Tags
I consider myself very blessed to have been able to attend the 63rd annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Meeting in San Francisco from Nov. 16-18, 2011. I only returned this morning – and quite frankly, I am still floating on a cloud of excitement and joy. To cite my Facebook status: “A week of great, great blessing is behind me attending ETS 2011 in San Francisco. I was challenged. I had sweet communion with Christ. I was edified. I met inspiring people. I had wonderful times with dear friends – who edified and inspired me. Thank You, Lord!”
Stephen G. Dempster and Elke at ETS 2011
Highlights of my week were meeting Drs. Stephen G. Dempster (see photo above) and Michael F. Bird (you definitely want to catch his “Old Spice” commercial rip-off), worshiping with my brothers and sisters in Christ at the morning worship services, meeting with my “Introduction to Islam” prof Dr. Ed Smither to discuss both missions and a PhD path for me, running into my current Church History prof Dr. Howard Foreman, and getting to visit with – even if some of these exchanges were only brief – Drs. D. Brent Sandy (love that man!), Clinton Arnold, Robert B. Chisholm, Darrell Bock, John Walton, and Wayne Grudem. In addition, I met John Wipf and Jon Stock of Wipf & Stock Publishers, as well as the managing editor Jim Tedrick, and Jeff Crosby from IVP. I also met Dr. Mitch Glaser and some of his staff from Chosen People Ministries. Talking to Mimi Haddad and some of the folks of CBE was wonderful as we shared thoughts on the need for more women to not just be attending ETS, but giving papers in the future. I shared the floor space against the wall with Mart De Haan of “Day of Discovery” during a couple of very crowded sessions and also got to meet their executive producer, Jeff Baxter. I also met a few PhD candidates from some other schools at the banquet, such as Peter Link and Andy Witt, and professors from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, Drs. Dan Heimbach and Shawn Madden. Last but not least, I would be remiss not to mention how great it was to visit with my Liberty profs and old and new friends Drs. Leo Percer, Gary Yates, David Hirschman, Ed Smither, Charlie Davidson and Jerry Sutton – and our Israel travel mate, Carol Mead.
Thanks to iPhone technology, I was able to record the sessions I attended over the two-and-a-half days. Some of the recordings are clearer than others (as already mentioned, I was literally sitting on the floor against the wall in two of them because the room was so packed), but I wanted to remember them for my sake and refer back to them from time to time. Regrettably, for some sessions I was either making a mad dash into them or somehow started the recording a minute late…sorry. The breaks between sessions were short! Also, for some I recorded the Q&A; for others I didn’t.
Here is who I got to listen to and their topics:
November 16, 2011
- D. Brent Sandy (Wheaton College) “When Was Jesus Not Speaking Propositionally? Rhetoric and Illocution“
- Stephen G. Dempster (Atlantic Baptist University) “Old Testament Theology and the Prophets“
- Jan Verbruggen (Western Seminary) “What’s in a Name: Shear Yashub and the Sign of Immanuel“
- Craig L. Blomberg (Denver Seminary) “Neither Capitalism nor Socialism: A Biblical Theology of Economics“
- Walter C. Kaiser, Jr. (Gordon-Conwell) “Ownership and Property in the Old Testament Economy“
- Bryan Liftin (Moody Bible Institute) “Apostolic Tradition and the Rule of Faith in Light of the ‘Bauer/Ehrman’ Thesis“
- David C. Alexander/Edward Smither (Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary) “The ‘Bauer Thesis’ and North African Christianity”
- Tremper Longman (Westmont College) “From Weeping to Rejoicing: Psalm 150 as the Conclusion to the Book of Psalms“
November 17, 2011
- Michael F. Bird (Crossway College) “Raging Against the Roman Empire with Romans: The Value of Anti-Imperial Readings of Romans?“
- Michael S. Heiser (Logos Bible Software) “The Name Theology of Israelite Religion“
- Gary E. Yates (Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary) “The OT and the Problem of Divine Initiative and Human Response in the Restoration of Israel“
- Robert B. Chisholm (Dallas Theological Seminary) “Fighting God’s Wars: Disturbing Acts of Violence in Judges-Samuel“
- Darrell L. Bock (Dallas Theological Seminary) “On Entitlement, Grace, Salvation and Jesus the Only Way: A Look at Key New Testament Texts and the Theological Assumptions behind the Gospel“
- Eugene H. Merrill (Dallas Theological Seminary) “Deuteronomy and de Wette: A Fresh Look at a False Premise“
- Leo R. Percer (Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary) “Confidence in Christ and the Sin unto Death – When Should a Believer Not Pray?“
- Clinton E. Arnold (Talbot School of Theology) “Sceva, Solomon, and Shamanism. The Jewish Roots of the Problem at Colossae“
November 18, 2011 (aka Happy Birthday, Dr. Mike Bird Day)
- Lynn H. Cohick (Wheaton College) “Philippians and Imperial Rome: A Critique of Counter-Imperial Readings in Paul“
- James Coakley (Moody Theological Seminary) “Genesis 4 as an Introduction to the Pentateuch“
- Milton Eng (William Paterson University) “The Grammar of Gen. 1 and What It Tells Us About Creation“
- Daniel M. Gurtner (Bethel Seminary) “This World and the World to Come: Soteriology in Early Judaism“
I can’t wait for the coming year until the next ETS to pass. By then, I hope to be a PhD candidate. O Lord, may it be so. I trust You to lead me there, if that is where You would have me (and us as a couple!) go.
