Bible Revolution: Empowering People, Subverting Identities. New Study Directions in 21st–Century Academic Research

Bible Revolution: Empowering People, Subverting Identities. New Study Directions in 21st–Century Academic Research

Organizer
Laura Popa (Faculty of History, University of Cambridge)
Host
Faculty of History, University of Cambridge
Funded by
Evangelisches Studienwerk Villigst
ZIP
CB3 9EF
Location
West Road Cambridge
Country
United Kingdom
Takes place
In Attendance
From - Until
15.09.2023 -
By
Laura Popa, Justus Liebig University

The symposium gathers scholars from various fields to discuss contemporary approaches to Bible research, exploring key topics, theories, and methodologies prioritized in 21st-century academia. This event also serves as a first step in building a global network of scholars working on Protestantism as a minority religion.

Bible Revolution: Empowering People, Subverting Identities. New Study Directions in 21st–Century Academic Research

How does contemporary research approach the Bible? In examining one of the world’s most famous sacred texts, what key topics, theories, and methodologies are being privileged in 21st–century academia? This symposium aims to foster an interdisciplinary conversation between historians, theologians, and other scholars from the Humanities more broadly as well as engage with theory.

The starting point of the discussion is how the Bible revolutionized modern life. The concept of empowerment is an analytical tool to look at the ways the distribution and translation of sacred texts impacted subaltern groups such as women, ethnic minorities, imperial subjects, dissenters, etc.
Another critical lens regards the subverting power of the Bible in deconstructing imposed identities.

The publication of the contributions in an academic journal is envisaged.
This event also serves as a first step in building a global network of scholars working on Protestantism as a minority religion.

Programm

08.30 – 09.00
Coffee

09.00 – 09.15
Welcome and Opening Remarks: Eugenio Biagini (University of Cambridge)

09.15 – 10.30
Keynote Lecture. David Bebbington (University of Stirling): Uses of the Bible in Evangelical History
Chair: Ian Randall (Cambridge Centre for Christianity Worldwide)

10.30 – 10.45
Coffee Break

10.45 – 12.45
Panel I. Cultural Approaches to the Bible
Chair: Laura Popa (University of Giessen)
Philipp David (University of Giessen): Scriptural Hermeneutics After the Death of God
Maike Schult (University of Marburg): “New Seeing”: Homiletics of Estrangement (Defamiliarisation)

12.45 – 14.00
Light lunch

14.00 – 15.30
Panel II. The Bible and Emancipation: A Matter of Perspective?
Chair: Eugenio Biagini (University of Cambridge)
Karina Bénazech Wendling (University of Lorraine): The Revolution of Vernacular Bibles: Empowering or Submitting the ‘Natives’?
John Coffey (University of Leicester): Reading the Bible on a Slave Plantation: The Case of the Demerara Uprising, 1823
Laura Popa (University of Giessen): The Meaning(s) of the Bible in Protestant Women’s Evangelization, 1860–1915

15.30 – 15.45
Coffee Break

15.45 – 17.45
Panel III. “There are Doubtless Many Different Languages in the World, and None is Without Meaning”: Translation Matters
Chair: Karina Bénazech Wendling (University of Lorraine)
Hilary M. Carey (University of Bristol): British and German Collaboration in the Production of Indigenous Bibles
Floris Solleveld (University of Bristol): Two Processes of Verschriftlichung: Bible Translations and Oral Traditions
Ian Randall (Cambridge Centre for Christianity Worldwide): Conflicting Convictions: The Bible Society in Russia in the 1870s and 1880s
Emanuel Conțac (Theological Pentecostal Institute of Bucharest): “A Bible for the simple folk”: Princess Ralu Callimachi (1867-1944) and Her Vision to Translate, Print and Distribute the Bible in Romanian

17.45 – 18.00
Concluding Remarks
Chair: John Coffey (University of Leicester)
Hilary M. Carey (University of Bristol)
Philipp David (University of Giessen)
David Bebbington (University of Stirling)

19.00 Dinner

Contact (announcement)

Laura.Popa@gcsc.uni-giessen.de

Editors Information
Published on
Author(s)
Contributor
Classification
Regional Classification
Subject - Topic
Additional Informations
Country Event
Language(s) of event
English
Language of announcement