Published on September 29, 2015 by Jack Brymer  
Roger Olson portrait

Roger Olson, the Foy Valentine Professor of Christian Theology and Ethics at Truett Theological Seminary of Baylor University, will deliver the annual Holley-Hull Lectures Oct. 7–8 sponsored by Samford University.

Olson will deliver the first lecture at Vestavia Hills Baptist Church Wednesday, Oct. 7, at 6 p.m. on “A Relational View of God’s Sovereignty.”

He will speak at Samford Thursday, Oct. 8. at 10 a.m. in Reid Chapel. His topic will be “Why I Still Call Myself ‘Evangelical” in Spite of Everything, or Evangelicalism Is Dead; Long Live Evangelicalism.”

Also Thursday at 3 p.m., Olson will speak in Brooks Hall Auditorium on “Should a Christian Ever Act As If God Does Not Exist?” This program will be part of the Faculty Shop Talk series.

Olson holds degrees from Rice University, North American Baptist Seminary and Open Bible College. He has written extensively for such publications as Christian Century and Christianity Today. His recent books include The Story of Christian Theology: Twenty Centuries of Tradition and Reform, which won the God Medallion Award from the Evangelical Christian Publisher Association in 1999, and Who Needs Theology? with Stanley J. Grenz.

Olson is past president of the American Theological Society (Midwest Division) and has been cochair for two years of the Evangelical Theology Group of the Religion.

Hosted by the Samford department of religion and directed by Samford religion professor James Barnette, the Howard L. and Martha H. Holley Lectures—New Testament Voices for a Contemporary World honor the late William E. Hull, former Samford provost, university professor and research professor. Hull wrote widely on Christian themes, authoring more than 20 books.

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 6,101 students from 45 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.