Akademia’s NP van Wyk Louw Centre had the privilege to host the annual Theology and Philosophy Conference that took place from 22 until 23 July on the Leriba Campus in Centurion again this year.

Various ministers, pastors and academics, including three international speakers form the USA – Prof. Richard Howe, Dr Carrey Walton and Dr Joe Bergeron. Students and members of the public also attended this insightful session.

According to Dr Daniël Maritz, manager of the NP van Wyk Louw Centre, the goal of the conference is to recover the close connection between theology and philosophy. “In the long history of the Christian faith, theology and philosophy has always been two cherished disciplines which are supportive of each other. However, this relationship is waning in modern society and therefore the coherence between the disciplines must be regained,” Maritz mentions.

At the conference various core themes were discussed, including the legacy of Thomas Aquinas, as important figure and pioneer within the theology and philosophy disciplines, as well as cosmology and Biblical interpretation.

Maritz emphasises the importance of Akademia and more specifically the NP van Wyk Louw Centre due to the fact that Akademia will hopefully, in the future, present a Theology programme. “An annual conference that touches on these important themes already sets the table to make something of our vision for the theology concrete and to touch on the relevance thereof.”

Maritz mentions that because there were so many people who acted as speakers and attended the event shows that there is definitely a need to reflect on the deeper themes. “We are grateful for such a successful event and look forward to hosting many more of these conferences in future, which are serviceable to the disciplines of theology and philosophy,” Maritz concludes.