Past Conferences

2011 – History and the Baptist Academy

July 25-30, 2011• International Baptist Seminary•

Prague, Czech Republic

2010 – The Life of the Church and the Baptist Academy

July 26 – August 1, 2010 • Chaminade University • Honolulu, Hawaii

Baptists throughout their 400 year history have challenged received conceptions of ecclesiology, theology, interpretations of scripture, and church practices. While honoring its heritage, Baptist visions of church life continue to develop with new conversation partners such as Ecumenists and Roman Catholics. Young Scholars in the Baptist Academy invites essays that explore themes that include but are not limited to: church practices that are most significant in the development of Baptist faith, unique contributions to the larger Christian community from Baptist scholars or in relation to Baptist life, theological developments encouraging the development of Baptist faith communities, and the dependence of Baptist faith and life on a renewed understanding of scripture. The Seminar is scheduled in coordination with the Baptist World Congress in Honolulu, Hawaii. Our senior scholar is Dr. Paul Fiddes, Professor of Theology, Regents Park College, Oxford.

2009 – Baptist Faith and Literary Imagination

August 4-8, 2009 • Regent’s Park College, Oxford

The significance of literature for the development of Christian faith and Baptist identity is evident in John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, Daniel Defoe’s novels, and classics such as The Chronicles of Narnia and Harry Potter. Because theology and literature often provide complementary visions of the world, faithful men and women frequently appeal to imaginative fiction—in the form of novels, plays, short stories, and poetry—to open the life of faith to richer expression and understanding.

Young Scholars in the Baptist Academy will convene a select group of participants across academic disciplines to explore topics related to the literary imagination in Baptist life. We invite essays that explore this theme in various ways, including but not limited to:

  • Which literary voices are significant in the development of Baptist faith?
  • What unique contributions to the academic study of literature emerge from Baptist scholars or in relation to Baptist life?
  • How might literature enrich Baptist life and practice?
  • How might Baptist faith and life be enriched by a renewed understanding of the literary aspects of scripture?

2008 – Baptist Voices in the Ethics of Peace, Race, and Reconciliation

July 29 – August 1, 2008 • Georgetown College, Georgetown Kentucky

Young Scholars in the Baptist Academy invites essays on the theology and ethics of peace, race, and reconciliation. Baptist voices have contributed to the religious, political, and academic discourse in America in formative ways. T.B. Maston, Glen Stassen and James McClendon represent significant strands in the developing ethical consciousness of Baptists in America. Charles Marsh’s recent work on the development of African-American ethical thinking highlights the courage needed for speaking for racial equality to a religious culture dominated by powerful supporters of segregation, many of them also Baptist. This internal conflict is one aspect of the continuing development of a Baptist understanding of ethics. Martin Luther King and Clarence Jordan and Cornel West represent the prophetic character of Baptist ethics, proclaiming the challenge emerging from their Baptist communities and roots directed to the society at large.

Young Scholars in the Baptist Academy will convene a select group of participants across academic disciplines to explore topics related to ethics in Baptist life . Seminar participants might explore such questions as:

  • What historic voices helped define the Baptist ethical view?
  • What unique contributions to the academic study of ethics emerge from Baptist scholars or in relation to Baptist life?
  • What ethical challenges do Baptists face today, or what contemporary ethical concerns demand Baptists to speak and act?

We are pleased to announce that Dr. Elizabeth Newman (Baptist Theological Seminary of Richmond) will be our senior scholar for this seminar.

2007 – Baptists and the Common Good

July 17-21, 2007 • Regents Park College, Oxford, UK

The influence of Baptist organizations and individuals on American and global society in advancing the common good is evident through the widespread sponsorship of healthcare, orphanages, colleges and universities, participation in politics, business and research, as well as the church, missions, and evangelism. The tension inherent in understanding the common good as a motivating force in an ecclesial body is evident in Baptist history and in our present experience. “The common good” raises rich theological, philosophical and social/political questions for the Baptist academy. We invite essays that explore the meaning and challenge of Baptists and the common good.

Young Scholars in the Baptist Academy will convene a select group of participants across academic disciplines to explore topics related to the common good. Seminar participants might explore such questions as:

  • What contributions have Baptists have made to the common good, and what questions about “the common good” do Baptists properly raise?
  • Is there a Baptist theology of “the common good”?
  • How have Baptists influenced political change based on a desire for common good?
  • Should Baptist efforts in education be oriented toward common good, or some other good?

2006 – Baptists and Tradition

July 24-28, 2006 • Regents Park College, Oxford, UK

Protestants of various stripes including Baptists are turning regularly to the roots of their faith traditions for a richer understanding of worship and witness. The work of theologians such as Thomas Oden, Robert Webber, and Daniel Williams, the appearance of biblical commentary series such as the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (IVP) and the Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible (Brazos Press), the dialogues between Baptists and Roman Catholics in contexts such as Evangelicals and Catholics Together, and the development of university curricula that give attention to Christian traditions indicate the extent to which Baptists have joined other Christians in affirming and appropriating that which has been “handed over” to them, in the etymological sense of traditio.

Young Scholars in the Baptist Academy will convene a select group of participants across academic disciplines to explore the recovery of Christian tradition within Baptist life, with special attention to the ways in which Baptist higher education should critically and constructively engage these developments. Seminar participants might explore such questions as:

  • What can Baptists learn from the larger Christian tradition within which they are located, and in what ways does this tradition bear upon the life of the university?
  • What do Baptists have to contribute to the breadth of the Christian tradition, and how can the Baptist academy provide an effective voice both within and beyond the tradition?
  • What practices and virtues generally discernible as a part of the Christian tradition are worthy of cultivation within the Baptist academy?

While biblical, historical, and theological resources for approaching these questions are needed, the seminar organizers intend to include scholars from wide-ranging academic areas in these discussions.

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