"daring to discuss the important and the amusing"

NEWSLETTER #3

WINTER 2001

"If it needs a man who has suffered to [comment] on Job, and if only a restored rebel can comment on Jonah, perhaps the only person entitled to comment on Ecclesiastes is a cynic who has revolted from the world in disillusionment and disgust. If so, I qualify." So begins Michael Eaton’s Tyndale commentary on Ecclesiastes.

Presumably, Eaton’s concern is not our shortage of cynics. His concern is rather a "happy-all-the-time" Christianity which fails to wrestle with the difficult issues of life, and which leaves one wondering, as Philip Yancey once asked, "Why is Ecclesiastes in the Bible?"

Chesterton House is pleased to inaugurate the new year with a decidedly non-cynical look at this text: Wrestling with the Difficult Issues of Life: Themes from Ecclesiastes will be the topic of this year’s annual Institute for Biblical Studies, sponsored by Bethel Grove Bible Church and Chesterton House. Rev. David Deuel, whose interest in missions was kindled while a graduate student at Cornell, will be our speaker. For more information, or to register for the Institute, go to www.bg.org. Both cynics and those who question the canonicity of Ecclesiastes are equally welcome.

For those who plan ahead, future Institute for Biblical Studies speakers will include Chesterton House Advisory Board members D.A. Carson (2002) and Richard Pratt (2003). Watch also for a book on cynicism from Advisory Board member Dick Keyes later this year.

Below you will find more information on our newly formed advisory board, as well as other upcoming events, including the much-anticipated release of movie night titles.

As always, thanks for your interest, support, and prayers. And, oh yes, thanks for sending me your favorite Chesterton quotes!

-Karl E. Johnson

Chesterton House is very pleased to announce our newly formed advisory board. These seven distinguished Christian leaders have agreed to assist and support Chesterton House with their sage advice and consultation. We are very grateful for their assistance, and we are privileged to announce their affiliation with Chesterton House.

DONALD A. CARSON is research professor of New Testament at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. A prolific writer and active guest lecturer, Carson has written, or edited over 40 books, including The Gagging of God (Zondervan, 1996). He is also the Chair of The GRAMCORD Institute, a research and educational institution designed to develop and promote computer-related tools for biblical research.

DICK KEYES is the director of L’Abri Fellowship in Southborough, Massachusetts. Formerly a pastor in the International Presbyterian Church in London, Keyes has also been an adjunct professor at Gordon Conwell Seminary and Westminster Theological Seminary. He is the author of several books, and is currently writing a book on cynicism.

JOE MAXWELL is an award-winning journalist and Senior Editor of re:generation quarterly (RQ). RQ, a magazine devoted to "community transforming culture" among emerging Christian leaders, won the Utne Reader’s Spirituality Magazine of the year in 1999. Formerly a Chicago-area newspaper reporter, Maxwell recently was named among 50 up-and-coming "evangelical leaders under 40" by Christianity Today.

RICHARD PRATT chairs the Old Testament Department at Reformed Theological Seminary (Orlando), and is President of Third Millennium Ministries. Dedicated to bringing seminary level educational materials to neglected parts of the world, Pratt has taught academic lecture series in Australia, China, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Mexico, Poland, Russia, and Slovakia. He received his Th.D. from Harvard University, and is the author of six books.

RANDY STAIR is the President of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) Foundation. Formerly Chief Financial Officer for Park Communications, Inc., Stair is a Ruling Elder at ChristChurch Presbyterian in Atlanta, GA.

ELEONORE STUMP is the Robert J. Henle, S.J., Professor of Philosophy at Saint Louis University. Author of several works in medieval philosophy, philosophy of religion, and metaphysics, Stump has served as president of the Society of Christian Philosophers, and president of the American Catholic Philosophical Association. She has been invited to give the Gifford Lectures at the University of Aberdeen, Scotland in 2002.

DREW TROTTER is Executive Director of the Center for Christian Study in Charlottesville, VA. Trotter has taught biblical studies at the seminary level for over fifteen years, and frequently lectures on film and culture. He received his Ph.D. in New Testament Studies from Cambridge University, and is the author of Interpreting the Epistle to the Hebrews (Baker, 1997).

**Please Note: Movie nights have been moved to the "student-friendly" time of 10pm, on the last Friday of each month!

Institute of Biblical Studies

Guest Speaker: Rev. David Deuel, Ministry Consultant for the Believers Foundation (Tampa), and Director of the Grace Bible Training Center.

Held at Bethel Grove Bible Church–See www.bg.org for more info.

Graduate InterVarsity Round table

David French, Cornell Law School

Guest Speaker: David French, lecturer in legal ethics in the Cornell Law School, and Chief Council for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship’s Religious Freedom Crisis Team.

Movie Night: "Dr. Strangelove"

Movie Night: "Gattaca"

Upstate NY Grad/Faculty InterVarsity Conference

Guest Speaker: Dr. James Sire

Anabel Taylor Hall, Cornell University

For more info, contact Christian Anible at cia4@cornell.edu

Movie Night: "The Decalogue" (selections)

All events are held at the Crossroads Life Center unless otherwise noted. Crossroads is located at 604 E. Buffalo, on the corner of Stewart Ave. in lower Collegetown.

Crossroads Café is now open Tuesday through Friday, 11AM-5PM, and Friday and Saturday evenings, 8PM-Midnight. Crossroads is a wonderfully remodeled coffeehouse conducive to leisurely conversation. Stop by for some coffee, desserts, or just to visit.

The Chesterton House Resource Room is available for browsing whenever Crossroads is open. On Fridays, the resource room will be staffed with a professor, pastor, or campus ministry worker, in order to provide consultation on Christian scholarship and literature.

-Harry Blamires, The Christian Mind