Spring Philosophy Forum Series to Feature Dr. Paul Gould Feb. 8

February 5, 2019

The spring 2019 Philosophy Forum series will begin Friday, Feb. 8, on the OBU campus in Shawnee. Dr. Paul Gould, author and lecturer, will deliver a talk themed, “Rediscovering the Discarded Image.” The event will take place from 4 to 5:15 p.m. inside Tulsa Royalties Auditorium in Bailey Business Center.

Gould’s talk will touch upon themes from his new book, titled, “Cultural Apologetics: Renewing the Christian Voice, Conscience, and Imagination in a Disenchanted World.” It is scheduled to release March 12 and will be published by Zondervan. He has authored or co-authored multiple books, including, “Stand Firm: Apologetics and the Brilliance of the Gospel,” “Four Views on Christianity and Philosophy,” “Philosophy: A Christian Introduction” and “The Outrageous Idea of the Missional Professor.”

Gould eagerly anticipates speaking during the Philosophy Forum.

“I'm looking forward to exploring how we can join with God to see and delight in reality as Jesus does,” he said. “We’ll explore two competing models of the universe: a disenchanted and enchanted way of looking at the world. We’ll get a bit technical in order to understand that the first way is largely neo-Humean and finds inspiration from the Enlightenment thinker David Hume. The second model is a return to the Great Tradition and common way of understanding the world that dominated Western thought through the Middle Ages. I affectionately call this model the Platonic-Aristotelian-Christian Model, or PAC-model, of the cosmos. We’ll end with some practical advice on how we can join with God to re-enchant the world.”

Dr. Tawa Anderson, assistant professor of philosophy and director of OBU’s honor program, organizes the Philosophy Forum series. He is excited about Gould’s new book on cultural apologetics and is thrilled that Gould is coming to OBU to give students and staff a sneak peek at the work.

“Paul Gould is not only a good friend and a brother in Christ; he is also an innovative and inspiring thinker, writer and speaker,” Anderson said “Dr. Gould's recent work is on re-introducing the Christian Gospel to our increasingly post-Christian society by engaging the social imagination of contemporary Americans. His goal is to establish the Christian voice, conscience and imagination within our culture so that Christianity might be seen as plausible, satisfying and, ultimately, true.”

Gould has a master’s degree in philosophy of religion and ethics from Talbot School of Theology and a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Purdue University. He travels, speaks and lectures widely at colleges and churches throughout the United States and serves as adjunct professor of philosophy for OBU's online M.A. in Christian Studies.

Gould previously served at Campus Crusade for Christ for 16 years and on the faculty at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary from 2014-18. He is also the founder of the Two Tasks Institute, dedicated to showing the reasonableness and desirability of Christianity by communicating the brilliance and beauty of Jesus and the Gospel in creative and compelling ways, to inspire, equip and collaborate with like-minded Christians to re-enchant the world.

The spring Philosophy Forum series will continue with events scheduled for March 1, April 5 and May 3.