The Vern Williams Memorial lecture will tonight be presented by Dr John Dickson – Australian thinker, writer, speaker and advocate for the Christian faith. John is also the presenter of the 2018 documentary film ‘For the Love of God: How the church is BETTER + WORSE than you ever imagined’ currently screening in cinemas nationally.

The topic of his talk is “The Historical Jesus: A Doubter’s Guide”.  The event will take place tonight (Thursday 19 July) in the Economics, Business, Law Lecture Theatre 1 (EBL1) at 7pm.

About the Vern Williams Memorial Lecture: The aim of this occasional lecture is to be an academic, Christian voice in the public square. Vern Williams was a long-term UNE staff member (1957 – 1987), a former Head of Department of Physiology, a keen academic, a keen Christian and a founding member of the University Chapel – St Marks uneChurch. Vern valued rigorous, honest and open debate on a variety of topics and especially as they related to the Christian faith. It was in this spirit that the annual memorial lecture was inaugurated a year before his passing.

About John Dickson (PhD): John works as an author, speaker, historian, senior pastor, and media presenter. He has published 15 books, three of which have become television documentaries. He teaches a course on the Historical Jesus at the University of Sydney, Australia, and researches the origins of Christianity in the Roman Empire. For 2017-18 he is also a Visiting Academic in the Faculty of Classics at Oxford University.  In all that he does, whether in the media or the church, creative or academic, he strives to be a public advocate for the Christian faith in secularising times.

Admission to the lecture is free and a light supper will be served afterwards.