The Jonathan Edwards Center
In conjunction with the Jonathan Edwards Center of Yale University, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School is pleased to announce the formation of a new Jonathan Edwards Center at TEDS, effective immediately. This partnership was formalized on the campus of TEDS on Wednesday, January 6, 2010. Kenneth P. Minkema, director of the Yale Center, and Douglas A. Sweeney, director of the Trinity Center, both spoke to this groundbreaking development and noted its excellent prospects.
The Center at TEDS is the newest of several satellite Edwards Centers founded by Yale’s Edwards Center in strategic locations around the world. The purpose of these Centers is to promote awareness of and scholarship on Edwards in the academy and also the church. Existing locations include Germany (Tübingen), Poland, South Africa, and Australia (Ridley College). The Jonathan Edwards Center at Trinity is, apart from the Yale Center, the only existing such center in North America.
The JEC at Trinity provides a rare opportunity for us to engage the larger world of Edwards studies, and to share the riches of that world with our community. The Center will debut a website near the end of February that will offer our academic and ecclesial communities access to a wide range of Edwards resources. The Center will also feature a designated computer terminal in the library on which students and visiting scholars will be able to access a wealth of resources for the study of Edwards and related figures and movements throughout history. Trinity is the only school in North America, other than Yale, with access to this range of materials.
As Director of the new Center, Sweeney is currently planning the further development of its work. In coming weeks, the JEC will announce a program of events. In addition to regular conferencing, the JEC at Trinity will offer two lecture series: “Jonathan Edwards and the Church,” which will feature the best Christian Edwards scholars in the world in conversation with Sweeney and a variety of clergy who are interested in Edwards and his legacies to the church; and “New Directions in Edwards Studies,” which will feature cutting-edge research on Edwards and his influence. Furthermore, the JEC at TEDS will seek to encourage Trinity students, and other students in the region, to undertake advanced work on Edwards and his legacies around the world. It will provide pastors and scholars with up-to-date web resources for making good on Edwards’ legacy and for staying up on the most important Edwards scholarship.
Those interested in the JEC at TEDS should look for a second announcement in late February that will make public the new website and announce a range of programs. It is with gratefulness to God, and thanks to our friends at Yale, that we announce this unique partnership.
The Center for Bioethics & Human Dignity (CBHD)
Mission
Exploring the nexus of biomedicine, biotechnology, and our common humanity.
Purpose
CBHD exists to equip thought leaders to engage the issues of bioethics using the tools of rigorous research, conceptual analysis, charitable critique, leading-edge publication, and effective teaching. It is a national and international leader in producing a wide range of live, recorded, and written resources examining bioethical issues. Recognizing that biblical values have exercised a profound influence on Western Culture, CBHD explores the potential contribution of such values as part of its work.
The Carl F.H. Henry Center for Theological Understanding
Theologians often comment on the low levels of Christian literacy in our pews as well as our pulpits. Likewise, ministry leaders complain about the irrelevance of seminaries. We at the Henry Center are bent on addressing these concerns and the problems they represent. We are committed to bridging the gap between the academy and the church. Gospel labors are too important to be shouldered on one’s own. What is needed is a center for evangelical collaboration, where “experts” of all kinds can work together to engage culture–in the U.S. and around the world.
The Henry Center is such a place. It houses a cluster of initiatives, each of which is aimed at applying practical Christian wisdom to important kingdom issues–in the church, the academy, and the world. It seeks to ground each of these initiatives in Scripture, interpreted theologically as the Word of God. And it pursues these goals collaboratively, bringing ministry practitioners and academics together in creative kingdom partnerships. We exist to glorify our Lord by advancing Christian wisdom in all areas of life and thought, enabling others to apply the knowledge of God and themselves in the rough and tumble of life.
Our work will be much poorer without your help. Won’t you consider praying for the Center and participating with us in its various ministries? We will be grateful for your partnership in the gospel.
Douglas A. Sweeney
Director