Biblical Studies

DEPARTMENT OF BIBLICAL STUDIES

Biblical Studies is a branch of theology that examines the texts of Scriptures (Old and New Testaments) in order to draw out its contextual and theological meaning. Courses cover in this field aims at surveying biblical books and interpreting biblical texts in order to gain a meaning of the text from a close reading. Although all disciplines of the theology engage in interpretation, biblical discipline’s interpretation focuses on the interpretation of the text itself, not on the interpretation an ecclesiological praxis (practical theology) or dogmatic teaching/traditions (systematic theology). The department has two main divisions: the Old Testament and New Testament studies, though each has its own sub-disciplines (see below). The main focus of the Old Testament studies is to examine the Hebrew and Aramaic Old Testament scriptures in a diverse manner. Whereas the focus areas in the New Testament studies is the study of the Greek New Testament text and related texts, such as the apocryphal gospels and Pseudepigraphal texts.

Different approaches and theories can be used to interpret biblical texts: rhetoric criticism, historical criticism, and approaches from the discipline of social sciences—sociology, phycology, anthropology, and etc.  This is because: 1) Authors of each book of the Bible wrote it being in his (we suppose authors of biblical books were men) own or his audience’s cultural/social/historical context.  In addition to examining books of the Bible and texts of the books, biblical study also looks at other material-remains and texts that shed light on the Biblical world. For example, extra-canonical religious writings and forms of religiousness rejected by mainstream religions, e.g., Gnosticism, Judaism in the time of Jesus are examined as a parallel sources which shed light on the understanding of the meaning of biblical texts.