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Coming in October 2011
A special exhibit of 25 framed art prints of pages from the Saint John’s Bible will be at First Church during October 2011. These prints are from the first hand-prepared illuminated manuscript of the Bible in 500 years. It is described as "America’s Book of Kells, a Bible for the 21st century." The San Diego School of Christian Studies is coordinating this exhibit and planning special classes to help us explore the beauty and symbolism of this great work.
The San Diego School of Christian Studies
San Diego School of Christian Studies offers seminary-level theological education for life-long learners who wish to deepen their faith as they broaden their knowledge. More . . .
BIBLICAL STUDIES
The Dead Sea Scrolls and the History of the Bible
Monday, October 4, 2010 7:00 - 8:30 p.m., The Cove
Dr. Russell Fuller, University of San Diego
The Dead Sea Scrolls have finally been fully published. Scholars are now devoting themselves to understanding how these earliest copies of the Bible impact our understanding of how the Bible comes to be.
This presentation will explore the new understandings of the history of the Bible, which the study of the Dead Sea Scrolls are making possible.
Dr. Fuller is professor of Biblical Studies in the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of San Diego. He holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University in Hebrew Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls. He served as a consultant for the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibition at the San Diego Natural History Museum.
Tuition: $20 one person; $30 two people registering together; students free.
RELIGIOUS STUDIES
Between East and West, Islam and Christianity: Religion, Holiness, and History in Istanbul/Constantinople
Mondays, October 25 and November 1, 2010
7:00 - 8:30 p.m. in Linder Hall
Dr. Matthew T. Herbst, University of California San Diego
For over one thousand years the city of Constantinople was the seat of the Byzantine Emperor and Orthodox Patriarch and stood as a bastion of political power and Christian sanctity. Its awe-inspiring mosaics and religious art, its churches and monasteries, its unparalleled collection of Christian relics, all testified to the city’s pre-eminence in medieval history.
Yet, when Muslim Sultan Mehmet II conquered Constantinople in 1453, he made the fateful decision to transfer the capital of the Ottoman Empire to this city where it remained for over five hundred years. Constantinople then became a bastion of Ottoman political power and Muslim sanctity.
How could the same city serve as both a Christian and a Muslim center of empire and religious life and how could this transition occur? How can such historical inquiry challenge contemporary inter-religious perceptions and misunderstandings? What lessons can we learn to enhance our understanding for improved inter-religious interaction and ecumenical encounter?
Matthew T. Herbst is the Faculty Director of the Making of the Modern World Program at UCSD. Professor Herbst earned his Ph.D. and M.A. in History from the University of Michigan where he specialized in Byzantine Studies, and his B.A. in History, Greek, and Latin from Binghamton University. Committed to internationalizing the undergraduate experience, Dr. Herbst developed Global Seminars where he teaches history and guides students abroad in Paris (2008) and Istanbul (2009-2011) and recruited faculty for programs in other locations.
Tuition: $30 one person; $50 two people registering together; students free.
FINE ARTS
The gospel message in action The Glory Man — from Rural Georgia to Africa to San Diego
Saturday, November 6, 2010
Lecture: 1:00 - 2:30 p.m. held in Linder Lounge
Play: The Glory Man, 4 p.m. Lamb’s Players Theatre, 1142 Orange Avenue, Coronado
Dennis R. Briscoe, Professor Emeritus University of San Diego
The Glory Man, by Dennis Hassell, presented by Lamb’s Players Theatre, provides a very personal look at the story of Clarence Jordan and his wife, Florence, as they, and a small group of dedicated Christians, worked to establish a bi-racial co-operative farm in the heart of rural Georgia.
Dr. Jordan was a minister and Ph.D. theologian who sought a place to live his Christian faith. This play is the story of the Jordans and Koinonia Farms and the community around them, trying to be true to their faiths, during two decades (1950-1970) of incredible conflict in American life.
The Glory Man is guaranteed to bring back memories of circumstances and attitudes—of which none of us are very proud—and the efforts of this small group to change the world.
Dr. Briscoe will talk about his and his wife Georgia’s journey that involved them in the history of Koinonia Farms, its planting of the seeds of Habitat for Humanity, and the growth of those seeds as they eventually spread throughout the world, even as far as San Diego and Tijuana. Dr. Briscoe taught International Management at University of San Diego for 30 years, retiring recently to move to Colorado to be with Georgia, his wife, who had relocated to work at the University of Colorado a number of years earlier. Georgia and Dennis were long-time members of First United Methodist Church in San Diego and were co-founders of Habitat for Humanity in San Diego and Tijuana. The Briscoes have travelled extensively and got their first live experience working on a Habitat project in the late 1980s in Peru.
Tuition: None. A free-will offering will be taken. Tickets for play: $38 (available at special group rate through the SDSCS). The class will be held at First Church in Linder Lounge, 1:00-2:30 p.m., and will allow ample travel time for participants to arrive at the Lamb’s Players Theatre in Coronado (1142 Orange Avenue) in time for the production starting at 4:00 p.m.