Bruce Hindmarsh: ‘You Have Never Talked to a Mere Mortal’ – the Implications of a ‘Negative’ Theological Anthropology

This pre-recorded video event will be available on this page starting at 7pm Pacific Time. Please check back at that time for a link to the video.

One of the highlights of Regent Summer Programs is our free Evening Public Lectures. This series always features a wide range of professors and topics, and this year is no exception. All lectures will be streamed online, so invite a friend and join us!

An icon of the transfiguration will often display Christ as enveloped in layers of light that recede into grey and black behind him. As John Chrysostom said, the eyes of the disciples “were darkened by excessive radiance.” A later hymn writer likewise wrote, “`Tis only the splendour of light hideth thee.” There is more than we can take in when we turn to contemplate the beauty, infinitude, and holiness of the Lord. This lecture explores an idea in Hans Urs Von Balthasar of the analogia personalitatis, or, the analogy between human and divine personhood. Is there a kind of dark centre of unknowability exceeding all that enlightens us as we come to know of another human person? How might this mystery inform a deeply theological anthropology? How does it challenge modern views of humanness? And what are its implications for human relations in society and everyday life?

Bruce Hindmarsh is James M. Houston Professor of Spiritual Theology at Regent College. He has published and spoken widely on the history of early British evangelicalism. His major works include The Spirit of Early Evangelicalism (2018) and The Evangelical Conversion Narrative (2005).

Dr. Hindmarsh will be teaching the course Five Traditions & Practices of Prayer from July 19-23 as part of Regent’s 2021 Summer Programs.

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