Northwestern religion professor presents lecture

Northwestern College religion professor Dr. Michael Andres presented a workshop on Friday, Feb. 12, as part of the L’Abri Fellowship conference in Rochester, Minn.

Andres’ workshop, “Apologetics in the Age of Authenticity,” explored the relation of Gnosticism to the Romanticism of the Enlightenment period, and ways that this relationship shaped contemporary discussions of faith. “From a Pauline story of redemption of an inherent and entangling sin, ‘romantic self-expressivism’ weaves a narrative of escape from all the norms that oppress us,” says Andres. “We now live in an age of authenticity, as Charles Taylor calls it, in which the real me must get out to find true fulfillment.”

L’Abri is a fellowship that was founded in Switzerland in 1955 by Francis and Edith Schaeffer as a way to create a meeting place for people to find satisfying answers to their questions and practical demonstration of Christian care. The group called themselves L’Abri, which is a French word for “shelter,” because they sought to provide themselves with a safe haven from the pressures of an increasingly secular 20th century.

L’Abri has expanded across borders and time zones, with branches located in Australia, Brazil, Canada, England, Germany, Holland, Korea, Switzerland, Sweden, and two branches in the United States, located in Massachusetts and Minnesota.

A member of Northwestern’s faculty since 1998, Andres holds research interests in Christian community development, the theology and practice of holistic Christian witness, and the authentication of revelation.

A graduate of Arizona State University, Andres received a master’s degree from Reformed Theological Seminary before earning a doctorate from Kings College at the University of London.