Illahee Lectures in Portland, Oregon
I am in Portland, Oregon this week to give a lecture titled “Who Was Jesus?” as part of the Illahee Lecture Series. This fascinating and prestigious lecture series is in its ninth year and draws a local audience close to a thousand folks. I wanted to mention this since we have readers who live in the Portland area, but also to give some attention to this most interesting endeavor. Each year a different theme is chosen and there is a fascinating archive of past themes, speakers, and topics with full summaries on the content of their talks. The overall theme this year is “Why We Believe What We Believe.” My lecture is the fifth in a series of six covering topics such as “Born to Believe,” “Why We Buy,” “Why We Fight?” “Why We Die for It,” and “Letting Go of God.” My lecture is tonight, Tuesday, at 7:30 at the historic First Congregational Church downtown Portland. A summary will be posted thereafter. I plan to give a comprehensive overview of the Quest for the Historical Jesus and its current state of progress as I understand it.