The Bethel College Bible Lecture series has been in existence since 1914.
Starting in 1951, the lecture series has been endowed by the Hartzler Foundation, established by the late Dr. and Mrs. John Ellsworth Hartzler. J.E. Hartzler was president of Bethel College from 1920-21 and was himself a lecturer in this series in 1961. These occasional lectures relate to subjects of general biblical, historical, theological and philosophical interest. They are free and open to the public.
Upcoming lectures
Liturgy and the Apocalypse
Worship Marks Us
Melissa Archer
Nov. 10, 2019, 7 p.m., and Nov. 11, 2019, 11 a.m. – Krehbiel Auditorium in Luyken Fine Arts Center
Melissa Archer is chair of the department and associate professor of biblical studies at Southeastern University in Lakeland, Fla. She has a B.A. in English and secondary education from Ashland (Ohio) University, an M.A. in biblical studies from Ashland Theological Seminary, a Th.M. in biblical studies from Columbia Theological Seminary in Decatur, Ga., and a Ph.D. from Bangor University in Wales, where her dissertation was entitled "'I Was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day': A Pentecostal Engagement with Worship in the Apocalypse." She will give the lectures to supplement the senior capstone course Basic Issues of Faith and Life, which has the New Testament book of Revelation as a common text in 2019-20.
Recent lectures
Migration in the Joseph Narrative: Integration, Separation and Transnationality
Ethnic Boundary Crossing as a Way of Resisting Tyranny and Oppression in Exodus 1-2
Safwat Marzouk
Nov. 4-5, 2018
Safwat Marzouk is associate professor of Old Testament/Hebrew Bible at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, Elkhart, Ind. He was invited to give the lectures to supplement the senior capstone course Basic Issues of Faith and Life, which had the Hebrew Bible book of Exodus as a common text in 2018-19.
Anabaptists, the Bible and Violence
Romans 12: Paul’s Sermon on the Mount?
Thomas R. Yoder Neufeld
Oct. 25-26, 2015
The topics of these two lectures were intended to make connections with the major texts (on the Sermon on the Mount) for the 2015-16 Bethel senior capstone course, Basic Issues of Faith and Life. Tom Yoder Neufeld is professor emeritus of religious studies (New Testament) at Conrad Grebel University College at the University of Waterloo (Ontario), where he taught for nearly 30 years.
Jesus and the Historians
Bart Ehrman, Durham, N.C.
Feb. 20, 2015
Bart Ehrman is chair of the department and professor of religious studies at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. An expert on the New Testament, he has written or edited 29 books, five of which have been on the New York Times bestseller list. He is featured widely in television, radio and print media as a spokesperson on Jesus and the history of early Christianity.
Learning from the Early Church
Alan Kreider, Elkhart, Ind.
Oct. 23-24, 2011
Kreider spoke on mission and peace in the early church, including a session on his reflections on The Rise of Christianity by Rodney Stark and the New Testament book of Acts, the major texts for the 2011-12 Bethel senior capstone class, Basic Issues of Faith and Life. Kreider was professor of church history and mission at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, Elkhart, Ind., 1999-2007.