International Conference on Baptist Studies VIII Announced

Following seven successful International Conferences on Baptist Studies around the world beginning at Oxford in 1997, there is to be an eighth at Baylor University, Texas, from Wednesday 18 to Saturday 21 July 2018. All of these conferences have taken the history of the Baptists throughout the world as their subject matter, and participation has been open to all, both as speakers and attenders.

Baylor University

The theme this time is ‘Baptists, Gospel and Culture’. ‘Culture’ may be interpreted in any way – as high, popular or broad.  In the high culture category fall the achievements of civilisation such as those in the visual arts or works of high literary quality. In the field of popular culture there are non-elite phenomena such as traditional folkways and modern commercial ventures. The broad category, the way in which ‘culture’ is normally conceived by anthropologists and missiologists, embraces webs of attitudes in society at large. The theme deliberately allows for a wide range of topics, the common thread being how far gospel and culture were interwoven among Baptists. This field will be explored by means of case studies, some of which will be very specific in time and place while others will cover long periods and more than one country. All will be based on original research.

A number of main papers will address key aspects of the subject, but offers of short papers to last no more than 25 minutes in delivery are very much welcome as well.  They should relate in some way to the theme of ‘Baptists, Gospel and Culture’. The proposed title should be submitted by e-mail (d.w.bebbington@stir.ac.uk) to Professor D. W. Bebbington, History and Politics, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Stirling, Stirling FK9 4LA, Scotland, United Kingdom. Papers from the first conference appeared as The Gospel in the World: International Baptist Studies, edited by David Bebbington, and volumes representing nearly all the subsequent conferences have also been published. We intend that a volume containing some of the papers will again appear after the eighth conference.

Baylor University is generously providing meals, accommodation and facilities for the three days for the remarkably low figure of $300. Registration will be possible before long. Further information is available from Dr Nathan Finn, Dean of the School of Theology and Missions and Professor of Christian Thought and Tradition at Union University, Jackson, Tennessee (nfinn@uu.edu).