Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Toto · 09-06-2006, 04:04 PM

Scripture and Skepticism- A Landmark Conference at the University of California, Davis, January 25-28, 2007 has been announced by The Committee for the Scientific Examination of Religion.

Quote:

Beginning with the Protestant Reformation, the Bible has come under critical scrutiny by theologians and scholars with various agendas: protecting its sanctity, correcting its mistakes, revealing its mysteries, challenging its truth-claims.

Skepticism has played an important role in the demythologizing of the Bible, learning more about Jesus and the origin of Christianity, and separating fact from fiction in examining the biblical text.

Islam, as well, has known periods of relative freedom in the discussion and interpretation of the Qur’an, but on the whole has not accepted the skeptical and scientific methods of investigation customary in the west.

The 2007 conference of the Committee for the Scientific Examination of Religion is an exploration of the legacy of skepticism and interpretation in the study of sacred texts, founders and ideas. We have assembled a stunning group of scholars for this occasion, all of whom have made landmark contributions to the understanding of the Bible, the Qur’an, and their contexts.

Themes to be explored:

Verdicts on the quest for the historical Jesus
The history and anti-history of the Qur’an
Approaching Scripture: Jewish, Christian and Muslim Approaches
The Significance of Skepticism in Interpretation
Muhammad, History and Myth

Six scholars are being honored:

David Noel Freedman – Editor of the leading international commentary, The Anchor Bible

Walter Brueggemann – One of North America’s most admired scholars of the Old Testament

James Robinson – Editor of the Coptic Gnostic Library project

John Dominic Crossan – prolific New Testament scholar and a leading member of the Jesus Seminar

Gerd Puin – Islamicist and leading expert on the history of the Koran

Elaine Pagels – Scholar, author and interpreter of the New Testament in its social environment.

ETA: Registation form is here in pdf format

Quote:

Presenters and honorees will include a virtual who’s who of scientific religious scholarship: James Tabor, Gerd Lüdemann, Robert Price, David Noel Freedman, R. Joseph Hoffmann,Van Harvey, Elaine Pagels, and Naomi Janowitz, as well as Islamicists Andrew Rippin, Ibn Warraq, Alfred Louis DePremare, Gerd Puin, Herbert Berg, and many others. For an updated conference program and other information, visit www.centerforinquiry.net/cser/index.html .

youngalexander · 09-06-2006, 06:12 PM

I've heard 'Winter in America is Cold' but would nevertheless be tempted to attend the conference except that they have cleverly picked the same time that we are taking the grandchildren on hols!

CSER seems to encompass an interesting line-up of Fellows:

Mona Abousena (Ain-Shams University, Cairo)
Karen Armstrong (Author, UK)
Aziz al-Azmeh (Central European University)
Peter Atkins (Oxford University)
Scott Atran (University of Michigan)
Nadia al-Baghdadi (Central European University)
Julian Baggini (Editor, The Philosopher's Magazine)
J.A. Barnhart (University of North Texas)
Ophelia Benson (Philosopher, UK)
Clinton Bennett (Cambridge, UK)
Jacques Berlinerblau (Georgetown and Hofstra University)
Susan Blackmore (Science writer, UK) Margaret Chatterjee (Oxford University)
Marcus Borg (Oregon State University)
Philippa Carter (McMaster University)
Bill Cooke (SUNY and Center for Inquiry)
John Dominic Crossan (DePaul University)
Don Cupitt (Emmanuel College, Cambridge)
Charles Curran (Southern Methodist University)
Austin Dacey (SUNY and Center for Inquiry)
Carol Delaney (Stanford University)
Daniel Dennett (Tufts University)
Hermann Detering (Editor, Radikalkritik, Berlin)
Arthur Droge (University of California, San Diego)
Robert Eisenman (California State University, Long Beach)
Alvar Ellgard (University of Goteburg, Sweden)
J. Harold Ellens (University of Michigan)
Cynthia Eller (Montclair State College)
Reuven Firestone (Hebrew Union College)
Robert Fisher (Westminster College Oxford)
Robin Lane Fox (New College, Oxford)
Michelle Goldberg (Salon.com)
Rebecca Goldstein (Trinity College)
Michael Goulder (University of Birmingham, UK)
Stuart E. Guthrie (Fordham University)
Samira Haj (City University of New York)
Susan Jacoby, Writer, New York, NY
Naomi Janowitz (University of California at Davis)
Wendy Kaminer (Contributing Editor, Atlantic Monthly)
Amy Jill Levine (Vanderbilt University)
Judith Lichtenberg (University of Maryland)
Gerd Lüdemann (University of Göttingen)
Daniel Maguire (Marquette University)
Irshad Manjit (University of Toronto)
Michael Martin (Boston University)
Colin McGinn (University of Miami)
Justin Meggitt (Cambridge University)
David Nash (Oxford-Brookes University, UK)
Kai Nielsen (University of Calgary)
Graham Oppy (Monash University)
Pauletta Otis (Pew Trust)
Gabriel Palmer-Fernandez (Youngstown State University)
Keith Parsons (University of Houston)
Massimo Pigliucci (U. Tennessee at Knoxville)
Steven Pinker (Harvard University)
Katha Pollitt (Contributing Editor, The Nation)
Robert Price (Editor, Journal of Higher Criticism)
Stephen Prothero, Boston University
Philip Pullman (Writer, Oxford)
Laura Purdy (Wells College)
Rosemary Radford Ruether (Pacific School of Religion)
Betsy Reed (Contributing Editor, The Nation)
David Reis (University of Oregon)
Richard E. Rubenstein (George Mason University)
Regina Schwartz (Northwestern University)
Roger Scruton (University of Buckingham)
Jeremy Stangroom (Philosopher's Magazine)
Alan Ryan (New College, Oxford)
James Tabor (University of North Carolina, Charlotte)
Joseph Tyson (Southern Methodist University)
Ibn Warraq (Writer, Paris)
Erik Wiedenberg (DePauw University)

In addition:

Quote:

Quarterly Review for the Scientific Examination of Religion

CSER will publish, beginning fall 2006, CSER: A Quarterly Review for the Scientific Examination of Religion (QSER), mini-journal reflecting the Committee's emphasis on the critical and non-parochial study of religions, religious texts, and religious truth claims. The Quarterly succeeds the Journal for the Critical Study of Religion (1994-1998).

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