Author: SJ Kessler

The Religion Department celebrated its annual George Hall Dinner on Tuesday, May 14, featuring student awards and an alumnus speaker, Dr. Danial Pioska (’04). Below is a little about our awards and this year’s winners: The Apologetics Award: Established in 1994 by a gift from Profs. Miles Johnson ’47 and Joyce Johnson ’50, the Apologetics…

On Tuesday, October 31, Gustavus Adolphus College and the Department of Religion inaugurated the new Åke & Kristina Bonnier Reading Room and Jewish Studies Library (OM 303). Scores of donors to volumes for the Library, as well as students, staff, faculty, and administrators at the College attended the event. The inauguration featured comments from President…

In our last post about summer, we reminisce about travel in Europe, conferences, and the amazing work of the Gustavus Academy for Faith, Science, and Ethics, all with Dr. Bunge, Distinguished Chair of Lutheran Studies and Professor in the Department of Religion. Here are 4 bits of news for the Blog… A lot happened this…

This week, as we all settle into the fourth week of the semester, we’ll hear some reflections on how summer was spent by Dr. Mary Gaebler, Associate Professor of Religion. As you’ll see, Dr. Gaebler models a deep commitment to theology as a dialogical method, that is, that ideas and discussions flower and fruit in…

Dr. Casey Elledge, Professor of Religion, has a new book out this year, Early Jewish Writings and New Testament Interpretations (Oxford University Press). It’s included in Oxford’s series Essentials of Biblical Studiesseries. The book provides a guided reading of select early Jewish writings, including their literary, historical, and theological features, and explains the unique contributions that each…

Dr. Thia Cooper gave a sermon on Saturday, Sept. 9 as part of a communal worship service before the official start of Mankato’s Pridefest. Faith leaders and congregants from diverse communities gathered at Mankato’s First Presbyterian Church to show their support for LGBTQ+ persons and communities, and to demonstrate that many Christians support the choices…

Dr. Paul Hanson, Florence Corliss Lamont Professor of Divinity Emeritus at Harvard Divinity School and Gustavus Department of Religion Alumnus, passed away on June 9, 2023, at the age of 83. A graduate of Gustavus Adolphus College and former member of the Board of Trustees, he, in the words of Dr. Casey Elledge (Professor of…

Dr. Blake Couey, professor in the Dept. of Religion and specialist in the poetry of the Hebrew Bible, will be returning to campus this autumn from a year’s sabbatical. While on leave, he visited Israel and the Palestinian Territories in the West Bank. At the beginning of the summer, I was able to spend two…

This June, Dr. Thia Cooper published “Method and Themes for a Philippine Theology of Development” in MST Review. As she writes in her abstract, A theology of development for the Philippines should emerge from the Philippines. In this article, I articulate a method and starting points for a Philippine theology of development, focusing on communities…

It has been a long hot summer here in the midwest, and the Religion faculty have been working, traveling, and relaxing. With the fall semester just a month away, keep watch here to see what everyone has been up to.