CFP: The Christian Evasion of Popular Culture
Following is a new CFP that might be of interest to churchandpomo readers:
Andreas Center for Reformed Scholarship and Service
THE CHRISTIAN EVASION OF POPULAR CULTURE
Christianity is often the focus of popular culture, whether it is through the blood and gore of The Passion of the Christ, the satire of South Park and Family Guy, or exposés of Jesus Camp or Religulous. The Christian community tends to respond by either ignoring popular culture or critiquing it moralistically through discussion about popular culture, rather than reflecting on our inescapable existence within it. Even those Christian perspectives that emphasize cultural transformation have a dearth of positive engagement with contemporary manifestations of culture. This tendency towards “evasion” forms a posture towards popular culture—we pray for it, we decry its excesses—that is at odds with the reality of our being immersed within popular culture: from food to fashion, guitars to guns, and pipe organs to orbiting telecommunication satellites. Every square inch of our lives is saturated by patterns and expressions of popular culture. To make culture is an inextricable part of our human identity that has too often been ignored within the Christian tradition.
This conference, which will take place at Dordt College in Sioux Center, Iowa, on November 1–3, 2012, will explore the Christian... Read More
Divine Reciprocity and Epistemic Openness in Clark Pinnock’s Theology
Written By John Sanders (Professor of Religious Studies at Hendrix College) – sandersj@hendrix.edu *** This paper was given at a session honoring the work of Clark Pinnock at the American Academy of Religion in San Francisco, November 18, 2011. Canadian theologian Clark Pinnock was once a renowned defender of the doctrine of meticulous providence (where God tightly controls each and every event that transpires). He caused... Read More
Not at-home: rethinking hospitality and homelessness
This Christmas season I had the privilege of attending a memorial service, a vigil in memory of the homeless from our area who had died. Gathered in the early dark of the winter solstice, a group comprised of homeless persons, service providers, and local residents read from a necrology, including twenty names new to the list this year. As we were asked to remember these lives, one of the speakers asked us to remember also that Jesus Christ had been... Read More
SCPT Conference Registration and CFP
Not much time left to submit a paper. The deadline is January 15. Here’s a link to the CFP. Registration information is now available. —————— Registration Information for the 2012 meeting of the Society for Continental Philosophy and Theology (SCPT) Creation, Creatureliness, and Creativity: The Human Place in the Natural World April 20-22, 2012 Loyola Marymount University Los Angeles SCPT’s 2012... Read More
Book Review: Where Mortals Dwell
The practice of reflection takes center stage at the end of every year. As a new year begins, looking back on what was and anticipating what will be has become another hallmark of the holiday season. With its connection to the holidays, the emphasis on reflection garners its own corner of the market as holiday extravagance gives way again to the routinized patterns of the next 11 months. One wonders if such reflection has really become a trivial matter... Read More
