Spring 2010--Faculty Development Workshop: "Theology 111: Reading Sacred Texts"

Theology studies the human experience of God and how that experience takes shape in religious rituals, traditions, and sacred texts. This workshop led by Edward Hahnenberg of the Department of Theology will explore some of the interpretative issues that arise in reading sacred texts—which is one of the main goals of the first theology course, Theological Foundations (THEO 111). We will take as our point of departure the history of Christian attitudes toward the Bible, and move on to broader questions of interpretation in theology. Some of the questions that will be considered include: What is fundamentalism, and what are its alternatives? What impact does historical and scientific research have on the truth claims of the Bible? How does our own social and cultural context impact our interpretation of a text? And what can we learn when we bring the sacred texts of different religious traditions in dialogue with one another?

The workshop will meet on four consecutive Tuesdays from 4:00 to 5:15 p.m.:

Feb. 2              Introduction: Sacred Scribbles

Feb. 9              Understanding the Bible

Feb. 16            The World of the Reader

Feb. 23            From the Vedas to the Qur’an

To register, please write ers@xavier.edu.