Christianity vs. Alternative Spiritualities / Dr. Mike McClymond

This equipping event is being brought to you by ReThink315 in partnership with The Journey Church (West County). This is event five of six in a series. All teens – adults welcome.

TOPIC: Christianity vs. Alternative Spiritualities
SPEAKER: Dr. Michael McClymond

QUESTION: All beliefs are not the same — but how exactly are they different?

In a culture that often says “all paths lead to the same place,” it’s important to understand what Christianity actually claims — and how those claims compare to other religions, spiritual movements, and secular worldviews.

Dr. McClymond will offer a respectful and thoughtful comparison of major belief systems, highlighting where they overlap and where they diverge. What makes Christianity unique? What makes it compelling? And how do we engage others without arrogance or compromise?

You’ll leave better prepared to navigate real conversations with clarity, humility, and conviction.

SPEAKER BIO:

Michael McClymond, MA, PhD
Saint Louis University, ReThink315 Advisory Board

Michael McClymond is Professor of Modern Christianity at Saint Louis University. He was educated at Northwestern University (B.A.), Yale University (M.Div.), and the University of Chicago (M.A., Ph.D.), and has held teaching or research appointments at Wheaton College (IL), Westmont College, the University of California–San Diego, Emory University, Yale University, and University of Birmingham (UK). He has written or edited ten volumes on Christian theology, comparative religions, and biblical studies, including Familiar Stranger: An Introduction to Jesus of Nazareth (2004) and—co-written with Gerald McDermott—The Theology of Jonathan Edwards (2012). This last was chosen from more than 400 titles as Theology/Ethics Book of the Year by Christianity Today magazine. This work on Jonathan Edwards has been translated in its entirety into Korean, and is being translated into Portuguese. McClymond edited the Encyclopedia of Religious Revivals in America, 2 vols. (2007), and co-edited—with the late Lamin Sanneh of Yale University—the Wiley-Blackwell Companion to World Christianity (2016). He has done field investigation of Pentecostalism in Mozambique and in Brazil. In 2012, he was Senior Scholar-in-Residence at the Overseas Ministries Study Center. His latest work is The Devil’s Redemption: A New History and Interpretation of the Christian Debate Over Universal Salvation, 2 vols. (2018), which won the Academic Theology Book of the Year Award from The Gospel Coalition and was chosen by the American Library Association as an Outstanding Academic Title. He served as Co-Chair of both the Evangelical Studies Group and the Pentecostal-Charismatic Movements Group in the American Academy of Religion (AAR). An Anglican layman, McClymond has been a leader in Global Day of Prayer, Habitat for Humanity, and Stepping Into the Light (a substance abuse recovery ministry in St. Louis). His daughter, Sarah, graduated from college in 2020, and is an artist who lives in Seattle.