The Henry Symposium allows the general public to explore hot button issues alongside experts.
Experts in foreign policy, international relations and religious persecution will sit around a table with scholars who have a deep historical and anthropological understanding of the players in the Middle East. The topic they’ll be deliberating on: how to respond to ISIS.
“Part of answering the question, ‘how do we respond to ISIS or a group like ISIS?’ is to understand who they are, what their motivations are, and is it as clear as we hear reported in the West?,” said Kevin den Dulk, political science professor at Calvin College. “These experts are in a position to give us some insight into those questions.”
This discussion is one of many that scholars and the general public will be having at the 2015 Henry Symposium held April 30—May 2 at Calvin College’s Prince Conference Center.
Engaging a dialogue
Den Dulk says the goal of the biennial symposium put on by the Paul B. Henry Institute for the Study of Christianity and Politics, of which he serves as director, is two-fold, to share research and insights among scholars and to promote civic engagement.
“One issue that we face right now in our civic culture is a fragmentation of information. People are getting their information from very different places and they don’t often crossover and get it from other places with different views,” said den Dulk.
So, den Dulk says the sharing of information is important and that the roundtable discussions that are a part of the Henry Symposium will hopefully provide a model for how deliberation over controversial issues and values looks when it is done well.
“The goal is not perfect agreement or a utopian vision, but a particular way of how we understand, how we work through differences,” said den Dulk. “There might be points of agreement, but we can’t see those points of agreement unless we actually engage in a dialogue.”
The dialogue will happen all weekend long through a handful of roundtables and 19 panel discussions. The topics hinge at the intersection of religion and politics, covering issues of local, national and international concern—everything from how faith-based organizations should operate within a pluralistic world to how Christians should be involved in community development. And discussing those topics are dozens of scholars from dozens of institutions across the country, including Calvin College, the University of Michigan, Princeton, Georgetown and Notre Dame, to name a handful.
Exploring many perspectives
This year event organizers decided to further enrich the symposium experience by having the annual Henry and Kuyper lectures coincide with the event, providing those engaged in practical politics or in media a platform to speak into the big issues of the day as well.
On Thursday, New York Times op-ed columnist Ross Douthat will deliver the Paul B. Henry Lecture, “The Future of American Christianity: The Christian Crisis of the 20th Century and its Implications on the 21st.” The lecture is at 7:30 p.m. in the CFAC Recital Hall.
Then on Friday, Rev. David Kim, pastor of faith and work at Redeemer Presbyterian NYC will deliver the Kuyper Lecture, “Serving the City, Shaping the Political Culture.” The lecture is at 7:30 p.m. in PCC’s Oak Room and is sponsored by the Center for Public Justice (CPJ), a think tank in Washington, D.C.
“CPJ was established by people thinking carefully in the reformed tradition, they made their name by establishing frameworks around education, healthcare, other issues along those lines. Between the Henry and Kuyper lectures, we’re bringing in thoughtful practitioners and trying to engage the community,” said den Dulk.
In addition, on Wednesday, Bishop D. Zac Niringiye from the Church of the Province of Uganda will deliver a special pre-symposium lecture, “Christianity in Africa ‘On the Road to Emmaus’—a Quest for a New Political Theology.” Niringiye leads a project on Religion, Rights and Peace at the Makere University School of Law in Uganda, and is also working on a project at Uganda Christian University on Religion, Culture and Public Life. He is actively engaged in civic-political activism in Uganda. His lecture, which is co-sponsored by the Nagel Institute for the Study of World Christianity and Calvin Theological Seminary is at 3:30 p.m. at the seminary auditorium.
