We’re launching our new peer-reviewed journal of theology for the life of the world at Karam Forum 2021. Join us to be among the first to get the Call for Papers for Faith & Flourishing: A Journal of Karam Fellowship! Not to mention the lineup of cutting-edge papers we’ll be discussing in the Karam Forum “scholarly R&D lab.” Copies of those papers will be confidentially circulated to those who register for the Forum. With the launch of Faith & Flourishing, Karam Forum is gaining new opportunities to host conversations that change the future of theological scholarship.
See below for much more on the journal. But first, register today for Karam Forum on Nov. 18-19, either live in Ft. Worth or via Zoom from wherever you are!
The Vision of Faith & Flourishing
With interest in the flourishing of human beings and the creation under their care already growing so widely in theological scholarship, why create a new journal? We think flourishing is not just one more topic in a vast array of scholarly topics. On the contrary, helping to cultivate flourishing is the very purpose of academic theology. We are founding Faith & Flourishing to provide an intentional home for scholarly work that helps make that vision more of a reality – which, in spite of recent trends, still doesn’t get as much space as it could in existing journals.
Starting in spring 2022, Faith & Flourishing will publish work from across all disciplines, including theologically informed work in the disciplines of the liberal arts and the professions as well as the theological disciplines themselves. We want to regrow the extensive “connective tissue” that once joined theological learning to all forms of human endeavor. Of course, each article will be reviewed by scholars in the relevant disciplines to ensure high academic standards.
We will also be publishing more than just traditional scholarly “articles.” We will also invite you to submit shorter “essays” that contribute to theological insight in light of scholarly knowledge. These essays will also be reviewed by fellow scholars, with slightly different criteria than the traditional articles. And we will convene “conversations” that cultivate exchanges between multiple contributors on important topics.
The Founding Editorial Board
We’ve been hard at work ever since we first made the announcement that we were creating a new peer-reviewed journal. The Lord has brought in a stellar team to serve on the founding editorial board:
- Uche Anizor, Talbot School of Theology
- Chris Armstrong, Christian History
- Darrell Bock, Dallas Theological Seminary
- David Buschart, Denver Seminary
- Lynn Cohick, Northern Seminary
- Matthew Croasmun, Yale Divinity School
- Denise Daniels, Wheaton College
- Greg Forster (chair), Trinity International University
- P.J. Hill, Wheaton College
- Abson Joseph, Wesley Seminary
- Jennifer Powell McNutt, Wheaton College
- Richard Mouw, Fuller Theological Seminary
- Jonathan Pennington, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
- Scott Rae, Talbot School of Theology
- Michael Thigpen, Phoenix Seminary
- Brent Waters, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary
The collaboration among this diverse and highly gifted group has been a profound blessing. We have not always agreed on everything! But we have experienced God’s kingdom as we have worked together, and the Lord has blessed our deliberations with charity and effectiveness.
How to Write for Faith & Flourishing
Now we’re ready to launch! The Faith & Flourishing Call for Papers will be released at Karam Forum 2021, and from that moment on, the floodgates will be open. We’ve identified five criteria for evaluating the articles and essays we’re inviting you to submit:
- Contribution to academic knowledge
- Interaction with theological scholarship
- High professional standards
- Focus on flourishing
- Charity and hospitality
Detailed criteria in each of these areas, for articles and for essays, will be in the Call for Papers we’ll be releasing at Karam Forum. We look forward to receiving your submissions for consideration!
How to Read Faith & Flourishing
Our plan is to review articles and essays on a rolling basis, and publish them digitally as they’re approved by the review process. Watch the ON newsletter starting this spring for links to those publications as they become available. Over time, we’ll collect the articles, essays and other material we publish into actual printed issues of the journal.
As its subtitle suggests, Faith & Flourishing: A Journal of Karam Fellowship is . . . a journal of Karam Fellowship. Members of the Fellowship receive a subscription to the journal, including immediate digital access to everything we publish as soon as it comes out, as well as the physical printed issues. (Student members receive only digital access.) So if you want to read the cutting-edge scholarship our community is producing, not to mention getting lots of other benefits join the Fellowship today!
This is an exciting time to be a theological scholar. The basic frameworks of theology are being rethought in light of the imperatives of flourishing for human beings and the creation under their care. Our world desperately needs an integrative, formative and missional Christian witness, which can only come from deep learning in the theological knowledge tradition. We’re humbled to have the opportunity to make this contribution to the future of theological scholarship for the life of the world.
