"Speak to Me That I May Hear” Lectures in Travis Auditorium, Feb. 13-14
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02/13/13
In the first lecture of a series of three during the School of Psychology's
Symposium on the Integration of Psychology and Theology, Marie Hoffman, Clinical
Assistant Professor of Psychology at New York University, centered the topic
on “Witnessing: Where it all Begins.”
Hoffman asserted that just as many evangelical patients begin their
relationship with Christ from someone witnessing to them, it is also the
starting point of psychotherapy.
“The psychotherapist's first task is to witness the
evangelical patient's untold or dismissed narrative of pain, and bear witness
to the transformation that a wounded healer embodies,” she said.
According to Brad Strawn, Professor of Clinical Psychology
at Fuller, when choosing a guest speaker for this year’s symposium, Fuller
wanted to invite someone who had done interesting work on integration, and was
willing to discuss something new.
“Hoffman wanted to write something for the church in this
lecture series,” said Strawn. “She is looking at the ways the common words of ‘witness,’
‘conversion,’ and ‘salvation’ have become ‘traditioned’ in the church.”
Strawn also said Hoffman’s
lectures suggest that conversion is an ongoing process of transformation
rather than a one-time occurrence. Similarly, salvation should
not only be seen as the forgiveness of sins to enter the eternal presence of God,
but as occurring now.
“I'm particularly proud of
the integration symposium and what it stands for,” said Strawn. “It really is one of our most public ways in
which we attempt to demonstrate integrative work that is multi-disciplinary.”
He went on to say the symposium’s
commitments to having respondents from three different schools is one of the
ways they try to demonstrate this.
“We hope it will be
interesting and helpful to the people in each school,” he said.
John Goldingay from the
School of Theology was the respondent to the first lecture; Scott Sunquist,
Dean of the School of Intercultural Studies, will be the respondent to the
lecture Feb. 13 at 7 p.m., and Brad Strawn, School of Psychology, will respond
to the final lecture Feb. 14 at 10 a.m.
Each lecture will take place in Travis Auditorium.