Miroslav Volf to lecture on Lee University campus
Source: Yale University
Miroslav Volf
The Lee University School of Religion and the Behavioral and Social Sciences Department will host theologian and Yale professor Miroslav Volf for two lectures on faith on Wednesday, Sept. 14.
Volf’s first lecture, titled “Malfunctions of Faith”, will be presented at 4 p.m. in Jones Lecture Hall in the School of Religion building. The second lecture, “The Christian Faith and Human Flourishing”, will take place at 7 p.m. in Lee’s chapel on 11th street. Admission is free for both lectures.
Dr. Terry Cross, dean of the School of Religion, sees Volf as one of the most important Christian theologians at this time and looks forward to hearing him speak about key religious issues.
“His work is relevant and refreshing as well as theologically substantive,” Cross said. “Our campus will be challenged to think differently about how we can integrate the common good of our world.”
Volf was born in Osijek, Croatia and raised by his pastor father in Novi Sad, Serbia. He went on to earn his Bachelor of Arts from Evangelical-Theological Faculty in Osijek, Croatia and his Master of Arts from Fuller Theological Seminary. He then received both his Doctorate in Theology and Doctorate in Theological Habilitation from the University of Tübingen, Germany.
Volf currently serves as the Henry B. Wright Professor of Systematic Theology at Yale University’s Divinity School. He is also the founder and director of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture, according to Yale University.
Professor of Anthropology and Sociology Murl Dirksen met Volf in 1993 and hopes he will challenge students and community members to be socially and politically active.
“I hope he’ll open up a dialogue about some of the issues involving politics, life and Christianity, and how we can bring our beliefs into the public sphere,” Dirksen said. “[Volf] says that we have a civil responsibility to engage ourselves publicly in the dialogues, in the issues of our day.”
Volf has written or edited 15 books and hundreds of articles on topics such as Muslim and Christian communities, human isolation, reconciliation and Christian theology and practice.
He has also presented numerous lectures at prestigious universities like the Dudleian Lecture at Harvard, the Chavasse Lectures at Oxford, the Gray Lectures at Duke, and many others.
Volf has been featured on National Public Radio’s Speaking of Faith and Public Television’s Religion and Ethics Newsweekly, and he was a keynote presenter for the Trinity Institute’s 36th National Conference, “The Anatomy of Reconciliation”, in 2006, according to Yale University.
“We are very honored to have a lecturer of this caliber at Lee,” said Dr. Carolyn Dirksen, director of faculty development. “We look forward to his engagement of our student and colleagues in his provocative work.”
