Reading the Bible: Meaning and Truth course
Why do we read the Bible? What do we expect to find there? Meaning? Authoritative truth? Come and explore the Bible’s triple identity as a collection of historical documents which is sacred scripture for both Jews and Christians.
The day will uncover the complexities of both scholarly and religious (Jewish and Christian) expectations of scripture. We will discuss the difference between ‘biblical studies’, in which the Bible is an object of study, and ‘Bible study’, in which it is a source of inspiration, exploring how the kind of questions asked of scripture influence the meaning found within it.
We will examine both the common assumptions brought by Jews and Christians to their reading of scripture, and their very different interpretative methods, beginning with rabbinic midrash and the patristic use of allegory and symbolism.
We will see how these differences persist, even as both traditions contend with historical criticism. Given such divergent expectations of the Bible, in what way can we talk of ‘truth’?
Ann Conway-Jones is an Honorary Research Fellow at Birmingham University, specialising in biblical interpretation, early Jewish–Christian relations, and the development of Christian mysticism. She combines up-to-date scholarship with over twenty years’ experience of teaching adults.
As Chair of Birmingham CCJ, Ann is actively involved in Jewish–Christian dialogue. She is an Accredited Lay Worker of the Church of England, on the ministry team of Old Church, Smethwick, where she preaches.
