Dr. Luke Johnson of Emory University will present 鈥淗ow Is the Bible True?鈥� as the 2014 Danforth Lecture at Hope College on Monday, Feb. 24, at 4 p.m. in the Maas Center auditorium.
The public is invited. Admission is free.
Johnson is the Robert W. Woodruff Professor of New Testament and Christian Origins at Candler School of Theology, Emory University. His research concerns the literary, moral, and religious dimensions of the New Testament, including the Jewish and Greco-Roman contexts of early Christianity (particularly moral discourse), Luke-Acts, the Pastoral Letters, and the Letter of James.
A prolific author, Johnson has penned hundreds of scholarly articles and 28 books. He received the prestigious 2011 Louisville Grawemeyer Award in Religion for his 2009 book, 鈥淎mong the Gentiles: Greco-Roman Religion and Christianity.鈥� His most recent book, 鈥淧rophetic Jesus, Prophetic Church: The Challenge of Luke-Acts to Contemporary Christians,鈥� was awarded first place in the Scripture category of the Catholic Press Association鈥檚 2012 book awards. Other books include 鈥淭he Writings of the New Testament: An Interpretation: A Commentary on the Gospel of Luke鈥�; 鈥淩eading Romans: A Literary and Theological Commentary鈥�; and 鈥淟iving Jesus: Learning the Heart of the Gospels.鈥�
A former Benedictine monk, Johnson is a highly sought-after lecturer, a member of several editorial and advisory boards, and a senior fellow at Emory University鈥檚 Center for the Study of Law and Religion.
The Danforth Lecture is sponsored by the 麻豆视频 department of religion with support from an endowment established by the Danforth Foundation of St. Louis, Mo. The program was established by the foundation 鈥渢o deepen and enlarge the religious dimension of the campus family through speakers who can reflect on the broad, interdenominational and yet positive sense of the Judaeo-Christian perspectives of life and existence.鈥�
Some of the many distinguished scholars who have visited the campus through the program in the past include theologian Dr. Martin E. Marty of the University of Chicago Divinity School; Dr. Phyllis Trible of Union Theological Seminary; Dr. Jon D. Levenson of Harvard University; Dr. Daniel Maguire of Marquette University; Dr. Allen Verhey of the Divinity School at Duke University; and John Webster of the School of Divinity, History and Philosophy of King鈥檚 College of the University of Aberdeen; Dr. John L. Esposito of Georgetown University; and Dr. David Nirenberg of the University of Chicago; and Dr. James VanderKam of the University of Notre Dame.
The Maas Center is located at 264 Columbia Ave., on Columbia Avenue at 11th Street.