Course ListingBible Institute
Using the Bible in the Public Square
February 6 & 7, 2012
Pastors and other church leaders are invited to do “public theology” with audiences beyond the confines of the church. They often are called on to pray or speak at public forums, at meetings of school boards and town councils, and at high school baccalaureate services; they may serve as chaplains for volunteer fire departments and guest columnists for the local paper. Obviously the Bible is an important resource for these opportunities, but how to use the Bible in such situations is the question (or perhaps better, how God uses the Bible through our ministry). For all the respect they may have for the Bible, fewer and fewer people outside the church will automatically buy into the “normative sacred scripture” argument. Join Dr. Richard Nelson and participate in workshops during the Bible Institute on February 6 and 7, 2012, as we explore the challenges of “Using the Bible in the Public Square.
Peter Rollins
February 16 & 17, 2012
Through lectures, books, and stories, Peter Rollins brings Christian faith face-to-face with itself in light of the cultural changes expressed through the various hyphenated “posts”—post-Christendom, post-denominational, post-liberal, post-modern. He is the founder of ikon, a community of faith that expresses itself through “transformance art,” a community-based blending of theology, art, and ritual. Dr. Rollins gained his education at Queens University, Belfast. His critiques and challenges are reminiscent of the work of Soren Kierkegaard and Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He is the author of several books, including, How (Not) to Speak of God, The Fidelity of Betrayal, and Insurrection: To Believe Is Human, to Doubt, Divine.