In The Johannine Renaissance in Early English Literature and Theology the American scholar Paul Cefalu found that the Gospel of John inspired a deep, creative response to the transformative yet often traumatic events of the Renaissance, Reformation, and Counter-Reformation in Europe. In these Costan Lectures, which spring from more than twenty years work on The Gospel of John. A Theological Commentary (2021), David Ford asks what a Johannine renaissance might be like in our twenty-first century world. He engages with and improvises upon three key elements of the Gospel of John: the horizon of God and all reality, as introduced in the Prologue; Jesus Christ, the drama of whose incarnation, life and teaching, death and resurrection, is central; and the ongoing drama of life inspired by the Holy Spirit.

The Costan Lectures 2022 schedule:

• Lecture 1: Worldview (5 pm to 630pm on Tuesday, 1st November)
• Lecture 2: Jesus (5 pm to 6:30 pm on Wednesday, 2nd November)
• Lecture 3: Spirituality (6pm to 7:30 pm on Thursday, 3rd November)

Reception on Nov 1st

There will be a reception immediately following the lecture on Tuesday, November 1 in the LPER Foyer. The reception is only open to individuals with tickets for that evening's lecture.

About the Lecturer

David F. Ford OBE is Regius Professor of Divinity Emeritus in the University of Cam-bridge, a Fellow of Selwyn College, and a Reader in the Church of England. He is married to Revd Deborah Ford (née Hardy), who is an Anglican priest and a psychotherapist; and they have three children, Rebecca, Rachel and Daniel, and three grandchildren. He chairs Lyn’s House (the Cambridge Friendship Trust) and Faith in Leadership, co-chairs the Rose Castle Foundation, is a Vice-President of the Bible Society, and serves on a range of boards relating to theology, education, learning disability, and interfaith relations. He has just completed a twenty-year project with the publication of The Gospel of John. A Theological Commentary. Other publications include: A Kind of Upside-Downness: Learn-ing Disabilities and Transformational Community, co-edited with Deborah Hardy Ford and Ian Randall; The Drama of Living; The Shape of Living; Theology: A Very Short Intro-duction; Christian Wisdom: Desiring God and Learning in Love; Shaping Theology: Engage-ments in a Religious and Secular World; The Modern Theologians. An introduction to Christian Theology since 1918 (3 Editions); and Self and Salvation: Being Transformed. He has been a theological adviser to three Archbishops of Canterbury (Runcie, Carey, Welby), and has honorary doctorates from the universities of Birmingham, Dev Sanskriti Vishwavisyalaya (Haridwar), Aberdeen and Bolton.

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