Evangelical Foundation for Biblical Research

OXFORD, UK 16-20 May 2024

The Evangelical Foundation for Biblical Research warmly issues this invitation for a small group of Old Testament scholars to gather for a symposium focused on the role of wisdom literature for spiritual formation. All participants will receive full funding for travel and accommodation at Yarnton Manor, nestled in the lovely countryside outside Oxford (Church Lane, Yarnton, Kidlington OX5 1PY, UK). Participants will also receive in advance of the meeting a complimentary copy of John Goldingay’s most recent work on this topic (Proverbs in the Commentaries for Christian Formation series), which we will be discussing on the first evening. As in previous years, the aim is that our meeting together will result in a rich volume for the life of the church.

Wise Spiritual Formation: The Vital Use of Aphorisms in Spiritual Formation

Assuming Paul included Old Testament wisdom literature in “all Scripture,” (2 Tim 3:16; Rom 15:4), the church and its scholars could rightly ask how an Old Testament believer might have responded to the wisdom literature’s aphorisms. Was one to be equally engaged with, and accountable to wisdom as one was to the Law? Furthermore, was whatever personally motivated an ancient Israelite believer to comply with the Law the same motivation for his or her response to wisdom teaching? These are among the questions that speak to how wisdom literature might have been used for spiritual formation, which could inform how these texts can be utilized now. This symposium will explore the spiritual implications of the laity’s reading of the proverbial ethical material by seeking to understand how it was used then and should be now. 

Topics for discussion include:

1. How were and could proverbial aphorisms be used in spiritual formation?
2. Were OT wisdom aphorisms normative in the Testaments, and are they now?
3. What was expect from the OT believer’s faith and one’s compliance with aphoristic wisdom ethics?
4. What roles do “heart/mind,” “spirit,” strength,” “fear and love of God” play in wisdom literature?
5. What was, and is, the role of the Third Person of the Trinity, God, or God’s “(s)Spirit,” in the OT believer’s moral development regarding wisdom ethics?
6. How should a believer’s spiritual formation be informed today by OT wisdom aphorisms?
7. How should OT proverbial material be presented to laity for their spiritual development? 
8. What could be done to advance the engagement with wisdom literature in the local church?

Instructions for abstract submission: 

• Paper proposals should include an abstract of 250–500 words, along with a CV, and be submitted to bmelton@regent-college.edu by 12 January 2024.
• When composing your paper proposal, be sure to address one or more of the “Topics” listed above.
• For purposes of this symposium solely, wisdom literature will be confined to Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes, and more specifically to the aphoristic texts primarily and slightly longer moral instruction secondarily.
• Papers will not be considered if they address primarily the interpretation of specific texts, structure, milieu, or the role of wisdom’s aphorisms within biblical theology more broadly.
• Papers must address explicitly the symposium’s focus on the local church and/or the laity’s use of wisdom material for spiritual vitality and moral development.