Whence and Whither?: Methodology and the Future of Biblical Studies

Call For Papers: For the 2006 meeting in Edinburgh, the “Whence and Whither?” unit turns its attention to two new and quite different themes. The first one is entitled “The Bible at the Fringe.” This session intentionally pays tribute to the famous Edinburgh Fringe Festival, with its celebration of European cultural performance. In a tribute to the ISBL host city for 2006, we invite individuals to present creative essays or performance art pieces related to the Bible and its reception through time. We are deliberately leaving this session open, asking only that individuals offer presentations that take the Bible to the “fringe,” focusing on the Bible as an artifact of culture. The second session will have more of a somber theme, entitled “The End of Biblical Studies?” This session seeks to engage the question of whether or not the discipline of biblical studies has run its course (come to an end) or whether biblical studies has in fact an end that justifies the effort and output currently expended. From the recent separation of AAR and SBL to the expanding field of religious studies and its incorporation of more and more non-biblical materials for analysis, the question is raised whether or not a specific discipline of biblical studies is really needed any more in a period where the earlier issues surrounding dogmatic religious authority have long faded to the background and wherein Western society has become increasingly secularized. We seek papers that will take both sides of the debate, but would prefer that papers in favor of biblical studies focus on humanistic/cultural rather than explicitly theological positions for articulating a desired goal of the discipline.

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