The Bible sometimes plays a major role in current, political discourses, especially in the United States. As a project, public theology supports efforts to let the Bible speak to contemporary, public concerns. But using the Bible in this way involves many potential traps. How can a 2000 year old book provide guidance for social and political challenges? Should it do so at all? This lecture argues that to use the Bible in social and political discourses without attending to its historical framework, and without dealing rationally and critically with its texts, will neither do a favor to theology nor to the public.

Konrad Schmid is Professor of Professor of Hebrew Bible and Ancient Judaism at the University of Zürich.

Critical Public Theology: How to Use and Not Use the Bible... | Konrad Schmid | 3/7/19

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