CFP: Society of Christian Philosophers - 2026 Mountain-Pacific Meeting

Location

Loyola Marymount University (Los Angelos, CA)

Dates

May 28-30, 2026 (Thursday evening to Saturday evening)

Submission deadline

Feb 20, with notificaitons of acceptence sent by March 5

Conference theme – God, Meaning & Nature

We welcome submissions on any topic of interest to philosophers of religion. We especially welcome abstracts related to the conference theme.

The conference theme this year is God, Meaning & Nature. Does God’s existence make our lives more meaningful? Many have thought so, and one aspect of this pertains to our engagements with the natural world. For many theists, engaging with nature takes on a kind of spiritual significance. They find the world “charged with the grandeur of God,” as Hopkins put it. However, while this aspect of theistic spirituality is often important in the lives of practicing theists, it remains generally underexplored in the philosophy of religion today. This conference theme seeks to remedy that. We invite papers exploring various links between God, meaning, and nature.

We look forward to seeing abstracts that address this theme in part or in whole, or else some adjacent theme. This might include the following areas (plus many others besides):

·      The axiology of theism

·      Meaning in life/well-being/flourishing and its links to theism or specific religions

·      Nature-based spiritualities (theistic and non-theistic)

·      The relationship between God and the natural world (e.g., concurrentism vs. occasionalism)

·      Links between theism and environmental ethics

·      Links between specific religious traditions and environmental ethics

·      The intrinsic and/or final value of creatures in a theistic cosmos

·      Creation eschatology: The place of the created order in the life to come.

Submission

We invite anonymous single-spaced abstracts no longer than 300 words. Abstracts can be sent to the contact email as attachments. Please copy and paste in the subject line: “SCP SUBMISSION 2026 – [insert title of your paper]”

Paper sessions will be 50 minutes: 30 for talks, 20 for Q&A (no commentators).

Submissions will be accepted on a rolling basis, but papers sent by the deadline will be guaranteed consideration. 

The 2026 Mountain-Pacific Essay Prize

The abstract judged to be most promising will be awarded the 2026 Mountain-Pacific Essay Prize. This prize comes with a $300 honorarium, plus a longer session including a commentator. Naturally, this comes with an expectation that a paper will be sent to the commentator at least three weeks in advance. In evaluating this prize, priority will be given to abstracts addressing the conference theme, but note that this is not strictly a requirement.

We have no very precise definition of a promising abstract, but we envision the right blend of both expansive virtues such as creativity and impactfulness, and regulatory virtues such as rigor and care in argumentation.

Axiology of theism panel

We are seeking to include a panel on the axiology of theism. A recently burgeoning field, the axiology of theism asks, not whether God exists, but whether we should want him to, or whether his existence would somehow make our lives go better. We hope to develop a panel with four contributors and an extended session including time for interaction between panelists.

If you wish to be considered for this panel, please say so at the top of your abstract. If you are not chosen for the panel, you might still be offered an ordinary paper session.

Keynote

Thomas Ward (UT Austin)

Organizer

Brian Ballard (Loyola Marymount University)

Contact email

[email protected]