FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (12/04)
Contact: The Rev. Don Meeks, Centenary Center for Theological Studies, 318-869-5024; Lynn Stewart, Centenary News Service, 318-869-5120; or Jack Easterwood, D.L. Dykes, Jr. Foundation, 800-882-7424

Noted Jesus Scholar John Dominic Crossan at Centenary Jan. 18-20; Public and Student Joint Sessions Planned

SHREVEPORT, LA — The Biblical scholar John Dominic Crossan — considered by many to be the foremost scholar of historical Jesus — will speak Jan. 18-20 during seminars at Centenary College.

Dr. Crossan, professor emeritus of religious studies at DePaul University, has written 20 books on the historical Jesus in the last 30 years. Four of them have become national religious bestsellers: The Historical Jesus (1991), Jesus: A Revolutionary Biography (1994), Who Killed Jesus (1995), and The Birth of Christianity (1998).

Dr. Crossan has been a frequent guest on prime time television including such programs as: PBS' Frontline Series, "From Jesus to Christ;" ABC's "Primetime Special with Diane Sawyer on Mel Gibson's Film, The Passion of the Christ, NBC's Dateline, "The Last Days of Jesus;" and ABC's "Peter Jennings Reporting: The Search for Jesus." He is a former co-chair of the Jesus Seminar and a former chair of the Historical Jesus Section of the Society of Biblical Literature, an international scholarly association for biblical study based in the United States.

He will present sessions on "Jesus & Paul" and "Rome & America: Replacing the Empire of Rome with the Kingdom of God," which are part of the Faith and Reason seminars produced by the D.L. Dykes, Jr. Foundation of Jackson, Miss. The local program is in conjunction with the Center for Theological Studies at Centenary.

The program schedule is as follows:

• Tuesday, Jan. 18
  Seminar Session 1: "Roman Imperial Theology and the Normalcy of Civilization"
• Wednesday, Jan. 19
  Student sessions: "Recent Archaeological Discoveries and the Historical Jesus and Paul"
  First-Year Experience (student) session: "Truth-Telling in Biblical Scholarship" (Open to registrants as seating is available)
  Seminar Session 2: "The Radicality of God and the Ambiguity of Bibilical Tradition"
  Seminar Session 3: "Jesus, Paul, and The Kingdom of God"
• Thursday, Jan. 20
  Seminar Session 4: "The Resurection of Jesus for Contemporary America"
  Lunch with Dr. Crossan: "The Life of the Public Scholar"

All of Dr. Crossan's lectures will be delivered in Kilpatrick Auditorium, located in the R.E. Smith Building on the southeast corner of the campus. His books will be available in Room 100 of the Smith Building.

Cost for all sessions, including lunch with Dr. Crossan, is $125. Costs for portions of the program are $100 for sessions 1-4 and the student sessions; $30 for each individual session; and $25 for the Jan. 20 lunch.

To register, call 601-354-0767 or 800-882-7424, contact dykesfoundation@bellsouth.net or download the registration form at http://www.faithandreason.org.

Registration forms and further information are also available via the Rev. Don Meeks, director of the Center for Theological Studies, at 318-869-5156 or dmeeks@centenary.edu.

The Dykes Foundation, established in 1986, promotes critical thinking about religion through television, the Internet and public seminars. It is named for the late D.L. Dykes, Jr. of Shreveport, distinguished theologian and longtime minister of the First United Methodist Church of Shreveport.

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