2024 Old Testament Symposium

The Evangelical Foundation for Biblical Research warmly issues this invitation for a small group of Old Testament scholars to gather for a symposium focused on the role of wisdom literature for spiritual formation. All participants will receive full funding for travel and accommodation at Yarnton Manor, nestled in the lovely countryside outside Oxford (Church Lane, Yarnton, Kidlington OX5 1PY, UK). Participants will also receive in advance of the meeting a complimentary copy of John Goldingay’s most recent work on this topic (Proverbs in the Commentaries for Christian Formation series), which we will be discussing on the first evening. As in previous years, the aim is that our meeting together will result in a rich volume for the life of the church.

Wise Spiritual Formation: The Vital Use of Aphorisms in Spiritual Formation

Assuming Paul included Old Testament wisdom literature in “all Scripture,” (2 Tim 3:16; Rom 15:4), the church and its scholars could rightly ask how an Old Testament believer might have responded to the wisdom literature’s aphorisms. Was one to be equally engaged with, and accountable to wisdom as one was to the Law? Furthermore, was whatever personally motivated an ancient Israelite believer to comply with the Law the same motivation for his or her response to wisdom teaching? These are among the questions that speak to how wisdom literature might have been used for spiritual formation, which could inform how these texts can be utilized now. This symposium will explore the spiritual implications of the laity’s reading of the proverbial ethical material by seeking to understand how it was used then and should be now.