Friday and Saturday, along with Kevin Vanhoozer and Edith Humphrey, as well as Howard Snyder, Vince Bacote, David Fitch, and David Neff, I participated in the Ancient-Evangelical Future Call conference at Northern Baptist’s Seminary‘s pleasant surroundings.
The focus of our attention was the primacy of the biblical narrative in articulating our faith. Papers were officially presented by Kevin (Fri afternoon) and I (evening) and then Edith (Sat morning). Kevin focused on the “Drama of the Christ,” drawing on his book Drama of Doctrine. My presentation was on “stories of the Story,” which focused on how we read the Bible. Edith focused on the necessary importance of having both propositions and story, giving neither the primacy.
This was not just papers, though. Phil Kenyon and David Neff know that a productive conference turns attenders into participants, so the presentations were short and then we had both table conversation, public conversation between the speakers about each paper and then those who attended were welcomed to ask questions. The AEF folks, including Ashley Gieschen, did a marvelous job at keeping a good pace and including plenty of interaction.
This meant that the panelists — like Vince and David and Howard — were every bit as much of the conference as those who offered more official papers.
I hope you will consider attending next year; the focus will be on the church.