Reimagining Christian Identity: Ontology, Truth, and Practice in a Not-So-Secular Age of Empire

James J. Londis & Family Lecturer

Dr. James K. A. Smith (Professor of Philosophy, Calvin University)

Respondents: Tihomir Lazic (Newbold College), Zane Yi (Loma Linda University), and Michael Younker (Office of Archives, Statistics, and Research)

Date: November 19th, 2026 | Venue: Colorado Convention Center, Denver, MA 

Time: 8:30am - 5:30pm 

Session 1: Christian Identity Challenged inside Empire

8:45-9:30am - Abigail Doukhan, "Babel’s Renegade: A Levinasian Reading of Abraham’s Exilic Journey out of Empire"

9:30-10:15am - Jakub Lecki, "The Latter Rain as a Paradigm-Disrupting Witness: Reimagining Christian Identity through Plato and Kuhn"

Session 2: Christian Ethics Reimagined under Empire

10:30-11:15am - Jayden Samiadji, "A Secular Defense of Christian Universalism? Alain Badiou’s Reading of Paul"”

11:15-12:00pm - Michael Swenson, "The Moral Ecology of Algorithms: Christian Identity and the Ethics of AI-Mediated Formation"

Session 3: Christian Hope Rekindled within Empire

1:00-1:45pm - Philip Clayton, "The Elpidic Turn: Liberatory Hope and Revolutionary Resistance as Prophetic Imaginaries"

1:45-2:30pm - Grace Oei, "Truth in the Age of Biopower: Resisting Ideology Through Struggle and Community"

2:30-3:15pm - Timothy Golden, “When Rivers Are Left Alone: A Poetic Reckoning with the Techne of Onto-Theology”


Session 4 (3:30-5:30pm): James Londis & Family Lectureship

James J. Londis & Family Lecturer: James K. A. Smith (Professor of Philosophy, Calvin University) 

Respondents: Tihomir Lazic, Zane Yi, and Michael Younker