TRS – Dr. Ambrose Thomson

At this week’s Theological Research Seminar, Dr. Ambrose Thomson will be presenting, “How to Live in Mordor: Christian Freedom in the Age of Irresistible Means.”

Read the abstract and his bio below.

All are welcome to attend in Camelford Hall (room 226) at McMaster Divinity College at 1:00pm or via livestream at the link below:

Join the Livestream
Password: z00m (Note that the password has zeros rather than “o”)

Abstract

Everyone knows that we live in a technological age and almost everyone by now has a love hate relationship with technology. It seems to give us many benefits, but it also seems to create conditions of life that make us “feel thin, sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread,” to use Bilbo’s phrase from The Lord of the Rings. Like the effect of Bilbo’s Ring, this effect of technology is associated with its irresistibility. Technology enslaves the world with its power, and yet the promise of the Gospel is freedom from every power that contests the authority of God in Christ. How, then, are we to live in the shadow of Mordor? Even if we wanted to, we cannot reject the use of technology unless we completely depart from the world. The path of Christian faithfulness must be carved here, in the midst of this technological age; we have no other choice. This paper is about how technology competes with Sabbath as a solution to the problem of human work and about how a robust practice of Sabbath, therefore, can be an antidote to technology’s enslaving power.

Bio

Ambrose joined McMaster Divinity College in 2024. He lives in Hamilton with his wife, Melissa, and their three daughters. In his faculty role, he has a passion for teaching believers about the Old Testament foundation of Gospel faith. His dissertation focused on the Old Testament’s theology of Yahweh’s presence with Israel and how it informs Paul’s teachings about the Spirit in the life of the Church.

About TRS

The MDC Theological Research Seminar (TRS) is a bimonthly gathering for all MDC students and faculty. TRS meets from 1:00 PM to 1:50 PM on alternating Wednesdays, and includes about thirty minutes for the paper presentation and twenty minutes for discussion.

All advanced degree students are invited to present a paper and share your research with your colleagues. TRS is an excellent opportunity to “test drive” a paper you will be presenting at an upcoming conference and receive helpful feedback on your current research projects. Thinking about submitting an article to a journal and want some interaction first? TRS will provide it. Just published an article or an essay and want to share it us? TRS is an excellent opportunity to broadcast it.

This year the organizing committee consists of Dr. James Dvorak, Dr. Phil Zylla, and Dr. Gord Heath. To submit a paper, contact a member of the organizing committee.