Vocation Series: Recent Alumni

Series Director: Crystal Igwe D’24
Five Wednesdays: 3/31, 4/7, 4/14, 4/21, 4/28
8:00 – 9:00 PM

Meeting ID: 953 8838 8199
Passcode: Dartmouth

Description: This series will feature five recent alumni sharing experiences from the first chapter of their post-Dartmouth careers. Each alum will be speaking on an issue from their vocational field as they have continued to pursue the integration of faith and reason beyond graduation. Then, they will be interviewed by a current student about their paths, offering practical advice to prospective entrants into their profession.

March 31: Law — Robert Smith D’14, Associate in the Supreme Court and Appellate Litigation Group of Sidley Austin LLP, interviewed by Anthony Fosu D’24

April 7: Academia — Dr. Chris Hauser D’14, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, University of Scranton, interviewed by Blake Whitmer D’23

April 14: Medicine — Dr. Elsie Jacob D’11, Third-Year Resident in Surgery at Bassett Medical Center, interviewed by Alice Little D’22

April 21: Ministry — Rev. Lauren Heywood D’14, Pastor of St. David’s Lutheran Church, interviewed by Brianna Seidel D’21

April 28: Business — Catalina Gorla D’09, Co-Founder and CEO of TruDataRx, interviewed by Levi Roseman D’21

Registration is not required, and you are invited to attend as many sessions as you like, but please sign up for the series mailing list to receive the Zoom info for each session.

Click here to sign up.

Reading Group: Haunted by Paradise

Led by Prof. James Murphy, Dept. of Government and Victoria Xiao D’22
Five Wednesdays: 3/31, 4/7, 4/14, 4/21, 4/28
8:00 – 9:00 PM, Via Zoom (Register for access)

Description: Prof. James Murphy will lead readers through his new book, Haunted by Paradise: A Philosopher’s Quest for Biblical Answers to Key Moral Questions. This is a unique opportunity to go in-depth with a Dartmouth faculty member on their reading of Scripture.

From the publisher: The Bible today is weaponized by both liberals and conservatives, each side cherry-picking their favorite verses. Have you ever wondered why the Bible lends itself to supporting contradictory positions in moral debates—why even the devil quotes Scripture? If so, you will enjoy this book. Haunted by Paradise reveals the unity and coherence of the Bible in the light of paradise. The Bible begins in Eden and ends in the new Jerusalem—in between, the Bible is haunted by the memory of paradise lost and the hope for paradise regained. With paradise as the interpretive key, Murphy unlocks biblical ethics. He shows that there is no Old Testament ethics or New Testament ethics—only a unified biblical ethics.

Click here to sign up.

Canon, Councils, and Creeds: History of Theology in the Ancient Church

Led by Charlie Clark D’11 & Najma Zahira D’24
Five Wednesdays: 3/31, 4/7, 4/14, 4/21, 4/28
8:00 – 9:00 PM, Via Zoom (Register for access)

Description: This course will provide a brief introduction to the theological authorities—the concepts of orthodoxy and apostolic succession, the New Testament canon, and the ecumenical councils and creeds— formulated by the Church in response to controversies that arose during its first 500 years. Readings will focus on primary sources.

March 31 — How Orthodoxy Works: Sources of Authority for Christian Theology
April 7 -––– The Development of the New Testament Canon
April 14 —– The Doctrine of the Trinity (contra Docetism, Arianism, and Modalism)
April 21 —– The Doctrine of the Incarnation (contra Nestorianism and Monophysitism)
April 28 —– The Doctrine of Salvation by Grace (contra Donatism and Pelagianism)

Click here to sign up.

Science Overcomes Faith?

Led by GRegg Fairbrothers D’76
Five Wednesdays: 1/13, 1/20, 1/27, 2/3, 2/10
8:00 – 9:00 pm, via zoom (Register for Access)

Description: In mainstream thinking today, Science is routinely presumed the ultimate arbiter of truth, from the most mundane to the most profound. The Science—and The Experts who pronounce scientific findings—hold pride of place when we look for knowledge and facts, even the very nature of reality and the meaning of existence.  For the Christian apologist, next to the problem of evil the preeminence of Science presents the greatest challenge to faith—in particular to a worldview centered in fundamental Christian truths. As we will see, “we are what we know,” and in a scientific age holding a thoughtful Christian faith means considering carefully and deeply what science and what faith have to contribute to our beliefs and our choices.

It is a founding principle of Apologia and the Wheelock Society that a meaningful Christian life calls us to seamlessly integrate faith, reason, and vocation.  How do we reconcile what we know by disciplined reason with what we know and believe in our Christian faith, and how do we carry these into everyday life?  Working in large part from past Apologia articles, in the five hours of this Winter 2021 Waterman session we will explore the tension between—and the compatibility of—science and faith.

Click here to sign up.

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Faith and Fiction

Led by Sarah Clark D’11
Five Wednesdays: 1/13, 1/20, 1/27, 2/3, 2/10
8:00 – 9:00 pm, via zoom (Register for Access)

Description: Unfortunately, when we hear the words “Christian fiction,” we might think of Amish romances, the Left Behind series, or God’s Not Dead. Between the bland characters, questionable theology, and borderline hysterical political agendas, we might ask ourselves, why is Christian fiction so bad? Tony Woodlief, writing for Image magazine, argues that bad art comes from bad theology: “To know God falsely is to write and paint and sculpt and cook and dance Him falsely.” So what would good Christian fiction look like (if it even exists)? In this course, we’ll spend our five weeks reading short stories that engage faith with intelligence and creativity. This is a literature course, and we will spend the majority of each class discussing the stories themselves. At the end of the course, we’ll see if what we’ve read can help us put together an improved definition of Christian fiction that can guide our reading and writing in the future.

Click here to sign up.

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Doubt

Led by Charlie Clark D’11 & Will Bryant D’24
Five Wednesdays: 1/13, 1/20, 1/27, 2/3, 2/10
8:00 – 9:00 pm, via zoom (Register for Access)

Description: This course will explore the concept of doubt in relation to Christianity in modernity and postmodernity. In one sense, doubt is a constant fact of human beings’ relationship to God. From the earliest sources of Christian theology in the Old Testament, God is represented as being so different from us that we can approach Him only obliquely, leaving ample room for doubt. At the same time, as philosopher Charles Taylor argues in his magnum opus A Secular Age, modernity and postmodernity have fundamentally altered the “conditions of belief”: “it [was] virtually impossible not to believe in God in, say, 1500 in our Western society, while in 2000 many of us find this not only easy, but even inescapable.” This course will draw on philosophical, literary, and artistic sources to examine some aspects of doubt that inevitably confront the contemporary Christian believer or seeker.

Click here to sign up.

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