SBL 2012 Call for Papers and Session News

Christian Theology and the Bible (SBL) will begin a multi-year project on the Senses of Scripture beginning with the Annual Meeting in Chicago in November 2012.  We would be grateful if you would encourage your colleagues and best students to submit proposals for our open session.  Please spread the word.

This first year of our project will focus on the literal sense of Scripture.  Our first invited session will be a quick descriptive examination of the literal sense of Scripture as understood in key moments in the history of Christian biblical interpretation.  We will include here the Antiochenes, the Middle Ages (Scotus, Aquinas), the Reformation (Calvin), Modernity (Historical Criticisms).   The second invited session will be creative, focusing on the theme of Sacrifice and Purity.  Texts treated will include but not be limited to Leviticus and Hebrews.  Our third session is open, and we invite creative proposals which combine theory with the practice of exegesis on texts from both the Old and the New Testaments. The section solicits papers for a section entitled “The Literal Sense of Biblical Texts Addressing Sacrifice and Purity: Theory and Practice.”  This topic, broadly conceived, allows for papers in Old and/or New Testament, and asks presenters to be explicit about in which ways the “literal” sense is construed.  Instructions for submission are on the SBL website, and submissions must be received by March 1, through the website only.  Abstracts are limited to 300 words, and the presentation itself must not exceed 20 minutes.  Please direct questions either to Claire Mathews (CMathews@loyola.edu) or Kathryn Greene-McCreight (Greene-McCreight@aya.yale.edu).