Link to Original Call

Next spring, the Graduate Theological Union will host a conference entitled “Latter-day Saint Theology & Divine Finitude: Scripture, Revelation, The Problem of Evil & Social Justice,” and proposals for conference presentations are currently being accepted.  

About the Conference:
April 26-27, 2024, at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, CA 

Plenary Speaker: Thomas Jay Oord, Professor of Open and Relational Theology and Director of the Center for Open and Relational Theology, Northwind Theological Seminary 

The Latter-day Saint tradition maintains a finite conception of God that challenges key tenets of classical Christian theism. God is understood to have a literal body of flesh and bone (D&C 130:22) and to relate to human beings in exceptionally passable and interactive ways (Jacob 5:7 & Moses 7:29). God is said to have created human beings in the divine likeness such that it is possible for humanity to become divine (Moses 1:39). God’s design for humanity is to create the conditions for spiritual growth and to labor with them toward the glorification of both (Jacob 5:72). This conference will explore divine finitude in the Latter-day Saint tradition and seeks to examine and build on the theological writings of thinkers such as B. H. Roberts, David Paulsen, Truman Madsen, Eugene England, Lowell Bennion, Sterling McMurrin, Margaret Toscano, and Fiona & Terryl Givens, among others.  

The concept of divine finitude is especially relevant given the challenges confronting humanity in the contemporary world. How might Latter-day Saint theology respond meaningfully to the lived experience of chaos and hopelessness due to pervasive loss and suffering? How might its conception of God inform its approach to scriptural interpretation, ethics, and social activism?   

The conference will orient around four topics: scripture, revelation, the problem of evil, and liberation theology & social justice.  

About the Call for Proposals: 
Conference presentations should be 20 minutes in length. If you wish to give a presentation, please submit a proposal of 700-1000 words to divinefinitude@gmail.com by December 1, 2023. Proposals should clearly state which of the four topics (scripture, revelation, the problem of evil/suffering, and liberation theology/social justice) the presentation addresses. Some travel support will be available to those who need it. Please indicate the need for travel support with your submission. 

The conference is organized by Deidre Green, Assistant Professor of Latter-day Saint/Mormon Studies at the Graduate Theological Union in collaboration with Brian Birch, Director of the Religious Studies Program, Utah Valley University, and Patrick Mason, Leonard J. Arrington Chair of Mormon History and Culture, Utah State University. 

The keynote speaker will be Thomas Jay Oord, Professor of Open and Relational Theology and Director of the Center for Open and Relational Theology, Northwind Theological Seminary.