Hector Acero Ferrer at Massey College in Toronto

Last month Junior Member Hector Acero Ferrer participated in the panel “Bridging the Divisions: Interfaith Dialogue Through Social Activism”, an event organized by Massey College at the University of Toronto. This panel was an opportunity to discuss diverse ways in which religious traditions approach interfaith dialogue and social justice work. In his presentation, Hector argued that Christianity's understanding of mission is rooted in a call to dialogue and engagement with humanity as opposed to a forceful proclamation of doctrine to non-Christians.

Junior Members in Rhode Island

Junior Members Dean Dettloff and Jonathan Polce will be presenting papers during the weekend of December 5 and 6 at the St. Nicholas of Myra Conference on Catholic Social Thought in Providence, Rhode Island.

Dean’s paper is titled "Catholic Air Conditioning: Laudato Si' and the Overcoming of Phenomenology." Jon will present "Overlooked message: Pope Francis' Call to Transform Hearts at the center of Laudato Si."

Dean Dettloff’s Thesis Defense

Junior Member Dean Dettloff will be defending his MA thesis on December 15. His thesis is titled “From Cynical Reason to Spiritual Creativity: An Exercise in Religious Anthropodicy.” Dean's thesis is an analysis of the thought of Peter Sloterdijk in particular his early description of the emergence of cynical reason as a post critical cultural and theoretical orientation to the world that is inoculated against any and all forms of Enlightenment criticism, and his later turn to religion as the site par excellence in which we human beings give an account of ourselves and our right to be in the world (a project he calls anthropodicy). Dean suggests that Sloterdijk's philosophy of religion would benefit from the spiritual and indeed Christian theory of creativity elaborated by the early twentieth century Russian thinker Berdaev. Indeed he sees real promise in Sloterdijk's notion of anthropodicy when supplemented with the radical religious openness of Berdaev's creativity.

Tricia Van Dyk Dissertation

Junior Member Tricia Van Dyk has successfully completed her doctoral dissertation in the conjoint PhD degree program offered by ICS and the VU University Amsterdam. The dissertation is titled “Narrative Companionship: Philosophy, Gender Stereotypes, and Young Adult Literature.” Tricia will defend her dissertation in Amsterdam on March 17. Her supervisors are Lambert Zuidervaart (ICS) and A. W. (Bert) Musschenga (VU). Congratulations, Tricia!

The Prince of Peace now lives with us!

As we gather with family, friends and strangers to celebrate the coming of Jesus, we remember how greatly God loves the world, and the hope and joy such love brings.

May our Lord fill your life with love, joy, hope, and peace this Christmas–and always!

Hearing God in Scripture

South African Anglican priest Craig Bartholomew, who directs the St. George's Centre for Biblical and Public Theology (Burlington) and is H. Evan Runner professor of philosophy at Redeemer University College, has produced an important new book, Introducing Biblical Hermeneutics, A Comprehensive Framework for Hearing God in Scripture (Baker Academic, 2015, xiv-623).

Bartholomew spent a year at ICS in the mid-90s before he went on to achieve his Ph.D. at the University of Bristol (1997), United Kingdom. He has written numerous other books and articles.

This new book is incredibly rich in scholarship, teeming with apt comments by Augustine, Barth, Bavinck, Bonhoeffer, George Steiner, Gadamer, Habermas, Newbigin, Henri Nouwen, Magrassi and countless others, but the insights are digested and presented conversationally. The truly encyclopedic character of this “Introduction” is subordinated to its key point: biblical hermeneutic scholarly studies should be enveloped in the prayerful reading of the Bible.

Bartholomew challenges theologians and academic analytic interpreters of the Holy Scriptures to ground their work within the simple act of listening to God speak in Scripture and then, first of all, responding on their knees, as it were, while expositing the text. His book is dedicated to Cal and Ines Seerveld.

Craig Bartholomew

Cal Seerveld