Four of us at from Rice Religious Studies department (me [ancient gnosticism]; Claire Fanger [medieval esotericism and magic]; Bill Parsons [psychology and mysticism]; Jeff Kripal [modern mysticism] are going to be holding a forum lecture-discussion for the Foundation for Contemporary Theology on Friday evening and Saturday October 23 and 24.
Location: St. Paul's United Methodist Church, Fondren Hall
5501 Main St., Houston, TX 77004
Times: Friday 7:30-9 pm, Saturday 9 am-2:30 pm
For registration or more information contact: The Foundation for Contemporary Theology
www.contemporarytheology.org 713-668-2345 fct@contemporarytheology.org
For this weekend event, we will present synopses of our work and then engage one another and the audience on topics ranging from the historical origins of those traditions to their continued attractions, transformations and enthusiasms today. If you are in the area, I hope you will consider joining us for one or both of these days. It isn't often that you get four scholars to sit together for this many hours and talk to each other and an audience about their work and these topics! In fact, I have never heard of it done before. So this might be a first (and a last?!).
4 comments:
Will this event be recorded and made available for download as an mp3 or podcast?
That's my question too Carl. I wish I could come but this weekend I have some business meetings to attend. Drat.
Have you thought of taking this on the road? Come through Austin? University Baptist Church would host you. I'd even film it if that's cool.
I agree with Carl. As an alternative would you all be willing to take the program on the road? If so, don't skip Philly.
Ed Jones said ...
April,
In the interest of maintaining the significance of the historical Jesus, I am compelled to enter the following comments:
If Ogden, Robinson and Betz, three of our longest-standing authorities, can be taken as reliable historical Jesus scholars, the primary source for reconstuction is the Scriptural apostolic witness. This source is identified to be the Sermon on the Mount - the oldest layer of tradition - our most original and originating witness.
Then all non-Scriptural sources or texts are secondary, deriving whatever significance they may have from the extent to which they can be shown to reflect the special revelation found in Jesus' proclamation; for this is the foundational source of their origins. This includes the Gospel of Thomas, Gnosticism, Esotericism and Mysticism as well as Apocryphotes.
Comments dated April 12 and 13 to your blog: My decision about the Jesus Project, Feb 5,2009, constitutes such a reconstruction which is meant to reflect the thought of these three scholars.
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