At this week’s Theological Research Seminar, Jesse Hill will be presenting, “Worshipping the God who Sees: Revelatory Phenomena and Christian Liturgy” Read the abstract and his bio below.
All are welcome to attend in Hurlburt Hall (room 136) 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
This paper considers the idea of revelation in relation to the experience ordinary worshippers as they gather on Sunday morning. My argument is that Christian liturgy (of all styles and traditions) must and does engage with God’s self-revelation, and that to participate in a liturgical act is in some sense for a person to encounter revelation. But how exactly is revelation encountered, if it is encountered at all? To give a framework to this inquiry, I engage here with Jean-Luc Marion’s phenomenological concepts of saturation and revelation, as well as to Paul’s liturgical study of the phenomenon of prophecy in 1 Cor 14. Taken together, these two perspectives tell us something about how ordinary worshippers might experience God’s self-revelation on Sunday morning, leading to the possibility of further constructive theology.
Bio
Jesse is a second year PhD student in the ministry studies program. He is doing research in the area of low-church liturgical theology, and has related interests in the areas of phenomenology and secularization theory. Jesse also serves as the associate pastor at Philpott Church in Hamilton where he is particularly involved in worship and urban ministries. Jesse and his family have lived in Hamilton for nearly ten years, and enjoy making music, biking, and hiking.
About TRS
The MDC Theological Research Seminar (TRS) is a bimonthly gathering for all MDC students and faculty. TRS meets over the lunch hour on 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. Francis Pang, Dr. Phil Zylla, and Dr. Gord Heath. To submit a paper, contact a member of the organizing committee.