Karam Forum 2019 won’t just be Volf, Miller and Greene, great as they are. Our TED-style talkers will connect the core doctrines of the faith to the way people live every day in their homes, jobs and neighborhoods. Register today to join us at a reduced rate for a limited time.
In addition to big-picture addresses from Mirsolav Volf, David Miller and Mark Greene, we’ve put together four TED-style talks from leading theological voices that will show the powerful effect in our daily work of the Trinity, the Incarnation, Christ’s redemption of his people and the Spirit’s building up his people.
Following last year’s emphasis on biblical studies, we’re taking systematic theology as our keynote this year – but don’t think these talks will only be valuable to the systematicians! Each talk will unfold a passage of scripture, and we’ve invited scholars from other disciplines to interact with our speakers, so the experience in Dallas and the curricular tools these talks will provide will have wide application.
Living Out Who God Is
What do the doctrines of the Trinity and the Incarnation have to do with my to-do list today? Not much, many Christians would say, which is why people tend to think of these teachings as nothing more than fodder for narcissistic disputation – like these guys:
But these teachings are fundamentally about who God is and what God is like, so they shape not only our “worldview” but our practice and character every day. Even for snake farmers!
God is three persons who love each other; Jesus, by uniting a human nature to that divine nature, has restored and magnified the image of God in humanity by drawing it up into the divine life of love. Are we being drawn up into Jesus, and through him into the eternal and glorious holy love between the three persons of God, putting that love into action in the way we live every day?
The faith and work movement has spent a lot of time talking about the image of God, and rightly so. Unfortunately, too often that’s limited to consideration of Genesis 1. Important as that key text is, Jesus is the true and perfect image of God, and Jesus isn’t Jesus if he isn’t the Son who lives forever with the Father.
The faith and work movement could stand to be a lot more Trinitarian and Christocentric. So we’re bringing in the big guns.
For years, Fred Sanders of Biola University has been one of the foremost voices in the church holding up the Trinity as a doctrine that makes a transformative difference in our lives. Likewise, Patrick Smith of Duke Divinity School has been a leading voice for a Christian ethic that is Christocentric enough to deserve the name. We’ll be hearing from Sanders on the Trinity and Smith on the Incarnation as doctrines that change the way we work and live every day.
Living Out What God Does
Our daily lives are shaped not only by who God is but by what God does. If we forget that, here’s where we end up:
Martin Luther said that if you don’t understand the doctrine of vocation, you don’t understand the gospel. Strong words! But they were essential to the architecture of Reformation theology – load-bearing beams in Luther’s house of devotion to the God of grace.
Does that house still stand? We’re asking the experts.
Michael Wittmer, author of some of the best books in the business on this topic, will speak to us about why the doctrine of vocation is essential to knowing and living the gospel of Christ in its fullness. And Chris Armstrong, who among his other accomplishments gave one of our most popular and profound EWP Talks (“Vocation? Whatever!“), will speak on the Holy Spirit building up the people of God not only as a people of grace and holiness, but as a people with a calling to bring life to the world.
God’s “two hands” – Christ who redeems and the Spirit who unites us to him – not only do glorious works among us, but call us to good works that bring glory to God.
The church is on notice, and we’ll be taking notice at Karam Forum.
Trinity, Incarnation, soteriology, ecclesiology – the big remaining piece is eschatology. What will we do with that?
You’ll have to wait until Jan. 3-4 in Dallas to find out. Until then, enjoy the anticipation!
