51st Annual Meeting of the Wesleyan Theological Society
Point Loma Nazarene University, San Diego, California
March 11-12, 2016
Friday, March 11th
8:00-8:30 a.m.
Registration
8:30-9:00 a.m.
Opening Worship/Eucharist
9:00-10:00 a.m.
Plenary Address:
Oliver Davies, Kings College, London
10:00-10:30 a.m.
Break/Refreshments
10:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Concurrent Sessions
1. Biblical Studies
Moderator: William H. Malas Jr., Eastern Nazarene College
Presenters:
Robert W. Wall, Seattle Pacific University, “New Birth in the Letter to the Hebrews”
Abson Prédestin Joseph, Indiana Wesleyan University, “The Background and Implications of the
Language of the New Birth in 1 Peter”
Kimberly Majeski, Anderson University, “Birth and Barrenness: An Apocalyptic Vision”
2. Historical Studies
Moderator:
Presenters:
Luther J. Oconer, United Theological Seminary, “From New Birth to Fundamentalism: E. J. Pace
and His Vision of the Christian Life in Cartoons”
Joseph Wood, Nazarene Theological College, “Throwing the Baby Out with the Font Water”: A
Wesleyan Critique of Baptism and Membership in the Church of the Nazarene”
Bernie A. Van De Walle, Ambrose University, “Saving the Gospel: Defending A. B. Simpson’s
‘Fourfold Gospel’ from Theological Misunderstanding”
3. Historical Studies
Moderator:
Presenters:
Ryan Nicholas Danker, Wesley Theological Seminary, “The Politics of the New Birth”
Steven T. Lane, Florida State University, “Sibling Rivalry: A Socio-Historical Account of Evangelical
Political Engagement”
Gregory R. Coates, Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary, “Constructing a Wesleyan Political
Theology”
4. Historical Studies
Panel: “Uncovered Treasure: Premiering the Digital Archives of the Wesleyan Theological Society”
Moderator:
Panelists:
Steven Hoskins, Trevecca Nazarene University
David Bundy, Seoul Theological University
Bill Kostlevy, Archivist, Church of the Brethren
Respondent: Russell Richey, Duke Divinity School
5. Practical Theology
Moderator: Nell Becker Sweeden, George Fox University
Presenters:
Kayla Crouso, Indiana Wesleyan University, “Becoming like a child: John Wesley’s doctrine of
childhood”
Constance M. Cherry, Indiana Wesleyan University, “Child Dedication Alternative Rites for
Wesleyans: Some Possible Models for Contemporary Practice”
Dean Blevins, Nazarene Theological Seminary, “Catechesis and the New Birth: A Wesleyan
Meditation”
6. Science and Theology and Society for the Study of Psychology and Wesleyan Theology
Panel: “Transforming Transgender Perspectives”
Moderator: Thomas Jay Oord, Northwest Nazarene University
Panelists:
Craig Keen, Azusa Pacific University
Brandon Arbuckle
7. Systematic Theology
Moderator:
Presenters:
Natalya A. Cherry, Ph.D. Candidate, Southern Methodist University, “Wesley’s Doctrinal
Distinctions in Developing the Faith that Marks the New Birth”
Michael Falgout, “Proclaiming the New Birth: The Grounds of Regeneration and the Contemporary
Evangelical Case for Paedobaptism”
Hilde Marie Øgreid Movafagh, MF Norwegian School of Theology, Oslo and the United Methodist
Seminary, Oslo, “Grace at Birth and Grace at the New Birth – the Connection of Prevenient Grace
and the New Birth in Contemporary Methodist Theology”
8. Systematic Theology
Moderator:
Presenters:
Sean McGever, Ph.D. Candidate, University of Aberdeen, “Distinguishing Between Conversion and
the New Birth in the Theology of John Wesley”
Christopher D. O’Brien, Ph.D. Candidate, Fuller Theological Seminary, “A Broader Vision of New
Birth: Bringing John Wesley into Conversation with Jürgen Moltmann”
Jonathan Platter, Trinity Church of the Nazarene, “The Ontic Significance of God’s Eschatological
Word: Robert Jenson’s Potential Via Media between Impartation and Imputation.”
9. Theological Education
Moderator:
Presenters:
David F. Watson, United Theological Seminary, “What Should We Do When We Don’t Like the
Bible? Teaching Our Students the Art of Biblical Interpretation"
Philip C. Tallon, Houston Baptist University, “Toward a Theology of Confirmation"
10. Theology and Popular Culture
Moderator: John Bechtold, Iliff School of Theology/University of Denver
Presenters:
Joy J. Moore, Fuller Theological Seminary, “New Birth and the Politics of Identity”
William Andrew Schwartz , Ph.D. Candidate, Claremont Graduate University, “Bruce to Caitlyn:
Gender and Transformation in a Wesleyan Theology of New Birth”
Steven Vredenburgh, Student; Fuller Theological Seminary, "New Birth in Ida."
11. Theology and Preaching
Moderator:
Presenters:
Michael Pasquarello, Fuller Theological Seminary, “The Rebirth of Preaching in the Wesleyan
Tradition”
Rev. Timothy Brooks, South Portland Church of the Nazarene, Portland Maine,
Associate Editor, Preacher’s Magazine, and Ph.D. Candidate, Nazarene Theological Seminary,
Manchester, England, “The New Birth: Nicodemus and the Spoken Word of Jesus”
Rev. Levi Caleb Jones, Cornerstone Community Church of the Nazarene, Wagoner, OK, and
Associate Editor, Preacher’s Magazine “New Life from the Barren Womb: Words that Burst Forth”
12. Women’s Studies
Panel: “On Ordaining Women Panel”
Moderator: Ben Wayman
Panelists:
Priscilla Pope-Levison, Perkins School of Theology/Southern Methodist University
Howard Snyder, Asbury Seminary and Manchester Wesley Research Centre
Karen Strand Winslow, Azusa Pacific Seminary
Ben Wayman, Greenville College
12:00-1:30 p.m.
Lunch
Meeting of the Executive Committee
1:30-2:30 p.m.
Presidential Address:
Doug Koskela, Seattle Pacific University
2:30-3:00 p.m.
Break/Refreshments
3:00-4:30 p.m.
WTS Business Meeting
4:45-6:15 p.m.
Concurrent Sessions
1. Biblical Studies
Moderator: Brad E. Kelle, Point Loma Nazarene University
Presenters:
Mary K. Schmitt, George Fox University, “The Communal Dimensions of Birth Imagery in Paul’s
Epistles”
Ryan K. Giffin, Asbury Theological Seminary, “Through Christ, From God, Based on Faith:
Reading Justification in Philippians”
Kara J. Lyons-Pardue, Point Loma Nazarene University, “The Old and New Births of Onesimus”
2. Ecumenical Studies
Moderator: Kelly Yates, Southern Nazarene University
Presenters:
Richard Rice, Loma Linda University, "Perfection and Salvation: Adventist Variations on a Wesleyan
Theme"
Jacob Lett, Ph.D. Candidate, Mid America Nazarene University, "Inclusion in Christ: Hans Urs von
Balthasar’s Mission-Christology"
Rustin Emery Brian, Renton Church of the Nazarene and Northwest Nazarene University, “Birth,
The New Birth, and the Eternally Begetting/Begotten God, Part I”
3. Historical Studies
Panel: “Forty Years of ‘Discovering an Evangelical Heritage,’ 1976-2016”
Moderator: Douglas M. Strong, Seattle Pacific University
Panelists:
Kristina LaCelle-Peterson
Howard Snyder
Dawk Mahn Bae
Respondent:
Donald Dayton
4. Historical Studies
Moderator:
Presenters:
Paul Kwabena Boafo, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, “Greater Love for
God and Neighbour – The Fruit of the New Birth: A Missiological Justification for the Propagation
of the Gospel by the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society in Ghana”
William T. Purinton, Seoul Theological University, “Bishop J. H. King and Pentecostal-Holiness
Readings of the ‘New Birth’”
David Bundy, Seoul Theological University, “The British Roots of the Korean and Japanese
Holiness Churches”
5. Intercultural Studies
Panel: “Language and Experience in Cultural Contexts”
Moderator: Patrick A. Eby, Indiana Wesleyan University
Panelists:
Abson Prédestin Joseph
Larisa Igorevna Levicheva
Lena Crouso, Indiana Wesleyan University
6. Moral Theology
Moderator: Greg Van Buskirk, Ph.D. Candidate, Boston University
Presenters:
Jamie Gates, Point Loma Nazarene University, and Kelli McCoy, Point Loma Nazarene University,
“White Slavery, Human Trafficking, and a Wesleyan Theopolitical Imagination: From the
commodification of all things to the reconciliation of all things to God in Christ”
Thomas J. Oord, Northwest Nazarene University, “The Problem of Good and the Problem of Evil:
Using Values to Argue That God Exists and What God Exists”
Rusty Brian, Renton Church of the Nazarene, “Birth, The New Birth, and the Eternally
Begetting/Begotten God, Part II”
7. Practical Theology
Moderator: Rebecca Laird, Point Loma Nazarene University
Presenters:
Dirk Ellis, Grace Chapel Church of the Nazarene, Hooksett, New Hampshire, “‘Holy Fire Fell and
Melted the Saints and Sinners’: Language and Bodily Response in Early Nazarene Religious
Experience”
Reginald G. Watson, Professional Counselor, “Nazarene Clergy Responses to Homosexuality and
Interaction with LGBT People”
8. Science and Theology
Moderator:
Presenter:
Steven Sandage, Boston University, “Calvinism, Arminianism, Gender Views, and Relationality: An
Empirical Investigation of Worldview Differences”
Respondent: Donald Thorsen, Azusa Pacific University
9. Systematic Theology
Panel: “Christopher Payk, ‘Grace First: Christian Mission and Prevenient Grace in John Wesley.’”
Moderator:
Panelists:
James E. Pedler, Tyndale Seminary
J. Gregory Crofford, Education Coordinator, Church of the Nazarene, Africa Region
Howard A. Snyder, Manchester Wesley Research Centre
David Bundy, New York Theological Seminary and Seoul Theological University
10. Systematic Theology
Moderator:
Presenters:
Brent Peterson, Northwest Nazarene University, “Baptism: God’s Work of New Birth for the
Believer and Infant”
Sam Powell, Point Loma Nazarene University, “Born Again Hermeneutics and Reading the Bible in
Christian Community”
Laurence Wood, Asbury Theological Seminary, “A Reassessment of the Meaning of the New Birth
in John Wesley, with Special Reference to Charles Wesley, John Fletcher, and the Anglo-Catholic
Tradition”
11. Systematic Theology
Moderator:
Panel: Katherine Sonderegger, Princeton Theological Seminary, “Systematic Theology: Volume 1,
The Doctrine of God.”
Panelists:
Panel Chair: Jason Vickers, Asbury Theological Seminary
John Drury, Indiana Wesleyan University
Justus Hunter, United Theological Seminary
Craig Keen, Azusa Pacific University
6:30-8:30 p.m.
Banquet
8:30-9:30 p.m.
IBOE Reception
NTC Manchester Reception
Saturday, March 12th
8:00-8:50 a.m.
Meeting of Program Units Committee and Section Chairs
9:00-9:30 a.m.
Worship
9:30-10:00 a.m.
Break/Refreshments
10:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Concurrent Sessions
1. Biblical Studies
Moderator: Peter Benjamin Boeckel, Southern Methodist University
Presenters:
Karen Winslow, Azusa Pacific University, “Daughters and Fathers in the Bible”
Daryll Gordon Stanton, Africa Nazarene University, “The Impact of the New Birth on the Lev”
Laura Ziesel, Azusa Pacific University, “‘Like a Weaned Child’: Breastfeeding Practices in the
Biblical Period”
Timothy W. Reardon, Fuller Theological Seminary, “John the Baptist and the Knowledge of
Salvation: The Nature of the Forgiveness of Sins in the Benedictus”
2. Charles Wesley Society
Moderator: Russ Richey, Duke Divinity School
Presenters:
Steven Hoskins, Trevecca Nazarene University, “Insects, Energumens, and Illicit Affairs—Oh My!:
The Role of the Georgia Sojourn in Charles Wesley’s New Birth Experience”
Ryan Danker, Wesley Theological Seminary, “Charles Wesley and the Politics of the New Birth”
Respondent: Mark Mann, Point Loma Nazarene University
3. Charles Wesley Society
Moderator: Rebecca Laird, Point Loma Nazarene University
Presenters:
Jennifer Woodruff Tait, Christian History Magazine, "Too hot to handle: the new birth and the
editing of Charles Wesley's texts by American Episcopalians"
Patrick Eby, Indiana Wesleyan University, “God’s Presence in a Season of Pain: Charles Wesley’s
Poetry on Loss”
Respondent: Constance Cherry, Indiana Wesleyan University
4. Historical Studies
Moderator:
Presenters:
Scott Thomas Kisker, United Theological Seminary, “Justification, the New Birth, and the
Confusing Soteriological Passages in John Wesley’s Writings”
Mark K. Olson, Nazarene Biblical College, Indiana Wesleyan University, “The New Birth in the
Early Wesley”
J. Gregory Crofford, Coordinator for Education and Clergy Development, Africa Region, Church of
the Nazarene, “From Justification to Fall from Grace: Charles Wesley’s Theology of Backsliding”
5. Historical Studies
Moderator:
Presenters:
John Wesley Wright, Point Loma Nazarene University, “Out of Egypt into Canaan: The Exegetical
Way of Salvation in the Holiness Movement and Origen”
Colleen Derr, Wesley Seminary at Indiana Wesleyan University, “A Theology of Love through Song:
A Study on the Lessons Taught in Hymns for Children”
Philip Harrold, Trinity Episcopal School for Ministry, “The New Birth as Renewal of Agency in the
‘Spiritual Camaraderie’ of John Newton and John Wesley”
6. Intercultural Studies
Moderator:
Presenters:
Jonavern Pascual Lungub, United Theological Seminary, “The Mission’s Paradigm of the United
Brethren in Christ’s Early Missionaries in the Philippines and Their Concept of New Birth
Experience (1901-1908)”
Jo Anne Lyon, General Superintendent of The Wesleyan Church, “Don’t Be Overcome with Evil,
But Overcome Evil with Good”
7. Moral Theology
Moderator: Rusty Brian, Renton Church of the Nazarene
Presenters:
Nathan Willowby, Ph.D. Candidate, Marquette University, “Egalitarian New Birth: Influence of
Great Awakenings on Wesleyan Faith in Action”
Josh Sweedon, George Fox Evangelical Seminary, “Neither Baptism nor Propositional Assent: New
Birth as Wesley’s Counter-Constantinianism”
Greg Van Buskirk, Ph.D. Candidate, Boston University, “Iconic Dignity and the New Birth”
8. Practical Theology
Moderator: Mark Maddix, Northwest Nazarene University
Joe Gorman, Northwest Nazarene University, “John Wesley and the Salvation of the Whole Person:
Fully Human, Fully Alive”
Sangwoo Kim, Th.D. Candidate, Duke University, “Nurturing Faith and Desire in Prayer: The new
birth and sanctification in E. M. Bounds works on prayer”
Amy G. Oden, Saint Paul School of Theology at Oklahoma City University, “Wesleyan Framework
for Holiness in Virtual Contexts”
9. Science and Theology
Moderator: Bernie A. Van De Walle, Ambrose University
Presenters:
Robert Branson, Olivet Nazarene University, “Science, the Bible, and the Human Anatomy”
Joseph Bankard, Northwest Nazarene University, “Possible Theological Implications in Light of
Evolution”
Laura Ziesel, Azusa Pacific University, “Effects of Biblical Interpretations of Texts Relating to
Childbirth on Medical Practices”
10. Systematic Theology
Moderator:
Presenters:
John Drury, Indiana Wesleyan University, “Resurrection and Regeneration.”
John Kenneth M. Loyer, Spry United Methodist Church and Messiah College, “The Necessity, and
Mystery, of the New Birth.”
Tom Noble, Nazarene Theological Seminary, “Born from Above, A Christocentric Doctrine of the
New Birth.”
11. Systematic Theology
Panel: “Nothing New Under the Sun? History, Eschatology and the Radical Novelty of New Birth.”
Moderator:
Panelists:
Craig Keen, Asuza Pacific University, “Nothing New Under the Sun: On Standing Out Into the
Peace That Is Not”
Christina Smerick, Greenville College, “The Once and Future (Messiah): Messianic In-Breaking and
Walter Benjamin”
Eric Severson, Nazarene Theological Seminary, “Broken Repetition: Kierkegaard and Radical
Novelty”
12. Theology and Preaching
Moderator:
Presenters:
David M. Stark, Th.D. Candidate, Duke Divinity School, “Lo! For Us the Wilds Are Glad”: Charles
Wesley’s Proclamation of Isaiah”
Lenny Luchetti, Wesley Seminary at Indiana Wesleyan University, “A Homiletic New Birth: How
Empathy Drove John Wesley to the Fields”
13. Women’s Studies
Moderator:
Presenters:
Daniel Sipes, Nazarene Theological Seminary, “Understanding the Metaphor of New Birth’ as
Redemptive to Barren Women in the Honor-Shame Cultures of the Bible and Today”
Katie Manning, Point Loma Nazarene University, “The Bleeding Woman, Motherhood, and
Lectio Divina: Poetry of Transformation”
12:00-1:30 p.m.
Lunch