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 |