Pacific Coast Theological Society, 1939 - present

Pacific Coast Theological Society, 1939 - present

The Pacific Coast Theological Society (then Group) was established by John C. Bennett  (1902-1995) and supported by the Hazen Foundation in 1939. Bennett, then Professor of Christian Theology at Pacific School of Religion,  was inspired by a similar organization on the East coast ("the younger theologians").

Since then,  the society continues to meet twice a year, in the Spring and Fall for two days (Friday and Saturday) to discuss critical theological and societal issues. Members and speakers have always been among the best regarded theologians on the West coast. The organization is based in Berkeley, California, and associated with the Graduate Theological Union. For a list by paper, lecturer and year through 1994 go to this site.  For more recent papers go to the PCTS website.

Below is a list by Topic and Date, 1939 - 1999. Most of the papers presented during this period are here.

Topic

Date

What is essential in the Christian religion?

1939 October 20-22

The Christian ethic - its basis and relevance

1940 April 12-13

The Church

1940 November 8-9

The Doctrine of God

1941 May 2-3

The Doctrine of man

1941 November 7-8

Religious epistemology

1942 April 17-18

The Incarnation

1942 October 30-31

Christianity and reconstruction

1943 April 30-May 1

New problems for Christian apologetics

1943 November 5-6

Theological evaluation of education

1944 April 28-29

Doctrine of grace

1944 November 10-11

Perfectionism

1945 April 20-21

The church and organized movements, Papers used for the second book in the Interseminary Series.: BV600.M52 1946

1945-1946

Authority and religion

1946 November

Discipline and culture of spiritual life

1947 May

Psychology of religion

1947 November 7-8

Christian union

1948 April

Neo-orthodoxy. its nature and relevance (no papers survive)

1948 November

Church and state

1949 May

The authority of scripture

1949 November 4-5

Philosophies of history

1950 April 21-22

Mysticism and ethics

1950 November 3-4

Toward a Christian understanding of modern man

1951 April

The relevance of eschatology to the modern scene

1951 November

Jesus Christ: the hope of the world and of the church (no papers survived)

1952 May

The theological significance of Biblical criticism

1952 November 7-8

The Holy Spirit

1953 April 17-18

The Christian-theological synthesis of freedom and security

1953 November 6-7

Unity in Christ. division in the church

1954 April 23-24

The freedom of the Christian man – 1954

1954 November 12-13

The Christian church confronts the religions

1955 April

Religion and higher education

1955 November 4-5

Unity in faith and order: The Sacraments

1956 April 13-14

The promise and peril for the church in the current revival religion

1956 October 26-27

Paul Tillich

1957 April 26-27

Theological perspectives in contemporary literature

1957 November 1-2

Augustine

1958 April 11-12

Revelation and communication

1958 October 23-24

What has become of the Christian ethic?

1959 May 1-2

Immortality

1959 October 23-24

Sex and population

1960 April 29-30

Creation and eschatology

1960 November 4-5

The Bible as norm

1961 April 21-22

A re-evaluation of medieval theology

1961 November 3-4

A new quest of the historical Jesus

1962 April 13-14

A personal Christology

1962 November 2-3

Religious and theological language

1963 March 15-16

The new hermeneutic paper (believe cancelled due to Kennedy assassination)

1963 November 22-23

New directions in American theology

1964 April

A theology of the laity

1964 October 23-24

The problem of transcendence

1965 March 26-27

Homosexuality

1965 November 5-6

Teilhard de Chardin

1966 April 29-30

Christianity as a religion

1966 November 4-5

New directions for interpreting the sacraments

1967 March 31-April 1

Current ferment in communication

1967 November 17-18

Hope

1968 April 19-20

Christian theology and world religions: new perspectives

1968 November 15-16

Dimensions of contemporary dialogue

1969 April 25-26

Theology and violence, non-violence, social change

1969 November 21-22

The religious dimensions of revolution

1970 May 1-2

The resurrection of Jesus Christ as the center of Christian thought and experience

1970 November 20-21

Death

1971 May 7-8

Homo faber, Homo agens, Homo loquens

1971 November 5-6

From theology to ethics

1972 April 21-22

Issues in contemporary dialogue of Christianity with other religions

1972 November 10-11

Reinhold Niebuhr

1973 April 13-14

A theology of liberation

1974 May 10-11

Religious Language

1974 November 22-23

The Heritage of H. Richard Niebuhr

1975 May 21-22

American theology

1975 November 21-22

American Bicentennial: A theological perspective

1976 March 19-20

Christian identity in a time of pluralism

1976 November 19-20

Theology and current developments in depth psychology

1977 April 15-16

The nature and function of the theological task today - and how it relates to my own work

1977 November 18-19

Commitment. objectivity and truth

1978 April 21-22

Religion East and West

1978 November 17-18

Feminist theology and the Christian symbol system

1979 April 6-7

Theology and sexuality

1979 November 2-3

Three theological biographies (Paul Tillich, Simone Weill, Karl Barth)

1980 April 11-12

Themes in science and religion

1980 November 21-22

Theology, ethics and politics

1981 April 10-11

The origin and future of Christianity

1981 November 20-21

Comparative perspectives: meaning and impact

1982 April 2-3

Religious thought in the United States (1850-1950): Its influence today

1982 November 12-13

Revisionist philosophies of science and theology

1983 April 15-16

Norman Gottwald's The Tribes of Yahweh

1983 November 11-12

Theology and the arts

1984 April 13-14

Rahner,  Lonergan, and Schillebeeckx – reconsidered

1984 November 9-10

Paul Ricoeur: Theological Appropriation and Assessment

1985 April 19-20

Third World Theologies Revisited: Africa, Asian and Latin America

1985 November 15-16

The theology of Elisabeth Schussler Fiorenza

1986 April 11-12

Theologies of culture

1986 November 14-15

Feminist ethicists

1987 April 10-11

Religion and theology in the works of Robert Bellah

1987 November 20-21

Religion and politics in America

1988 April 8-9

Religion and politics in global perspective

1988 November 4-5

Tradition and canon

1989 March 31-April 1

Where is theology going?

1989 November 10-11

The Reformations revisited

1990 April 20-21

The theology of John Cobb

1990 November 2-3

Feminist theology

1991 April 5-6

Polanyi and theology

1991 November 8-9

(canceled) Building bridges between theology and science

1992 April 3-4

Religion, morality, and the law

1992 November 7-8

World Parliament of Religions 100 years later

1993 April 2-3

A third quest for the historical Jesus?

1993 November 5-6

H. Richard Niebuhr centenary

1994 April 8-9

Genetics, theology and ethics         

1994 November 5-6

Theology and recent philosophy

1995 March 31-April 1

Feminist Theology

1995 November 3-4

Discipleship: spirituality and ethics

1996 April 12-13

Christian tradition and responsibility for the future:  or the challenge of the present

1996 November 1-2

Person and life

1997 April 4-5

Jurgen Moltmann

1997 October 31-November 1

Current historical theology

1998 April 17-18

Science and theology

1998 November 6-7

Imagination, vision, and theology

1999 April 9-10