Conference theme: Receiving Redemption
How do we receive the blessings and benefits of the salvation that is achieved through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ? The 2025 Los Angeles Theology Conference will focus on soteriology, giving special attention to the way salvation is received by human persons and communities. In dialogue with Scripture and the Christian tradition, LATC seeks to develop constructive theology for today.
Plenary Speakers
Frederick Bauerschmidt
Loyola University
"Gift and Growth in the Christian Life"
Julie Canlis
Regent College
"Conformed to his image: Recapitulating Christ in the Church Calendar"
J. Todd Billings
Western Theological Seminary
"From Sheol to Temple: A Theology of Healing for Pilgrims on the Way"
Kathryn Tanner
Yale Divinity School
"Unconditional Grace and the Problem of Reception"
Andrew Davison
Oxford University
"God's good work brought to completion: What does it mean to receive salvation?"
Short papers
- Kyle Barton (Baylor University): "The Human Among the Animals: Deification as Human Distinctiveness"
- Aaron Davis (University of St Andrews): "Justification by Faith? Lessons from Profound Cognitive Disability"
- Fellipe do Vale (Trinity Evangelical Divinity School): “'Sin Consists Not in the Things Themselves, but in the Unlawful Use of Them:' An Approach to the Moral Analysis of Contextual Goods"
- Tom Dove (University of Aberdeen): "Confessing conversion: the astonishing reality of Christian existence"
- Sherelle Ducksworth (Anderson University): "A Trinitarian Approach to Grace"
- Charles C. Helmer IV (Independent Scholar): “Out of the Depths I Cry: Augustine, the Gospel, and the Ears of God”
- Cambria Kaltwasser (Northwestern College): “Friendship and Sanctification: A Protestant Account of Growth in the Christian Life”
- Christina Larsen (independent scholar): "Receiving the Blessed God"
- Jacqueline Service (Charles Sturt University): "Kenosis of the Spirit and the Dynamics of Salvation”
- Austin Stevenson (Palm Beach Atlantic University): "Working Habits in Us Without Us: On Theological and Moral Virtue”
- Koert Verhagen (Taylor University): "Being in Response: The Role of Gratitude in Reconciliation"
- Alex R. Wendel (New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary): "What's Love Got To Do With It? The Procession of the Spirit and the Reception of Redemption"
Schedule
Wednesday, March 12
- 7:00pm: Welcome, Plenary 1
Thursday, March 13
- 9:00am: Plenary 2
- 10:30am: Break
- 11:00am: Parallel Session 1
- 12:00pm: Lunch
- 1:30pm: Parallel Session 2
- 2:30pm: Break
- 3:00pm: Parallel Session 3
- 4:00pm: Plenary 3
- 5:30pm: Dinner
Friday, March 14
- 9:00am: Plenary 4
- 10:30am: Break
- 11:00am: Parallel Session 4
- 12:00pm: Lunch
- 1:30pm: Plenary 5
- 3:00pm: Plenary Panel, Closing Remarks
- 4:00pm: Dismissal
Conference Organizers
Fred Sanders (PhD, Graduate Theological Union) is professor of theology in the Torrey Honors Institute at Biola University in La Mirada, California. He is author of numerous books including The Triune God in the New Studies in Dogmatics series; The Deep Things of God: How the Trinity Changes Everything; Union with Christ and the Life of Faith; The Holy Spirit: An Introduction; Fountain of Salvation: Trinity and Soteriology; and Dr. Doctrines’ Christian Comix. He is coeditor of Jesus in Trinitarian Perspective: An Introductory Christology and Retrieving Eternal Generation. He is co-founder of the annual Los Angeles Theology Conference.
Uche Anizor (PhD, Wheaton College) is associate professor of biblical and theological studies at Talbot School of Theology at Biola University. He is the author of Kings and Priests: Scripture's Theological Account of Its Readers, Overcoming Apathy: Gospel Hope for Those Who Struggle to Care and How to Read Theology: Engaging Doctrine Critically and Charitably.
