2017 Symposium
Overview
Evangelicalism, however one defines it, finds itself at the intersection of a host of crossroads. After decades of relative prosperity in North America, the churches, universities, and seminaries that evangelicals cultivate, populate, and depend upon for leadership are wrestling with legal, social, and ultimately theological questions on a wide variety of fronts.
For many, the financial challenges that compelled Christianity Today to close Books and Culture after twenty-one years were tangible expressions of those challenges. Caught between fear and hope, some observers proposed the evangelical mind is now on the threshold of another “scandal.” In contrast, others propose the opportunities for faithful intellectual engagement and witness are greater now than in recent history.
This symposium offers a context in which participants can reflect upon that past but also think critically about the prospects for the future of the evangelical mind. Those prospects will depend in many ways upon the influence of evangelical churches, universities, and seminaries. What role then will each one of those institutions play? What kinds of relationships will they need to share with one another? What kinds of relationships will churches, universities, and seminaries need to forge with other institutions?
By drawing upon the wisdom of the past, perhaps some of these questions might be best navigated by reflecting anew upon the common and respective purposes animating the church, the university, and the seminary. Please consider joining us as we explore these questions at “The State of the Evangelical Mind: Reflections upon the Past, Prospects for the Future,” on September 21-22, 2017.
The keynote addresses will be published in an edited volume scheduled to be published by InterVarsity Press in fall 2018. The related papers will be published in a theme issue of Christian Scholar’s Review scheduled to be published in summer 2018.
Hosts and Emcee:
- Jay F. Hein – President, The Sagamore Institute
- Jerry Pattengale – University Professor
- David W. Wright – President, Indiana Wesleyan University
Confirmed Preconference and Keynote Speakers Include:
- Donald Cassell – Senior Fellow and Director Liberian Initiatives
- Abson Joseph – Professor of New Testament and Biblical Languages
- Timothy Larsen – Carolyn and Fred McManis Professor of Christian Thought, Wheaton College
- Jo Anne Lyon – Ambassador, The Wesleyan Church
- David Mahan – Executive Director of the Rivendell Institute at Yale
- Mark A. Noll – Francis A. McAnaney Professor Emeritus of History, University of Notre Dame
- Don Smedley – Senior Fellow of the Rivendell Institute at Yale
- James K. A. Smith – Professor of Philosophy and the Gary and Henrietta Byker Chair in Applied Reformed Theology and Worldview, Calvin College
- Lauren F. Winner – Associate Professor of Christian Spirituality, Duke University Divinity School
Honored Guest:
- John Wilson – Editor of Education and Culture (Editor of Books and Culture,1995-2016)