Public Lectures
Canadian Mennonite University presents a number of annual lecture series, including:

The J.J. Thiessen Lectures

Founded in 1978 by Canadian Mennonite Bible College, the J. J. Thiessen Lectures are named in honour of a founder and long-time chairperson of the CMBC Board. The lectures seek to bring to the Canadian Mennonite University community something of his breadth of vision for the church.

October 18-19, 2011
Peter Widdicombe, McMaster University.
Topic: Scripture and the Christian Imagination: Text, Doctrine, and Artistic Representation in the Early Church and Beyond

From the very beginning, Christians have asked how the Bible was to be read in such a way that its convictions about God, creation, and humankind
might be made apprehensible. How was it that the words of a text, a thing of space and time, could be understood to reveal the eternal and transcendent Word? How was doctrine to be formulated on the basis of the Bible? How then was that doctrine to be represented visually?

The two greatest writers in the Patristic Period on the problem of hermeneutics were Origen and Augustine. The former developed the allegorical
approach to the interpretation of Scripture. The latter took up that approach, extended it, and bequeathed it to the Latin West. It became the
standard way in which the Bible was read until the Reformation. The first lecture looks at the development of Patristic hermeneutics, focusing
particularly on the thought of Augustine. The second two lectures explore two examples of how this approach played out in both text and art from
the Patristic Period through the Reformation: the account of the Drunkenness of Noah in Genesis 9:20-27, and the reference to foxes and vines in
Song of Songs 2:15.

October 18, 11:00 AM
Words and the Word: Augustine and the Patristic Interpretation of Scripture

October 18, 7:30 PM
Drunkenness, Nakedness, and the Redemption and Fall of an Image: Noah and Christ

October 19, 11:00 AM
When is a Fox not a Fox? Song of Songs 2:15 and the Need for Vigilance

October 16-17, 2012
Beverly Roberts Gaventa, Princeton Theological Seminary

Previous Lectures

Please listen to all JJ Thiessen Lecture audio here

2010: Dr. Belden Lane, Saint Louis University
From Desert Christians to Mountain Refugees: Fierce Landscapes and Counter-Cultural Spirituality

2009: Dr. Peter Ochs, Edgar Bronfman Professor of Modern Judaic Studies, University of Virginia.
Topic: The Free Church and Israel’s Covenant.

2008: Dr. Mark Noll, Professor of History at the University of Notre Dame. Topic: A Yankee Looks North: Toward An Appreciation And Assessment Of The History Of Christianity In Canada. Oct. 21-22.

2007: Oct, 15-16, 2007: Ellen Davis, Professor of Bible and Practical Theology, Duke Divinity School. Topic: Live Long on the Land: Food and Farming from a Biblical Perspective.

2006: Joel J. Shuman, King's College, Wilkes-Barre, PA. Topic: To Live is to Worship: Bioethics and the Body of Christ. Oct. 17-18. Published by CMU Press.

2005: Dr. Paul J. Griffiths, Schmitt Professor of Catholic Studies at University of Illinois at Chicago. Topic: Curiosity: Towards a Theology of Intellectual Appetite. Oct. 18-19. Published by CMU Press.

Past annual JJ Thiessen Lectures published by CMU Press.

The John and Margaret Friesen Lectures

The John and Margaret Friesen Lectures in Anabaptist/Mennonite Studies are co-sponsored by Canadian Mennonite University, the Mennonite Heritage Centre and the Centre for Mennonite Brethren Studies. The inaugural lectures in November 2002 were delivered by Dr. Abraham Friesen, the generous donor who initiated the lecture series. He is Professor of History in the History Department of the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Previous Lectures

2009: Mennonite Women in Canadian History: Birth, Food, and War.Lecturer: Marlene Epp of Conrad Grebel University College.

2008: Church and ethnicity: The Mennonite Experience in Paraguay. Lecturer: Alfred Neufeld, Dean of the School of Theology of the Protestant University of Paraguay.

2007: Mennonite Identity in the 21st Century. Lecturer: John D. Roth.

2006: Sacred Spaces, Sacred Places: Mennonite Architecture in Russia and Canada. Presenters: Rudy Friesen, Harold Funk, Roland Sawatsky.

2005: Peter Klassen, Professor Emeritus of History, California State University, Fresno—Recovering A Heritage: The Mennonite Experience in Poland and Prussia.

Winter Lecture Series

The CMU Winter Lectures is an annual public lecture series that seeks to highlight the arts, science, humanities, and interdisciplinary studies at CMU and to foster dialogue between these disciplines and the Christian faith.

2012: January 24-25: CANCELLED

Previous Lectures

Please listen to all Winter Lecture audio here

2011: January 25-26: Dr. Romand Coles, McAllister Chair in Community, Culture, & Environment at Northern Arizona University. Resonance, Receptivity and Radical Reformation

 2010: January 26-27: Vern Redekop, Associate Professor of Conflict Studies at Saint Paul University in Ottawa. Topic: Paradoxes of Reconciliation

2009: January 26-27: Dr. Norman Wirzba, Research Professor of Theology, Ecology and Rural Life, Duke Divinity School. Topic: Placing Our Faith in a Placeless World?

2008: January 29-30: Erica Grimm Vance, Assistant Professor and Visual Arts Coordinator, Trinity Western University. Topic: Art, Beauty and Christian Theology.

2007: Robert Russell, Professor of Theology and Science, Graduate Theological Union, and Director for the Center for Theology and the Natural Sciences. Topic: Cosmology, Evolution and Resurrection Hope.

2006: January 30-31: Alvin Dueck, Evelyn and Frank Freed Professor of the Integration of Psychology and Theology, Fuller Theological Seminary—Topic: Psychology and Theology.

Proclaiming the Claims of Christ Lecture Series

Proclaiming the Claims of Christ Series 2011 Cancellation
The Unique Gift of Christ
March 14-15, 2011
Dr. Robert Benne

Due to unforeseen health issues on the part of our guest speaker, Dr. Robert Benne, we regret to announce the cancellation of the Proclaiming the Claims of Christ lectureship series scheduled for March 14 and 15. Our apologies for any inconvenience this may cause.
Pierre Gilbert, Ph.D.

Previous Lectures

2010: March 15 – 16:  Proclaiming the Unique Claims of Christ; Negotiating the Christian-Muslim Interface Please listen to all Lecture audio here

2009: March 16-17: Radio broadcaster and media commentator Michael Coren will speak being a Christian in the public media.

2008: March 17-19: John Stackhouse, Regent College. Topic: Proclaiming Christ in a Post-Christian World.

2007: Joe Boot, evangelist, apologist, author and the executive director of Ravi Zacharias Ministries in Canada.