2023-2024 Event Details

Eastern University is delighted to announce the transformation of its distinctive lecture series, Windows on the World. Eastern now features one or two dynamic speakers each semester. We have some exciting names lined up for the 2023-2024 academic year! Presentations are on Fridays (dates below) at 10 a.m., in McInnis Auditorium. They are sponsored by the Office of the Provost and open to the public.

September 22, 2023: Randal Rauser

Randal Rauser: Director of Faith Based Organization Investigations at Veritas Solutions

Randal RauserWindows on the World (September 22nd at 10 a.m.): “Atheists Who Love God”. Many Christians believe that atheists are in rebellion against God. But is that really true? In this talk, Randal Rauser builds a bridge to the atheist and skeptic communities by pointing out the degree to which theism and atheism are not as far apart as we may think. In fact, it just may be possible to be an atheist who loves God

Randal Rauser is the Director of Faith Based Organization Investigations at Veritas Solutions, a human resources risk management firm. In this role, Randal has conducted dozens of successful investigations with a specialization in church and faith based organizations. Previously, he served as Professor of Historical Theology at Taylor Seminary in Edmonton Canada, where he taught for twenty years. A progressively evangelical, generously orthodox, rigorously analytic, and revolutionary Christian thinker, Dr. Rauser is the author or coauthor of 16 books in theology, apologetics, and worldview. He has a BA in English and Intercultural Religious Studies from Trinity Western University, a MSC in Interdisciplinary Christian Studies from Regent College, and a PhD from King’s College, London. Learn more about Randal Rauser.

January 12, 2024: Kristin Kobes

Kristin KobesKristin Kobes Du Mez: Writer, Speaker, Scholar, and Professor of History at Calvin University

NOTE: This event has been moved to the Widener Center on the Cabrini University Campus (610 King of Prussia Rd, Radnor, PA 19087).  

The Widener Center appears on this linked map as building 12. Parking is immediately adjacent to it, so if you are driving, you can park and walk right in. The facility is a short and convenient walk from EU.   

Windows on the World (January 12th at 10 a.m.): “Jesus and John Wayne and the Evangelical Reckoning”. Recounting the history of white evangelical politics, Dr. Du Mez examines the fissures and fault lines that run through the evangelical church in America and assesses what this means for the future of evangelicalism and for American democracy.

Author of the New York Times bestseller Jesus and John Wayne, Kristin Du Mez explores the intersection of religion, gender, and politics. Her writing is described as “urgent and sharp-elbowed”, and she does not refrain from presenting the hard truths that history has to offer Americans—and especially American Christians. Her unflinching examination of the American church, however, is ultimately a call to confession, a call to lament, and a call to greater faithfulness. An academic by training, Kristin holds a Ph.D. in U.S. history from the University of Notre Dame, but she writes and speaks for popular audiences in an entertaining style that is equal parts winsome and hard-hitting. She teaches at Calvin University and lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with her husband, three kids, and a dog named Paco. Learn more about Kristin Kobes Du Mez.

March 8, 2024: Steve Chalke

Steve Chalke: Founder of Oasis Charitable TrustSteve Chalke

Windows on the World (March 8th at 10 a.m.): “A Manifesto for Hope - Transforming the Lives of Children, Young People, and Their Families”. Many of our systems are failing the most vulnerable and disadvantaged. At the same time, we are side-lining our greatest national asset: local people – mums, dads, families, and other community members. We face a stark choice as a society – to keep pouring in money into policies and practices we know aren’t working, or to invest in new and better ways that really will improve people’s lives and build stronger communities. Rev. Chalke suggests that our post-war, twentieth-century institutions were not built for our twenty-first century world and can’t cope with the challenges ahead; instead of trying to fix them, we need a different way of thinking. It’s essential we build and fund an integrated and holistic system of care for children, young people, and their families - one that is aligned and attuned to the real needs of those it seeks to serve.

Steve Chalke founded the Oasis Trust back in 1985 with a vision to build inclusive local communities. Oasis is now one of the largest charities in the UK, as well as working in a host of other countries. It provides housing, education, healthcare, various other community-building initiatives and is now working with the Ministry of Justice to create the UK’s first Secure School. Steve is also an author, speaker, former UN Special Advisor on Human Trafficking, a Baptist minister, and the founding minister of Oasis Church Waterloo in central London – a place of inclusion where all are welcome. He holds an MBE and various honorary fellowships, all awarded for his work in social inclusion and justice. Learn more about Steve Chalke.

April 12, 2024: David Taylor

David Taylor: Associate Professor of Theology and Culture at FullerDavid Taylor

Windows on the World (April 12th at 10 a.m.): “Anger, Profanity, and the Therapeutic Rhetoric of Violence in the Psalms. Are the curse psalms off limits for Christians, as many have alleged throughout history? Are they not directly contrary to the peaceable kingdom that Christ preached? Or might there be a good therapeutic purpose to praying these angry, seemingly profane poems? In this talk, Dr. Taylor suggests that, prayed rightly, they point to a way out of slavery to revenge and into the freedom of forgiveness.

W. David O. Taylor is Associate Professor of Theology and Culture at Fuller Theological Seminary and the author of several books, including Prayers for the Pilgrimage (IVP, 2024), A Body of Praise (Baker Academic, 2023), Open and Unafraid (Thomas Nelson/HarperCollins, 2020), Glimpses of the New Creation (Eerdmans, 2019), and The Theater of God’s Glory (Eerdmans, 2017). He has also written for The Washington Post, Image Journal, Religion News Service, Theology Today, and Christianity Today, among others. An Anglican priest, he has lectured widely on the arts, from Thailand to South Africa. In 2016 he produced a short film on the psalms with Bono and Eugene Peterson. He lives with his family in Austin, Texas, and you can usually find him on Twitter trying to stay as sane as possible (@wdavidotaylor). Learn more about David Taylor.