Every year, Fuller Theological Seminary offers a series of special evening summer seminars for Fuller students and faculty and for the general public. This year, the first summer seminar was held on July 7 observing Public Theology and Abraham Kuyper, a prominent 19th century Dutch theologian who had a long career in national politics including a term as Prime Minister of the Netherlands.

Every summer, Fuller invites visiting scholars from across the nation and even around the world to participate in seminars and discussions on various theological issues. The seminars have been designed with the goal of enhancing Fuller as a community by providing an opportunity to meet and hear from a few of Fuller’s distinguished summer faculty.

For the first seminar, Wheaton College Professor Vincent Bacote was invited to discuss the topic of “Public Theology: the Case of Abraham Kuyper” and led the seminar with Fuller Seminary President and Christian Philosophy Professor Richard Mouw.

According to Fuller, the National Association of Evangelicals has recently emphasized the importance of a comprehensive understanding of the public obligations of Christians. In the July 7 seminar, Bacote and Mouw explored Abraham Kuyper’s significant contributions to Christian public theology, discussing ways that Christians today can apply Kuyperian theology to their involvement in the public sphere.

Bacote, who wrote a book on Abraham Kuyper titled, “The Spirit in Public Theology: Abraham Kuyper’s Legacy for the Twenty-first Century,” is currently teaching Theologies of Public Engagement as visiting faculty in Fuller’s School of Theology. Mouw, assistant professor of theology at Wheaton College, Illinois, is currently teaching Theologies of Public Engagement as visiting faculty in Fuller’s School of Theology. Mouw has also produced much written work in defense of Kuyper’s perspective on issues of society and culture.

The next seminar of this summer series is expected to take place today, July 14, 7:30 p.m., in Travis Auditorium with professor Craig A. Evans of Acadia Divinity College as a guest speaker. The topic on “Current Issue in Jesus and Archaeology” will be addressed at the seminar.

For more information about the summer seminars, call (626) 584-5305.