The Reception of Violent Biblical Texts Within and Beyond the Canon

26-28 June 2024

Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj, Faculty of Roman Catholic Theology, Iuliu Maniu str. 5

The conference

The conference explores the topic of violence in biblical texts and early Christian literature (apocrypha, patristic writings), and the reception of such texts and motifs in some early medieval works, in iconography and liturgical texts, with particular attention to contemporary reception in wartime Ukraine.

Speakers

Olimpiu BENEA (Babeș-Bolyai University, Cluj)
Marianne BJELLAND KARTZOW (University of Oslo)
Andreas DETTWILER (University of Geneva)
Cyril HOVORUN (Sankt Ignatios Theological Academy, Stockholm)
Alexandru IONIȚĂ (Lucian Blaga University, Sibiu)
Christos KARAKOLIS (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens)
Bohdan KURYLIAK (University of Zurich / Berrien Springs, MI)
Ihor KURYLIAK (University of Zurich / Chuy, Kyrgyzstan)
Harry O. MAIER (Vancouver School of Theology)
Ivanna MOVCHANYUK (Ukrainian Catholic University, Lviv)
Tobias NICKLAS (University of Regensburg /Beyond Canon/EELC)
Roman OSTROVSKYY (Kyiv Three Holy Hierarchs Major Seminary)
Cosmin PRICOP (University of Bucharest, Faculty of Orthodox Theology)
Vasyl RUDEYKO (Ukrainian Catholic University, Lviv)
Yuriy SHCHURKO (Ukrainian Catholic University, Lviv)
Serhii SMAHLO (Friedrich Schiller University, Jena)
Michael SOMMER (University of Frankfurt)
Halyna TESLYUK (ATU St Angela’s, Ireland)
Ekaterini TSALAMPOUNI (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki)
Dmytro TSOLIN (Ukrainian Catholic University, Lviv)
Solomiya TYMO (Ukrainian Catholic University, Lviv)
Taras TYMO (Ukrainian Catholic University, Lviv)
Dariya SYROYID (Ukrainian Catholic University, Lviv)
Jan Willem VAN HENTEN (University of Amsterdam)

Welcome to Cluj

Cluj / Kolozsvár / Klausenburg is the informal capital of Transylvania (Ardeal / Erdély / Siebenbürgen), with a rich and complicated history and a multicultural character.

Program

June 26

15.00-15.20 Opening, welcome (Márton Áron Room, Faculty of Roman Catholic Theology)
Tobias Nicklas, University of Regensburg / Beyond Canon / EELC
Olimpiu Benea, Director of the Centre for Biblical Studies
Korinna Zamfir, Faculty of Roman Catholic Theology, Babeș-Bolyai University

Introduction – Violent Biblical Texts and their Reception

15.30-16.00 Jan Willem van Henten: Violence in Biblical and Extra-Biblical Texts Revisited
16.00-16.30 Yuriy Shchurko: Reading the Violent and So-called Pacifist Texts in the Bible in the Proper Context
16.30-17.00 Discussion
17.00-17.30 Ivanna Movchanyuk: The Entry of Evil into Human History and its Spread According to Genesis 1–11
17.30-17.40 Discussion

June 27

Violent Texts in the Canon (I)

9.00- 9.30 Halyna Teslyuk: Sorrowful Silhouettes: Exploring the Stories of Mothers in 2 Kings 6 and Rizpah's Grief in 2 Samuel 21
in the Midsts of the War in Ukraine
9.30-10.00 Dmytro Tsolin: The Genre of Qīnā: Some Important Observations on the Rhythmic and Syntactic Aspects of Versification,
Based on the Material of the Book of Lamentations
10.00-10.30 Ihor Kuryliak and Bohdan Kuryliak: Daniel and Revelation: The Violence of the Four Winds and the Cosmic Conflict
10.30-11.00 Discussion

11.30-12.00 Serhii Smahlo: Taking the Kingdom by Force. An Example of the Language of Violence in the Jesus Tradition
12.00-12.30 Ekaterini Tsalampouni: The Reception of Jesus’ Violent Sayings in the Ancient Church:
The Case of Matthew 10:23 and Luke 12:49-51
12.30-12.50 Discussion

Violent Texts in the Canon and Their Reception

15.00-15.30 Marianne Bjelland Kartzow: The Figure of the Neighbour: Biblical Reception in War and Peace
15.30-16.00 Christos Karakolis: Paul the Apostle’s Rhetoric on Injustice and Its Bearing on Community Cohesion
16.00-16.30 Olimpiu Benea: The Reception of the "Fatal Law" of Colossians 3.5 in the Interpretation of the Church
16.30-17.00 Discussion
17.30-18.00 Roman Ostrovskyy: Revelation 18: Corruption and the Fall of Babylon
18.00-18.30 Tobias Nicklas: The Bamberg Apocalypse. An Anti-Violent Revelation around 1000 AD?
18.30-19.00 Michael Sommer: The Use/Abuse of the Revelation of John in Popular Culture
19.00-19.30 Discussion

June 28

Violence and Martyrdom in Early Christian Texts

9.00- 9.30 Dariya Syroyid: Martyrdom of the Apostles in Ukrainian Manuscripts
9.30-10.00 Cosmin Pricop: Dealing with Violence in Some Apocryphal Acts of Apostles
10.00-10.30   Harry Maier: Manacled, Beaten, and Bound Temples of God: Cyprian of
Carthage’s Uses of Vivid Speech and Scripture in the Comforting of
Christian Prisoners under Imperial Occupation
10.30-11.00   Discussion

Biblical Reception in the Context of the War

11.30-12.00   Taras Tymo: The Use and Abuse of Biblical Texts in the Context of the Full-
Scale War in Ukraine (2022–2023): Examples and Theological Reflections
12.00-12.30 Vasyl Rudeyko: Liturgical Prayers at the Time of War and Their Use as a
Prayer for Protection / Peace / Victory
12.30-13.00 Cyril Hovorun: The Department of Biblical Studies at the Moscow Theological
Academy and the War
13.00-13.30 Discussion

The Reception of Violent Passages in Texts and Images

15.00-15.30 Alexandru Ioniță: “His Blood Be on Us and on Our Children!” Mt 27:25 –
Towards an Eastern (un)Orthodox Reception
15.30-16.00 Andreas Dettwiler: The Violent Reception of the Compelle Intrare (Lk 14:23)
and its Critical Reception by Pierre Bayle in his Treatise on Tolerance
16.00-16.20 Discussion

16.50-17.20 Solomiya Tymo: The Issue of War, Violence, and the Cult of ‘Holy Warriors’ in
Byzantine Iconography
17.20-17.30 Discussion
17.30-18.30 Concluding panel

Organisers

Organisers

Babeş-Bolyai University (Cluj)
Centre for Biblical Studies
Faculty of Roman Catholic Theology
Beyond Canon Centre for Advanced Studies (Regensburg)

Partners

Eastern European Liaison Committee, Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas
Ukrainian Catholic University, Faculty of Philosophy and Theology (Lviv)

Further sponsors

Herbert Haag Stiftung für Freiheit in der Kirche