Unlocking the Bible
KEYS FOR UNDERSTANDING TODAY
Scripture Summer School 2023
Keys for Understanding Today
In our tradition, people can sometimes maintain a distance from the Bible because they are unsure of how it might be relevant in the ever-changing world we live in, or simply find the Scriptures too large and daunting to approach by oneself. Therefore, the focus of this year's Scripture Summer School is Unlocking the Bible: Keys for Understanding Today. This course will aim to offer keys with which to understand, read, and interpret the Bible for life, for change, for liberation, for personal prayer, and for discipleship.
The final day of the course will also feature a Lectio Divina session led by Professor Séamus O'Connell, and an in-person launch of the Tarsus Scripture School by Archbishop Dermot Farrell.
Course Structure
The course this year will take place in-person, but also be available online via live-streaming. Each session will also be recorded and made available afterwards in a similar way to past online courses. For those who plan to come to Maynooth, there will be the option to attend daily Eucharist, and there will be time each day for you to study, reflect, or simply explore the beautiful campus grounds and surrounding town. If you require accommodation, there are options on campus – details are found further below on this page and in the course programme.
Details & Pricing
Location: St. Patrick's Pontifical University, Maynooth
Dates: Monday June 12th to Friday 16th June
Online: €50 per Household
While the in-person aspect of the course has ended, it is still possible to register and watch the recordings of each presentation.
Presentation Topics
Seán Goan
The Bible is not so much a book as a small library. Within this library there is a range of literature from a variety of cultures and historical situations. The content of this library varies.
The emergence of the literature. Looking at the world of the scribe and the religious context of Israel and Judah. The importance of the exile and the process of formation of a list of sacred books
The Destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD and the emergence of the Church (and the Bible it was reading). The Rabbis and the Jewish canon - The Constantinian project and the Christian canon.
The Bible in the Church – a lot can happen in 80 years - from Pius XII to Pope Francis!
Kieran J. O'Mahony
The three worlds of Paul of Tarsus: Hellenistic, Jewish and Christian (incl. his principled opposition to The Way). Text: Galatians.
Paul as counter-cultural: (i) in terms of empire; (ii) in terms of Judaism (incl. the death of Jesus and the reason for setting aside the identity markers of Judaism [the ritual Law]). Text: Galatians and Romans.
The Letters: collecting, editing, expanding into the Deutero-Pauline texts. Letters as letters (epistolography); letters as speeches (rhetoric). Text: Philemon (shortest) and Romans (longest)
Paul writes to the church today. Cross and resurrection; ethics; Eucharist; ministries. Text: 1 Corinthians.
Jessie Rogers
The Social World of the Bible (Ancient Domination Systems) as the backdrop for the Exodus, the Law and the Prophets, and the ministry of Jesus.
Approaching the bible as literature: different genres call for different reading strategies.
The sweep of the biblical story and covenant as an overarching theme.
Actualisation and Inculturation. How the Word of God speaks to us today.
The final day of the course will not feature any presentations, but offer an open forum in the morning, a Lectio Divina session led by Professor Séamus O'Connell, and the official in-person launch of Tarsus Scripture School in-person by Archbishop Dermot Farrell.