Announcing a Meeting to Discuss a Non-Religious Group Within the Society of Biblical Literature
Read this announcement below. Come join us.
Dear colleagues,
As the Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) approaches, some of us have discussed the possibility of forming a group that would approach the Bible from a strictly non-religious viewpoint. Although no single mission or purpose has been established yet, some our objectives could be to:
1. Promote scholarship of the Bible from a non-religious viewpoint.
2. Produce scholarly critiques of religionist biblical scholarship, and how it functions to maintain the authority and value of the Bible in the modern world.
3. Form a counterweight to the Evangelical Theological Society, and perhaps engage in cordial dialogue and debate with its members through written formats and through joint sessions.
You are free to propose any alternatives, or add your own, to our proposals at that meeting. We can send out a more specific agenda about a week before the meeting begins.
If you are interested in discussing the viability of such a group within the SBL, or alongside the SBL, please join us on [note new date] Saturday, November 21, 2009 at 6:30pm at the Marriott Hotel. Feel free to contact us at the e-mail addresses below.
Sincerely,
Hector Avalos (HectorAvalos@aol.com)
Jim Linville (jimlinville@shaw.ca)
Ken Pulliam (pulliam@mail.com)
John W. Loftus (johnwloftus@verizon.net)
Dear colleagues,
As the Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) approaches, some of us have discussed the possibility of forming a group that would approach the Bible from a strictly non-religious viewpoint. Although no single mission or purpose has been established yet, some our objectives could be to:
1. Promote scholarship of the Bible from a non-religious viewpoint.
2. Produce scholarly critiques of religionist biblical scholarship, and how it functions to maintain the authority and value of the Bible in the modern world.
3. Form a counterweight to the Evangelical Theological Society, and perhaps engage in cordial dialogue and debate with its members through written formats and through joint sessions.
You are free to propose any alternatives, or add your own, to our proposals at that meeting. We can send out a more specific agenda about a week before the meeting begins.
If you are interested in discussing the viability of such a group within the SBL, or alongside the SBL, please join us on [note new date] Saturday, November 21, 2009 at 6:30pm at the Marriott Hotel. Feel free to contact us at the e-mail addresses below.
Sincerely,
Hector Avalos (HectorAvalos@aol.com)
Jim Linville (jimlinville@shaw.ca)
Ken Pulliam (pulliam@mail.com)
John W. Loftus (johnwloftus@verizon.net)