2026 Old Testament Symposium

The Evangelical Foundation for Biblical Research invites a small group of Old Testament scholars to a symposium focused on how to guide church leaders and the laity in appreciating the intimate role of the Third Person, the Holy Spirit, in the life of believers in the Old Testament. All participants will receive complete funding for their travel, meals, and accommodation. Full participation in the symposium is required from Thursday dinner through the Saturday evenings session (May 28, 29, 30). An added night of accommodation will be provided for those who wish to explore the venue’s area on Sunday, May 31. Spouses are welcome to the accommodations, communal meals, and excursions in the area during the participants’ sessions, but their travel would be at the participant’s expense. As in previous years, our meeting will result in a volume of essays designed to help the local church. So, upon submission of a revised version of the paper for publication, an honorarium of $500 will be issued.

Pneumatology and soteriology are not often clearly spoken of simultaneously in Old Testament theology. The question to be addressed in this symposium is whether the Holy Spirit as the Third Person of the Trinity participates in the spiritual formation of Old Testament and pre-Pentecost believers. Its core emphasis is on how best to guide church leaders and the laity to assess the probability of the Spirit working to form saving faith and holy, spiritual living in the Old Testament. The uniqueness of this symposium is its intense and focused discussion and reasoning for or against the role of the Holy Spirit in Old Testament regeneration and sanctification. The ambiguity of many Old Testament references to the Spirit is acknowledged, yet a position of agnosticism on his personal involvement with Old Testament believers in some way would be a non-starter for this workshop. The simultaneous New Testament and Old Testament symposia will each have their own sessions, yet there may be times for plenary sessions to discuss where certain trajectories of the Testaments intersect on the topic of the Spirit and spiritual formation.

The Holy Spirit’s Role in the Old Testament Believer’s Spiritual Formation

Since EFBR publishes its symposia papers, the topics below are intentionally narrow for the cohesion of the publication. So, in composing your abstract, please make certain that it addresses centrally one or more of the topics below. Regardless of which topic(s) from the list are addressed, papers must explicitly, substantively, and practically address the symposium’s focus on guiding the local church. Wherever “Spirit” is designated below, the Third Person is meant.

• In what ways did the Third Person participate in the spiritual life of an Israelite or Gentile?
• If the Spirit affected spiritual formation, did it include regeneration and/or sanctification?
• Was the Spirit’s role in the Old Testament related to the states of holiness and righteousness?
• What was similar or different in how the Spirit affected an individual in each Testament?
• Did the Spirit impact spiritual formation between the Old Testament and Pentecost?
• Was the Spirit’s role in the Testaments’ and intertestamental believers’ salvation different?
• Is there any exegetical support on the question of whether the Spirit affected spiritual formation in the Old Testament, e.g., Ps 51:10-11; Is 32:15; Jer 31:33; Ezek 11:19; 18:31; 36:24-28?
• What role might the Spirit have had in worship by Old Testament persons and the community?

Abstracts must clearly articulate how exactly the paper will advance the understanding and practical application of the paper’s conclusions by church leaders and the laity.

Abstracts would not be approved if focused on any of the following approaches:

• Lengthy surveys of the past and current positions on the symposium’s title or topics.
• Topics not addressing whether the Spirit was related to spiritual formation in the Old Testament
• Too little attention to explicit, substantive, and practical guidelines for church leaders and the laity on appreciating the Holy Spirit’s relationship with Old Testament believers.