Release date: Sept. 13, 2004
Contact: Elaine Justice, Associate Director, University Media Relations,
at 404-727-0643 or elaine.justice@emory.edu

Emory's McDonald Lectures Explore Christ as Question

Well-known biblical scholar Wayne Meeks of Yale University will deliver a series of lectures on "Christ is the Question" as the 2004 McDonald Distinguished Visiting Professor for the Study of Jesus and Culture at Emory University.

"In the age of bumper sticker religion, Jesus is all too familiar, yet still he comes to us, as Albert Schweitzer said, as one unknown," says Meeks, who is Woolsey Professor of Biblical Studies Emeritus at Yale. He will explore some of the reasons for both the mystery of Jesus and the mystification about him by examining ways we try both to understand the past and to use it for our own purposes.

Meeks' lectures will encompass such controversial contemporary Christian issues as the quest for the historical Jesus, conflicting biblical interpretations, Christian evangelism and the identity of the early Christian movement.

The lecture schedule is as follows:

• 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 23 – "Does Anybody Know My Jesus?—Between Dogma and Romance" (followed by a reception)

• 1 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 29 – "Memory and Invention: The Making of Jesus Christ"

• 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 30 – "A Story to Think With: From Crucifixion to Metaphor"

• 1 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 6 – "The Bible Teaches . . . Through a Glass, Darkly"

• 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 7 – "Is Jesus the Last Word?" (followed by a reception and book signing)

The McDonald Lectures are free and open to the public. The Sept. 23, Sept. 30 and Oct. 7 lectures will be held in 208 White Hall, 301 Dowman Drive. The Sept. 29, and Oct. 6 lectures will be held in Cannon Chapel, 515 Kilgo Circle.

Among Meeks' many major publications are a volume of essays, "The Social World of the First Christians, Essays in Honor of Wayne A. Meeks" and the highly acclaimed "The First Urban Christians: The Social World of the Apostle Paul," which received the American Academy of Religion Award for Excellence.

For more information, call 404-727-6322 or go to www.candler.emory.edu/ABOUT/events.html.

The McDonald Chair is a distinguished visiting professorship at Emory devoted to the person and teachings of Jesus and their cultural impact. The focus of the chair is the appreciation of the ways in which Jesus has affected culture, and the ways in which culture has helped shape the figure of Jesus.

Interdisciplinary in character, the professorship allows scholars to approach the subject from a variety of perspectives. The constants in the appointment are its focus on the figure of Jesus and its involvement both with the faculty and students of Emory and the Atlanta community through public lectures and performances.

The McDonald Chair was established with funds from The McDonald Agape Foundation, a private charitable foundation established by Alonzo McDonald, long-time member of the Emory board of trustees. The foundation is dedicated to the encouragement and support of non-denominational, Christ-centered activities and programs that can influence the thinking of future leaders.

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