Two honorary doctorates will be awarded on the Dies Natalis
During the opening of the academic year of Utrecht Theological University on Friday 6 September 2024, the Rector Magnificus announced that two honorary doctorates will be awarded on the Dies Natalis on 6 December to mark the university’s 34nd lustrum.
An honorary doctorate will be awarded to the Canadian Dr. Karin Maag of Calvin University and Calvin Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Dr. Karin Yvonne Maag received her PhD from the University of St. Andrews (1994), Scotland, where she subsequently taught and worked as a research fellow. From 1997 to the present, she has been director of the H. Henry Meeter Center for Calvin Studies in Grand Rapids, Michigan. She taught as a full professor in the History Department at Calvin University and currently teaches at Calvin Theological Seminary. Her leadership of the well-known institute for Reformation research in North America is characterized by the continuous organization of courses and conferences, the offer of various scholarships to attract researchers, the hospitality and the musicality that give the Meeter Center such a unique profile.
In her own research and publications, she focuses on higher education, the training of pastors, and worship in sixteenth-century Geneva and French church history. As president of the International Congress for Calvin Research, she is the personification of academic cooperation in this field between North America and Europe.
Karin Maag is the first female honorary doctor of Utrecht Theological University and will receive the honorary doctorate because she has made such a significant contribution to Calvin research, both in terms of content and organization.
The other honorary doctorate will be awarded to South African theologian Dr Craig Bartholomew. Craig Bartholomew is a versatile theologian. He is an expert and authoritative practitioner in various fields of theology and philosophy. An emphasis is on biblical studies, hermeneutics, philosophy and ethics. Bartholomew is also an independent contemporary representative and interpreter of Neocalvinism in the tradition of Abraham Kuyper. He is important for the connection of this tradition with contemporary theological movements, especially among ‘evangelicals’. In addition, he connects the Neocalvinist tradition with postmodern challenges. He also shares the Neocalvinist emphasis on the concept of ‘worldview’ and contributes to the concretization of a Christian worldview in various cultural contexts.
With these accents, Bartholomew appears to be related to the theological practice of TU Utrecht. Similarities concern his exegetical craftsmanship, his combination of faithfulness to Scripture and openness to hermeneutical challenges, his connection of theology to other areas of life and his neo-Calvinist affinity. That is why it is fitting that the Theological University of Utrecht honours him with a doctorate.
