Marcus J. Borg and John Dominic Crossan will appear at 7 p.m. April 12 at Price Theater as part of the college’s Waights G. Henry Jr. Lecture Series. They will speak on the topic “To Walk in the Presence of God.”
Borg and Crossan are noted both for their rigorous scholarship and controversial conclusions. They are co-authors of several books, including “The Last Week: A Day by Day Account of Jesus’s Final Week in Jerusalem,” “The First Christmas: What the Gospels Really Teach about the Birth of Jesus” and “The First Paul: Reclaiming the Radical Visionary behind the Church’s Conservative Icon.”
The authors’ appearance at LaGrange College underscores the institution’s commitment to the Wesleyan, liberal arts tradition of the integrated pursuit spiritual and intellectual development, said the Rev. Quincy Brown, vice president for spiritual life and church relations.
“As a United Methodist Church-related institution of higher education, we feel it is important to challenge our students’ minds and inspire their souls, thus encouraging them to thoughtfully examine their beliefs,” he said. “Encountering such challenging speakers, students learn to engage difficult questions that they may encounter throughout their lives.”
McAlexander said the college’s purpose is not to provide its students a set of answers, “but, rather, to teach them how to ask their own questions and how to search for their own answers. The appearance of Borg and Crossan is intended to spur a good bit of both.”
Borg is a theologian at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Portland, Ore. Recognized in both academic and church circles worldwide, he was chairman of religion and culture in the philosophy department at Oregon State University until his retirement in 2007. He is the author of 10 books, two of which have become best-sellers - “Jesus: A New Vision” and “Meeting Jesus Again for the First Time.”
Borg holds a doctoral degree from Oxford University, and he has lectured widely overseas and in North America.
Crossan was born in Ireland. He was educated in Ireland and the United States, received a doctorate of divinity from Maynooth College, Ireland, and did post-doctoral research at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome and the Ecole Biblique in Jerusalem.
He was a member of a 13th-century Roman Catho-lic religious order, the Servites (Ordo Servorum Mariae), and an ordained priest. He joined DePaul University in Chicago in 1969 and remained there until 1995. He is now a professor emeritus in its department of religious studies.
Crossan has received awards for scholarly excellence from the American Academy of Religion, DePaul University, and an honorary doctorate from Stetson University in DeLand, Fla.
He has written 25 books and lectured to lay and scholarly audiences across the United States and overseas.
The lecture is free and open to the public.
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