Biblical Interpretation in Diverse Communities

Description

This course explores the diverse ways in which the Bible is interpreted and used within various communities, challenging traditional approaches to biblical scholarship and encouraging participants to consider the role of "ordinary" readers and marginalized groups in shaping biblical meaning.

The course Biblical Interpretation in Diverse Communities: Methods, Perspectives, Challenges focuses on the question 'How people in diverse communities use the Bible and how to research this?' Participants will examine concrete cases of Biblical interpretation in across a spectrum of community contexts. 

As attention for the contribution of so-called “intuitive” or “ordinary” Bible readers in Biblical interpretation increases, the need for attentive approaches of understanding the many voices involved in reading the Bible increases too. Researching the Bible by listening to and comprehending its usage extends beyond and challenges traditional forms of Biblical exegesis and hermeneutical framework common to Biblical scholarship. 

The classes of the course will address questions such as: How to research the function of the Bible in activities organized by different church traditions? How do people make sense of the Bible? How does the Bible assist them in making sense of their lives? In addressing these questions, the course considers diverse communities, including both traditional churches and groups outside them. Particular attention is given to communities with marginalized identities, such as queer, migrant, or poor. The course challenges participants to reflect on whether and how contextual factors such as age, gender, and socio-economic status require different research methods when examining the role of the Bible within different communities. Additionally, students are asked to reflect on their own positionality and its relationship to researching the Bible in diverse communities of interpretation.

Offered by: 
Centre for Contextual Biblical Interpretation at the Protestant Theological University and the Faculty of Religion and Theology of Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam 

You can earn 2 ECTS, or 3 ECTS with the possibility to gain up extra 3 ECTS by composing an academic paper of max 5.000 words

The reading material will be distributed before the start of the course, providing students with time to prepare themselves with the content before lectures begin.

The maximum number of participants is 30 people. This will be a selective process based on your application. In finalizing the composition of the group the organizers aim at nurturing diversity (such disciplinary, gender, age, institutional belonging). Please include 2-3 points of motivation and what you'd like to achieve from the summer school. 

Time: 6th of July till 11th of July 2025 (arrivals on Saturday, the 5th of July and departures on the 11th after 15:00)

Lecturers

Prof. dr. Dorottya Nagy (PThU) 

Prof. dr. Peter-Ben Smit (VU) 

Dr. An-Ting Yi (VU) 

(Other lecturers and experts are to be confirmed.) 

Target audience

This course is for MA/PhD students, advanced BA students in theology, religious studies, or related disciplines; professionals (pastors, teachers, Bible translators, others working with communities which use the Bible), and researchers.

Aim of the course

After the completion of this summer course, the participants should gain knowledge of orientation on how to research Bible usage in particular communities as well as tools and methods for conducting such research. Particularly, training in contextual biblical interpretation and interdisciplinary approach to research the Bible’s role in particular communities will also be obtained. Furthermore, this course offers opportunities to broaden hermeneutical horizons, deepen theological thinking, critically examine methodological and disciplinary presumptions and boundaries, and reflect upon the researcher's positionality in interactions with participants from all around the world.

Study load

• 2 EC (56 hrs.) 
• Lectures: 2 hrs. x 10 = 20 hrs. 
• Preparation self-study: 20 hrs. 
• • Exposures + preparation: 6 hrs. 
• • Final presentation + preparation: 10 hrs.