“If Christ does everything for us, how should we understand the importance of human reception?” Kathryn Tanner at LATC 2025

Kathryn Tanner, the Frederick Marquand Professor of Systematic Theology at Yale Divinity School, will be delivering a plenary address at the Los Angeles Theology Conference (March 12-14). Registration is still open, so join us for this excellent spring conference located in sunny Southern California and featuring a wide range of participants from all around the USA, Europe, and Australia.

Q: LATC 2025’s theme is Receiving Redemption, and it focuses on how salvation is received by human persons and communities. Why is this aspect of soteriology worth close theological attention?

A: I think this question of human reception has a crucial bearing on all sorts of other theological issues—who Christ is, how Christ works, the nature of grace, and so on. It shouldn’t be neglected, therefore.

Q: The title of your plenary address is “Unconditional Grace and the Problem of Reception.” How will you be approaching the conference theme?

A: I’m trying to work through very carefully how to resolve tensions between what I call ‘Christ maximalism’ and the importance of human reception in salvation. If Christ does everything for us, how should we understand the importance of human reception?

Q: Can you describe how this new talk fits in with your previous theological work?

A: This plenary address is a follow-up to some of the arguments I make about grace in my book Christ the Key.

Q: What are you looking forward to at the conference? Are there any papers or issues that have especially caught your eye?

A: I’m looking forward to seeing some old—and new!—friends.