Every year, the week before Thanksgiving brings the annual scholarly conferences for biblical and theological studies. Like most years, Biola and Talbot professors and students are well represented at these meetings in a variety of ways. Given the theological distinctives of Biola, the focus of the attention goes to the Evangelical Theological Society meeting. In particular, Scott Rae, Talbot’s dean of faculty, is serving as the President of ETS this year.
However, those connected to Biola also appear in several concurrent conferences, including the Institute for Biblical Research, the Society of Biblical Research, the Academy of American Religion, and the American Schools of Oriental Research. The following list (mostly compiled by David Roberts) includes all those at Biola and Talbot participating in the meetings this year. As always, Biola professors and students are doing fascinating work in many different areas!
Evangelical Theological Society
Tuesday, November 17
Clay Jones - Earthly Family Is Foremost an Analogy of Heavenly Relationships
Ronald W. Pierce: Moderator – Old Testament - Job
Greg Peters - 1 Corinthians 7:36-38 and the Limits of Asceticism in the Early Christian Church
Kyle C. Strobel - Scripture and Spiritual Disciplines
Jon Garcia - A Covenantal Approach to Immigration: Caring for the Undocumented Immigrant as an Image Bearer of God
Greg Peters: Moderator - The Right Preaching of the Word
R Scott Smith - Updates on McLaren and the Emergents: God and the “New Kind” of Christianity
John McKinley - Necessary Allies: God as ezer, Woman as ezer
John H. Coe - Spiritual Theology and Training in Prayer for the Classroom and the Church
Judy Ten Elshof - The Theory and Practice of Relational Formation in the Church
Freddy Cardoza - The Quest for an Academic Position: Best-Fit Analysis, Search Tools and Strategies
Freddy Cardoza - Academic Cover Letters and References: From "Bland" to "Grand"
Wednesday, November 18
Doug Geivett/ Erik Thoennes: Panel Discussion - What Can C.S. Lewis Teach Us About Thriving Spiritually in a Dysfunctional Family
John H. Coe: Moderator - Spiritual Formation: Theory and Truth
Fred Sanders - Arminianism without Sectarianism: William Burt Pope's 19th Century Reception of Arminius
Craig Allen Hill - The Imagery of Inheritance in Hebrews
Charlie Trimm – Honor Your Parents: A Command for Adults Rather Than Children
Jason McMartin The Noetic Effects of Sin, False Selves, and Theological Vocations
Benjamin Cho Shin: Moderator – Asian American Theology
Daniel Low/Allen Yee - Jesus Visits the Cemetery: Toward a Christian Response to Traditional Chinese Death Rituals
Sara Kim/Grace Sangalang - The Functional Theologies of the Fatherhood of God in First and Second Generation Asian Immigrants
Benjamin Cho Shin - Relying on the Family of God: How Biblical Family Metaphors Can Encourage Singles in the Asian Church
Michelle Lee-Barnewall - Reframing the Gender Debate: Rethinking Servant Leadership and Equality from a Corporate Perspective
Kyle C. Strobel - Jonathan Edwards on Divine Beatitude
Fred Sanders - Trinity and Soteriology
John H. Coe: Moderator - Spiritual Formation, Prayer & Religious Experience
R Scott Smith - Beyond Craig: Nominalism and the Indeterminacy of Creation
John H. Coe - Anger, Prayer and Psalms of Disorientation
Gary T. Manning Jr.: Moderator - Johannine Literature II
Daniel K. Eng - The Antioch Assumption: The Interaction of Jew and Gentile Believers in Antioch and its Relevancy for Today's Local Church
Thursday, November 19
John A. Bloom - Genesis, Ancient Near Eastern parallels, and Consensus Science: Navigating a Lost World
Ed Curtis: Panel Discussion - Using and Misusing the OT Wisdom Books for Marriage and Family Issues
Klaus Issler - Incidental or Deliberate? Exploring the Inclusion of ‘Bankers’ and ‘Interest’ in Jesus’ Parables of the Talents and Minas (Matt 25:27, Luke 19:23) within the context of Financial Intermediaries of the Greco-Roman Era and the Historical Debate on Usury
Ryan S. Peterson - A Modified Thomistic Account of the Purpose of Sex: Sex is for the Establishment of a Family
Sean McDowell - Responding to Revisionist Talking Points about Homosexuality and Marriage
Institute for Biblical Research
Friday, November 20
Darian Lockett – Presiding at the Biblical Theology, Hermeneutics, and the Theological Disciplines Research Group
American Schools of Oriental Research
Friday, November 20
Titus Kennedy – Middle and Late Bronze Age Material in the Area of Khirbet et-Tell?
Society of Biblical Literature
Saturday, November 21
Clint Arnold - Initiation, Vision, and Spiritual Power: The Hellenistic Dimensions of the Problem at Colossae
American Academy of Religion
Saturday, November 21
Doug Geivett – Presiding at a session of the Society of Christian Philosophers entitled “The Testimony of the Spirit”
Monday, November 23
Fred Sanders – Panelist on Responding to Matthew Avery Sutton’s American Apocalypse: A History of Modern Evangelicalism (Belknap Press, 2014)