Public Lecture on "Sociological Approaches in Old Testament Studies"

A public lecture by Prof. Dr. David J. Chalcraft on the topic "Sociological Approaches in Old Testament Studies" will be held on August 1, 2014 in the Tagore Hall of the UTC at 4:30 P.M. All are welcome.

Public Lecture on Sexual Violence within the Focus of Narrative Theology

A public lecture on "Sexual Violence within the Focus of Narrative Theology",  "Tamar's Story in 2 Sam 13 in the Light of the Dueteronomic Law" by Prof. Dr. Andreas Kunz-Lubcke will be held on July 25, 2014 at the Tagore Hall of the UTC at 4:30 P.M. All are welcome.

Bible Darshan: Conference Summation

CONFERENCE PROFILE

The  Bible Darshan – An International Conference, hosted by the Department of Biblical Studies at  the United Theological College, Bangalore is a unique experiment to be cherished, in the long history of the College. This is particularly because of the distinguished guests and participants, who represented eight different nations (Australia, Germany, Kuwait, Myanmar, Nigeria, UK, Sweden and the host – India). Participants from India represented twelve states (Andra Pradesh, Araunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Kerala, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tamilnadu, Uttar Pradhesh, Uttarakhand, and West Bengal) and one Union territory (Delhi), thus covering North to South and East to West of India.

Under the theme Exploring the New Frontiers for Post-Western Biblical Studies, the conference attempted to challenge biblical scholars in India and in the West to engage with one another, share insights with each other and evolve new frontiers for further research in India/Asia, thereby seeking to engage with texts and contexts for future engagement in the country and beyond.

INAUGURAL REPORT

The long awaited Bible Darshan, an international conference, hosted by the Biblical Studies Department of the United Theological College, deliberating the theme, Exploring New Frontiers for Post-Western Biblical Studies from 30^th to Feb.1, 2014 was inaugurated on Jan 30th at 10:00 A.M. in the Ecemenical Resource Centre of the UTC.  The “Lighting of the Lamp”, a symbol of Invitation and Life was initiated through Dr. J. R. John Samuel Raj, Principal, UTC, Dr. Mohan Larbeer, Secretary, BTESSC, Dr. Monica Jyotsna Melanchton, Professor of Old Testament and Secretary, Society of Biblical Studies in Asia (SABS), Dr. Vasanth Rao,  Principal ACTC and President Society for Biblical Studies in Asia (SBSI) and  Dr. David J. Chalcraft, Professor of Old Testament, University of Sheffield, UK. Dr. Dexter S. Maben, Coordinator, Bible Darshan welcomed and introduced the distinguished participants from home and abroad.

Dr. J. R. John Samuel Raj in his inaugural address, extended his greetings and made clear the college's happiness in hosting the conference here. He expressed, “UTC is a meeting point of God’s people.” He added, it is the first ecumenical college in Asia that has journeyed for 104 years till date. It is the place where Shudra Theology and Dalit Theology emerged. It also has an advanced post-graduate and doctoral program under the Serampore University. By the 1970s, UTC became a place for inter-religious studies and dialogue and a very important India-Pakistan dialogue took place in the campus.

Reflecting from 2 Timothy 4: 1-5, the principal talked on perseverance in life. Teachers from around the globe who taught at UTC have always encouraged the students to persevere and carry out the ministry and responsibilities throughout the world.

Instrumental Fusion by the students of UTC brought about a mood of worship and lifted the floor to praise God. The commitment song “God Bless the child”was very powerful.

 

CONFERENCE SUMMARY

Under the promising theme Exploring New Frontiers for Post-Western Biblical Studies, there were altogether twenty presentations – six thematic and fourteen papers. The topics were:

·         Sociology and the Study of Cultural Context in Global Biblical Interpretation

·        ‘The Other Side of the Coin’: Some Reflections on Post-Western Re-awakening

·    The Parables of Two Rich Men and a Beggar (Luke 12:16-20 and 16:19-31): Their Relevance for Interpreting the Bible in India Today

·         The Politics of “Invasion” of Greek and the “Demise” of Hebrew of Late Antiquity

·    Holiness School’s Response to economic Injustice in Leviticus 25: It’s Relevance to Multi-religious and Cultural Context of India Today

·         Ephesians Through a Postcolonial Lens

·         Pluralistic Hermeneutics

·         Reading Amos 6:1-7 in the Light of Mizo Values and Ethos

·         Can Anything Come Out of India for New Testament Background?

·         Biblical Concepts and Religious “Other” in India Today

·         The Theme of Ordination in the Pastoral Epistles

·         Nation and Text: Britain, Germany, India and the Bible

·         A Postcolonial Christology Shift in India: Converging Possibilities

·         Biblical Prophets as Transformative Leaders

·         Living in the Perilous Times: An African Reading of 2 Timothy 3:1-5

·         Reading Rizpah Across Borders, Cultures, Belongings

·         Creation and Human Movement: Prolegomena for a Biblical Migrant Hermeneutics

·         A Dialogue between ‘the Eastern’ and ‘the Western’ in New Testament Scholarship: A Proposal

·         “Text, Textures of Life and Diaspora” – A Search for Theoretical Connections

·         Marcan Apocalypse (Collaparian Mark 13) as Jesus; Prescience: A Post-Western Critic

All the presentations and deliberations fulfilled the required objective of the Conference. The need for contextual interpretation of the biblical text, in relation to East and West depicted possibilities for venturing into new dimensions of interpretation without bias. The existential biblical and non-biblical issues including textual, traditional, sociological, theological, exegetical and the like led to conceptualizing, visualizing, realistic, context oriented hermeneutics in a pluralistic reality. All the presentations were moderated by the Faculty members of the UTC. 

On the sidelines…

During the conference, a public reception in honour of all the delegates was organized on the 31^st evening, which was set apart especially for visitors to experience and explore the rich and colorful India with varied traditional performances, depicting regional culture through folk songs, dances, and plays. Various individuals and groups represented different regions of the country with their excelling and captivating performances. It was presided over by Rt. Rev. Dr. G. Devakadasham, President, UTC Society and Bishop in the CSI Kanyakumari Diocese. The main address was delivered by Rt. Rev. Dr. J.S.  Sadananda, Bishop CSI Karnataka Southern Diocese and Master, Serampore College (University). The visitors were provided with an opportunity to have a glimpse of the garden city of Bangalore, with a Bangalore City tour, which was arranged for visitors after the Conference, as part of experiencing a part of India.

One of the salient features of the conference, is the fact, that is was organized and supported by local resources, once again challenging us all to rethink the notion of dependency and to explore the potential capacity of local resources. The other feature was the outstanding and exceptional participation of all post-graduate students of biblical studies at UTC, who through their creativity, discipline and hard work, contributed immensely to the hosting of the conference.

It is hoped that this dialogical process of scholarship and engagement will foster new frontiers and provide new vistas in the future. The Department is working towards the publication of the papers and thanks one and all.

Bible Darshan International Bible Conference

Bible Darshan, the international Bible Conference being conducted by the department of Biblical Studies will be held on January 30, 31 and February 1, 2014 in the UTC. Biblical teachers and scholars from all over the world will be attending the conference. The conference will be emphasising on post Western biblical studies and new trends in this area.

A public function will be held on January 31 in honour of the partipants and will have the Master of the Senate of Serampore College (University), The Rt. Rev. Dr. J.S. Sadananda as the guest of honour and the president of the UTC Society, The Rt. Rev. Dr. G. Devakadasham presiding over the function. The delegates, guests and the UTC faculty and students will be attending the function at 6:30 P.M. The co-ordinator Rev. Dr. Dexter Maben requests everyone to take this as a personal invitation and be part of the conference and programme.

JK

UTC faculty and students participate in Society of Biblical Literature seminar via video conference

The UTC faculty and students participated in a seminar on 'Reinventing Biblical Studies' through video conference on Monday, November 25th at 7:30 P.M. IST (2:00 P.M. GMT). The seminar was conducted by the Society Of Biblical Literature. The idea of the participation in the seminar via the internet was forwarded to the communication department by the biblical studies department through Dr. David Joy. The video conference via webex was co-ordinated by the communications co-ordinator of SBL, Mr. Christopher Hooker and the Communication Department of the UTC.

The faculty, researchers and students in UTC found this as a unique experience and are hoping that many more such meetings will be made possible via the internet. Multiple logins were done for the meeting from various parts of the world and the presenters were asked questions through this platform.

 

Photo's- Paul Karunakar, BD III

JK

Biblical Studies Inter Faculty Seminar

The annual inter-faculty seminar of the department of Biblical studies was held at the United Theological College Bangalore, yesterday. The theme for this year was “Biblical Response to Ecological Challenges”.  The participants were from the St.Peter’s Pontifical Institute, Dharmaram Vidyakshetram and the United Theological College.

Inaugural Session

The inter faculty seminar was held under the leadership of the Rev. Dr. Dexter Maben, the acting chairperson of the Biblical Studies Department at the UTC. The postgraduate and doctoral students of UTC (Biblical Studies) helped in the conduct of the programme. Rev. Rengbi Rangthang  (D.Th III, NewTestament) was the coordinator for this seminar. The seminar began with praise and worship led by Mayang and team. Rev.Dr. Dexter Maben gave the introduction after which Rev.Dr. C.I.David Joy  welcomed the participants. The inaugural worship began with the lighting of the lamp by the heads of the institutions and the worship led by the doctoral students under the coordination of Ms. Sushana Pramanik. Rev.Dr. John Samuel Raj, the principal of UTC, gave the inaugural address based on Psalm.104:24-31. He challenged the participants to come out of the narrow anthropocentric approach to a wider hermeneutics, reading the Bible afresh in the light of the earth crisis. Since the Bible begins with the creation, it should be given paramount place in our theological and hermeneutical endeavours, he said.

Papers Presented

Six papers, three from Old Testament and three from New Testament, were presented in the seminar. Fr. Jomon Thomas (St. Peter’s) presented the first paper titled “Ecological Concerns in the Law Codes of Pentateuch”. The presenter pointed out the need to go back to the scripture to understand how ecological concerns were central to the Law codes in Pentateuch and to see the progression of thought with regard to the ecological concerns in these law codes, namely, covenant codes, deuteronomic codes and holiness code. Three constituent parts of the created world is emphasised in all these codes, such as land, vegetative world and animal world. Rev.Dr.John Samuel Raj, the principal of UTC, moderated this session and the response was given by Sr.Rekha Rose. The participants suggested the need for taking into consideration the Ancient West Asian context and the practical applicability of these things in the present scenario. There is a need to address the issue of power, theology of justice and re-reading of cross-breeding.

The second paper was on “Paul and Ecology” presented by Sr. Hazel Alexander (DVK). Fr. Dr. Alfred Joseph of St.Peter’s moderated this session. This was responded by Fr. Suresh Mathew. The paper anchored on two main passages in the Pauline letters, Rom. 8:19-23; Colo. 1:15-20. This was explained in the light of other passages dealing with issues like understanding of creation in Pauline writings, the state of creation, new creation and restoration. The transformation is possible only in and through Jesus Christ. The paper saw Paul as an ecological prophet. The paper also gave the implications in the present context and urged the participants to acknowledge the ecological crisis as a spiritual crisis, to develop a new lifestyle with simplicity and coherent with the order of nature and to reconsider the meaning of well-being in relation to the wider context of society and holistic harmony with the cosmos.  The discussions from the floor suggested to see Paul and Greco-Roman context on ecology and to delineate the role of the church, if ecological crisis is a spiritual issue, in the present scenario. There is a need to bring the implications of new creation to present ecological crisis, though further clarity is required as to how to do it.

Ms.Lahtaw Nang Dim Pri (UTC) presented the paper titled “Wisdom Literature and its Response to Ecological Crisis”. This session was moderated by Fr.Dr.Joseph Titus (St.Peter’s). The response was given by Fr. Walter D’Souza. This paper dealt with issues like the roots of ecological crisis, the major ecological crisis' and the understanding of creation in wisdom literature. The paper suggested certain theological implications, especially from a tribal perspective. The questions from the floor were basically regarding the practical applicability and logical application of this in the light of the present scenario of development and the need to consider Qoheleth (for example, in chapter three equality of animal and human is mentioned) in making a response from the wisdom literature.

The fourth paper titled “Prophetic concern on Ecology” was presented by Fr.S.Nicholas (DVK). This was moderated by Rev. Dr. Daniel Jones Muthunayagom (UTC). Mr.Liiduo Lanah B (UTC) gave the response. The paper considered prophetic concern in general and Hosea.2:18-23 in particular. The important points of discussion from the floor were covenant between God and earth, the logic of God punishing nature whenever humans commit sins, the eschatology and ecological crises, the animal killing (sacrifice) and ecology.

Fr. Bijeesh Chacko(St.Peter’s) presented the fifth paper titled “Biblical Response to Ecological Crisis: Synoptic View Point”. Rev. Dr. C.I.David Joy (UTC) moderated this session and Rev.Saju Mathew(UTC) responded to the paper. The punch line of the paper was the urge for a change from anthropocentric to life-centred hermeneutics. The paper has argued that Bible is eco-friendly and the use of the term ‘ochlos’ in the synoptic gospels can be read as nature from the perspective of marginalisation. The discussion from the floor suggested that it is not only anthropocentric to bio-centric, but now the shift is to read it from a cosmo centric frame work. Jesus was responding to the Greco-Roman colonisation on the land of Palestine and its people. Therefore impact of globalisation needs to be addressed. The birth, death and resurrection of Jesus and its connection with ecology needs further consideration.

The sixth paper titled “In Him We Live and Move and Have Our Being (Acts.17:28): A Biblical Response to Ecological Crisis” was presented by Rev.I Limatemsu Ao (UTC). This session was moderated by Fr.Dr.Sebastian Mullooparambil (DVK). Sr.Hazel Alexander responded to the paper. The paper was finding out the ecological concerns in the Acts, especially in the early Christian Kerygma. Discussions regarding the paper were mainly on the title and its link with ecology.

Concluding session

The concluding session was moderated by Rev.Dr.Daniel Jones Muthunayagom. The main agenda was regarding the theme for the next meeting at St.Peter’s Pontifical Institute, which will be held on 22^nd November, 2014. Out of the several suggestions, “Economics and Ethics from Inter-Scriptural Perspective” was proposed as the theme for the next meeting. This was followed by remarks from representing institutions. Fr. Dr. Joseph Titus (St.Peter’s) informed the participants regarding the publication of these paper of the Inter faculty series. Fr. Dr. Sebastian Mullooparambil (DVK) challenged the participants to become ambassadors of the message (discussions on ecology) and Rev. Dr. C.I. David Joy (UTC) pointed out the need for more interaction between seminaries.  The commitment song by Jeviholi Swu and Mayang added colour to the closing ceremony and during this time representatives from participating institutions poured water on plants as a symbol of commitment to ecological concerns.  Rev.Dr. Dexter Maben proposed the vote of thanks. There were also announcements regarding the “BIBLE DARSHAN” the international seminar which is going to be held at the UTC, on January 30-February 1, 2014. The meeting was concluded with prayer and benediction by Rev. Dr. Daniel Jones Muthunayagom. 

Reported by Rev. Biju C.

JK

Bible Darshan 2014

An international conference "Bible Darshan" will be conducted by the department of Biblical Studies of the United Theological College, Bangalore from January 30 to February 1, 2014. Details of the conference are given in the blog  http://utcbibledarshan.wordpress.com/

The theme of the conference is "Exploring New Frontiers for Post-Western Biblical Studies." The write up to the theme explains this in detail. The Bible continues to enlighten, renew and challenge individuals and communities, communicating the ‘gospel’ in diverse context (s). Glaring realities of identity, caste, poverty, plurality, and ecological issues continue to challenge, the study of the Bible in India/Asia. Biblical studies as a theological discipline, continues to evolve with positive contributions from the West. However, there is a need to move beyond the enlightenment framework, to rediscover cultural, religious and indigenous resources, which can make the Bible intelligible in our contexts, because they are closer to the Mediterranean world. Further, the need for an inter-disciplinary approach is significant than ever before, which can draw us closer to our cultural and religious heritage. The conference is an attempt to challenge biblical scholars in India and in the West to engage with one another, share insights with each other and evolve new frontiers for further research in India/ Asia, thereby creating a new identity for biblical studies in the country.

While the core areas of biblical studies are still pertinent, the conference aims to draw attention to the significance of the Bible to our own times and context(s). The presentations are intended to cover the Old Testament, New Testament and the Intertestamental literature, with enough space for engagement together and separately. Presentations may focus any one or more of the areas mentioned:
a)      Old Testament Hermeneutics
b)      Study of Judaism and Religions of the Ancient Near East (ANE)
c)      History of Israel
d)     God and the Nations
e)      Old Testament  and the study of other faiths
f)       New Testament Hermeneutics
g)      Judaism and the religions of the first century CE
h)      Construction of the History of the early church
i)        Pauline Studies/Gospel Studies
j)        New Testament and the study of other faiths