The Mobilization of Biblical Studies (April 3-6, 2016, Munich)
Initial question: How did the discipline of biblical studies respond to the outbreak of war in 1914?
Possible topics: Scholarly output in response to the war; the involvement of biblical scholars in propaganda and public debate about the war; the deployment of biblical scholars as ‘local experts’ on the Ottoman front; the impact of the war on biblical studies.
Biblical Themes: Chosen Peoples and Holy Wars; The Enemy
Abstracts of the papers given at this workshop
The Bible and the Cultures of War 1914–1918 (Sept 11-13, 2016, Cambridge)
Initial question: How did the Bible shape people’s experience of the war?
Possible topics: Popular use of the Bible, including the experience of soldiers and civilians; political use of the Bible; preaching; millenarianism; the work of Bible societies and missionary organisations; the Bible in education.
Biblical Themes: Apocalypse and Eschatology; Sacrifice and the Cross
Abstracts of the papers given at this workshop
The Bible in the Legacy and Memory of the Great War (April 19-21, 2017, Cambridge)
Initial Questions: How far did/does the Bible inform perceptions and memories of the war? How far did the war change the Bible?
Possible topics: The Bible in war memorials and liturgies of remembrance; the Bible in literature, art and music of/about the war; the impact of the war on biblical scholarship and theology; the Bible and inter-war pacifism, the Bible and questions of loss or recovery of the sacred.
Biblical Themes: Death, Afterlife, and Remembrance; Peace and Pacifism.