Members participate in Love, Boundaries and Sacred Texts Colloquium

Members of the Centre for Biblical Studies participated in a two-day colloquium on the theme of Love, Boundaries and Sacred Texts.

The colloquium, born in part from the long-standing association between the University of Manchester and the University of Lausanne, addressed a number of topics associated with the theme.

The event was hosted at the University of Chester on 2 May 2019 and in Manchester on 3 May 2019.

As well as the programme of papers outlined below, participants also enjoyed a visit to an exhibition about Charles Kingsley at Chester Cathedral Library (curated by Professor George Brooke) and a tour of the Roman sites and the Grosvenor Museum.

It is hoped that the success of the event will prove the cornerstone to future collaboration.

Thursday, 2 May

• Welcome and Introductions (Prof. Peter Oakes)
• Dr David Lamb, University of Manchester - ‘The Boundaries of Love: Us and Them Language in 1 John 2:19’
• Dr Benedict Kent, Universities of Manchester and Chester - ‘Transgressive Reciprocity between God the Father and Jesus 'the slave' in Philippians 2:5-11’
• Siobhán Jolley, University of Manchester - ‘Mary Magdalene and the Gendered Boundaries of Love’
• Dr Mat Collins, University of Chester - ‘Demonic Love Actually: Asmodeus and Boundary Crossing in the Book of Tobit’

Friday, 3 May

• Professor David Hamidovic, University of Lausanne -‘Love as Social Disruption: About Erotic Philtres and Incantations in Ancient Judaism’
• Dr Walter Houston, University of Manchester - ‘Marrying out? The construction of boundaries in Ezra 9-10’
• Dr Holly Morse, University of Manchester - ‘Sex a/object: Women's Bodies and Ethnic Boundaries in Deuteronomy 21, Ruth 3 and Ezekiel 16’
• Dr Mi Ja Wi, Nazarene Theological College (Manchester) - ‘‘You will receive power to cross the boundaries’: An examination of Acts 1:8’
• Peter Atkins, University of Chester - ‘The Relationship between Gods, Humans, and Other Animals: Crossing Boundaries in Daniel 4 and the Ancient Near East’
• Dr Todd Klutz, University of Manchester - ‘The Story of Judas in the Gospel of John: Redrawing the Boundaries of the Christ Cult’
• Discussion