William Webb is professor of New Testament at Heritage Theological Seminary in Cambridge, Ontario (Canada). He has also written Returning Home: New Covenant and Second Exodus as the Context for 2 Corinthians 6:14--7:1 (Sheffield) and Slaves, Women and Homosexuals (IVP).









Finding God in Tough Texts: A Redemptive-Movement Hermeneutic
Thursday, February 12, 2009, 8:30am-10:00am, Sunset
At times Christians bump into some very disturbing passages within Scripture. We might call many of these "Tough Texts". For example, Exodus 21:20-21 permits slave masters to beat their slaves with a fair degree of severity and it does so by positively invoking (instead of rejecting) the notion of people as property. Is this the God we worship? This workshop session will explore a redemptive-movement hermeneutic (RMH) that should prove helpful in finding and sensing God even in these tough texts of Scripture. Okay, when was the last time you preached the slave-beating texts of Scripture?

The Role of the Bible in the Church Panel Discussion
Thursday, February 12, 2009,  2:30pm-4:00pm, Pacific Salon 3 
Including Randy Frazee, Scot McKnight, and Christopher Wright

Corporal Punishment Passages: How Should We Preach CP Texts Today?
Friday, February 13, 2009, 8:30am-10:00am, Sunset
From a parental perspective I could have alternatively titled this seminar, "A Perplexed Parent Ponders His Spanking Practices". This discussion is a fun one. Marilyn (my wife) and I have come on something of a stumbling-in-the-dark journey as parents. Who doesn't feel a little stretched after raising teenagers? Yet, we have also been progressing on a fascinating academic journey in our lives as we have struggled with how to teach and preach the CP texts in a hermeneutically responsible and cogent manner. In this session I will engage several approaches to the instructions of Scripture about corporal punishment that will hopefully renew an interest in putting them back into the forum of pulpit ministry and parental address.