L’Abri Rochester

From the  - 2017 Conference Highlights: The Power of God's Word to Transform Cultures

(power of the visual image)

Phenomena of teachings or doctrines changing or not getting passed on to the next generation.

Discusses history of psychology, comparing viewpoints and usefulness over against the Word of God.

A look at those in evangelical history who boldly stood up against Racism.

Who Wrote the Bible? The Concept of Authorship in the Old Testament and Ancient Near East Have you ever wondered why so many of the books of the Old Testament appear to be written by 'anonymous'? For example, Samuel died about halfway through the first book named after himself. Surely he did not write 2 Samuel! Did a Moabite peasant girl write the book of Ruth? Did Jonah write an unflattering story about himself as the anti-hero? How about the end of the book of Deuteronomy; did Moses write about his own death? Who collected the oracles of the prophet Jeremiah, or the oracles of Isaiah? From our modern perspective, we think of a book as written by an individual author. We even copyright our work so it cannot be reproduced. It becomes the author's intellectual property. But this is not how 'authorship' was viewed in the world of the Old Testament. In viewing literary works from Mesopotamia, for example, we find that the authors are almost never named. In fact, authority was located in the text, not the author(s), who was either anonymous, or at best, deemphasized. When a person is named, it is unclear whether he or she is the 'first one' (i.e., the originator), or the copyist, or editor, or all of these things (the term used for this is 'tradent'). At best, authorship was considered a collective enterprise, with the content handed down (and sometimes updated or modified) to succeeding generations. With this in mind, for Bible believing Christians, my goal in this presentation is to show that we can still believe in the divine inspiration of Scripture, even if the concept of individual authorship in the biblical world was different than our own. Mark Chavalas is Emeritus Professor of History, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, where he taught ancient Near Eastern and Biblical history for thirty-five years. He is the author or editor of a number of works on Mesopotamia and Israel, including Mesopotamia and the Bible, and the IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament. Currently, Mark does a podcast on Bible backgrounds with Keagan Walz. https://www.youtube.com/@BuriedBiblePodcast. He and his wife Kimberlee live in La Crosse, WI and have six adult children and four grandchildren. 20260911WhoWroteTheBible-DrMarkChavalas

(Handout below the Blurb) A Brief History of the Soul   We will look at the idea of the soul from ancient times to the present. Questions will be raised about the effort to banish the soul altogether in the name of contemporary science. A Christian account of soul-body integration will be defended.     Charles Taliaferro Ph.D. MA (Brown) MTS (Harvard) MA (URI) BA (Goddard) Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and Emeritus Overby Distinguished Professor, St. Olaf College, has taught at Notre Dame and U. Mass Boston. He is the author or co-author or editor of 40 books (3 are audio books, available on Amazon). For a profile, see: https://wp.stolaf.edu/philosophy/charles-taliaferro-profile/ In The PICTURE: Prof. (Dr.) Charles Taliafero holds a pen, which he dropped during the discussion after his lecture, He was talking about the speed of the Earth's rotation and then asked us what the speed of the pen was, was it the speed of the earth plus the rate of fall? I guess you would have had to have been there - he was talking about how we evaluate or perceive things as stable. \\//  Handout below \\// Friday Night Lecture @ L’Abri September 4th, 2026 Prof. Charles Taliaferro A Brief History of the Soul   It is now widely recognized by cognitive scientists, psychologists, historians, and philosophers that some distinction between the person (soul, mind, self) and body is a natural, even "common sense" assumption. But we know from ancient philosophy onwards, there have been thinkers that embrace this distinction (Pythagoras, Plato, Plotinus, Augustine) and those who see the soul or mind as a mode or dimension of the body (Aristotle) or the very same thing as the body (Epicurus, perhaps Tertullian).   The early books of the Bible suggest an earthy anthropology (God breathes on dust or earth in Genesis 2:7) which is why (to this day) some orthodox Jews measure human death, not by brain death or the irreversible loss of consciousness but by expiration --inability to breathe. In later Old Testament texts we see a gradual acknowledgement of humans being (or having) souls --Wisdom literature, Daniel, Ezekiel. The New Testament affirms a holistic approach (body and soul are unified in this life) but allows for separability --one's body may be destroyed and yet the soul is with God. This is in keeping with medieval theology, the Reformation (Luther, Calvin)   Historically, west and east, there has been a tension between MONISM (everything is one kind of thing, matter or mind, for example) and PLURALISM (there are multiple different kinds of things / realities). I offer comments on three issues.   Christian Holism. In this view, in a healthy, integrated embodiment, one has the virtues of the 5 senses, proprioception, cognitive powers, memory, reason, emotions, agentive powers. This has a bearing on health and "final things" or eschatology.   The prospects of Christian Materialism today: Advocates claim it is more scientific, more Jewish, less Platonic. Critics reply that science has not established a single case of mind-brain identity (correlation is not identity) and it conflicts with Christian teaching about death and the incarnation.   AI and the Self: AI has encouraged a mechanistic view of the self. Intelligence is equated with information processing and problem solving; memory = data retrieval; agency = optimized decision-making, etc. Some argue for the distinction between intelligence and consciousness, but arguably the simulation of intelligence is not itself (robust) intelligence. Reasons will be provided for recognizing the irreducible reality of the self as a conscious subject enduring over time as opposed to our being processes or events or an illusion.     Charles Taliaferro Ph.D. MA (Brown) MTS (Harvard) MA (URI) BA (Goddard) Professor Emeritus of Philosophy and Emeritus Overby Distinguished Professor, St. Olaf College, USA. Editor-in-Chief of Open Theology, editorial board member Agatheos, RSR, PC, Kanz Philosophia: A Journal for Islamic Philosophy and Mysticism. For a profile, see: https://wp.stolaf.edu/philosophy/charles-taliaferro-profile/   20260904HistoryOfTheSoul-PrCharlesTaliaferro

Leadership That Solves Problems: Seven Themes from Biblical Characters Christianity is far more than devotional super-spirituality; our proven capacity to shape imperfect leaders who craft solutions to intractable problems is one of our greatest apologetics. Recently, an international team conducted an inductive study of the Bible's worthy leaders and discovered seven themes that marked their problem-solving leadership: a) earnest faith; b) compelling vision; c) bold determination; d) protective concern; e) strategic discernment; f) just character; g) leadership cultivation. How can these seven leadership themes help today's leaders glorify Christ as we solve 21st century problems?   A Senior Fellow with Wilberforce International Institute, which he founded in 2009, Robert Osburn trains international students as redemptive change agents and writes and teaches about international development, comparative worldviews, corruption, education policy, and wealth creation.  For seven years he taught courses on religion and educational policy and religion and international development at the University of Minnesota, and currently teaches courses with The New International University and Wilberforce International Institute.  He has a PhD in comparative and international development education from the University of Minnesota, a ThM from Dallas Seminary, and a BA from the University of Michigan. He is the author of Taming the Beast: Can We Bridle the Culture of Corruption? (revised and updated 2022) and Developing Redemptive Change Agents: Discipleship That Helps Nations Flourish Rather Than Flounder (2021). Bob and Susan have been married for 51 years, are the parents of four sons, and grandparents to 13. They live near Stillwater, MN.     20260828-LeadershipSolvesProblems-DrBobOsburn

Holding onto our Humanity in the Age of the Machine   It's been said that there is nothing new under the sun, but every era in history certainly has its own flavor. Now that nearly all of us have steady interactions with screens, social media and artificial intelligence, we find ourselves in the middle of a technological revolution that is no less than rewiring our brains. Writers like Paul Kingsnorth and Wendell Berry say that we are deep into the Age of the Machine “a world in which the lines between human and artificial intelligence are increasingly blurred. Is this an exciting or terrifying prospect? What really are the things that make us human? Will our society be divided (as Berry has said) by those who choose to live like machines and those who don't? There is certainly no lack of questions! But, it's always a good time to have a conversation about what it means to be human because it brings up all the big questions of what gives us meaning, purpose, and hope. Daniel Miller is an organic vegetable farmer and has a degree in political science from the University of Minnesota. His essays have appeared in the Minnesota Daily Green Blade, and Critique. He and his wife Hannah live near Zumbro Falls, Minnesota with their five children.   20260821HumanityIntheMachineAge-DanielMiller