Philosophy and Theology Stream

Outrageous Ideas: The Calling and Challenges of Christian Philosophy, Theology, and Religious Scholarship

Friday 17th March (9:00am to 8:30pm) and Saturday 18th March (you are invited to join another stream)

Magdalen College, Oxford

Senior Convener: Max Baker-Hytch (Philosophy, Wycliffe Hall)

Conveners: Jiani Sun (Theology, Oriel College), Christopher Wadibia (Theology, Pembroke College), David Williams (Theology, Keble College)

How should we pursue the truth, Christ, relating to Him not as an object but as a person, one of the three persons of God, who is love?

Integrating study with worship challenges Christians across the university, but particularly philosophers and theologians. Our work penetrates to the very foundation of our beliefs. Disciplinary assumptions about religion, ethics, and other existential questions can contradict the God we encounter in our daily activities, quiet times, and churches. Meanwhile, courses along with research projects may expose tensions in our views that resist simple solutions. And classmates, colleagues, students, supervisors, or the broader public often push us to concretely serve our neighbors as Christ would.

The Philosophy and Theology Stream will help postgraduates, postdocs and academics, drawing on experience from many years, to discuss how our scholarship and spirituality not only inform but also strengthen each other. We will explore uniting our hearts and heads so as to wholly champion the Kingdom of God.

We welcome past as well as new attendees to the Philosophy and Theology Stream on Friday 17 March. On Saturday 18 March, participants are encouraged to attend one of the other Streams: Humanities, Natural Sciences, or Social Sciences. Each combination will advance the philosophical and theological quest for wisdom, supplying a holistic vision of learning in faith.

Please note our eligibility criteria: This event is for University of Oxford and Oxford Brookes postgraduates, postdocs, academic staff and DCM Alumni.

If you do not fit these criteria, please complete this form and we will review your request

Alumni: we aren’t offering an online option this year, however if you plan to attend in person please scroll to the bottom of the registration form and select the ‘Alumni’ ticket.

Registration is now CLOSED.

Friday 17th March

9:00 am Registration in Magdalen College Old Kitchen Bar with coffee & tea

9:30 am The Political is Personal and the Personal is Political: Black Liberation theology, Anger, Activism and Living out 'Christian Values’ - Anthony Reddie (Director of the Oxford Centre for Religion and Culture, Regent’s Park College, Oxford)

In this talk Professor Reddie will explore what are the key tenets of Black Liberation theology, and how and in what ways it is informed by issues of anger, activism and this notion of what it means to be a Christian. All this will be contextualised by the fact that for the past 3 years Professor Reddie has undertaken this explorative work whilst teaching in and being a part of Oxford University. 

11:00 am Coffee & tea in the Old Kitchen Bar

11.30 am Academic Theology and the Eyes of Faith - Simeon Zahl (Theology, Faculty of Divinity, University of Cambridge)

In this talk Professor Zahl will reflect on what it means to study Christian theology in a modern research university, where norms of study are often shaped by secular assumptions. Drawing on his own experiences, topics discussed will include the importance of academic theology for the life of the church, the Christian case for academic rigour, and the idea of theological teaching as a vocation.

1:00 pm Lunch in the Old Kitchen Bar

2:00 pm  What is a Vocation and Do I Have One - John Goldingay (Professor Emeritus of Old Testament, Fuller Theological Seminary)

Many people wonder whether as a Christian they have a vocation from God for their life. The talk will look at the idea of the vocation of the church and of individuals in the Scriptures and at how we think about vocation for ourselves.

3:30 pm Coffee & tea in the Old Kitchen Bar

4:00 pm Freedom and Vocation - Kate Kirkpatrick (Philosophy and Christian Ethics, Regent’s Park College, Oxford) with a response from John Olson (Theology, Oriel, Oxford)

Existentialist philosophers famously deny that particular human beings have an 'essence' that precedes their existence. It may seem counterintuitive, therefore, to claim that they have anything to say about questions of vocation. In conversation with my 2017 work Sartre on Sin, John Olson's 2023 engagement with it in "Mystery and Nothingness", and the moral philosophy of Simone de Beauvoir, I argue that they do. 

The following events are joint with all streams at New College.

5:30 pm Prayer in Magdalen College Auditorium

6:00 pm Walking together from Magdalen College to New College

6:15 pm Drinks at New College Bar

6:45 pm Dinner in New College Dining Hall

The Friday 17th ticket also includes admission on Saturday 18th to one of the following streams: Humanities, Natural Sciences, or Social Sciences. Program details for these streams can be found at the links above.