The 2026 Don and Barbara Davis Colloquium on Christianity was held on on Friday, October 24 in the OSU Thompson Library. This year’s topic, "Christianity and Healing," explored the relationship between the "religious" and "medical," "health" and "disease," specifically focusing on views and practices that shape how Christians have thought about healing or engaged in healing practices in the present and past. Six speakers from universities around the country shared ideas on the theme, specifically focusing on views and practices that shape how Christians have thought about healing or engaged in healing practices in the past and present.

The first panel, “Histories of Christianity and Healing,” featured John Penniman, Helen Rhee, and Philipa Koch. The panel discussed the relationship of pharmacological power to divine power and drug efficacy to ritual efficacy; how early Christian communities constructed their own theologies of health and healthcare against the backdrop of the Greco-Roman world; and how 18^th century Protestants studied medicine as part of broader scientific interest in the natural world, shaped by their beliefs in God’s providence.

During the second panel, Alfredo Garcia Garza, Alai Reyes-Santos, and Nathanial Homewood spoke on “Ethnographies of Christianity and Healing.” The panel touched on the veneration of the magico-religious healer and miracle worker El Nino Fidencio at the US-Mexican border; the integration of Christianity with indigenous healing and ritual practices in the Dominican Republic; and theologies and politics of healing among Pentecostal preachers like Joel Osteen and Benny Hinn. 

The final session, moderated by David Brakke, addressed a wide-ranging set of cross-cultural, interdisciplinary topics, including questions about methodology and classification (what defines practices as Christian). Professor David Brakke stated, “the Davis Colloquium makes an exciting contribution to the understanding of Christianity by bringing together historians, ethnographers, theologians and others to study a single theme from a variety of perspectives. Looking at Christianity in different contexts and from varying perspectives underscores the rich diversity of this global religion.”

Reflecting upon this year's colloquium, CSR Director Professor Isaac Weiner stated, “the Davis Colloquium exemplified the CSR’s approach to the study of religion by bringing together faculty and students from across the university and beyond for conversations that transcended boundaries of time and place while remaining firmly grounded in rigorous historical and ethnographic research.” 

The annual Don and Barbara Davis Colloquium on Christianity is held every autumn semester at The Ohio State University thanks to generous support from Don and Barbara Davis. This year's colloquium was sponsored by the Department of Comparative Studies, the Center for the Study of Religion, the Department of History and the Humanities Institute.