Jesus Seminar on the Road regional programs
20th Annual Religious Literacy Seminar in Sarasota
FEBRUARY 6 & 7, 2015 | SARASOTA, FLORIDA 
Over the course of the seventeenth through nineteenth centuries, the term God effectively stopped working as an explanation for the origins of things, the history of languages and the nature of the cosmos. By the twentieth century, it became clear that the concept of God no longer made sense, that God is (so to speak) dead. Presenters David Galston and Jack Kelly will ask if there is any value to religion after the death of God. Or whether it is possible that religion without God might compose the best option for the future.
          
Featuring
David Galston
David Galston, Ph.D., McGill University, is a University Chaplain, Adjunct Professor of Philosophy at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario, Academic Director at Westar Institute, and academic adviser to the SnowStar Institute in Canada. He is the author of Embracing the Human Jesus (2012).
John C. Kelly
John C. Kelly, Ph.D., University of Chicago, is Emeritus Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Nevada, Reno. He specializes in ethics, philosophy of religion, Plato, and Wittgenstein.
 
Why God Doesn't Work Anymore
Over the course of the seventeenth through nineteenth centuries, God effectively stopped working as an explanation for the origins of things, the history of languages and the nature of the Cosmos. It became increasingly clear that God is created in the human image, rather than humans in God's image. This opening session will focus on the Enlightenment, specifically on breakthroughs in human knowledge.  

Friday, 7:30 to 9 p.m.
Why God Doesn't Make Sense Anymore
It became clear in the twentieth century that God no longer made logical sense. God can function in a language game but that does not mean that (1) God exists or (2) the existence of God is particularly useful. Indeed, it's not even clear if diverse religious people are making the same sense when they speak of God.

Saturday, 9:30 to 10:30 am
Post-Theism: Human Beings and Being Human
Post-Theism is the place where one asks if, after the death of God, there is any value to religion. There are many ways to answer this question, but three in particular stand out: (1) religion still holds significant cultural memories, (2) religion is not exclusively about God but is also about wisdom, and (3) religion enables the post-religious experience. 

Saturday, 11 to noon 
Options for Our Future
Thinking about the future with religion, but without God, seems ironic and even confusing. But Godless religion might compose the best of several options for the future of human beings with religion: it makes better sense of morality, faces more directly the question of meaning in life, and does not have to divorce itself from evolutionary science.

Saturday, 1:30 to 2:30 pm 
Religion without God: Panel Discussion
Religion without God seems like a paradox, but it may be time to jettison God for the sake of the future of religion as a human value. This open discussion will raise questions about the value of religion and invite comments from participants.

Saturday, 3 to 4 pm 
All events take place at:

Unitarian Universalist Church of Sarasota
3975 Fruitville Rd.
Sarasota, FL 34232

A Cooking Matters Luncheon to benefit the All Faiths Food Bank will take place at 12:15 Saturday
Related Resources
Panel Discussion (Video Excerpt)
Joseph Bessler, David Galston, John C. Kelly, Jarmo Tarkki 
Why are more and more people becoming nonreligious, even a-religious? What is the future of Christianity? Where have all the liberal Christians gone? What is the relationship between secular society and conservative and fundamentalist forms of religion? This discussion took place at the Westar Fall 2013 Meeting in Santa Rosa, California.

Embracing the Human JesusEmbracing the Human Jesus
A Wisdom Path for Contemporary Christianity
David Galston

"Smuggling Jesus into Christianity will be hard but exciting work, and David Galston is a clear and lively guide who knows just how much is at stake."
--Don Cupitt, University of Cambridge UK 
The Fourth R magazine
Donald A. Crosby
What is religious naturalism? Simply put, it is the recognition that to be is to be natural and the conviction that nature in all of its forms and manifestations is a proper focus of religious commitment. ... This does not mean that there can be no deeply fulfilling and saving religious faith, outlook, or devotion. It means that the appropriate source and object of such faith, outlook, and devotion can rightly be regarded as nature itself. Continue reading 
Westar's regional programs, called Jesus Seminars on the Road (JSORs), bring religion scholars affiliated with Westar Institute into conversation with interested non-specialists across North America. These regional programs address significant issues in current biblical and theological research and scholarship. Learn more
 
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