Call for Papers

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 19^th – 22^nd, 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 (doug.harink@kingsu.ca and/or Philip Ziegler (p.ziegler@abdn.ac.uk) no later than April 30, 2011.

Details of the Call can be reviewed on the Explorations in Theology and Apocalyptic group weblog here.

As some of you may know, over the last couple years I have grown less and less interested in writing on theology and biblical issues. I’ve tried to to keep it up, I really have, but I just can’t get the same enjoyment out of theological reading and writing anymore. So anyways, at the same time I’ve had a burgeoning interest in sociology of religion and comparative religous studies.

In light of this I’ve finally decided to bite the bullet and start posting exclusively on these topics. I really have enjoyed writing and thinking about theology, but a time comes for all things to end. I hope the new blog format will be enjoyable to all you readers.

The Theology and Apocalyptic Group has put out the following call for papers for this year’s upcoming AAR meeting:

The “Explorations in Christian Theology and Apocalyptic” working group invites individual paper proposals for an “additional meeting” at the 2010 American Academy of Religion meeting on the following topic:  “Engagements with the Political Theology of Johannes Baptist Metz.”  We especially welcome proposals that engage the turn to apocalyptic within Metz’s theology and the ideas particularly associated with this turn in his theology, such as:  the “eschatological reserve”; “dangerous memory”; the Second Coming; discipleship; mysticism and prayer; the relation of the Kingdom of God to history; the nature and definition of “the political” and political authority/sovereignty (particularly “the authority of those who suffer”); and martyrdom/witness.  We also encourage proposals that explore these themes by bringing Metz into critical conversation with other political and liberationist theologians (such as Jürgen Moltmann, Gustavo Gutierrez, and Jon Sobrino); political theorists (such as Walter Benjamin, Carl Schmitt, and Giorgio Agamben); and prominent political activists and theologians (such as Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Dorothy Day, William Stringfellow, Jacques Ellul, and Will Campbell).  Paper presentations will be ca. 20 minutes in length and the panel will include an invited respondent.  Proposals should include your name, institutional affiliation, and the title(s) of the proposed paper(s), as well as a 250 word abstract for each proposed paper.  Proposals should be submitted via email to Nathan Kerr (nkerr@trevecca.edu) and/or Philip Ziegler (p.ziegler@abdn.ac.uk) no later than March 22, 2010.

Also, there will be a panel on Christopher Morse’s new book, The Difference Heaven Makes:

This will be a panel discussion of Christopher Morse’s new book, The Difference Heaven Makes: Rehearing the Gospel as News (Continuum, 2010). Panelists will include Katherine Sonderegger (Virginia Theological Seminary), Nancy Duff (Princeton Theological Seminary), Trevor Eppehimer (Hood Theological Seminary), and Donald Wood (University of Aberdeen). Christopher Morse himself will be present to reply. Phil Ziegler (University of Aberdeen) will chair the session. Details of time, place etc. will follow in due course.

Tonight my church is hosting our biannual Ekklesia Project regional gathering. Doug will be speaking on the nature and mission of the church as reflected in 1 & 2 Peter, which is also the subject of his recent commentary on those books in the Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible Series.

I’m going to take a stab at live blogging these, since the church we’re at actually has wireless. Tonight’s lecture is entitled “The Transfiguration of Christ: The End of 2 Peter.” Lets see if I can handle this live blogging thing.

Doing this series on the body of Christ is really getting the wheels turning for me, in the most positive way possible. It’s also sort of making things balloon, so I may actually be posting about this for a while. Thus, with this in mind I have two requests from readers:

First, I need any and all recommendations you would offer on the topic of the body of Christ. I mean this in the broadest way possible. Right now I’m reading everything from in-depth biblical studies of the metaphor to theological treatments of the three-fold body of Christ. Any sources that you consider vital to investigating this topic, in all its dimension, I want to hear about.

Second, and more importantly, I want to put out a call for contributions from my readership on this topic. Specifically, I’m wondering if any bold readers would be willing to send me some guest posts on the topic of the meaning of metaphor of the body. You could take this in any direction, addressing the three-fold body of Christ as such, or different aspects thereof, or simply doing biblical study of the meaning of the Pauline metaphor in Scripture. There is clearly a diversity of opinion on this topic, and I want those various voices to receive a hearing outside of the comment threads. So, please contact me, either by email or through the comments here if you are interested in doing a guest post on this topic.

In light of many recent discussions and not a little reader recommendation, I have decided to devote the upcoming week of blogging to thinking though the image of the church as “the body of Christ.” This week I will be posting exclusively on this topic, engaging different thinkers on the topic and examining the relevant biblical texts that shed light on the meaning of the church as Christ’s body.

Now, let me allay any fears that this might be yet another instantiation of the annoying blogging disease known as “Here’s-a-new-series-I’m-starting-but-will-forget-about-almost-immediately-and-never-finish-it.” While I’ll be probably adding some more posts throughout the week, I’ve actually spent the weekend reading and writing most of the posts already. They are scheduled throughout the upcoming week, so you are guaranteed a steady stream of reflection on the body of Christ. I hope it will prove helpful and profitable to us all.

The Other Journal is looking for people who are ready and able to write substantive theological responses to the Haiti earthquake quickly. If you feel you are able to offer such a response please let me know ASAP.

Send all proposal and submissions to Chris Keller.

Sure, I have some grand scale ridiculous desires about stuff to accomplish this year. Like reading the Bible a few times and finishing this gargantuan and barely begun project from last year (yeah, now you know). But I dare not call such things real resolutions. Here are some of the things I have actually resolved to do this year:

• Be in Munich for Oktoberfest.
• Read a book on the history of pirates.
• Spit-roast an entire pig this summer.
• Re-read at least two books that deserve it.
• Hit at least two Roger Clyne shows this year.
• Listen to more music.

If I do all of these things this year I’ll be pretty happy.

While there is much to lament about the fact that AAR is no longer meeting conterminously with SBL, there is still a lot of good stuff to look forward to for those who will be attending.Personally, I think that the highlight of the conference will be the twoo sessions on “Explorations in Theology and Apocalyptic.” Here is the list of presenters and meetings for those who are interested. I’d advise anyone coming to AAR next month to make sure to attend these sessions.

“Whither Apocalyptic? Critical Reflections in the Wake of Nathan R. Kerr’s Christ, History and Apocalyptic: The Politics of Christian Mission (SCM Press/Cascade Books, 2008)”

Saturday – 6:30 pm-9:00 pm

Location: FQE-Hochelaga 5

Sponsored by Cascade Books/Wipf and Stock Publishers

Charlie Collier, Cascade Books, Presiding

Panelists:
Douglas Harink, King’s University College, Edmonton
Travis Kroeker, McMaster University
Cyril O’Regan, University of Notre Dame

Responding:
Nathan R. Kerr, Trevecca Nazarene University

“The Apocalyptic Gospel: Theological Responses to the Work of J. Louis Martyn”

Sunday – 6:30 pm-9:00 pm

Location: FQE-Hochelaga 5

Sponsored by the University of Aberdeen

Douglas Harink, King’s University College, Edmonton, Presiding

Panelists:
Joshua Davis, Vanderbilt University
Walter Lowe, Emory University
Benjamin Myers, Charles Sturt University (paper to be read by Halden Doerge, Wipf and Stock Publishers)
Philip G. Ziegler, University of Aberdeen

Ben has posted a helpful round up of the upcoming conferences over the next number of months:

• The Politics of Peace (featuring William Cavanaugh and Catherine Keller)
• Gift and Economy: Ethics, Hospitality and the Market
• Building an Ethical Economy: Theology and the Marketplace (with Rowan Williams and Kathryn Tanner)
• Prayer and Spirituality in the Early Church: Politics and Religion (an Australian conference, featuring Sarah Coakley, Hal Drake and Sean Freyne)
• Wesleyan Theological Society
• Christian fundamentalism and British evangelicalism [pdf]
• Jesus, Paul and the People of God: A theological dialogue with N. T. Wright
• Heidelberg Conference on Reformed Theology
• Political Theology in the Middle Ages
• Rawlsian Liberalism in Context(s)
• And coming up this week is the Faith, Film and Justice conference

I’ll definitely be with my compatriots from The Other Journal at Film, Faith, and Justice and, hopefully at least at the Wheaton Theology Conference on Jesus, Paul, and the People of God. Though, I must admit the Politics of Peace conference has caught my envious eye.

Just in case folks haven’t noticed the flashy new pictures in my sidebar, there are some conferences coming up that are well worth you’re time. In less than two weeks, if you’re in the Seattle area, make sure to get to the Film, Faith, and Justice conference, put on by the Other Journal.

Also, mark your calendars for next April for the Annual Wheaton Theology Conference. There’s an utterly top-notch lineup of speakers for this year’s conference which deals with “Jesus, Paul, and the People of God.” Speakers include N.T. Wright, Kevin Vanhoozer, Jeremy Begbie, Markus Bockmuehl, Richard Hays, Marianne Meye Thompson, and Edith Humphrey among others.