Symposium 2016 to explore reliability of Bible manuscripts and relevance of the Bible

Daniel Wallace  Download Photo

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Symposium 2016, an annual event exploring faith, reason and life, will welcome Daniel B. Wallace, a New Testament expert, author and executive director of the Center for the Study of New Testament Manuscripts.

The title of the Feb. 5-6 symposium, which is free and open to the public, is "The Book that Changed the World" and includes a keynote address by Wallace titled "How Badly has the Bible Been Corrupted?"

"The Symposium is an annual event at Purdue, drawing thousands from the campus, community and surrounding region," said event organizer Corey Miller, president of Ratio Christi and adjunct professor of philosophy and comparative religions at Indiana University-Kokomo. "Led by multiple campus ministries and churches, its purpose is to explore and debate some of the most probing questions about faith, reason, and life via panel discussions, lectures and debates."

The two-day symposium will begin with Wallace's keynote at 7 p.m. on Feb. 5 in Elliott Hall of Music, followed by a question-and-answer session.

The event also will include a Bible manuscript exhibit and feature a 92-foot-long, three-century-old Torah scroll. The manuscript exhibit is open to the public 4-7 p.m. Feb. 5 at Elliott Hall. During the event, a Purdue physics professor who is Jewish is scheduled to read from the historic manuscript.

Day two features a plenary session by Wallace titled, "The Book You Have Never Heard of That Changed the West - 500 Years Ago," beginning at 10 a.m. More than a dozen breakout sessions are planned from 11:15 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in Lilly Hall on creation, human sexuality, Old Testament ethics, lost books of the Bible and a talk about what happens when an atheist opens the Bible.

"In my spiritual and academic journeys, I have learned that it is imperative for Christians to pursue truth at all costs," said Wallace, senior professor of NT Studies at Dallas Theological Seminary. "Textual criticism is needed for the New Testament because the originals no longer exist and because all manuscripts differ from each other to some degree since they are all handwritten."

Go to www.symposiachristi.com for a complete schedule of the event, speaker bios and session locations on campus.

Wallace has received numerous honors and awards, including the Henry C. Thiessen Award for best work in New Testament at Dallas Seminary, the William M. Anderson Scholarship Award for best work in the doctor of philosophy program at Dallas Seminary, an award for the best article in New Testament in Christianity Today's fourth annual volume of Best in Theology, and the Evangelical Press Association's award for the best critical book review of the year in 2012.

He graduated summa cum laude from Dallas Seminary in 1995 with a doctoral degree in New Testament studies.

Major event sponsors include Covenant Church, Ratio Christi, First Assembly Community Ministries and Faith Presbyterian Church. Gold sponsors are Campus House, Sunrise Christian Reformed Church, Evangelical Covenant Church, Bundy McNear Insurance Agency, Calvary Baptist Church, Upper Room, The Navigators, Faith West, Reformed University Fellowship, Dayton United Methodist Church, Purdue Chi Alpha Christian Fellowship, Purdue College Ministry, International Campus Ministry and Cru.

Silver sponsors are Riverside Community Church, Great Harvest Bread, Harvest Chapel, Stuart Boehning, Worldwide Discipleship Association and NeoVision Optical. Bronze sponsors are Immanuel Reformed Presbyterian Church, Jennifer O'Shea of Keller Williams, Lafayette Christian School, Lafayette Limo, Mark Cumberworth, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and Chick-fil-A.

Writers: Emily Sigg, 765-494-4719, esigg@purdue.edu

Phillip Fiorini, 765-496-3133, pfiorini@purdue.edu             

Sources: Corey Miller, 765-414-0993, coreymiller@ratiochristi.org 

Daniel Wallace, 214-887-5308, dwallace@dts.edu