Fall 2026 Programs

Seminar 1: Sept. 21 & 28, Oct. 5 & 12

KELLEN FUNK: MERCERSBURG THEOLOGY & PRINCETON'S RESPONSE

This seminar will explore the orientation to history and theology known as the "Mercersburg Theology" of John Williamson Nevin (1803–1886) and Philip Schaff (1819-1893), particularly as it came into conflict with the "Princeton Theology" of Charles Hodge (1797-1878), the magisterial Reformed theologian of Princeton Seminary and Nevin's former teacher. There are no prerequisites, and most of the seminar will be devoted to reading together through the primary sources and discussing.

Kellen R. Funk (PhD, Princeton University), the Michael E. Patterson Professor of Law at Columbia University, is a legal historian with expertise in civil procedure and remedies. He has written on the history of civil litigation practices in the United States, the development and reform of the American bail system, and the jurisprudence of churches and religious groups.

Seminar 2: Oct. 26, Nov. 2 & 9 & 16

JORDAN B. COOPER: REFORMATION MISCONCEPTIONS

How did the Protestant Reformers think about the canon of Scripture? The Fathers? The role of the Church in reading Scripture? This seminar will focus on how the Reformers talked about themselves, through primary sources, moving past easy and cheesy simplifications. No prerequisites, and most of the seminar will be devoted to reading together through the primary sources and discussing.

Jordan Cooper is an ordained Lutheran pastor, the Executive Director of Just & Sinner, Fellow of Systematic Theology at the Weidner Institute, and the Chair of Lutheran Dogmatics at the American Lutheran Theological Seminary. He also serves as Campus Minister in Residence with Lutheran Student Fellowship at Cornell University, and is a regular speaker to a variety of other campus groups at the university.

Tuesday Reading Group

CONDUCTING SCIENCE WITH A CONSCIENCE

This weekly reading group meets 12:15-1:30pm Tuesdays.

Reading Dark Sun: The Making of the Hydrogen Bomb by Richard Rhodes. In his comprehensive account of the creation of the hydrogen bomb, Rhodes not only summarizes the technological issues that had to be overcome but puts it in the framework of history and politics. Such a perspective is critical in developing an informed opinion on what remains perhaps the biggest challenge to our existence.

Dr. Robert Kaita spent nearly forty years at the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory on the development of nuclear fusion as a potentially clean and abundant source of energy. Fusion is the basis of thermonuclear weapons as well, and several of his students have joined the US Department of Energy’s national laboratories that are dedicated to the maintenance and modernization of the country’s nuclear arsenal. Bob has also been a longtime advisor to Princeton’s Graduate Christian Fellowship.