Psychology and Biblical Studies

Call For Papers: We always welcome proposals for papers that address Biblical texts, themes, figures and/or readers using the concepts and interpretive tools of any field of psychology. We urge the use of the original Greek, Hebrew, or Aramaic, especially when the argument of your paper rests on the meanings of specific words or phrases. We also welcome any papers that highlight methods, models, and approaches in the interface between psychology and Biblical studies, including from the emerging fields of neurotheology, brain physiology and religious experience, and evolutionary psychology.
   This year, we expect to feature sessions on two themes:
1.Celebrating the Past, Embracing the Future: This session will be in honor of the 25 years of the unit’s existence. Over the last two decades psychological interpretations of biblical studies has evolved from a new and unusual approach to being well-integrated into many types of scholarship throughout the academy. This session will focus on what the approach means currently and where active scholars expect it may go. The papers for this session will all be solicited and include some of the founders of the unit as well as established scholars who have used a psychological lens in approaching the biblical texts
2. Psychological Perspectives of “Memory Works” Or “Memoir” in the Bible Many of the narratives and books of the Bible, in both the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament, effectively function as “memory works” or memoirs (including "collective" memoirs) Applying this genre category to texts such as the Gospels, Ecclesiastes, “Zakar” in Deuteronomy, Numbers, Ezra and Nehemiah and then introducing psychological theories of individual and collective memory promises to open many aspects of these texts to new and revealing re-readings.

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