Theology Update for the Week of May 15

Dear friends in Christ,

Sunday’s theology class, Genesis: Who Are We?,is on the fall (ch. 3) which I will be considering with particular attention to the question of rule and “dominion.” The broader point of the class is to dig into the insights that Genesis provides for our nature and circumstance as human beings. I will continue the class weekly through June 19, on the fifth floor at 10 o’clock. We have coffee and tea in the room.

I repeat the Sunday class on Monday at 12:40pm on the second floor. (The last Monday class will be on May 23.)

Also on Monday, May 16 at 6:15pm and continuing to 7:45, we will have a seminar discussion, “Good Books & Good Talk,” on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. Anyone who has read the book is welcome to the conversation. And if you haven’t read the book, you are in for much delight as Twain points out many ironies of religion and ethics. And what a diverse cast of characters! “Thinking Theologically about Love and Disease” is the lecture I will give on Wednesday, May 25, at 6:30pm in the church. I intend to reflect on the process of writing the theological memoir, Losing Susan, read some excerpts, and entertain questions; at the end there will be a book signing. This lecture is free and open to the public, and a reception will follow.

On the web: Losing Susan has received its first short review (that I know of). You can find it here.

And in our bookstore, may I commend Robert Jenson, A Theology in Outline: Can These Bones Live? Based on lectures given at Princeton in 2008, this short book is a clear and accessible introduction to theology from the person considered by many to be America’s greatest living Protestant theologian. Those of you who wish to go a bit deeper into theology should give it a look.