St. Andrew’s Biblical Theological Institute (Moscow, Russia)

Institute of Ecumenical Studies (Lviv, Ukraine)

DELM - Development of Ecumenical Leadership in Mission Network

with the support of

ICCO - Kerk in Actie (Utrecht, Netherlands)

Invitation and Call for Papers 

International Conference

Academic Theology in a Post-Secular age

9-12 November2011

Lviv, Ukraine

Theme of the Conference

The role of theology in the academic sphere and in society in general is currently being re-evaluated. On the one hand, there is a strong, based on the Enlightenment’s ideology tendency to marginalize theology and push it away from academia. On the other hand, in recent years there has been a serious need in a properly theological thinking and reflection felt by many intellectuals. In the past, theology not only was part of university curricula but also was considered  “the queen of the sciences”, which meant, among other things, that it provided orientation and perspective for other disciplines, including those not dealing directly with the divine. It was not a rare thing, of course, that domination of theology was a burden and an obstacle to other disciplines. But at the same time it allowed to maintain a certain unity of science built around the relations between the human being and God, which gave science a human dimension.

The Enlightenment’s attempt to remove theology from university and replace “faith” with “reason” has led in fact to dehumanization of the academic sphere and its transformation into a sort of intellectual factory producing knowledge and technology but unable to approach ultimate questions of human life. For this reason many intellectuals today would like to see theology as a partner in the academic (and not only academic) discourse (J. Habermas). This however poses serious problems to theology because often it is not ready to be involved in a dialogue with other disciplines as an equal part. It is unacceptable today to simply quote authoritative authors from the past or to proclaim “divine truths” to “theologically ignorant” scientists. There is a great need for contemporary theology to be equipped both intellectually and spiritually. Today’s theology is in a desperate struggle to prove its viability in the contemporary situation. In the course of the Conference, the following questions are planned to be addressed.

• Is it correct to mark today’s academic sphere as totally “secular”?  or perhaps there is no “secular” at all as, for instance, Radical Orthodoxy movement affirms?
• How can theology be faithful to the Divine Revelation and at the same time accept critical reasoning required in the academic sphere?
• What language should theology employ in its dialogue with other academic disciplines?
• What can the scientist gain from the theologian today, and vice versa?

The given list does not exhaust all the aspects of the topic announced in the title of the conference but provides a focus for the expected discussion.

Papers and Publication

Those who wish to present a paper should send a summary (500 words at most) by e-mail to St. Andrew’s by 15 September 2011. The Organizing Committee selects papers for the Conference and sends invitations to the speakers. The full text of all the papers selected will have to be submitted by 1 November 2011. However, it will be possible to participate without a paper. The working language of the conference will be English.

Upon arrival at the conference every participant will receive summaries of all the papers presented and the conference programme. Plenary and sectional papers are scheduled for 30 minutes each. Summaries and papers should be sent to:

St. Andrew’s Biblical Theological Institute

Jerusalem St. 3, Moscow, 109316, Russia

Tel/Fax: +7 495 6702200; +7 495 6707644

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ORGANIZATION AND ACCOMMODATIONS

The conference will assemble on 9 November 2011 for a reception and opening ceremony in the evening. Participants will depart after breakfast on 12 November.

REGISTRATION

Numbers are limited and early registration is strongly advised. Registration forms can be found on St. Andrew's website www.standrews.ru and must be sent to the above address.