Psychological Hermeneutics of Biblical Themes and Texts

Call For Papers: Abstracts for papers on “Potential Psychological Health or Harm Inherent in Biblical Texts or Themes" are now invited for the International SBL Meeting in Rome 1-5 July 2019. Our title's relevance becomes clear when texts are either neglected by professional health practitioners or exploited by militants. The link to research units dealing with Biblical Ethics will also be established and the application of empirical measurements from psychological theories to biblical texts will be emphasised. Such approaches will bring this year's theme into the realm of "hard" science (what is psychologically healthy) but also morality, and so exemplify this study-unit's socio-politico-economic value. The intention is to invite neither attacks on, nor apologetic defences of, biblical texts but to evaluate them against specific psychological theories. The psychological aspects of human life are integral, but they represent an under-examined area in biblical studies. Biblical authors show great interest in people's capacity to cope psychologically with their circumstances, in their interpretations of life situations and in how to effect change, both internal and external. This section invites papers on the psychological aspects of biblical themes and texts, since psychological interest may be found behind the texts, in the texts themselves, and in their reception up to the present day. Papers that make explicit use of existing psychological theories are preferred. The intersection between biblical studies and psychology provides a meeting between two disciplines in their own right, each with their specific questions and areas of expertise but very much complementary to each other. Papers can afterwards be converted into peer-reviewed book chapters to be published collectively within the near future by this Study-Unit.

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