ICS Worldview Conference 2007

Saturday March 17, Edmonton
Burning Questions? Biblical Answers?
Can an Ancient Text Guide Us?

• Keynote Speaker Richard Middleton • A Conversation on Just War and Pacifism     with David J. Goa and John Hiemstra • Manufactured Landscapes     award winning documentary The King's University College 9125 – 50 St. Edmonton, AB View Map / Simplified

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 Isn't it full of outdated or conflicting points of view on a variety of ethical matters?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, Richard immigrated to Canada and enrolled in ICS. He started teaching worldview courses for ICS at various universities. He coauthored with Brian Walsh: The Transforming Vision: Shaping a Christian World View and Truth is Stranger Than It Used to Be: Biblical Faith in a Postmodern Age.

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.

Holy crusade, just war and pacifism. What sense do any of them make in a world where officials charged with defending the nation and national interest, revolutionaries seeking justice and men and women with radical views of divine will, have access to weapons of mass destruction? Many argue for an “adjusted” theory of just war and a few argue that our only hope is radical non-violence. Are the traditional ways Christian culture has sought to understand the Gospel and the claims of the Prince of Peace useful? Are these ideas confined to the scrape heap of history, outstripped by geo-political circumstance and technological innovation? What, if anything, do they now mean for Christian citizens?

David J. Goa teaches religious studies and is Director of the Chester Ronning Centre for the Study of Religion and Public Life, Augustana Campus, University of Alberta. He has written widely on religion, culture and civil life and is a regular contributor to the media.

This is God’s world, Christians confess, but all too often it feels fallen, chaotic, and filled with moral ambiguity. Surging scientific discoveries and technological advancements have allowed us to master human and non-human nature in ways that offer immense promise. But violence, oppression and war seem to lurk in the shadows of every improvement. How can we faithfully answer God’s call to be peacemakers, earth-keepers, and justice-seekers in this world? ‘Just war theory’ trips over a key insight, but often formulates and uses it in a religiously neutered way. As a result, Christians too easily succumb to seductions of nationalist pride, realist power mongering, holy war campaigning, and even fascist domination. Pacifist and just war Christian traditions need to dialogue and co-operate together, and with others, to formulate spiritually rooted ideas and actions that concretely achieve peace in ever- emerging conflicts.

John Hiemstra, an ICS alumnus, teaches political studies at The King’s University College. He has written widely on the state’s public justice role in diverse societies, including school policy, faith-based social services, economic growth, broadcasting, and poverty. He is currently researching Christian “approaches” to analyzing critical contemporary cultural crises.

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 reflective handout will accompany the film.

 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 more information call Ebeline Zee-Hawtin 780-389-4100 or 780488-2622, or email Jenny Krabbe, .

Please register early so that there is enough time to contact you for confirmation and please register before Mar 14^th 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 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