Theological Symposium

Our goal to be faithful to “the whole counsel of God” (Acts 20:27) centers on Jesus Christ. What does “Christocentric” mean in preaching, teaching, and in devoted daily lives? This sectional will reflect on how we present Christ in the church year and lectionary, in reading and preaching the Old Testament, and in the practical task of preparing Christocentric sermon outlines.

Werner Auditorium

In contrast with modern Christian teaching and preaching, the church fathers had a general predilection to cite Ps. 82:6, “I said, You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you.” The first six centuries of the Christian exegetical tradition evidence about 300 citations of the passage, fairly evenly divided between Greek and Latin sources. The accompanying interpretations varied. The named “gods” may be identified as angels or humans, as judges or priests or prophets or all the godly or even all Christians, as those in the past or the present or the future. Alongside this diversity of thought, what is striking is the way that Origen anticipated so much of the tradition that followed. Writing in the first half of the third century, this early father, later deemed to be of questionable orthodoxy, held an oversized influence over what was to follow. But is this phenomenon indeed a consequence of influence or simply of one author boldly spinning out the full potential intertextual logic of the Scriptures themselves? In some instances we might go so far as to trace a lineage of teachers and students. In others, we might simply posit that similar circumstances and similar concerns gave rise to similar applications of the text.

Presidents Room

Before parishioners can profitably deal with and understand the Scriptures in real depth, they must have some acquaintance with basic principles for interpreting those writings. Dr. James W. Voelz recently completed a manuscript, entitled “Principles of Biblical Interpretation for Everyone,” that is designed to do just that. Not simply a reworking or a simplifying of What Does This Mean?: Principles of Biblical Interpretation for the Post-Modern World (a seminary-level hermeneutics textbook), this is a completely new effort, written from the ground up, designed to entice laypeople to delve into the riches the Scriptures and to begin to interpret them “for all they are worth.” In this session, Voelz will describe the scope of this project and the unique set-up of the book, and together with the participants, will take a detailed look at one of the chapters.

Werner Auditorium

The Apostle Paul teaches that Christ’s resurrection on the third day was in accord with the Scriptures (1 Cor. 15:4). It was common among the early church fathers to read Hosea 6:2 as one of those Scriptures that is full of Gospel hope. Yet when Hosea is read in its eighth century BC context, condemnation of Israel’s sin abounds rather than hope of the coming Messiah. Can this impasse between the interpretive move of the early church and current hermeneutical practice be resolved?

Presidents Room

The beginning of the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (InterVarsity Press) was based on a lie and deception. As the operations manager and editor of this highly acclaimed and successful series, Dr. Joel Elowsky will take attendees on a behind the scenes look at some of the developments with the commentary series, sharing a few stories that may not be so well known and also looking toward what lies ahead.

Werner Auditorium

The fathers of the church are famous (or perhaps infamous) for their interpretations of Scripture. In contrast to many modern hermeneutical methods, the fathers often focused on the spiritual senses of Scripture, seeking to discern, for example, connections between the narratives of the Old Testament and the mysteries of the Christian faith. Yet, the fathers also were deeply interested in the literal sense of Scripture and sought to discover its meaning. In light of this, it is worth exploring how the fathers went about interpreting Scripture. In this presentation, Dr. Andrew Chronister will focus on St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430) and discuss some of the exegetical principles he employed to interpret Scripture. Key questions for this examination include: How does one identify the meaning of the literal sense? To what degree is the church’s faith an important hermeneutical guide for the exegetical process? What are the spiritual senses of Scripture? Why should one interpret Scripture via the spiritual senses?

Presidents Room