{"id":6124,"date":"2016-10-11T13:37:44","date_gmt":"2016-10-11T18:37:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/?p=6124"},"modified":"2016-10-11T13:37:44","modified_gmt":"2016-10-11T18:37:44","slug":"the-theology-of-lament-topic-of-2016-j-j-thiessen-lectures-at-cmu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/2016\/the-theology-of-lament-topic-of-2016-j-j-thiessen-lectures-at-cmu\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The theology of lament\u2019 topic of 2016 J.J. Thiessen Lectures at CMU"},"content":{"rendered":"

Award-winning scholar Dr. J. Richard Middleton scheduled to speak on campus<\/i><\/span><\/h3>\n

If you have ever been angry with God, wondered if it\u2019s OK to ask \u201cWhy?\u201d or had nothing left to pray, this year\u2019s J.J. Thiessen Lectures at Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) are for you.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"J.<\/a>
<\/p>\n

J. Richard Middleton, will appear\u00a0at CMU on October 25-26 as the 2016 J.J. Thiessen Lecture\u00a0presenter<\/p>\n

<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Renowned scholar Dr. J. Richard Middleton will present the three-part series, titled \u201cThe Silence of Abraham, The Passion of Job: Explorations in the Theology of Lament.\u201d The lectures will take place in the CMU Chapel (600 Shaftesbury Blvd.) on Tuesday, October 25 at 11:00 AM and 7:30 PM, and Wednesday, October 26 at 11:00 AM.<\/span><\/p>\n

Middleton, Professor of Biblical Worldview and Exegesis at Northeastern Seminary in Rochester, NY, will explore what sort of prayer is appropriate in situations of difficulty and suffering.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cRichard thinks deeply, and yet communicates straightforwardly and is extremely approachable,\u201d says Dr. Gordon Matties, Professor of Biblical Studies and Theology, who is on the organizing committee for the J.J. Thiessen Lectures. \u201cI\u2019m so pleased that he\u2019s coming.<\/span><\/p>\n

The lecture topics are as follows:<\/span><\/p>\n

Lecture #1: \u201cVoices from the Ragged Edge\u201d\u00a0<\/b><\/span>\u2013 In the face of violence, pain, and suffering, the lament or protest psalms offer us theologically significant models of prayer. They open space for a rich and meaningful relationship with God that isn\u2019t resigned simply to ascribing the suffering to God\u2019s will.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"2016<\/a>Lecture #2:\u00a0\u201cAbraham\u2019s Ominous Silence in Genesis 22: How the Patriarch of Israel Lost Both His Voice and His Son\u201d \u2013 <\/b><\/span>Arguing for the justice of God\u2019s actions, Abraham protested vigorously over the fate of Sodom (Genesis 18). Yet a few chapters later (Genesis 22), in response to God\u2019s instructions to sacrifice his son, he is reduced to silence. What are we to make of that transformation?<\/span><\/p>\n

Lecture #3:\u00a0\u201cHow Job Found His Voice: Learning the Wisdom of Lament from a Gentile Patriarch\u201d \u2013 <\/b><\/span>Job’s passionate lament in response to the death of his family and his own suffering offers a possible alternative to Abraham\u2019s silence. Indeed, while God’s first speech from the whirlwind corrects Job\u2019s understanding of God\u2019s justice, the second speech nevertheless affirms Job\u2019s lament as right and proper.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cRichard\u2019s topic for these lectures is really important in our time, when people are experiencing so much fear in our world and life becomes confusing and difficult,\u201d Matties says.<\/span><\/p>\n

Middleton holds a PhD from the Free University of Amsterdam and is the past president of the Canadian Evangelical Theological Association.<\/span><\/p>\n

His books, which include A New Heaven and a New Earth: Reclaiming Biblical Eschatology<\/i> (Baker Academic, 2014) and The Liberating Image: The Imago Dei in Genesis 1<\/i> (Brazos, 2005), have been published in Korean, French, Indonesian, Spanish, and Portuguese.<\/p>\n

Founded in 1978 by one of CMU predecessor institutions, Canadian Mennonite Bible College (CMBC), 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 CMU community something of Thiessen\u2019s breadth of vision for the church. Visit cmu.ca\/jjt<\/span><\/a> for details.<\/span><\/p>\n

About CMU<\/strong><\/p>\n

A Christian university in the Anabaptist tradition, CMU\u2019s Shaftesbury campus offers undergraduate degrees in arts, business, humanities, music, sciences, and social sciences, as well as\u00a0graduate degrees in theology,\u00a0ministry, peacebuilding and collaborative development, and an MBA. CMU has over 800 full-time equivalent\u00a0students, including those enrolled in degree programs at the Shaftesbury and Menno Simons College campuses and in its Outtatown certificate program.<\/em><\/p>\n

For information about CMU visit <\/em>www.cmu.ca<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

For additional information, please contact:
\nKevin Kilbrei, Director of Communications & Marketing
\nkkilbrei@cmu.ca; 204.487.3300 Ext. 621
\nCanadian Mennonite University
\n500 Shaftesbury Blvd., Winnipeg, MB\u00a0 R3P 2N2<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Award-winning scholar Dr. J. Richard Middleton scheduled to speak on campus If you have ever been angry with God, wondered if it\u2019s OK to ask \u201cWhy?\u201d or had nothing left to pray, this year\u2019s J.J. Thiessen Lectures at Canadian Mennonite University (CMU) are for you. Renowned scholar Dr. J. Richard Middleton will present the three-part […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[20,5],"tags":[810,318],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6124"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6124"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6124\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6130,"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6124\/revisions\/6130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cmu.ca\/media_archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}