Professor Jay Johnson, PhD, is our 2020 Boswell Lecturer!

The 13^th Annual | 2020 CLGS John E. Boswell Lecture

Enfleshing Eros, Healing Earth: A Queerly Christian Performance of Ecological Renewal in Three Acts

Video Recording of the Lecture is Available Here!

Rev. Dr. Jay Johnson & Judah

Decades of religious debate concerning sexuality and gender have surfaced rich theological insights well beyond questions of inclusion for LGBTQ-identified people, including the vital significance of erotic desire for thinking and speaking about God.  Queer people of (Christian) faith can extend that insight toward other animals and ecosystems in a wider movement of ecological renewal.

This lecture frames such hopefulness with the baptism of Jesus and the image of a river—an image that both opens and closes the Christian canon of Scripture, first for life (Gen. 2:9-10) and then for healing (Rev. 22:2).

Rev. Dr. Jay Emerson Johnson is Professor of Theology and Culture at Pacific School of Religion.