“It Just Doesn’t Make Sense: Wrestling with God’s Will in a Tragic World” is the title of the 16th Annual Theological Symposium to be held Sept. 20-21 on the campus of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis.
Participants in this Symposium will explore together the ways in which believers address questions regarding the nature and plan of God and the responsibility of human beings in the context of the evil’s onslaughts in the lives of people around the world. For example:
- We confess that God daily and abundantly provides and that He shields and protects us in the face of all evil. We experience a world in which twin towers collapse and tsunamis sweep away villages. Where is God when we need Him most?
- Does God change His mind and course of action?
- Does He respond to our prayers? What are our prayers worth anyway?
- When sins and evils challenge God, what does the Christian have to say?
- How does God’s responsibility for everything in His creation mesh with the responsibility He gives to every human creature in his or her sphere of accountability?
A complete schedule for the Symposium is available on Concordia Seminary’s Web site, at www.csl.edu/symposium.htm [1].
Following the Symposium, Victor Raj, mission professor of exegetical theology and assistant director of the Institute for Mission Studies, will lead an evangelism workshop titled “The Act of God and the Acts of God: Studies in 1 Peter” on Sept. 21-22. The workshop will focus on how God and religion, and godly acts and religious acts gain prominence in the lives of people and communities, especially when unforeseen catastrophes strike with an unprecedented force. Questions on God’s justice, patience and grace will be covered, and readings from the first letter of St. Peter will demonstrate how human suffering engenders Christian hope and opens the door for Christian witness.
Parish pastors, district and synodical officials, Seminary and Concordia University students and faculty, and interested laypersons all are welcome to attend. One CEU is available for attending the Symposium, and .5 CEU is available for attending the post-Symposium workshop. Plenary sessions of the Symposium will be Web cast.
DVDS of presentations from the 15th Annual Theological Symposium are now available from Concordia Seminary, St. Louis. The Symposium, “The Challenge of Homosexuality—The Church Responds,” was held Sept. 21-22, 2004, on the Seminary campus. DVDs may be purchased individually or as a full set. The full set of 6 DVDs costs $140 ($70 for 2004 Symposium attendees); individual DVDs cost $30 ($15 for 2004 Symposium attendees).
For more information and/or registration information, contact the Office of Continuing Education and Parish Services at (314) 505-7123 or [email protected] [2].