How are Christians to think and act in a world where an "Arab Spring" appears to be ushering in a harsh winter of oppression against Christian minorities, where a Eurozone crisis is unleashing a long-dormant xenophobia on the far right, and where the American electorate remains as polarized as ever along religious lines?
Join us this fall, October 5 and 6, as four prominent Christian thinkers—Ross Douthat, James K.A. Smith, Peter Leithart, and Hans Boersma—discuss and debate the political issues of our time and speak to a Christian community that is called to bring reconciliation to an “Age of Fracture.”
EVENT DETAILSROSS DOUTHAT (New York Times): "How Religion Went Bad: Christianity in an Age of Heresy" Ross Douthat is the youngest regular op-ed writer in the history of the New York Times, and the author of the best-selling book Bad Religion: How We Became a Nation of Heretics.
JAMES K.A. SMITH (Calvin College): "Holy Ambivalence: Secular Liturgies, Divine Politics?" James K.A. Smith is Professor of Philosophy at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan and academic program coordinator for the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship.
PETER LEITHART (New St. Andrews College): “Bowls of Blood and Incense: The Politics of Martyrdom" Peter Leithart is the Senior Theology Scholar at New St. Andrews College in Moscow, Idaho and a contributing editor for Touchstone and First Things magazines.
HANS BOERSMA (Regent College): “Politics and Faith: Who Will Put Humpty Dumpty Together Again?” Hans Boersma is the J.I. Packer Professor of Theology at Regent College and the Co-Director of the Center for Catholic-Evangelical Dialogue.
Roundtable discussions will follow each presentation.
Conference co-sponsored by Regent College and by The Marketplace Institute at Regent College.
The Center for Catholic-Evangelical Dialogue is an independent research center. Catholic and Evangelical scholars are increasingly discovering that we have much to learn from each other, not least in revitalizing our theologies and our study of Scripture.
Sharing a common bond in worship of Jesus Christ and dependence upon the life-giving work of the Holy Spirit, Catholic and Evangelical theologians and historians can greatly enrich each others' ability to hear and proclaim the gospel in contemporary North American culture. The Center for Catholic-Evangelical Dialogue aims to sponsor conferences and research projects that nourish the ability of our communities to understand, appreciate, challenge, and benefit from each other. We hope thereby to enrich the faith and practice of contemporary Christians.