I Knew When Written on My Heart:
Experience and the Knowledge of God
Wednesday, May 6, 7 p.m.
First Free Methodist Church
3200 Third Avenue W. (adjacent to campus)
The event is free, open to the public, and wheelchair accessible.
About the Lecture
Can an experience of the heart enable us to know God? How can we relate the intellectual claims of the Christian faith to the dynamics we experience on the way of salvation? In his sermons and other writings, John Wesley articulated a carefully defined and crucial role for such experiences. Communities in the Wesleyan tradition have tended to follow Wesley in valuing both the head and the heart, yet many believers sense a tension between them.
This lecture will explore the place of spiritual perception in Wesley’s understanding of how one comes to embrace the Christian faith. It will also consider the contemporary relevance of Wesley’s vision in the particular settings of congregational ministry and Christian educational institutions.
Doug Koskela, Keynote Speaker
Doug Koskela primarily teaches courses in systematic theology, vocation, and the University Foundations sequence. His areas of research interest include Wesleyan theology, epistemology of theology, vocation, and ecclesiology.
Dr. Koskela currently serves as president of the Wesleyan Theological Society. He is also a member of the American Academy of Religion and the Committee on Free Methodist History and Archives.
Dr. Koskela has authored two books, including the recent Calling and Clarity: Discovering What God Wants for Your Life (Eerdmans, 2015). He has also published numerous articles and book chapters. He is an ordained elder in the Pacific Northwest Conference of the Free Methodist Church.
Rob McKenna, Respondent
Dr. Rob McKenna is chair and associate professor of the Department of Industrial-Organizational Psychology at SPU.
Paul T. Walls
Paul T. Walls spent 31 years on SPU’s Board of Trustees and was known for his integrity and financial acumen. A successful career in real estate cultivated his ability to help manage the growth of Seattle Pacific from a college into a university. So too did his life of strong and active service to the Free Methodist Church at both local and national levels.
Before his death in 1998, Paul and his wife, Vera, established an educational foundation to help students realize a seminary education that provides the intellectual and spiritual leadership to stimulate and strengthen the denomination into the future.