All seminary students and pastors are familiar with the dreaded phrase “out of context.” We all know that we should interpret each biblical passage in light of its historical and literary context, and a great deal of what we learn in seminary is how to do exactly that. But when we compare our own biblical interpretation with that of the early church, we find that that theirs seems puzzling and maybe even disturbing. Are the church fathers allegorizing the text inappropriately? Are they taking most passages out of context?

In this Dean’s Forum, we’ll examine one of the most important writings from the early church to try to gain insight on this question. Athanasius is one of the most celebrated early Christian writers, and he writes against the most famous heretic of all time, Arius. Furthermore, Athanasius’s main point is that Arius is interpreting all his favorite biblical passages wrong. What is the interpretive principle that enables Athanasius to be so confident? And what can we learn from his interpretation today?

The Dean’s Forum discussion is free and is open to the public. RSVP is required for those who are planning to attend in person. NO RSVP NEEDED IF YOU PLAN TO WATCH ONLINE. Lunch will be provided to those who will be attending in person.

Registration closes on Wednesday, March 18

The Dean’s Forum is hosted by the Academic Dean’s office. The event will take place in Alumni Hall in Kerr Building at the Hamilton campus of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. It will be streamed live through Facebook and at www.gcts.edu/live.

Many of our events are recorded (with speakers permission) and photographs may be taken for publicity purposes and promotion on social media. For more information regarding this or to request that your image not be used for this purpose, please contact the Academic Dean’s office at [email protected].

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Dr. Don Fairbairn is the Robert E. Cooley Distinguished Professor of Early Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. His research interests focus on the relation between the doctrines of the Trinity, Christ, salvation and Christian life in the early church, especially in the 4th through 6th centuries. His current research project (which he is preparing with Gordon-Conwell adjunct Dr. Slavik Lytvynenko) is a new translation of Athanasius’s greatest work, Against the Arians.

Dr. Sean McDonough is the Mary French Rockefeller Distinguished Professor of New Testament at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. He came to Gordon-Conwell in 2000 from Pacific Theological College in Suva, Fiji, where he had served as the Chair of the Biblical Studies Department and as a lecturer in New Testament. His research interests include creation/cosmology in the Bible and the Ancient Near East, Hellenistic Judaism, Greek philosophy and religion and the Book of Revelation.