Nordic Baltic Prayer Breakfast in Tallinn, Estonia

Ministry Update:

This past November I had the honor and pleasure to attend the Nordic-Baltic Prayer Breakfast in Tallinn, Estonia and to deliver the keynote address on the theme "You are a Letter from Christ" (2 Cor 3:1-4). This prayer breakfast is an annual event and there were members of parliament, church leaders, and dignitaries from over a half dozen countries in the Nordic-Baltic region. The country of Estonia was responsible for this year's event and two of my colleagues/former students from way back in the 1990's were part of the organizing committee (hence the opportunity for me!). I was delighted and impressed at the opening ceremony when the current president of the Estonian Parliament opened his remarks to the gathering by quoting the Greek introduction to the Gospel of John: "In the beginning was the Word..."

Lauri Hussar
Chairman of the Estonian Parliament (left side)

Also during my brief visit to Tallinn, I was invited to deliver a special lecture at the Estonian Methodist Church Seminary. I shared with them one of my Chi Rho lectures from October on "The Opposite of Faith and the Rehabilitation of Doubt."

CHI RHO LECTURES EUGENE OREGON - MEMORY OF J. SCHAUER (1934-2024)

Updates from Tübingen    

by Dennis Lindsay

 "I Believe; Help my Unbelief! (Re-)Discovering Faith for Moments of Crisis"

It was an honor for me this fall to deliver the annual Chi Rho Lectures in Eugene, Oregon, sponsored by Central Lutheran Church in partnership with Bushnell University from October 18-20. The four lectures focused on:
1. The Crisis of Faith (and the Loss of Biblical-Theological Perspective)
2. The Foundation of Faith (and Jesus' Role as Pioneer and Perfecter)
3. The Opposite of Faith (and the Rehabilitation of Doubt)
4. The Gift of Faith (and the Potential of Human Participation)

Video recordings of all the lectures, as well as the Sunday morning worship service with my sermon, are available on the Central Lutheran Church website: www.connecttocentral.org (Look for “Chi Rho” under the “Ministries” menu.) 

In Memory of Josef "Sepp" Schauer (1934—2024).

Many friends of the EES who have visited Tübingen over the years will have fond memories of Josef "Sepp" Schauer. Sepp and his wife Gerda were members of the German youth group that Earl and Ottie-Mearl Stuckenbruck gathered in the early 1960's which later became the founding membership of the "Christliche Gemeinde" (Christian Church) in Tübingen. Sepp was baptized by Stuckenbruck's co-worker "Uncle" 

Theo Mosalkov and he and Gerda were married in the Gemeinde by one of the early pastors, Dr. James Crouch. Sepp regularly presided at worship, was a faithful as member of the board of the Gemeinde, and served several terms as president of the congregation. The Schauers often provided hospitality to visitors from America. Sepp entered the "Church Triumphant" on October 29, 2024, just a little over a month shy of his 90th birthday. He is survived by his wife Gerda, their three sons, Jürgen, Tommy (and Antje), and Frank, along with four grandchildren. 

Upcoming Events October 2024

The World    

Updates from Tübingen    

by Dennis Lindsay

This past month Karen and I travelled to Amsterdam where I presented a paper at the International Society of Biblical Literature meeting. The title of my presentation was “The Opposite of Faith in the New Testament.” Looking specifically at the Greek words for “faith” and “unfaith”, I argued that the opposite of faith is not primarily a matter of doubt or an intellectual rejection of certain dogmas and doctrines; rather, it has to do with a deliberate and willful act of abandoning relationship with God. I will be delving deeper into this study in my upcoming Chi Rho Lecture in Eugene, Oregon, October 18–20 (see details below). These lectures will be available via livestream through the Central Lutheran Church website: www.connecttocentral.org

Upcoming Events:
October 6-8, 2024–International Symposium on “The Great Commandment”; Tübingen University
for details please look  at : https://eesinc.org/symposia-and-more
October 18-20, 2024-Chi Rho Lectures: “I Believe, Help my Unbelief”; Central Lutheran Church and Bushnell University, Eugene, OR
for details please look at:
https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:sc:EU:bafe6ca4-f86a-4fde-bd23-a7894a339769)

In memoriam Prof. Jürgen Moltmann

The World 

Updates from Tübingen    

by Birgit Hallmann 

Visitors and Guests:
The summer semester is slowly coming to an end and we continue to keep very busy.
In early June we hosted Mircea Paduraru (doctoral student at the University of Bucharest) in the Institute guest room. Mircea was here to make a presentation of his doctoral work for our English-German Colloquium for New Testament. His topic was: „Ecclesiology and Power. Towards an Anatomy of Church Discipline within the Evangelical Churches in Romania.“ Mircea shared the following about his brief stay in Tübingen:

„The experience of staying in the Gastzimmer of Tübingen’s Institut zur Erforschung des Urchristentums was wonderful. The guest room is nice, simple and clean, and the fact that the Institute is situated some two hundred meters away from the iconic Stiftskirche and a five minute walk from the University 's Theologicum gives the place a special aesthetic and spiritual aura. Also the quiet and peaceful working atmosphere and the kind and discrete presence of Birgit and Dennis add to the spirit of the place. It was a rich experience to live and sleep practically in a nice library, surrounded by books, and to work hard and focused, away from daily distractions.“ (Mircea Parduaru, June 2024)

In Memoriam: Many of our readers will fondly remember Prof. Dr. Jürgen Moltmann, world renown for his “theology of hope” and ground-breaking professor of systematic theology in Tübingen from 1967 to 1994. Prof. Moltmann, who had just celebrated his 98th birthday in April, passed away peacefully and without prolonged suffering at his home on June 3, 2024. Moltmann was mourned in the local newspaper as the “last survivor among the great scholars who, during the 1960’s and 1970’s, had made Tübingen’s theology so exciting and so attractive for Christians throughout the world” (source: Schwäbisches Tagblatt, June 6, 2024). A memorial service was held on June 14th in the Tübingen Stiftskirche.

Dr. Leopold Lucas-Prize 2024 awarded to Prof. David Nirenberg (Princeton University)

The World 

Updates from Tübingen    
by Dennis Lindsay

Institute:

The past month has seen a flurry of activity in our work in Tübingen. The German-English Colloquium in New Testament has become a truly international forum of scholars and participants. In the most recent session we had a presentation via Zoom Dr. Edward Wong on the topic: 'The Samaritan Woman as a Perpetual Foreigner: An East Asian Immigrant Reading of John 4." Dr. Wong is a Chinese scholar who recently completed his Ph.D. at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, and the Colloquium participants included individuals from Germany, South Korea, South Africa, USA, Austria, and India (online participant).
This month we were also pleased to welcome Dr. Tony Twist, President of the EES and TCM, along with Vice President Christian Witzmann, for a brief visit to Tübingen. Normally an annual event, this was their first opportunity to visit the Institute since the disruption of the COVID pandemic—and thus the first time that they had seen the new physical location of the Institute. We were able to have a productive meeting also with Frau Prof. Dr. Weyel, the Dean of the Protestant Faculty, ensuring an ongoing strong relationship and partnership with the University of Tübingen. We have already planned the date for their next annual visit and meeting with the Dean in May 2025.

University:

Dr. Leopold Lucas-Prize 2024 awarded to Prof. David Nirenberg (Princeton University)

In other news, this year's Dr. Leopold Lucas Prize was awarded to Princeton University historian Dr. David Nirenberg. The Protestant Faculty of the University thus honored his research on the relationship between Judaism, Christianity and Islam in the Middle Ages and the present day. Dennis attended the award ceremony on Tuesday, May 14, 2024, in the Festsaal of the University, where Dr. Nirenberg gave the keynote speech on the topic: “What theology and history can offer each other when thinking about Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.”