SCHEDULE
Towards an Authentic Adventist Theology
September 12 - October 10
with author Reinder Bruinsma
(Kindle: $9.99; for a hard copy with 40% discount use discount code CONF40 at the Wipf and Stock Website. There will be 9 copies available in class for $30/ea. on September 17)
From the Amazon website:
This book provides a survey of Seventh-day Adventist theology. It underlines the solid Protestant Christian basis of Adventist teachings and deals with the denominational doctrinal specifics. It does not, however, in all respects follow traditional Adventist views but deviates in a number of instances from official Adventist doctrine. In most of these cases the author does not stand alone but gives a voice to what many other fellow Adventists, professional theologians and lay members think. He intends to affirm the faith of his coreligionists but also deals in all honesty with questions many in his church are struggling with. But despite his recurring doubts and reconsidering some of his beliefs, he remains a committed Adventist believer. With this authentic approach to Adventist theology he hopes to be of service to many Adventists who, with him, want to rethink and restate the content of the Adventist teachings as “present truth” not as a relic of nineteenth-century thinking but as relevant for Christians in this present time. He believes Adventism can continue to add to the richness of the Christian message, provided it is willing to attune its specifics to today’s spiritual challenges.
SCHEDULE OUTLINE:
Sept. 12: Introduction: Background of book (Introduction)
TOWARDS AN AUTHENTIC ADVENTIST THEOLOGY
theology – definition - human project - work in process
Sept. 19: Adventist theology and fundamental Christian doctrine (chapter 1)
Historical developments in Adventism - current situation
Apostolic Confession
September 26: (Truly) Fundamental Beliefs (chapters 2 - 4)
Sabbath, Second Coming, Conditional immortality. Stewardship (health, resources, consumerism, climate)
October 3: Elements of uncertainty / doubt / discussion (chapters 5 - 7)
Nature of inspiration, mode of creation, last-day events, Ellen G. White, investigative judgment, OT laws, perfection (Last Generation Theology), remnant
October 10: Future (chapters 7 - 10)
Preview of my next book OCCUPY TILL I COME, process of "updating present truth"
interim between 2 advents
focus on: peace making, justice, stewardship re out planet, preaching gospel: together with other Christians, role of SDA community
What is the church?
Christianity and the Nation State
October 17-31
with author Gary Chartier
From the Amazon website:
In Christianity and the Nation-State, Gary Chartier provocatively offers readers unexpected critical distance from some familiar ways of understanding, justifying, and navigating existing political arrangements. People in multiple societies are posing important questions about the authority and functions of the contemporary nation-state and about potential alternatives to this seemingly inescapable institution. Chartier seeks to develop a distinctive theological response to the conditions prompting these questions. Affirming liberalism and cosmopolitanism, he reflects critically on nationalism, localism, religious establishment, and theological accounts of political authority. He highlights links between sin and state power and underscores deficiencies in democratic rhetoric and theory. He rejects the idea of a global government, advocating a nonterritorial alternative he labels 'radical consociationalism. Moreover, he presents concrete suggestions for life under the rule of the state.
See Kevin Vallier’s critical review here: Book Review: Christianity and the Nation-State: A Study in Political Theology , Gary Chartier
SCHEDULE OUTLINE:
October 17: Introduction and Chapter 1
October 24:
October 31:
Sabbath Seminars
Room 3208
Centennial Complex of Loma Linda University Sabbath Morning 10:30-12:30
Galileo Galilei: 'I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use.'
