Current Series
"So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ."
Romans 10:17
The Hein-Fry lecture topic for 2009 is Hearing the Word: Lutheran Perspectives on Biblical Interpretation. This theme was chosen in order to engage the crucial conversation facing the ELCA concerning various Lutheran approaches to scripture and what resources and challenges those approaches bring to diverse North American contexts. The hope for these lectures is that they will raise awareness about the various ways the Lutheran church has traditionally interpreted the Bible as well as explore a mixture of contemporary approaches to scriptural interpretation that Lutherans might offer today.
Five scholars affiliated with the ELCA have been invited to offer lectures out of their particular perspectives and scholarship. Each lecturer will travel to three sites where she or he will make a major presentation exploring important and innovative Lutheran perspectives on biblical interpretation and making a case for the promise of one, some, or even all of them. At most of the sites, a local respondent will reflect in a second session on the traveling lecturer’s presentation in light of its relevance to the regional context. A third session will be designed to bring the two speakers into conversation with each other and the audience.
The Hein-Fry lectures for 2009 will take place between February and April 2009. In order to expand the reach of this important conversation, the committee has elected to bring the lectures to seven additional sites beyond the ELCA's eight seminaries traditionally visited. These new sites include four ELCA affiliated colleges and three congregational forums in areas of the country not easily served by the eight seminaries. Thus, the Hein-Fry lectures will be visiting a total of fifteen sites in 2009.
Find the location and date of the lecture nearest you. Learn more about this series' speakers.