The Scripture&Theology Forum

The Scripture & Theology panel will reconvene at the University of St. Andrews (Scotland), June 19-23, 2023, as part of the annual conference European Academy of Religion (EuARe). Since 2019, this study group has been active at the EuARe meetings. The panel has engaged with a wide range of topics touching on the relationship between Scripture and theology, including Scripture, theology and science (2021) and the diversity of hermeneutical approaches (2022). This year, we invite contributions in response to the following two calls for papers:

Call Area 1 | Just Peace: Hermeneutical Reflections on Current Issues

Churches and confessional traditions have often been engaged in conflicts motivated by either religious or political premises. Accordingly, many contemporary theologies can claim only limited success in their efforts to conciliate conflict, avoid violence, stop war, and promote peace worldwide. Living in a turbulent age, where violence and war seem to be proliferating, theology needs to dive deeply into the Bible, as well as the broader, early Christian tradition, to offer better ways of dealing with issues such as just war, “holy” violence, and peacemaking. For this to happen, theology must address its own hermeneutical and historical shortcomings. This is a crucial ‘first step’ in formulating a theory of ‘just peace’ that might counter contemporary tendencies towards violence and war.

This is no easy task. For deep hermeneutical re-consideration is required, rather than merely re-presenting existing biblical and theological views. This is necessary if a more robust ‘hermeneutics of peace’ is to be achieved. Such a hermeneutic can be understood, on the one hand, as the art of bringing existing events, texts, and contexts under hermeneutical scrutiny, so as to lead to new understandings which lend themselves to reconciliation. Relatedly, and on the other hand, a ‘hermeneutics of peace’ recognizes the role that interpretation plays in the emergence and development of confession premises and concepts.

Our panel aims to address a wide range of hermeneutical challenges facing contemporary biblical interpretation and theology. For us, the hermeneutical challenge is about how one’s way of narrating the Christian tradition opens up new possibilities for fruitful engagement about how one reads Scripture (with an eye to its embedded context) out of a concern for its application in the 21st century. Attention to hermeneutical diversity provides an excellent opportunity for gaining new insight, exploring new ideas, and learning how to allow the past to speak afresh for our moment. Along these lines, S&T maintains a robust commitment to dialogue between various fields and areas of research as a means of spurring constructive and critical engagement for hermeneutical development.

In line with our theme of ‘just peace’, we invite contributions related to one or more of the following guiding questions:

1.      How can contextual approaches to scriptural interpretation enrich contemporary biblical exposition on the topic of just peace? Papers might engage with patristic, medieval, and early modern or reformational approaches to reading the Bible, as well as the ways in which scripture interprets scripture, e.g., the use of the Old Testament in the New Testament.

2.      Does Scripture provide the sufficient hermeneutical background to reflect on the pre-conditions of just peace (e.g. human rights language, dignity of human) and in what way do concrete texts in Scripture help us to understand the concept of just peace? For example, how does a (hermeneutically explicit) exegesis of Proverbs 25:22, which is cited in Romans 12:19-21, enrich theological discussions about just peace?

3.    What does it mean (or should it mean) for the gospel to speak not merely about peace but about just peace?

4.      Based on the diverse hermeneutical approaches to Scripture and theology, how do Christian traditions understand justice? Is it to be conceived in restorative, distributive or punitive terms, for instance?

5.      What role should experience, science and/or social imaginaries, tradition(s), and/or community play in the interpretation of certain biblical verses dealing with justice, peace, war and violence?

6.      How do political, ideological and sociological factors affect and moderate (for better or worse) biblical interpretation connected to burning social issues?

7.      What is the relationship between social ethics and exegesis? What are the gains and/or liabilities of an ethically oriented exposition?

Call Area 2 | Discussions of books or recent research related to hermeneutics

In addition to the above questions, we also welcome proposals along these lines:

1. Papers reflecting on recent monographs pertaining to theology and biblical interpretation. These submissions will be akin to a ‘review article’ of a book, providing an overview of the focal text followed by a critical evaluation. If possible, the author of the featured volume might be invited to join our panel for a discussion, whether in-person or via Zoom.

2. We invite scholars whose research topic lies in the broader field of Scripture and theology to present their ongoing research or findings. Scriptural hermeneutics, the  reception of Scripture, the genesis of biblical texts, the question of the authority of Scripture for theology, etc – the field of possible research topics is large. These proposals (as with #1 just above) need not take up a thematic focus on just peace, as we want to give space for the presentation of original research and related scientific exchange on wider contemporary work in the area of hermeneutics.

S&T invites contributions from a diverse set of backgrounds, contexts, and traditions, particularly from under-represented groups in the respective academic fields. Interdisciplinary research and co-authored submissions are also encouraged. Submissions are not limited to theological or biblical hermeneutics. Scholars from different disciplines related to theology and religious studies are welcome to bring new insights and scrutiny to existing fields of research.

We ask potential presenters to present original research, even if the research is on-going. We also ask that papers strive to make their content as accessible as possible to an audience consisting of people with various levels of expertise.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES           

The panel welcomes contributions from all theological traditions and academic fields. Proposals should be no more than 250 words and will be assessed based on their relevance to the aims of the panel and their scholarly quality and promise.

Formal Requirements

Please email the following information in the form of a single PDF document to sandt.euare2022@gmail.com by January 29, 2023:

1.     An abstract of no more than 250 words, including your name, institutional affiliation (university, church etc, if you have one), position, and contact details (email and phone);

2.     An indication to which guiding question(s) (above) your submission hopes to contribute.

We will notify authors of the acceptance of their proposals in early March 2023. We intend to publish a selection of the papers together with other contributions in a collected volume edited by the study group.

Oral presentation: 20 minutes, followed by 20 minutes of discussion. Discussion segments may also be devoted to related presentations.

Important Dates

January 29, 2023: Deadline for submissions of abstracts

Early March 2023: Acceptance notification

June 12, 2023: Deadline for submitting paper drafts

June 19-June 23, 2023: EuARe 2023 in St. Andrews, Scotland

Dec 31, 2023: Submission of finalized version of essays for edited volume

*    *    *

Please direct all questions regarding the workshop to: elisabeth.maikranz@oek.uni-heidelberg.de.

For registration and other organizational matters regarding the conference of the European Academy of Religion, and for information about the academy itself, please refer to: https://www.europeanacademyofreligion.org/euare2023.

Updates on the S&T panel are posted on https://scriptureandtheology.home.blog/.

Organizational Team for the S&T 2022

• Elisabeth Maikranz (Universität Heidelberg, Germany)
• Roger Revell (Oxford University, United Kingdom)
• Nikolaos Asproulis (Volos Academy for Theological Studies, Greece)
• Jan Mart Luteijn (Evangelische Theologische Faculteit Leuven, Belgium)

S&T Advisory Board

• Nikolaos Asproulis (Volos Academy for Theological Studies, Greece)
• Tomas Bokedal (NLA Bergen, Norway & University of Aberdeen, United Kingdom)
• Gijsbert van den Brink (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
• Hans Burger (Researchgroup BEST, Theologische Universiteit Kampen, The Netherlands)
• Mark Elliott (University of Glasgow, United Kingdom)
• Georg Fischer (Universtiy of Innsbruck, Austria)
• Arnold Huijgen (Protestant Theological University Amsterdam/Groningen, The Netherlands)
• Ludger Jansen (PTH Bressanone, Italy; University of Rostock, Germany)
• John Milbank (University of Nottingham, United Kingdom)
• Frederike van Oorschot (Universität Heidelberg, Germany)
• Thomas Söding (Ruhr University Bochum, Germany)
• Brandon Watson (Universität Heidelberg, Germany)
• Donald Wood (University of Aberdeen, United Kingdom)