Tuesday, 23 October 2012
Janet Read’s Art Exhibit
ICS alumna Janet Read is exhibiting her new paintings at the Aurora Cultural Centre until Saturday, November 17. The Centre is located at 22 Church Street in Aurora. For information, call 905-713-1818 or visit http://www.auroraculturalcentre.ca.
Monday, 22 October 2012
Message from the President
Human beings act. They do things. They move and encounter things. Humans change things and are changed by them. But what about communities or institutions? Does it make sense to say that they act? Or are their acts first and foremost the acts of individuals who participate in the community or institution? Maybe the acts of individuals are also and at the same time the act of a community or institution, at any rate if that individual has been invested with the office of acting on behalf of it? How are communities or institutions actors, movers and shakers within our world, how are they difference makers? How are they like individual human actors and how are they not? These are the sorts of questions that have been turning around in my head these days.
You see, I currently serve on a PhD thesis committee at the Centre for the Study of Religion at the University of Toronto. I was asked to provide a formal response to the PhD candidate’s (John Lorenc’s) presentation of his doctoral seminar. He is working on a late thirteenth-century Dominican John of Freiburg and his magnum opus, the Summa confessorum which title can be translated as A Comprehensive Guide to Confessors. John Lorenc finds the Marxist theories of Antonio Gramsci helpful in coming to terms with his thirteenth-century Dominican’s treatment of issues around usury, the practice of charging interest on loans. Something similar to the notion of interest (something licit) in contrast to usury (something illicit) was starting to emerge by John of Freiburg’s day, but suspicion of greed and other vices still hung heavy over any actual lending of money at interest. Such lending put one at spiritual risk, surely. In John’s day, this ambivalence was palpable; efforts were put into preserving the fact of interest in a form that made interest appear as something else, something that escaped the suspicions naturally attracted to lending at interest when it dared to travel under its own name. John Lorenc understands what is going on in John of Freiburg’s treatment of usury in terms of his societal role as “an organic intellectual.” In Gramsci’s theory, such figures operate in close association with economic classes and serve them by articulating their interests by means of which to form an aggregate of people into a class unity, an historical actor, by identifying for them a corporate economic and political interest and agenda. These classes in turn are the real agents of change in history, or so the story goes. Here again we see communities/institutions/classes as concrete historical actors in association with but also contrasting to individual human actors.
It strikes me that the processes by which individuals deliberate about what to do and then actually act to do one thing or another can help us understand how corporate entities deliberate and act, but only by analogy and only up to a point. One can press the analogy only so far, for a human being, unless he or she is suffering from multiple personality syndrome does not have distinct and irreducible actors together constituting the individual as deliberator and/or actor. Corporate entities like communities, institutions, or classes however have any number of actors who deliberate and act individually and corporately in and with respect to the life of the community, institution or class. The individuals are at one and the same time actors in their own right and part of a community or institution that can also be said to act in its own right.
So how does an institution deliberate and act? How does the institution ICS do that? If one of its actors is the God whom it would serve how does that come to expression in the communal life of the ICS? You can see that my academic obligation within the Centre for the Study of Religion at the University of Toronto has sparked a stream of thought about ICS and its present circumstances. It must deliberate and act in the context of a transformed internal community. New leaders are being entrusted as office holders to give leadership to the institution in its life going forward. What will it think about? What will its members talk about? How will it solicit and respond to the guidance of the Holy Spirit in its deliberative processes of discernment? How do the individual actors form together an effective whole? On the cusp of an important change, in its first stages really, I wonder all these things with a palpable sense of anticipation. Anything can happen. Maybe these sorts of questions can focus my attention to these happenings in helpful ways. Whatever the case, discernment and the forging of a way forward in a new situation is definitely on the agenda. And, really, what fun! That is what I am going to focus the ICS portion of my prayer life on in the coming month. I invite you to join me as you will.
For the President,
Bob Sweetman
You see, I currently serve on a PhD thesis committee at the Centre for the Study of Religion at the University of Toronto. I was asked to provide a formal response to the PhD candidate’s (John Lorenc’s) presentation of his doctoral seminar. He is working on a late thirteenth-century Dominican John of Freiburg and his magnum opus, the Summa confessorum which title can be translated as A Comprehensive Guide to Confessors. John Lorenc finds the Marxist theories of Antonio Gramsci helpful in coming to terms with his thirteenth-century Dominican’s treatment of issues around usury, the practice of charging interest on loans. Something similar to the notion of interest (something licit) in contrast to usury (something illicit) was starting to emerge by John of Freiburg’s day, but suspicion of greed and other vices still hung heavy over any actual lending of money at interest. Such lending put one at spiritual risk, surely. In John’s day, this ambivalence was palpable; efforts were put into preserving the fact of interest in a form that made interest appear as something else, something that escaped the suspicions naturally attracted to lending at interest when it dared to travel under its own name. John Lorenc understands what is going on in John of Freiburg’s treatment of usury in terms of his societal role as “an organic intellectual.” In Gramsci’s theory, such figures operate in close association with economic classes and serve them by articulating their interests by means of which to form an aggregate of people into a class unity, an historical actor, by identifying for them a corporate economic and political interest and agenda. These classes in turn are the real agents of change in history, or so the story goes. Here again we see communities/institutions/classes as concrete historical actors in association with but also contrasting to individual human actors.
It strikes me that the processes by which individuals deliberate about what to do and then actually act to do one thing or another can help us understand how corporate entities deliberate and act, but only by analogy and only up to a point. One can press the analogy only so far, for a human being, unless he or she is suffering from multiple personality syndrome does not have distinct and irreducible actors together constituting the individual as deliberator and/or actor. Corporate entities like communities, institutions, or classes however have any number of actors who deliberate and act individually and corporately in and with respect to the life of the community, institution or class. The individuals are at one and the same time actors in their own right and part of a community or institution that can also be said to act in its own right.
So how does an institution deliberate and act? How does the institution ICS do that? If one of its actors is the God whom it would serve how does that come to expression in the communal life of the ICS? You can see that my academic obligation within the Centre for the Study of Religion at the University of Toronto has sparked a stream of thought about ICS and its present circumstances. It must deliberate and act in the context of a transformed internal community. New leaders are being entrusted as office holders to give leadership to the institution in its life going forward. What will it think about? What will its members talk about? How will it solicit and respond to the guidance of the Holy Spirit in its deliberative processes of discernment? How do the individual actors form together an effective whole? On the cusp of an important change, in its first stages really, I wonder all these things with a palpable sense of anticipation. Anything can happen. Maybe these sorts of questions can focus my attention to these happenings in helpful ways. Whatever the case, discernment and the forging of a way forward in a new situation is definitely on the agenda. And, really, what fun! That is what I am going to focus the ICS portion of my prayer life on in the coming month. I invite you to join me as you will.
For the President,
Bob Sweetman
Prayer Letter: November 2012
Thursday, November 1: Senior Member Shannon Hoff will be presenting a paper in Rochester. We ask God to bless Shannon and everyone attending this conference.
Friday, November 2: Cal Seerveld will be speaking tonight at the 40th anniversary celebration of IMAGO. We pray for blessings for Cal and for all who attend this event.
Junior Member Tricia Vandyk will be presenting a paper in Sioux Centre today. We ask God to bless Tricia and all who attend this conference.
Monday, November 5: John Underwood, the grandfather of CPRSE's Associate Director Allyson Carr, recently had a bad fall and was hospitalized with considerable complications. He is home now, and Allyson asks for prayers of thanksgiving that he is home again as well as continued prayers for his full recovery.
Tuesday, November 6: We ask for God's blessing on those who are planning the Annual General Meeting to be held on Wednesday, November 28. We pray for energy and enthusiasm for all who are involved.
Wednesday, November 7: The Faculty meets today. We pray for God's wisdom to guide this meeting.
Thursday, November 8: We offer prayers of gratitude and give thanks to you, our many supporters who have presented ICS with gifts of prayer, money, and expressions of appreciation. We are constantly blessed with your interest and support.
Friday, November 9: On Sunday we observe Remembrance Day in Canada. We are reminded of the wars that continue to rage and the soldiers and civilians who continue to suffer around the world. We pray for peace.
Monday, November 12: We offer prayers of praise for the talents of ICS alumna and artist Janet Read who is exhibiting her new paintings in Aurora this month.
Tuesday, November 13: We ask God to bless Senior Member Ron Kuipers as he continues his work as Director of our Centre for Philosophy, Religion and Social Ethics.
Wednesday, November 14: The Academic Council meets this afternoon. We ask for God’s wisdom to guide this meeting.
Thursday, November 15: We ask God's help and guidance for all those who are doing advancement work for ICS. Please pray that support for the vision and mission of ICS continues to grow.
Friday, November 16: We offer prayers of praise and gratitude for the talents of Senior Member Lambert Zuidervaart, and Junior Members Dr. Allyson Carr, Matthew Klaassen and Ronnie Shuker, as the book they have edited, Truth Matters: Knowledge, Politics, Ethics, Religion, will soon be published.
Junior Member Jeffrey Hocking will be presenting a paper in Chicago tomorrow. We ask God to bless Jeff and all who attend this conference.
Monday, November 19: Today we ask for God's help for those who are struggling with cancer and other illnesses. We pray for strength, patience and for good results from treatment.
Tuesday, November 20: We continue to pray for blessings and energy for ICS President, Chris Gort, as he manages his many responsibilities and provides ICS with such excellent leadership.
Wednesday, November 21: The Leadership Team meets today. We pray for God's blessing and guidance to lead their discussions and decisions.
Thursday, November 22: Today is Thanksgiving Day in the United States. Pray for safe travel for those who are going to join their families and friends for this holiday. On this day, let us reflect on God's grace and give thanks for family and friends.
Friday, November 23: Many of our Junior Members are working on their their Masters and PhD thesis projects. We pray for our Junior Members and ask that they will have time, concentration, and wisdom.
Monday, November 26: We ask God to bless the Rev. Dr. Thomas Wolthuis and Ms. Dawn Wolthuis who have been appointed to the position of President of the Institute for Christian Studies. We pray for energy and a smooth transition.
Tuesday, November 27: As the fall semester draws to a close, we ask God for energy and wisdom for all our Junior Members who are working hard in their courses and for a sense of balance as they deal with families and jobs as well. We pray too that student jobs will be found where they are needed.
Wednesday, November 28: The Interfaculty Colloquium will be held this afternoon. We pray for God's blessing on all participants, and for good and positive insights that will further important academic work.
This afternoon ICS will hold its Annual General Meeting, where members will elect new Board members and conduct the annual required business for ICS. We are extremely grateful for our committed and hard working Board members. Please pray for wisdom and guidance at this meeting.
Thursday, November 29: We offer prayers of thanks for all the hard work done by the outgoing Board members. We ask God for wisdom and energy for the incoming Board members.
Friday, November 30: The season of Advent begins this weekend. We pray for God's blessings as we prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ.
Friday, November 2: Cal Seerveld will be speaking tonight at the 40th anniversary celebration of IMAGO. We pray for blessings for Cal and for all who attend this event.
Junior Member Tricia Vandyk will be presenting a paper in Sioux Centre today. We ask God to bless Tricia and all who attend this conference.
Monday, November 5: John Underwood, the grandfather of CPRSE's Associate Director Allyson Carr, recently had a bad fall and was hospitalized with considerable complications. He is home now, and Allyson asks for prayers of thanksgiving that he is home again as well as continued prayers for his full recovery.
Tuesday, November 6: We ask for God's blessing on those who are planning the Annual General Meeting to be held on Wednesday, November 28. We pray for energy and enthusiasm for all who are involved.
Wednesday, November 7: The Faculty meets today. We pray for God's wisdom to guide this meeting.
Thursday, November 8: We offer prayers of gratitude and give thanks to you, our many supporters who have presented ICS with gifts of prayer, money, and expressions of appreciation. We are constantly blessed with your interest and support.
Friday, November 9: On Sunday we observe Remembrance Day in Canada. We are reminded of the wars that continue to rage and the soldiers and civilians who continue to suffer around the world. We pray for peace.
Monday, November 12: We offer prayers of praise for the talents of ICS alumna and artist Janet Read who is exhibiting her new paintings in Aurora this month.
Tuesday, November 13: We ask God to bless Senior Member Ron Kuipers as he continues his work as Director of our Centre for Philosophy, Religion and Social Ethics.
Wednesday, November 14: The Academic Council meets this afternoon. We ask for God’s wisdom to guide this meeting.
Thursday, November 15: We ask God's help and guidance for all those who are doing advancement work for ICS. Please pray that support for the vision and mission of ICS continues to grow.
Friday, November 16: We offer prayers of praise and gratitude for the talents of Senior Member Lambert Zuidervaart, and Junior Members Dr. Allyson Carr, Matthew Klaassen and Ronnie Shuker, as the book they have edited, Truth Matters: Knowledge, Politics, Ethics, Religion, will soon be published.
Junior Member Jeffrey Hocking will be presenting a paper in Chicago tomorrow. We ask God to bless Jeff and all who attend this conference.
Monday, November 19: Today we ask for God's help for those who are struggling with cancer and other illnesses. We pray for strength, patience and for good results from treatment.
Tuesday, November 20: We continue to pray for blessings and energy for ICS President, Chris Gort, as he manages his many responsibilities and provides ICS with such excellent leadership.
Wednesday, November 21: The Leadership Team meets today. We pray for God's blessing and guidance to lead their discussions and decisions.
Thursday, November 22: Today is Thanksgiving Day in the United States. Pray for safe travel for those who are going to join their families and friends for this holiday. On this day, let us reflect on God's grace and give thanks for family and friends.
Friday, November 23: Many of our Junior Members are working on their their Masters and PhD thesis projects. We pray for our Junior Members and ask that they will have time, concentration, and wisdom.
Monday, November 26: We ask God to bless the Rev. Dr. Thomas Wolthuis and Ms. Dawn Wolthuis who have been appointed to the position of President of the Institute for Christian Studies. We pray for energy and a smooth transition.
Tuesday, November 27: As the fall semester draws to a close, we ask God for energy and wisdom for all our Junior Members who are working hard in their courses and for a sense of balance as they deal with families and jobs as well. We pray too that student jobs will be found where they are needed.
Wednesday, November 28: The Interfaculty Colloquium will be held this afternoon. We pray for God's blessing on all participants, and for good and positive insights that will further important academic work.
This afternoon ICS will hold its Annual General Meeting, where members will elect new Board members and conduct the annual required business for ICS. We are extremely grateful for our committed and hard working Board members. Please pray for wisdom and guidance at this meeting.
Thursday, November 29: We offer prayers of thanks for all the hard work done by the outgoing Board members. We ask God for wisdom and energy for the incoming Board members.
Friday, November 30: The season of Advent begins this weekend. We pray for God's blessings as we prepare to celebrate the birth of Christ.
Tuesday, 16 October 2012
Jeffrey Hocking in Hamilton
Jeffrey Hocking will serve as a respondent and chair two sessions of the Canadian Evangelical Theological Association's (CETA) New Voices conference to be held at McMaster Divinity College in Hamilton on Saturday, October 20th. ICS alumnus J. Richard Middleton serves as the president of CETA and Brian Walsh, Christian Reformed Minister at the University of Toronto and ICS graduate (MPhil), will be the keynote speaker at this conference. For further information please visit www.macdiv.ca/ceta
Monday, 15 October 2012
Art Talks! 2012
This past Saturday, October 13th, the 2012 Art Talks! event “Imagination’s Truths” was held at the Isabel Bader Theatre. A wonderful lecture by renowned professor and public intellectual Richard Kearney opened the day, and the discussion following it was very engaged. It ranged over such topics as how stories can be part of the transformative healing of intergenerational trauma, and the ethics involved in using stories—are they transforming or deforming? The panel discussion with Professor Kearney, Mark Knight of the U of T English department, writer Anne Michaels and ICS’ own Ron Kuipers was equally engaging, covering the ways stories are used in public contexts such as films, and what Dr. Kearney named a “universal ethic of hospitality toward the stranger.” The day concluded with an evening performance of selections from the 66 Books Project and Ins Choi’s Subway Stations of the Cross.
We hope to be able to post the full lecture and panel discussion on YouTube soon, so keep an eye open for details!
We hope to be able to post the full lecture and panel discussion on YouTube soon, so keep an eye open for details!
New Video: Bob Sweetman "Why We Don’t Join Institutions Anymore"
Bob Sweetman's address to the 2008 ICS Worldview Conference is now available for viewing on YouTube. Links to both the paper and the video can be found in our Research Portal.
http://ics-edu-research.blogspot.ca/2012/08/why-we-dont-join-institutions-anymore.html.
Bob Goudzwaard Videos Available
Bob Goudzwaard's two addresses to the 2007 ICS Worldview Conference are now available on YouTube.
"Daring to Hope" is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpu_7zAa9Vk.
"The Gospel and Global Climate Change" is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIyXhjTx3bQ.
"Daring to Hope" is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lpu_7zAa9Vk.
"The Gospel and Global Climate Change" is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIyXhjTx3bQ.
Random Channel 229 Posts
Most of you will remember a couple of off-schedule single-article Channel 229 emails that went out after our move to the new platform. We think we have figured out what was happening and will be implementing a fix after this Channel 229.
We thank you for your patience. We want to assure readers that Channel 229 has not become an irregular or frequent communications channel, what many people might think of as "spam". The fix we are implementing may require a little more patience as there is the odd chance that something new will go wrong, but we don't expect it. It is our earnest intention to keep Channel 229 a twice-monthly news digest, not a constant stream.
We thank you for your patience. We want to assure readers that Channel 229 has not become an irregular or frequent communications channel, what many people might think of as "spam". The fix we are implementing may require a little more patience as there is the odd chance that something new will go wrong, but we don't expect it. It is our earnest intention to keep Channel 229 a twice-monthly news digest, not a constant stream.
Monday, 1 October 2012
ICS Art Talks! 2012
Imagination’s Truths
Re-Envisioning Imagination in Philosophy, Religion, & the Arts
Saturday, October 13, 2012
Isabel Bader Theatre, Victoria University
93 Charles St. West, Toronto
AFTERNOON LECTURE and PANEL DISCUSSION 2:00 – 5:30pm free
Richard Kearney, Charles B. Seelig Chair of Philosophy, Boston College
“Narrative Imagination and Catharsis”
Panel
Richard Kearney, Philosophy, Boston College
Anne Michaels, author of Fugitive Pieces
Ron Kuipers, Philosophy of Religion, ICS
Mark Knight, English, University of Toronto
Moderator: Rebekah Smick, Philosophy of the Arts and Culture, ICS
EVENING PERFORMANCES 7:30 – 9:30pm $10 at the door / $5 students
Three plays drawn from the 66 Books Project, a collective response to the King James Bible, will be performed under the direction of Ins Choi and will feature noted Toronto actor Susan Coyne. Anne Michaels will, for the first time in Canada, give a reading of her poem for that project, “The Crossing”. Choi, author of recent hit Kim’s Convenience, will premiere his new poetry-based solo show, Subway Stations of the Cross.
For more information visit http://www.icscanada.edu/cprse/art-talks.
Re-Envisioning Imagination in Philosophy, Religion, & the Arts
Saturday, October 13, 2012
Isabel Bader Theatre, Victoria University
93 Charles St. West, Toronto
AFTERNOON LECTURE and PANEL DISCUSSION 2:00 – 5:30pm free
Richard Kearney, Charles B. Seelig Chair of Philosophy, Boston College
“Narrative Imagination and Catharsis”
Panel
Richard Kearney, Philosophy, Boston College
Anne Michaels, author of Fugitive Pieces
Ron Kuipers, Philosophy of Religion, ICS
Mark Knight, English, University of Toronto
Moderator: Rebekah Smick, Philosophy of the Arts and Culture, ICS
EVENING PERFORMANCES 7:30 – 9:30pm $10 at the door / $5 students
Three plays drawn from the 66 Books Project, a collective response to the King James Bible, will be performed under the direction of Ins Choi and will feature noted Toronto actor Susan Coyne. Anne Michaels will, for the first time in Canada, give a reading of her poem for that project, “The Crossing”. Choi, author of recent hit Kim’s Convenience, will premiere his new poetry-based solo show, Subway Stations of the Cross.
For more information visit http://www.icscanada.edu/cprse/art-talks.
Perspective Now Available
• Religious language in the public sphere
• "Imagination's Truths" Art Talks! event
• New president for ICS
• New director of the CPRSE
• Social Justice & Human Rights conference
• 2012 Convocation
Read this issue online at
perspective.icscanada.edu
Download the printable version at
www.icscanada.edu/perspective
Shannon Hoff in Ottawa
Senior Member Shannon Hoff will be presenting a paper titled "Rights and Worlds” at the conference of the Canadian Society for Continental Philosophy, which will take place in Ottawa from October 11-13.
Doug Blomberg in Ancaster
Senior Member Doug Blomberg will be presenting a paper, "Teaching Fortress or Learning Headquarters", at the Edifide Christian Educators Convention at Redeemer University College in Ancaster, Ontario, on October 25.
Lambert Zuidervaart in Langley, BC and St. Louis
Lambert Zuidervaart will give a keynote lecture during the Arts and Ethics conference at Trinity Western University in Langley, BC on October 18. The title for Lambert’s keynote is “Creating a Disturbance: Art, Ethics, and Relational Autonomy.” The lecture elaborates ideas from his recent book Art in Public: Politics, Economics, and a Democratic Culture (Cambridge University Press, 2011). For details about the conference, go to www.twu.ca/academics/samc/interdisciplinary/conferences/.
Lambert Zuidervaart will present a paper in a session on “Art, Religion, and the Sublime” at the annual meeting of the American Society for Aesthetics in St. Louis on October 25. Lambert’s paper discusses Hegel’s understanding of the Old Testament Psalms as “art of the sublime” and explores its relevance for contemporary art, religion, and philosophy. For details about the conference, go to www.aesthetics-online.org/events/index.php?events_id=410.
Lambert Zuidervaart will present a paper in a session on “Art, Religion, and the Sublime” at the annual meeting of the American Society for Aesthetics in St. Louis on October 25. Lambert’s paper discusses Hegel’s understanding of the Old Testament Psalms as “art of the sublime” and explores its relevance for contemporary art, religion, and philosophy. For details about the conference, go to www.aesthetics-online.org/events/index.php?events_id=410.
Truth Matters Volume to be Published
McGill Queen’s University Press, one of Canada’s leading academic publishers, plans to publish a volume of essays that stem from the Truth Matters conference hosted by ICS in 2010. Titled Truth Matters: Knowledge, Politics, Ethics, Religion, the book is edited by Senior Member Lambert Zuidervaart and three current and former ICS Junior Members: Dr. Allyson Carr, Matthew Klaassen, and Ronnie Shuker. This is the first book publication to arise from the work of ICS’s new Centre for Philosophy, Religion and Social Ethics.
ICS Research Portal
ICS-sponsored research informs policy-makers, educators, citizens and
leaders. This sometimes-invisible part
of ICS work is becoming more accessible via our new Research Portal, a repository of summaries and citation information for
publications by ICS faculty members.
Where possible, citation information will include links to online versions of the publications. For example, Bob Sweetman's 2008 addresses on the future of the institutional church are available, as is Lambert Zuidervaart's “Art in Public: An Alternative Case for Government Arts Funding.”.
Find out more on the CPRSE home page.
Where possible, citation information will include links to online versions of the publications. For example, Bob Sweetman's 2008 addresses on the future of the institutional church are available, as is Lambert Zuidervaart's “Art in Public: An Alternative Case for Government Arts Funding.”.
Find out more on the CPRSE home page.
Message from the President
One of the seminars I am teaching for ICS this Fall deals with the form of history keeping, of storytelling, that is culturally prominent today and goes under the name of genealogy and goes back to the caustic pen of Friedrich Nietzsche. I am also forging ahead with a book on Thomas Aquinas. It is hard to imagine a greater contrast in style of writing and thinking than these two.
Nietzsche is ever working to provoke confrontation with his reader, in which the reader will be compelled to have at one and the same time equal and opposite responses. She is to respond with horror/delight in a single contradictory movement of mind, heart and body. His style is avidly sarcastic and crudely vivid. His sentences are filled with images, evocative metaphors, oracular statements that seem to suggest whole universes of meaning just below the literal surface. His texts brood and attack, and do so, again, all at the same time. In its way, a Nietzschean text is like the “Leviathan” rollercoaster at Canada’s Wonderland. If one isn’t scared off by the colossus one is set to challenge (surely recklessly!), why then one undergoes an experience of abject abasement that is at the same time giddily exhilarating. One is left shaking from an extravagant highball of fear and adrenalin-fueled euphoria; one knows for a passing instant the sensation: “ALIVE!”
Thomas Aquinas by contrast rarely raises his writerly voice. His passion is ever understated. There is a reason for this reticence. His texts are to be instruments of a community of scholars. They are designed to support such community and so work to invite the reader’s willing cooperation. In this invitation to cooperation Aquinas trusts his readers in ways that Nietzsche does not. Nietzsche treats his readers as hostile witness to be shoved and cajoled, mocked and unmasked until they get angry and engage. The contrast extends to the writing. Aquinas works coolly using simple logical scaffolding to bring you on board intellectually. His texts work to build a structure and movement of thought expansive enough to include any thought you were likely to have ever had, especially that was available to you from the past in your education and participation in contemporary culture (if you lived in his thirteenth century) so that you would see your thoughts placed within that structure and moving toward the transformative ends the text invited you to consider. Logical fit clearly signalled in prefaces—that is how Thomas worked. Not confrontation but cooperation.
And yet there is a surprising connection between Nietzsche and Aquinas. They both make much of delight. For Nietzsche, successful texts must delight, not just horrify. Delight and the places of delight in human living are key markers in recovering the animality that is part and parcel of being human, of accepting the human condition and its particular opportunities for exaltation. His delights are obviously not going to be Aquinas’s, who is interested in the expansion and divine exaltation of the human condition we are offered when invited to be(come) God’s friends. Nevertheless, for Aquinas too, delight is hermeneutically important. One understands the sort of life led by paying attention to what delights a person. Does he delight in inquiring into and coming into the truth? Does this delight form the centre of his concrete living? Well then he is living a contemplative life. Does she delight in helping others, in working with mind and hand so as to ease burdens, protect the weak, and so on? Does such delight provide her the centre for her concrete living? Why, then, she is living the active life. Does she delight in the terror unleashed by the fury of her anger? Does nurturing that anger, stoking it higher and higher mark out the driving passion of his life (for whatever reason)? Then one lives an angry life; one is an angry person. And so on. Delight can lead to flourishing human living or to disastrous human living. But delight, for Thomas too, is the key to understanding the pattern of our living as persons and groups.
It seems to me that the importance accorded delight in these ever so different thinkers points to something of use when thinking about the vocation of Christian scholar, here too at ICS. Delight should also be an important marker for Christian scholarship. It should be a characteristic of Christian scholarship and of the scholarly communities that Christian communities found and maintain in order to pursue Christian scholarship. Christian scholarship should be a delight for Christian scholars, both as object and as aim. We should be delighted to interact with Christian scholarship from whatever source. We should be delighted just as much to encounter whatever is true and helpful from whatever source, even from Nietzsche, despite his contempt for the sense of the world he identified with Christ and his followers. Delight should accompany the work Christian scholars produce. It should take up its abode deep within their own breasts in gratitude for the privilege of such productions. Delight should also live in the hearts of those whose lives come to be enriched by the work of Christian scholars and Christian scholarly communities. The Psalmist knew a thing or two about delight in the service of Yahweh in the community of Yahweh’s people; quite as much as he knew about lament. It is my prayer this month that ICS in its work, in its service, in the totality of its life, in the lives of all who make up its community, will be marked by the huge delight that beckons all who have been called to think and write and, well, live in every imaginable way in this God’s world. I invite all who care about ICS to join me in that prayer.
For the President,
Bob Sweetman
Nietzsche is ever working to provoke confrontation with his reader, in which the reader will be compelled to have at one and the same time equal and opposite responses. She is to respond with horror/delight in a single contradictory movement of mind, heart and body. His style is avidly sarcastic and crudely vivid. His sentences are filled with images, evocative metaphors, oracular statements that seem to suggest whole universes of meaning just below the literal surface. His texts brood and attack, and do so, again, all at the same time. In its way, a Nietzschean text is like the “Leviathan” rollercoaster at Canada’s Wonderland. If one isn’t scared off by the colossus one is set to challenge (surely recklessly!), why then one undergoes an experience of abject abasement that is at the same time giddily exhilarating. One is left shaking from an extravagant highball of fear and adrenalin-fueled euphoria; one knows for a passing instant the sensation: “ALIVE!”
Thomas Aquinas by contrast rarely raises his writerly voice. His passion is ever understated. There is a reason for this reticence. His texts are to be instruments of a community of scholars. They are designed to support such community and so work to invite the reader’s willing cooperation. In this invitation to cooperation Aquinas trusts his readers in ways that Nietzsche does not. Nietzsche treats his readers as hostile witness to be shoved and cajoled, mocked and unmasked until they get angry and engage. The contrast extends to the writing. Aquinas works coolly using simple logical scaffolding to bring you on board intellectually. His texts work to build a structure and movement of thought expansive enough to include any thought you were likely to have ever had, especially that was available to you from the past in your education and participation in contemporary culture (if you lived in his thirteenth century) so that you would see your thoughts placed within that structure and moving toward the transformative ends the text invited you to consider. Logical fit clearly signalled in prefaces—that is how Thomas worked. Not confrontation but cooperation.
And yet there is a surprising connection between Nietzsche and Aquinas. They both make much of delight. For Nietzsche, successful texts must delight, not just horrify. Delight and the places of delight in human living are key markers in recovering the animality that is part and parcel of being human, of accepting the human condition and its particular opportunities for exaltation. His delights are obviously not going to be Aquinas’s, who is interested in the expansion and divine exaltation of the human condition we are offered when invited to be(come) God’s friends. Nevertheless, for Aquinas too, delight is hermeneutically important. One understands the sort of life led by paying attention to what delights a person. Does he delight in inquiring into and coming into the truth? Does this delight form the centre of his concrete living? Well then he is living a contemplative life. Does she delight in helping others, in working with mind and hand so as to ease burdens, protect the weak, and so on? Does such delight provide her the centre for her concrete living? Why, then, she is living the active life. Does she delight in the terror unleashed by the fury of her anger? Does nurturing that anger, stoking it higher and higher mark out the driving passion of his life (for whatever reason)? Then one lives an angry life; one is an angry person. And so on. Delight can lead to flourishing human living or to disastrous human living. But delight, for Thomas too, is the key to understanding the pattern of our living as persons and groups.
It seems to me that the importance accorded delight in these ever so different thinkers points to something of use when thinking about the vocation of Christian scholar, here too at ICS. Delight should also be an important marker for Christian scholarship. It should be a characteristic of Christian scholarship and of the scholarly communities that Christian communities found and maintain in order to pursue Christian scholarship. Christian scholarship should be a delight for Christian scholars, both as object and as aim. We should be delighted to interact with Christian scholarship from whatever source. We should be delighted just as much to encounter whatever is true and helpful from whatever source, even from Nietzsche, despite his contempt for the sense of the world he identified with Christ and his followers. Delight should accompany the work Christian scholars produce. It should take up its abode deep within their own breasts in gratitude for the privilege of such productions. Delight should also live in the hearts of those whose lives come to be enriched by the work of Christian scholars and Christian scholarly communities. The Psalmist knew a thing or two about delight in the service of Yahweh in the community of Yahweh’s people; quite as much as he knew about lament. It is my prayer this month that ICS in its work, in its service, in the totality of its life, in the lives of all who make up its community, will be marked by the huge delight that beckons all who have been called to think and write and, well, live in every imaginable way in this God’s world. I invite all who care about ICS to join me in that prayer.
For the President,
Bob Sweetman
Prayer Letter: October 2012
Monday, October 1: As the second month of the fall semester begins, we ask God's guidance and wisdom for all our Junior Members who are working hard in their courses and for a sense of balance as they deal with families and jobs as well. We pray too that student jobs will be found where they are needed.
Tuesday, October 2: We offer prayers of praise and gratitude for the talents of Senior Member Lambert Zuidervaart, and Junior Members Dr. Allyson Carr, Matthew Klaassen and Ronnie Shuker, as the book they have edited, Truth Matters: Knowledge, Politics, Ethics, Religion, will be published.
Wednesday, October 3: The Leadership Team meets today. We pray for God’s guidance for this meeting.
Thursday, October 4: We continue to pray for blessings and energy for ICS President, Chris Gort, as he manages his many responsibilities and provides ICS with such excellent leadership.
Friday, October 5: Many of our Junior Members are working on their their Masters and PhD thesis projects. We pray for our Junior Members and ask that they will have time, concentration, and wisdom.
Monday, October 8: Today is Thanksgiving Day in Canada. As we celebrate and give thanks for the bounty of the harvest, may we reflect on the grace of God and the rewards of our labour. May we remember that ICS is sustained by both God's grace and the dedicated work of its support community, administrative staff, and Senior and Junior Members.
Tuesday, October 9: As the Thanksgiving weekend ends, we offer prayers of gratitude for the many people who have given ICS gifts of prayers, money, concern and appreciation. It is truly a blessing to have the interest and support of so many people.
Wednesday, October 10: The Interfaculty Colloquium will be held this afternoon. We pray for God’s blessing on all participants, and for good and positive insights that will further important academic work.
Thursday, October 11: Senior Member Shannon Hoff will be presenting a paper in Ottawa. We ask God to bless everyone attending this conference.
Friday, October 12: The Art Talks! event “Imagination’s Truths” opens tomorrow with a lecture, panel discussion and evening performance. We ask God to bless all who attend this event.
Monday, October 15: We are now fully into our new academic year! Give thanks for the insightful, talented, and hard working ICS faculty and staff, and pray for energy and enthusiasm to sustain with their workloads.
Tuesday, October 16: We ask God to bless the Rev. Dr. Thomas Wolthuis and Ms. Dawn Wolthuis who have been appointed to the position of President of the Institute for Christian Studies. We pray for energy and a smooth transition.
Wednesday, October 17: Today we ask for God's help for those who are struggling with cancer and other illnesses. We pray for strength, patience and for good results from treatment.
Thursday, October 18: Senior Member Lambert Zuidervaart will be giving a keynote lecture in Langley BC today. We ask for blessings for all who are attending this event.
Friday, October 19: We ask God's help and guidance for all those who are doing advancement work for ICS. Please pray that support for the vision and mission of ICS continues to grow.
Monday, October 22: Reading Week begins today! Please pray that our Senior and Junior Members will be able to use this break from classes to catch up, get ahead, or use the week for whatever they may need to help them in their studies.
Tuesday, October 23: As Reading Week continues, please pray that it will be a fruitful week for the academic body at ICS as many Senior and Junior Members have projects they are working on beyond normal class work. Whether these are publications, papers for conferences, or other scholarly activities, pray that this week will afford extra time to make progress in these areas.
Wednesday, October 24: The Leadership Team meets today. We pray for God's wisdom to guide their discussions and decisions.
Thursday, October 25: Senior Member Doug Blomberg will be presenting a paper in Cambridge, ON and Senior Member Lambert Zuidervaart will be presenting a paper in St. Louis. We pray for blessings on both of these events.
Friday, October 26: The Executive will be meeting tomorrow. We pray for God’s wisdom to guide their discussions.
Monday, October 29: Reading Week is over! We ask God for insight, energy and enthusiasm for everyone who is returning to classes this week.
Tuesday, October 30: We ask for God's blessing on those who are planning the Annual General Meeting to be held next month. We pray for energy and enthusiasm for all who are involved.
Wednesday, October 31: Please pray for the ICS Board recruitment process, that committed and able candidates for Board vacancies will be offered to the ICS membership for approval this fall.
Tuesday, October 2: We offer prayers of praise and gratitude for the talents of Senior Member Lambert Zuidervaart, and Junior Members Dr. Allyson Carr, Matthew Klaassen and Ronnie Shuker, as the book they have edited, Truth Matters: Knowledge, Politics, Ethics, Religion, will be published.
Wednesday, October 3: The Leadership Team meets today. We pray for God’s guidance for this meeting.
Thursday, October 4: We continue to pray for blessings and energy for ICS President, Chris Gort, as he manages his many responsibilities and provides ICS with such excellent leadership.
Friday, October 5: Many of our Junior Members are working on their their Masters and PhD thesis projects. We pray for our Junior Members and ask that they will have time, concentration, and wisdom.
Monday, October 8: Today is Thanksgiving Day in Canada. As we celebrate and give thanks for the bounty of the harvest, may we reflect on the grace of God and the rewards of our labour. May we remember that ICS is sustained by both God's grace and the dedicated work of its support community, administrative staff, and Senior and Junior Members.
Tuesday, October 9: As the Thanksgiving weekend ends, we offer prayers of gratitude for the many people who have given ICS gifts of prayers, money, concern and appreciation. It is truly a blessing to have the interest and support of so many people.
Wednesday, October 10: The Interfaculty Colloquium will be held this afternoon. We pray for God’s blessing on all participants, and for good and positive insights that will further important academic work.
Thursday, October 11: Senior Member Shannon Hoff will be presenting a paper in Ottawa. We ask God to bless everyone attending this conference.
Friday, October 12: The Art Talks! event “Imagination’s Truths” opens tomorrow with a lecture, panel discussion and evening performance. We ask God to bless all who attend this event.
Monday, October 15: We are now fully into our new academic year! Give thanks for the insightful, talented, and hard working ICS faculty and staff, and pray for energy and enthusiasm to sustain with their workloads.
Tuesday, October 16: We ask God to bless the Rev. Dr. Thomas Wolthuis and Ms. Dawn Wolthuis who have been appointed to the position of President of the Institute for Christian Studies. We pray for energy and a smooth transition.
Wednesday, October 17: Today we ask for God's help for those who are struggling with cancer and other illnesses. We pray for strength, patience and for good results from treatment.
Thursday, October 18: Senior Member Lambert Zuidervaart will be giving a keynote lecture in Langley BC today. We ask for blessings for all who are attending this event.
Friday, October 19: We ask God's help and guidance for all those who are doing advancement work for ICS. Please pray that support for the vision and mission of ICS continues to grow.
Monday, October 22: Reading Week begins today! Please pray that our Senior and Junior Members will be able to use this break from classes to catch up, get ahead, or use the week for whatever they may need to help them in their studies.
Tuesday, October 23: As Reading Week continues, please pray that it will be a fruitful week for the academic body at ICS as many Senior and Junior Members have projects they are working on beyond normal class work. Whether these are publications, papers for conferences, or other scholarly activities, pray that this week will afford extra time to make progress in these areas.
Wednesday, October 24: The Leadership Team meets today. We pray for God's wisdom to guide their discussions and decisions.
Thursday, October 25: Senior Member Doug Blomberg will be presenting a paper in Cambridge, ON and Senior Member Lambert Zuidervaart will be presenting a paper in St. Louis. We pray for blessings on both of these events.
Friday, October 26: The Executive will be meeting tomorrow. We pray for God’s wisdom to guide their discussions.
Monday, October 29: Reading Week is over! We ask God for insight, energy and enthusiasm for everyone who is returning to classes this week.
Tuesday, October 30: We ask for God's blessing on those who are planning the Annual General Meeting to be held next month. We pray for energy and enthusiasm for all who are involved.
Wednesday, October 31: Please pray for the ICS Board recruitment process, that committed and able candidates for Board vacancies will be offered to the ICS membership for approval this fall.
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