< Back to events page

Kindling Faith: Luther Colloquy 2023: Luther and Doubt

October 25, 2023

Doubt takes many forms: Doubt about God’s forgiveness and care for oneself or others.  Doubt that God exists at all.  Doubt that life has meaning.  Doubt that justice is achievable amid humane vil.  Doubt that human experts and authorities are reliable.  What are the sources and varieties of modern doubt, and what theological resources can be found in Luther and the Lutheran tradition for thinking about doubt?  What is the relationship of doubt to faith?  How might a Lutheran doctrine of faith today provide assurance of God’s presence and favor—in oneself, in the church, in the world?  

Presenters:

Deanna A. Thompson, Director of the Lutheran Center for Faith, Values, and Community and Martin E. Marty Regents Chair in Religion and the Academy, St. Olaf College

Dr. Natalia Marandiuc, Associate Professor of Systematic Theology; Director Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies program, United Lutheran Seminary

Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen, Professor of Systematic Theology, Fuller Theological Seminary; Docent of Ecumenics, University of Helsinki

Guillermo César Hansen, Professor and Martin Luther King Chair for Justice and Christian Community; Director for Advanced Theological Education, Luther Seminary

Register here

Read the flyer

Schedule
8:30AM - Registration opens (Beekmann Commons, Valentine Hall)

9:00AM - Welcome(All lectures will be in the auditorium.)

9:15AM –10:15 AM

Carl Rasmussen Lecture I - Deanna A Thompson: The Gospel of Irresolution: A theology of the cross for the Undone

 10:30AM –11:30 AM

Carl Rasmussen Lecture II - Veli-Matti Kärkkäinen: On Certainty, Proper Confidence, and Doubt: A Post- Critical Realist Epistemology for doing Constructive Theology

 11:30AM –Noon - Break

Noon– 12:45 - Worship, Chapel of the Abiding Presence

(Lunch is available in the refectory following worship)

1:45PM –2:45 PM - The George and Janet Harkins Lecture I
Natalia Marandiuc: Trauma, Memory, and Doubt: Luther on Anfechtungen and the Flow of Divine Love

3:00PM –4:00 PM - George and Janet Harkins Lecture II
Guillermo César Hansen: When Credulity is Short-Circuited by Doubt: Faith as an Emergent Phenomenon

The annual book sale will be held from 9AM to 5PM in Wentz Library located opposite Valentine Hall. Please drop in to peruse the selection!

Martin Otto-Zimmann
mzimmann@uls.edu