More than 30% of Christians with mental illnesses report that their churches made them feel that their conditions were the result of sin. Is depression a sin or result of one’s sins? Is depression an evil? Resident Scholar Jessica Coblentz will introduce popular and academic Christian interpretations of depression and argue for an alternative theological interpretation that moves beyond sin and evil.
Wednesday, April 5
7:00pm, Quad 264
Saint John’s University
Jessica Coblentz is a Ph.D. candidate in the Theology Department at Boston College, where she is completing a dissertation on depression and salvation. Her project is supported by a dissertation fellowship from the Louisville Institute, and by the Collegeville Institute, where she is a Resident Scholar and a Kilian McDonnell Fellow in Faith & Culture. She brings to theology over a decade of experience in national and diocesan Catholic religious education, parish young adult ministry, and campus ministry. She is also a member of the “Mental Health and Community” initiative at Saint John’s University School of Theology and Seminary.
