Theological Anthropology at UVU this weekend

The Society for Mormon Philosophy and Theology holds its 2010 conference at UVU this Thursday through Saturday (March 25-27) on the theme of theological anthropology. Invited speakers include:

    Terryl L. Givens (University of Richmond)—”Finding the Divine in Man: Romantic Angst and the Collapse of Transcendence”;
    Kevin Hart (University of Virginia)—”The Prodigal Son”;
    Laurence Hemming (Lancaster University)—”A Singular Humanity: The End of Anthropology”;
    David K. O’Connor (University of Notre Dame)—”Plato, Purity, and the Iconoclast Temptation: A Catholic Imaginarium”

Other session themes include agency and grace, the natural man, human pre-existence, perfectability and theosis. The full conference schedule and abstracts of the presentations are listed on the SMPT website. All sessions are free and open to the public.

16 comments for “Theological Anthropology at UVU this weekend

  1. I’ll be there tomorrow and will be giving a tour of our chocolate factor (a block away) sometime tomorrow as well for anyone interested.

  2. Was anyone else disturbed by Terryl Givens’ talk? It sounds pretty to say that when transcendence is gone there is a beauty to the divinity in the human soul that is left, but I guess that’s not enough for me. I probably would not “spend my life devoted to a grand idea that SHOULD be true, even if it’s not.” Maybe I do believe in God, after all.

  3. I apparently don’t have the depth to be disturbed by such a subtle point made by someone who mesmerizes me by his knowledge and eloquence. I took it to mean something like there is a kind of transcendence in wanting grand ideas to be true.

    I didn’t hear about a tour, but I came in late.

  4. Sorry – a bunch of things came up at work and I wasn’t able to make it today. I’ll be there tomorrow morning though.

  5. BiV,

    I missed it (had to make pinewood derby cars with my boys), could you explain to me a bit more, what aspect of that bothers you? (I just figured out who you are and will have to say hello on Saturday).

    Clark,

    I missed you. Blake Ostler asked me about the tension between coersion and agency. It made me think of you.

  6. David, perils of typing on my iPhone. I was going to take people on a tour of the factory today. I’ll try and do it tomorrow morning.

  7. Chris, I swung by, and then got a call and had to leave again. This was supposed to be my “rest” week and instead it’s been one of my busiest. I was actually outside the door when you were speaking. That was one of the sessions I really wanted to attend.

  8. Clark, I walked home for lunch to find an offer to see the Dragon movie, so I won’t be back at the conference, though I was looking forward to hearing Lawrence Hemming. I’m local, obviously, so maybe some other time.

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