GENERAL INFORMATION
Perspectives of Exegesis in Modern Globalization
Various Western organizations for biblical studies – such
as the Society for Old Testament Study (SOTS), the International Organization
for the Study of the Old Testament (IOSOT), the International Organization
for Targumic Studies (IOTS), the International Organization for Septuagint
and Cognate Studies (IOSCS), the International Organization for Qumran
Studies (IOQS), the International Organization for Masoretic Studies
(IOMS), the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL), the Societas Novi
Testamenti Studiorum (SNTS), the World Union of Jewish Studies (WUJS),
among other international and national biblical organisations – have
contributed greatly to our knowledge of the history of the Bible text,
of the philology and semantics of biblical languages, of exegetical
methods, of historical and archaeological problems, and of comparative
religion. The modern globalization movement requires that we pay special
attention to the prevailing areas of interest and that a more intensive
exchange take place between representatives of the exegetical traditions
of the West, the East and the world at large; at the same time, well
proven linguistic, literary, hermeneutical and historical methods
should not be relinquished.
In September 1996, an international Symposium on the Interpretation
of the Bible was held in Ljubljana to mark the occasion of the publication
of the new Slovenian translation of the Bible. The scholarly results
of the Symposium are available in the comprehensive Proceedings
published by the Slovenian Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the
Sheffield Academic Press in 1998. For the first time the main focus
was on the history of Bible translation in Eastern Europe. Now we
hope to be able to organise a larger Congress in Ljubljana in close
cooperation with the Editorial Board of Vetus Testamentum, other
experts, and Slovenian academic institutions. In paying attention
to these diverse interests, we will consider innovative as well
as proven methods as having equal validity. In this way, the exegetical
traditions of the Orthodox Churches and of the new World Churches
will also obtain their rights. The Congress 2007 in Ljubljana will
therefore evoke the commitment of the West towards the East and
the rest of the world in general.
The Nineteenth IOSOT Congress and the joint Congresses of related
specialist organizations are sure to attract interest from wider
Slovenian academic, cultural, and even political circles. We are
therefore justified in anticipating that the joint venture of congresses
in 2007 in Ljubljana will be both successful and take on a symbolical
meaning on a larger European and world scale. Within Slovenia, these
biblical congresses will also represent the highlight of the jubilee
of the Year of the Bible. The main motive of the venture is the
solidarity and the sense of social responsibility towards the community
of biblical scholars from all continents.
A World Congress and the Year of the Bible in Slovenia 2007
At the conclusion of the Eighteenth Congress of the International
Organization for the Study of the Old Testament (IOSOT) I was appointed
President of this Organization for the three years 2004-2007, a
mandate which includes the organization of the next Congress of
IOSOT as well as of the related specialist organizations in Ljubljana
2007. The previous IOSOT Congresses were held in the following cities:
Copenhagen, Denmark (1953); Strasbourg, France (1956); Oxford, Great
Britain (1959); Bonn, Germany (1962); Geneva, Switzerland (1965);
Rome, Italy (1968); Uppsala, Sweden (1971); Edinburgh, Great Britain
(1974); Göttingen, Germany (1977); Vienna, Austria (1980); Salamanca,
Spain (1983); Jerusalem, Israel (1986); Louvain, Belgium (1989);
Paris, France (1992); Cambridge, Great Britain (1995); Oslo, Norway(1998);
Basel, Switzerland (2001); Leiden, the Netherlands (2004).
IOSOT is an international and inter-confessional organization.
The Congress languages are English, German, and French. It is laudable
that acknowledged Jewish, Protestant and Catholic biblical scholars
meet at these Congresses. However, this cooperation exposes the
fact that it is all the more regrettable that biblical scholars
from the Orthodox Churches are absent. To fill this gap, the Congress
2007 in Ljubljana will put one of the main emphases on research
into the history and principles of biblical hermeneutics in various
Orthodox Churches in the period from the Middle Ages until the present
day. A further sphere of our commitment is the state of biblical
scholarship in south-east Europe and in the developing world.
We aim to accomplish these goals with the help of experts and of
sponsors. Anyone reading this announcement can help in one way or
another: by informing interested biblical scholars, by providing
membership lists of national and international Bible organizations,
by searching for experts in hermeneutics in Orthodox traditions,
and by providing addresses of possible sponsors. Specialists in
the history and principles of hermeneutics in the Orthodox traditions
must be sought throughout the world.
Efforts at finding sponsors are of utmost importance, as most biblical
scholars from the East and from the realm of churches in developing
countries will have to rely on our support. We would like to be
able to offer them especially favourable conditions for taking part
in the Congress.
Jože Krašovec
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