pitfalls of Just Policing: A Foucauldian Perspective” (Work In Progress)

Soon after the events of 9/11 an editorial in the journal First Things asserted that pacifists, because they do not accept the legitimacy of any use of violence, have no place in discussions about how the use of such violence should be carried out. A recent book edited by Duane Friesen and Gerald Schlabach attempts to develop a genuinely pacifist contribution to discussions surrounding peace, security and the legitimate use of violence to preserve them. As part of this contribution, Schlabach argues that the just war tradition should be reconceived as just policing and that the principles of community policing are a more appropriate place to begin in outlining the legitimate use of coercion in the preservation of peace and security. This paper will argue that the just policing position can be strengthened by coming to terms with a more suspicious account of the practice of policing. After outlining Schlabach’s account of just policing, I will summarize a Foucauldian understanding of the subtle violence of policing and suggest the places where the principles of just policing are vulnerable to a Foucauldian critique. The paper will conclude with suggestions for how an account of just policing can avoid the pitfalls that Foucault recognizes.

Chris Duncanson-Hales (St. Paul University), “Janus Pedagogy: Bridging the Gap Between Religious Studies and Theological Studies in the Classroom”

A soon to be published American study comparing the expectations of students to those of faculty of religious studies programs presented at the AAR this past November reveals a ‘spirituality gap’ between students whose primary expectation is spiritual/ transformative/affirming engagement with religion, and faculty expectations of a critical, academic engagement. The conclusions of the study cannot be generalized to the Canadian context without further study; however, they do pose important pedagogical questions for theology and religious studies. Is there a role for theologians in religious studies programs? How can the gap between theology and religious studies, faculty and students be bridged? Is there a place for the ‘spiritual quest’ in the classroom? From my own first year experience teaching in a Religions program whose students are being prepared to teach in the Catholic School system, this regular paper will explore these questions with the aim of opening a dialogue to help bridge the gap between religious studies and theological studies in the classroom.

Rob Fennel (Atlantic School of Theology), “The Renewal of the Social Gospel through the Doctrine of Passibility”

The doctrine of passibility provides fertile ground for renewed commitment to a Christ-centred passion for the social gospel. This paper explores some of the history of the doctrine of divine impassibility, and outlines the ways in which Moltmann, in contrast, presents passibility as constitutive of his theological understandings. The vulnerable love of God, who risks engagement with the world, suffers redemptively-especially upon the cross-and draws human beings into mutual solidarity, into commitment to emancipation, and ultimately into the very life of the triune God, whose desire is the fullness and goodness of the consummation of God’s Realm.

Andrew Gabriel (McMaster Divinity College), “Searching for a Theology of Nature in Barth’s Doctrine of Creation” (Work In Progress)

The critique raised most often regarding Karl Barth’s doctrine of creation concerns its anthropocentric nature. I will argue, however, that Barth himself moves beyond the anthropocentrism of which he is accused. Barth is indeed anthropocentric in that his creation/covenant thesis tends to present non-human creation as a means to an end, in his exposition of the Genesis creation narratives, in his christological focus, in his understanding of the covenant, and in his anthropocentric doctrine of election (which is foundational to his understanding of the covenant). Nevertheless, in response to his critics (particularly Moltmann and Aung) I will observe how Barth does not completely neglect nature and highlight insights within his doctrine of creation that might be incorporated into a theology of nature, particularly that all of creation participates in the covenant.

Keith Hyde (University of Winnipeg), “‘The Teleological Suspension of the Ethical” in the T.V. Series ‘Survivor’” (Work In Progress)

Using Kierkegaard’s notion of the ‘teleological suspension of the ethical’ as a springboard, I seek to examine some of the implicit ethical suspensions which take place, whether by design or circumstance, in one of the first successful television reality series, “Survivor, Season One”. I may also explore some of the apocalyptic undertones of the show, with its eclectic, isolated collective which is forced to adapt to continually changing external circumstances and diminishing membership.

Justin Klassen (McMaster University), “Love Born of the Cross: Divine Truth and Cultural Mediations”

In recent years, the Radical Orthodoxy movement (John Milbank, Graham Ward, Catherine Pickstock, et al.) has developed an influential theological response to the putative nihilism inherent in modern philosophical tendencies to construe the relation between finite and infinite realities as utterly disjunctive and thus incapable of mediation. In contrast to such “ontologies of violence,” Radical Orthodoxy advances an ontology that is both truly “aesthetic,” suggesting that God in creation provides for the positive mediatory capacities of finite form, and also truly “peaceful,” claiming that God’s creative allowance for the participation of the finite in his infinite being is motivated primarily by the love immanent to God’s own person. This theological ontology thus attempts to persuade of the truth of a human existence for which an objective-erotic relation to finite things is itself participation in a “being” that is peace. In my paper I shall propose an alternative, “dialectical” theological aesthetics, by way of an original comparison of the work of René Girard and Søren Kierkegaard, each of whom advances an ontology of peace, to be sure, but who both also advocate a certain renunciation of the erotic, which opposes them to the Radical Orthodoxy project.

Timothy Nijhof (University of Winnipeg), “De Werkmansvriend (The Workingman’s Friend): Klaas Kater and the Reformed Churches response to the threat of the Marxist “International” in 19th Century Netherlands”

Economic hardship in 19th Century Netherlands meant that much of the Northern rural population was destitute and many were engaged in a constant struggle for daily sustenance. These deplorable conditions created a society that was ripe for the socialist message. Not surprisingly this created a great deal of unease among the Catholic and orthodox Protestant churches which viewed the socialist movement as a threat. In 1876, Partrimonium, a Protestant Christian workers’ association, was formed to address the social questions of the day by developing Christian solutions based on the demands of God’s laws rather than “rallying under the red flag.” In very short order Partrimonium built itself into one of the largest organizations in the Netherlands. And yet this organization and its accomplishments were virtually ignored by the church hierarchy; most notably, the future Prime Minister Abraham Kuyper. It wasn’t until the organization threatened to form a separate Christian Labour Party and run candidates in direct competition with the Reformed confessional Anti-Revolutionary party that concessions were finally made. This paper will explore the biblical mandate of Partrimonium and how they interpreted this mandate within the specifics of their program. It will analyze the challenges these Christian working men faced within the exclusive deferential Reformed social hierarchy with a particular focus on the interaction between its leader, Klaas Kater, and Abraham Kuyper. Finally this paper will discuss the importance of this period in the formation of the consociational society which developed in the Netherlands in the 20th century as well as placing this within an international context.

Mathias M. Ross, “The Place of Community Praxis in Inter-Religious Dialogue in Contemporary Religious Formation”

Faith traditions and practices are frequently taken as forming the foundational and normative aspect of religion and issues in relation to meeting contextual needs as belonging to the derived and relative aspect of religion both in ‘religious studies’ and ‘theological’ circles. While liberation theology and theologies akin to it have questioned this and called for a ‘theology from below’, the analysis they employ typically fails to be adequate to the complexity of human existence, social relations, political demands and operations, and varying forms of thought connecting these. This paper discusses the tension in the tradition-based and context-based approaches. It evaluates the principles and attempts of ecumenical bodies in seeing the role of religion in contemporary social and religious conflicts and promotion of human rights and sustainable life patterns. It then goes on to show how community praxis and inter-religious dialogue must be seen as two ‘religious’ moments, divinely offered, humanly transforming and theologically significant, rather than as merely means towards fulfilling predetermined religious goals.

Jane Colleen Rowland (Independent Scholar), “‘Blessedly Used of God’: Theology, Spirituality and Gender Practices among Early Twentieth-Century Evangelicals”

This paper will explore the role of spirituality in determining gender practices within early twentieth-century North American evangelicalism. Spirituality is here understood as the interaction of religious beliefs, experiences, and practices within a specific context. In particular, the paper will explore ways in which the theological tenets of one stream of holiness evangelicals, associated with the Christian and Missionary Alliance, provided the experiential grounding for an expanded role for female ministry. Spirituality provides a fruitful lens through which to observe and evaluate what are otherwise apparently self-contradictory evangelical attitudes towards ministering women.

Laurie Lamoreux Scholes (Concordia University), “Building Bridges Across Difference: A Study of the Christian Ecumenical Movement of the Early 20th Century (A Blueprint for the Interfaith Movement?)”

Building upon the work of previous generations, the ecumenical movement of the early twentieth century successfully managed intra-faith relations and established the World Council of Churches, an institution that continues to unite many Christians around the world. The concerns and challenges that faced the ecumenical movement in the lead-up to the World Council of Churches parallel many of the social, political and theological concerns that challenge the emerging interfaith movement of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. This paper will explore various ways in which the experiences of the former provides the latter with yet another blueprint to consider in the ongoing quest to build bridges across differences and achieve unity within religious diversity.

Don Schweitzer (St. Andrew’s College, University of Saskatchewan), “Truth and Pride in the Book of Job”

Western Christian theology, with some exceptions, has tended to understand pride as either a sin or a virtue. This paper will show how the book of Job portrays pride more complexly, as a polyvalent and dynamic phenomenon intrinsic to moral agency that cannot be adequately grasped as either a friend or foe of truth. The book of Job portrays pride as inherent in and necessary to any attempt to speak the truth, yet as also tending to distort it. Its conclusion suggests that the moral claims of pride need to be held in tension with the transmoral nature of God. The latter upholds pride in human righteousness dialectically, affirming it, yet guarding against pride’s distorting tendencies by sublating it within a larger context of grace.

Mark S. Smith (New York University), 2007 Craigie Lecture:“God in Translation: Cross-cultural Recognition of Deities in the Biblical World”

The Canadian Society of Biblical Studies (CSBS), in conjunction with the Canadian Society for the Study of Religion, the Canadian Society for Patristic Studies, and the Canadian Theological Society, is sponsoring the 2007 Craigie Lecture on May 28, 2007 at 7:30 p.m. This biannual event aims to bring a scholar of international repute to the CSBS annual meeting at Congress; the event also aims to bring up-to-date biblical scholarship to the attention of a wider audience.

The speaker this year will be Mark S. Smith, Skirball Professor of Bible and Near Eastern Studies at New York University. He is the author of ten books and over forty articles and essays; his recent books include The Early History of God (2d ed.; 2000), The Origins of Biblical Monotheism (2001), and The Memoirs of God (2004). After receiving his Ph.D. from Yale University (1985), he held positions at Yale University and St. Joseph’s University before moving to New York University; he has also held several visiting fellowships. His scholarship is meticulous, his textual readings ground-breaking, and his scope comprehensive.

The presentation is entitled “God in Translation: Cross-cultural Recognition of Deities in the Biblical World.” The title of the presentation promises to show the interplay of cultural and religious forces in the ancient world, with particular attention to biblical texts. Given the increased attention to religious discourse in the West in recent years, an examination of the origins of the western religious traditions should be both informative and relevant. Professor Smith has published both with academic and trade presses, bringing his specialized knowledge of ancient biblical and cognate texts to a wider audience. In both content and accessibility this presentation is consonant with the Congress 2007 theme of “Bridging Communities.”

Kornél Zathureczky (Université de Montréal), “Christianity, Islam, and Reason: Pope Benedict XVI and Tariq Ramadan”

A recent speech of Pope Benedict XVI in Regensburg elicited a flurry of violent protests among many Muslims throughout the world. Benedict appealed to the Greek philosophical heritage of Christianity which the latter appropriated through the theology of the Logos, locating Christianity’s essentially non-violent disposition within this doctrine. While Benedict advocates the necessity of a mutual relationship between faith and reason, he also implies that this relationship between the two is an exclusive achievement of Christian theology in Europe. In the spirit of theological dialogue, mistakenly perceived as disdain for the prophet Muhammad, the Pope questions whether Islam’s perceived connection to violence may not be attributed to a deflated role of reason in Islamic theology. He insinuates that this lack may be the biggest obstacle to accepting the presence of Islam in Europe. We look at a response to the Regensburg speech, offered by Tariq Ramadan, most well-known for his work in construing an idea of specifically European Islam, as a significant achievement of theological dialogue, one that not only engages the real substance of the Pope’s speech but also challenges its theological presuppositions.

Panels / Seminars

Panel A: Issues in Theological Education in Canada” I & II

Participants: Jane Barter Moulaison, chair (University of Winnipeg), Joanne McWilliam (Trinity College), Ellen Leonard (University of St. Michael’s College), Marilyn Legge (Emmanuel College), Doug Harink (King’s University College), Wendy Fletcher, Eric Beresford, Gregory Baum (McGill University)

This panel will explore themes in theological education from the perspectives of a variety of scholars in the field, at variety of stages in their career, and representing a variety of theological orientations. The purpose of the panel is partly retrospective, and, therefore, partly prophetic. What are some of the challenges to theological education in Canada? How does geography impose a challenge to dialogue within our country? How does regional context shape theological education? What future challenges await theological educators? How might theological education proceed in an increasingly pluralistic context, and above all, what is theological about theological education?

This panel will contribute to a special supplement to the Toronto Journal of Theology, to be published in 2008.

Panel B (Joint Panel with CCSR): Bridging Communities? The Instance of Borat

Participants: Bill James, Hannah Dick, chairs (Queen’s University)

Few would propose that Sacha Baron Cohen’s Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (2006) effectively bridges communities, or that it publicizes worthwhile knowledge. Borat, analyzed methodologically from film studies and religious studies, is shown to shatter links, to be deliberately transgressive, and to destroy the boundaries of multicultural (and every other kind of) correctness. The film satirically inverts the American Dream, uncovering illusions of “truth” and the “real” while aggressively resisting any and all forms of Western hegemony. Borat the character destabilizes Western normativities, while embodying and unconcealing particular displacements of contemporary diasporic Jewish identity. Employing Hebrew language and Jewish jokes and folklore, and drawing on tropes disturbingly reminiscent of the Holocaust (pervasive excrement, shorn human hair, toilet as washbasin, mass behaviour), Borat as displaced “other” displays the instability of contemporary Jewish and other identities.

Panel C: Bridging Churches: Development of the Understanding of Church through Canadian Ecumenical Dialogues

Moderators: Gail Allan and Mary Marrocco

Presentations:

1. Self-Understanding of Church Engaged In Dialogue, Dr. Helmut Harder
2. Interaction Between Dialogue and the Local Church Community, Dr. Sandra Beardsall
3. Themes in Dialogues over the Years: “Church,” A Case Study, Dr. Susan Brown

Rationale: Ecumenical bilateral dialogue has been a strong theological and sociological presence in Canada through the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The dialogues themselves have been ongoing and fruitful, both establishing closer links between churches and also deepening knowledge on the themes they have studied. How does this fruitfulness become public knowledge in order to enhance the life of participating churches? How does it influence the self-understanding of churches, and therefore ecclesiologies? How are links made between academic study and ecclesial life? This panel will examine these questions academically, experientially, and historically.

The theme of this year’s Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences is

Bridging Communities: Making Knowledge Public, Making Public Knowledge

University of Saskatchewan President, Peter MacKinnon, writes: “Scholarly and public communities are becoming increasingly connected. All are navigating the complexities of globalization, genetic innovation, medical advances, digital culture and national identities. Our hope is that this Congress will shed light on the roles, responsibilities and intentions of humanists and social scientists in the evolving relationship between the academy and the public.” The theme of the Congress is intended to stimulate discussion, debate, and exchange across a wide-ranging variety of perspectives and against the background of disciplinary, multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research and scholarship. The University is celebrating its 100th anniversary and intends to feature cultural events that will place special emphasis on women, equity issues and Saskatchewan’s Aboriginal heritage.

• Call for papers (PDF version)
• Appel de communications
• Student essay contest (PDF version)
• CCSR combined programme
• Abstracts of CTS sessions (PDF version)

Annual Meeting

University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon

May 27-29, 2007

The theme of this year’s Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences is

Bridging Communities: Making Knowledge Public, Making Public Knowledge

University of Saskatchewan President, Peter MacKinnon, writes: “Scholarly and public communities are becoming increasingly connected. All are navigating the complexities of globalization, genetic innovation, medical advances, digital culture and national identities. Our hope is that this Congress will shed light on the roles, responsibilities and intentions of humanists and social scientists in the evolving relationship between the academy and the public.” The theme of the Congress is intended to stimulate discussion, debate, and exchange across a wide-ranging variety of perspectives and against the background of disciplinary, multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research and scholarship. The University is celebrating its 100th anniversary and intends to feature cultural events that will place special emphasis on women, equity issues and Saskatchewan’s Aboriginal heritage.

While we invite you to submit proposals on any theological or religious subject, we encourage you to submit proposals which relate to the theme of Bridging Communities: Making Knowledge Public, Making Public Knowledge. As usual, Congress has chosen a broad theme that can include topics on theology and culture, with special attention to how we are separated and the need for links across the divides.

We request that proposals are in one of the following four formats and in French or English. To facilitate anonymous review of proposals, please include your name, institutional affiliation, and contact information on a separate page from your paper proposal; if you submit your proposal by e-mail, the CTS/STC secretary will remove any information identifying you from the proposal submitted to the executive.

Regular Papers: presentation of 40 minutes, 15 minutes for discussion.

Special Papers: presentation of 40 minutes, 15 minute response and 30 minutes for discussion.

Work in Progress: informal presentation of 20 minutes, plus 20 minutes for discussion.

Workshops, Panels, and Seminars: presentations, responses and discussion for 1 to 2 hours. The person organizing such a session is responsible for setting the topic and enlisting participants.

Book Panels: panel discussions of recent books. 1 to 2 hours.

For all types of papers, please submit (preferably by e-mail) the proposed subject, an abstract of about 150 words, and the name(s) of the presenter(s) by Friday, January 12, 2007 to:

Jane Barter Moulaison
Faculty of Theology, University of Winnipeg
B211, 515 Portage Avenue
Winnipeg, MB R3B 2E9
Fax: 204-772-2584
< email hidden; JavaScript is required >

Please bring any relevant materials or recent books for our display table.

The CTS/STC Executive will set the program by February 2007. If your proposal is accepted, we will notify you shortly after that time. If accepted to present at the Saskatoon meetings, you must also bring a single-spaced, typed copy of your paper for the Society’s archives. Please note that CTS/STC has an inclusive language policy.

The Call for Papers together with the letter from the CTS President is available for printing and distribution in PDF format here.