Powerhouse Theology: The Inaugural LA Theology Conference on Christology

My Patheos colleague and leading Trinitarian scholar Fred Sanders of Biola University just announced the papers for the parallel sessions of the inaugural, and very exciting, Los Angeles Theology Conference. Sanders is heading up this event along with Fuller’s Oliver Crisp, widely respected for his philosophical and theological work.

I’m honored to present a paper at this conference. The plenary speakers are something of a Who’s Who in the Protestant theological world: Crisp, Hunsinger, Leithart, Torrance, Sonderegger. For my humble part, I’ll be looking at how the humanity and divinity of Christ relates to his eschatological work of transformation and cosmic rule. In other words, I’ll be applying Chalcedonian Christology to eschatology, which I actually think we need to do to best appreciate the Christic remaking and ruling of all things.

So often, when it comes to the end times, we get caught up in debates on the millennium. We need to have those conversations, but we also need to remember that Revelation begins, centers around, and ends with Jesus as the conquering king. The end times, in other words, are about Jesus. But what does that mean? You’ll need to come to LA to find out (or perhaps read the Zondervan volume to follow, provided my paper makes the cut).

Here’s Fred’s announcement. I’m thrilled to be in company with such a strong group of young guns, including my buddy Jeremy Treat, newly of Reality LA (a powerhouse church in its own right) and Telford Work of Westmont College. Quoth Fred:

I finally get to announce the papers that are going to be presented in the parallel sessions at the Los Angeles Theology Conference on January 17 and 18, 2013. We issued a call for papers and got dozens of proposals. We narrowed it all the way down to the nine papers that work best together, and will make for the best conference together with our plenary sessions.

Read ‘em and, um, register!

Thursday, Jan. 17, breakout session 1:

Owen Strachan (Boyce College), “To Conquer as Man and God: An Exploration in How Chalcedonian Christology Drives Eschatology”

Charles Twombly (independent scholar), “Perichoresis: A Conversation Between John of Damascus and Contemporary Christology”

Jordan Wessling (University of Notre Dame), “Is Monothelitism a Viable Option for Orthodox Christian Theology?”

Thursday, Jan 18, Breakout Session 2:

Tim Pawl (University of St. Thomas/University of Notre Dame), “Conciliar Christology and Incompatible Predications of Christ.”

Jeremy Treat (Reality L.A.) “Exaltation in and through Humiliation: Re-Thinking the States of Christ”

Myles Werntz (Baylor University), “Christ is as Christ Does: The Peril and Promise of Ethical Christologies”

Friday Breakout Session 3:

Luke Ben Tallon (Pepperdine University), “Joseph Ratzinger’s Spiritual Christology”

Jason McMartin (Biola University), “The Theandric Union as Imago Dei and Capax Dei”

Telford Work (Westmont College), “Jesus’ New Relationship with the Holy Spirit, and Ours: How Biblical Spirit-Christology Helps Resolve a Chalcedonian Dilemma”