The Philosophy and Theology of Biblical Narratives

Academic Workshop

This workshop was made possible by the generous support of Australian Catholic University.

Co-Directors

Eleonore Stump, Saint Louis University

Judith Wolfe, University of St. Andrews

The workshop took place at Tantur Ecumenical Institute in Jerusalem from

July 26-30, 2021.

Thanks to The Issachar Fund for their generous support of the previous year's workshop.

Summary of the Project

Among the most successful of many outstanding innovations in contemporary philosophy and theology is the analytic theology project. During the time that this project has been growing, there has been another notable change in philosophy, with some ripple effects also in theology, namely, an upsurge of interest in the social and second-personal. This emphasis has also brought to the fore the importance of narrative in philosophy and theology, because narrative is a means for transmitting the second-personal to others.

In this connection, it is important to recognize that every influential culture has a grounding in a foundational narrative, which shapes that culture and its understanding of life’s enduring questions. Such foundational narratives as these offer a worldview in a deep way that only narrative can do, and so they provide powerful resources for the exploration of the lasting problems and big questions of human existence.

For three great cultures, animated by the three Abrahamic religions, extending across countries and languages, lasting for many centuries, the foundational narratives are the sacred texts of the Koran and the Bible. These narratives have lasted for so many centuries because they offer deep insights into the nature of the human condition and the wisdom needed for human flourishing.

This workshop brings together outstanding philosophers and theologians to examine some of the narratives in Jewish and Christian sacred texts using the resources of analytic philosophy and theology. Their presentations at this workshop therefore constitute a pilot project designed to explore the benefits and advantages of using this methodology on these foundational cultural narratives.

Co-Directors

Eleonore Stump

Eleonore Stump is the Robert J. Henle Professor of Philosophy at Saint Louis University. She is also Honorary Professor at Wuhan University and at the Logos Institute, St. Andrews, and a Professorial Fellow at Australian Catholic University. She has published extensively in philosophy of religion, contemporary metaphysics, and medieval philosophy. Her books include Aquinas (2003), Wandering in Darkness: Narrative and the Problem of Suffering (2010), and Atonement (2018). She has given the Gifford Lectures at Aberdeen (2003), the Wilde lectures at Oxford (2006), the Stewart lectures at Princeton (2009), and the Stanton lectures at Cambridge (2018). She is past president of the Society of Christian Philosophers, the American Catholic Philosophical Association, and the American Philosophical Association, Central Division; and she is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Judith Wolfe

Judith Wolfe is Professor of Philosophical Theology at the University of St Andrews. At St Andrews' School of Divinity, she also serves as Deputy Head of School and as Director of the Graduate Programme in Theology and the Arts.

Prof. Wolfe was educated at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem (BA in Amirim and English Literature) and the University of Oxford (MPhil in English literature, MA in Theology, and DPhil in Philosophical Theology), and has taught in Berlin, Oxford, and St Andrews. Her core expertise is in eschatology and apocalypticism in theology, philosophy and literature, on which she has published widely.