ICS Worldview Conference 2007

Saturday February 3, Surrey B.C.
Burning Questions? Biblical Answers?
Can an Ancient Text Guide Us?

• Keynote Speaker Richard Middleton • A Conversation on Just War and Pacifism     with Henry Krause and Ron Dart • Manufactured Landscapes     award winning documentary     Fleetwood Christian Reformed Church   9165 - 160 St., Surrey, BC   View map...   Also coming to...   → Calgary, Mar. 3, 2007   → Edmonton, Mar. 17, 2007

Christians confess that the Bible is the inspired word of God, meant to give direction to our lives as we seek to be faithful followers of Christ. Yet many of us yawn while we read it, if we read it at all, or resort to desperate measures like opening it randomly to shake out a contemporary meaning. How does Scripture provide guidance for living today? Isn't it full of outdated or conflicting points of view on a variety of ethical matters? This conference will help participants face squarely the ethical complexity of Scripture, while introducing a narrative framework for making sense of this difficulty, so that Scripture might provide guidance for us in the contemporary world.

Schedule | Register Online | Printable Brochure | Sponsors

 SCHEDULE

Keynote Addresses

J. Richard Middleton teaches Biblical Studies at Roberts Wesleyan College, in Rochester, NY. He is a graduate of the joint Ph.D. program of the ICS and the Free University of Amsterdam. Originally from Jamaica (he lived down the road from Bob Marley), Richard immigrated to Canada in the late seventies and soon enrolled in the ICS. He started teaching worldview courses for ICS at various universities in south western Ontario. These courses led to two books he coauthored with Brian Walsh: The Transforming Vision: Shaping a Christian World View (InterVarsity Press, 1984) and Truth is Stranger Than It Used to Be: Biblical Faith in a Postmodern Age (InterVarsity Press/SPCK, 1995), which received a Book-of-the-Year award (1996) from Christianity Today magazine.

His most recent book is The Liberating Image: The Imago Dei in Genesis 1 (Brazos Press, 2005). Richard and Marcia have two sons.

Some responses to Richard Middleton's Toronto addresses:
"Outstanding. He made the complex plain. I appreciated his knowledge, teaching style, and grace."
In answer to "What did you like most?":
"Richard's fresh and thought provoking approach to scripture."
"Richard's accessibility."

A Conversation on Just War and Pacifism

Our speakers will present their approach on the Just War versus Pacifism question, reflect on each other’s approach and interact with the audience on this issue.

The Augustinian just war tradition has often been equated with a hawkish approach to war/peace issues. Pacifists are seen as the doves, just war theorists as the hawks. But, are there more ways to read the just war tradition, perhaps closer to the intention of Augustine, than the hawkish interpretive approach? There is a right of centre, centrist and left of centre way of interpreting and applying just war principles, and this presentation will focus more on the dovish read of just war. The writings of Erasmus and Thomas Merton will be used to highlight how a non-pacifist dovish approach to just war has been articulated and lived forth within the Christian Tradition.

Ron Dart has taught in the department of political science, philosophy, religious studies at University College of the Fraser Valley since 1990. He was on staff with Amnesty International in the 1980s. He has published more than 15 books, and he is on the national board of the Thomas Merton Society of Canada, and he is also the political science advisor to the Stephen Leacock museum.

The words of Jesus, especially the Sermon on the Mount are clear and succinct in their denunciation of violence and call to the love of enemy. These teachings as developed and understood by the authors of the New Testament showed the community of Jesus disciples how to respond to violence and power.  The ‘new creation’, and ‘new world order’ which Paul speaks of in II Corinthians 5 can be seen lived out most fully in the church, which lives in the present time as a sign of the new order God has promised.  The non-violent love of enemies is possible because in the resurrection of Jesus, the power of God has triumphed over the power of violence and prefigured the redemption of all creation.  As a faithful Christian community we believe that the ‘real world’ is the one that we see modeled for us most clearly by Jesus and the Gospel he preached. This reality informs how we live and act in the world around us.

Henry Krause has been the pastor of Langley Mennonite Fellowship since 1989 and is currently moderator of Mennonite Church Canada. He is a graduate of Regent College, is married to Edith, and together they have 4 children.

Manufactured Landscapes

Manufactured Landscapes is a documentary film on the world and work of renowned artist Edward Burtynsky. Burtynsky makes large-scale photographs of ‘manufactured landscapes’ – quarries, recycling yards, factories, mines, and dams. He photographs civilization’s materials and debris, but in a way people describe as “stunning” or “beautiful,” and so raises all kinds of questions about ethics and aesthetics without trying to easily answer them. This film won Best Canadian Feature Film at the Toronto International Film Festival and was selected for juried prizes at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. This is the first time a Canadian filmmaker has been eligible. 90 mins. A film guide handout will raise points to ponder.

Wrap-up Q & A

Together with Richard, Ron and Henry we’ll explore questions and thoughts arising from the day.

 REGISTER ONLINE (VISA or MasterCard)

Prices and transactions are in Canadian dollars.
Student prices are for full time students only.
Bursaries are available for those who are unable to attend due to financial reasons, thanks to an extra grant from the CRC Extension Fund.

For registration and payment issues please contact .
For more information call Eleanor McComb 604-530-2353 or email .

Please register early so that there is enough time to contact you for confirmation
and please register before January 31 to ensure lunch (included in price).

 PRINTABLE BROCHURE

If you can't register online you can still send in your registration by mail.

Click here to download our printable brochure. (PDF 1.1MB)

Note that the brochure is designed for legal paper size (8.5 x 14). It will print on letter sized paper (8.5 x 11), but smaller. Print double-sided if possible, flipping on short edge.

 OUR SPONSORS