Projects / Programmes
Values in Jewish-Christian Sources and Traditions and Possibilities for Dialogue
January 1, 2022
- December 31, 2027
| Code |
Science |
Field |
Subfield |
| 6.11.00 |
Humanities |
Theology |
|
| 6.01.00 |
Humanities |
Historiography |
|
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| 6.03 |
Humanities |
Philosophy, Ethics and Religion |
values, virtues, Jewish-Christian sources, tradition, the Bible, Septuagint, Mishnah, Midrashim, the Apocrypha, Vulgate, patristics, Church history, Augustine, Tertullian, Jerome, metaphors, symbols, personifications, symbol, dialogue, semantics, stylistics
Data for the last 5 years (citations for the last 10 years) on
April 26, 2024;
A3 for period
2018-2022
| Database |
Linked records |
Citations |
Pure citations |
Average pure citations |
| WoS |
117 |
199 |
164 |
1.4 |
| Scopus |
214 |
383 |
317 |
1.48 |
Researchers (21)
Organisations (1)
Abstract
Research Programme P6-0262 - The History of Forms in Judeo-Christian Sources and Traditions -was carried out in two periods: 2004-2008 and 2009-2014. Between 2015-2021, the title was slightly changed into Jewish-Christian Sources and Dimensions of Justice. We now wish to continue the existing programme with a slightly expanded title: Values in Judeo-Christian Sources and Traditions, and Possibilities for Dialogue. Despite the obvious central role of values in every human life, civilization and religion, to date little research has been devoted to this topic. With its 16 established researchers and 2 doctoral students, the programme group will explore values and virtues within individual theological fields (the Bible and Judaism, patristics, Church history, liturgy, dogmatics, canon law, religious psychology). Within biblical texts of all primary genres and in their interpretations in later commentaries, liturgical texts, systematic theology, canon law, religious psychology, and literary reinterpretations in poetry, prose, and drama, we will examine references to values and virtues. We will use interrelated approaches: a) textual philological approach; b) literary exegetical approach; c) critique of forms and genre theory; d) historical anthropology; e) cognitive theory of metaphors; f) elements of performative approaches; g) intertextual approach; h) thematic and stylistic analyses of literary reproductions of biblical and other texts. Because there is no word for "value" in Hebrew, at the semantic and hermeneutical level, we will look for a correspondence between vocabulary for all fundamental values and virtues in modern forms of communication and the "semantic field" of emotionally marked words and symbols, metaphors and personifications for values in ancient Israel, Judaism, and early Christianity. The results of the program, which is the first comprehensive research of values and virtues in Judeo-Christian sources and traditions spanning from antiquity to the present day, will be published in Slovenian, English and other languages - namely, in monographs and journal articles in Slovenia and abroad, in university textbooks and in commentaries on translations of fundamental works (Bible commentaries, the Apocrypha, Targums, fundamental patristic and liturgical works, etc.); the results will also be presented in the form of regular lectures within the extensive curriculum of the University of Ljubljana's Faculty of Theology. This planned research into values in Judeo-Christian sources and traditions and the possibility of dialogue promises to contribute greatly not only to Bible Studies and theology, but also to the fields of religion, linguistics, literary studies, historiography, cultural history and other humanities in Slovenia and internationally.
Significance for science
The importance of the programme for the development of science can be defined under three aspects: 1. A model of the team's uncovering of the meaning of personal values and virtues in the history of European civilization in relation to universal common foundations as well as to the specifics of individual religions and cultures; 2. An analytical methodological path leading to the advantages of complementary methods in contrast to exclusivist methods, namely, by means of holistic interpretation; 3. Revealing the experiential and discursive means of recognizing the contemporary relevance of values and virtues in Judeo-Christian sources and actualizing them in the fields of personal and social life, education, art and science. The programme plan is based on the realization that Judeo-Christian personal and social values, as guiding principles and enduring beliefs about what is good and desirable and what is not, have had a tremendous impact on society at all times. Judeo-Christian sources consist of great and influential works from antiquity and the early Middle Ages. The main sources of Judaism are the Old Testament, which was a source of inspiration in the emergence of later Jewish sources, such as old translations of the Bible (Septuagint, Targum, etc.), thematic explanations (the Apocrypha, Mishnah, Talmud, Midrash), medieval philological commentaries in Hebrew and the wealth of religious and secular literature of antiquity and the Middle Ages. The main sources of Christianity are primarily the Old and New Testaments in the original and in their many influential translations, and the extremely rich patristic literature in Greek, Latin, and some other languages. All of these sources reflect the common Old Oriental, Greek, and Latin religious, literary, and cultural traditions in various ways. Ancient cultures as a whole, meanwhile, provided an inexhaustible source of motifs and symbols for later European literature, philosophy, and theology. Only a careful comparative study of older sources and later religious and secular literature can reliably show points of similarity and difference between ancient civilizations. Such research also shows how ancient civilizations influenced the development of European religious and secular culture. Exploring values in ancient Judeo-Christian sources in comparison to other ancient cultures (ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Greece and the culture of Hellenism) places programme group members before the daunting task of finding similarities and differences in perceptions of values at the universal experiential level and at the level of intellectual discourse. We are interested in the relationship between depictions of values in poetic texts and literary narratives and definitions of social and religious norms. The fundamental questions, then, are these: What is the relationship between the personal and the collective social sphere? What is the relationship between the perception of values as personal virtues and social norms? On the linguistic level, the fundamental question is this: How are similarities and differences expressed when it comes to values Hebrew-Jewish Semitic language structure and in non-Semitic language structures (ancient Egypt, ancient Greece with an extension to a long period of Hellenistic cultural domination)? Various ancient cultures, especially Hebrew-Jewish and Greek-Hellenistic cultures, influenced the development of European cultures over two thousand years, and this influence was joined by Roman culture, which became dominant in Western Europe. Researchers of fundamental theological fields (Bible studies, patristics, Church history, liturgy, dogmatics, canon law, and religious psychology) face the question of how values throughout history are expressed in the constellation of influences of polysemous Hebrew-Jewish poetics, Greek logic, and Greek logic. However, since the aim of such research is not only to publish in Slovenian, but also in foreign languages (especially English), programme group members will be able to contribute significantly to the international division of labour in finding answers to complex scientific questions that support the development of humanism. Fundamental Judeo-Christian values and virtues are presented, for the most part, in literary sources by expressive means of rich metaphors, symbols, and personifications. Many metaphors, symbols and personifications are culture-specific and convey meaning about the world and human life. Myths, symbols and personifications have been at the heart of education since the time of the ancient Greeks. Exploring alternative perspectives on metaphors, symbols, and personifications helps one learn how to think creatively and critically, and ask questions in interaction between different fields from literature, fine arts, philosophy, psychology, theology, entrepreneurial models, and politics. The programme group researchers are also university teachers, meaning that pedagogical activity is an important part of their work.
Significance for the country
The importance for the socio-economic and cultural development of Slovenia can be defined under the following aspects: 1) Acquiring cognitive abilities for reflecting on and critically discussing complex matters pertaining to values in Judeo-Christian sources ranging from antiquity to modernity; 2) Developing all study fields of the pedagogical programme at the University of Ljubljana's Faculty of Theology and developing closer cooperation with the theological faculties of Central and South-Eastern Europe, with a particular emphasis on ecumenism; 3) Stimulating international scholarly cooperation, striving for social cohesion, discussing ethical issues; 4) Promoting better decision-making in politics, and stimulating a better understanding of the individual and the social habits that shape our daily lives. In terms of subject matter, the programme group's emphasis on Bible translations and commentaries are what most comprehensively integrate us into the common European cultural and religious space. The Bible forms the basis of a discourse on ethical issues, on linguistic and cultural identity, on human rights, and on the spiritual foundations of human existence. As a fundamental source of European and Slovenian culture, the Bible has crucially contributed to the development of the Slovenian language, literature and culture in all other fields of creativity (music, fine arts, film, etc.). The programme group's research will help it achieve the most important points of identification in the development of the Slovenian language, literary theory and hermeneutics. An annotated translation of the Bible and numerous articles and monographs make for an important contribution to Bible studies and theology, and especially for the development of Slovenian general and spiritual culture. Most of the programme group's results also create an irreplaceable basis for the development of the pedagogical programme at the University of Ljubljana's Faculty of Theology. The programme group plan and implementation are determined from the outset by the vital needs of Slovenian general and spiritual culture, and scholarship and education at the university level. The programme group is bound by the fact that there is a chronic lack of internationally comparative and academically commented Judeo-Christian sources and internationally comparable scientific discourse in the fields of religion, philosophy, theology and religious pedagogy in the light of fundamental values and virtues. This explains why the plan and implementation of the programme emphasizes the optimal use of the annotated translation of the Bible, the use of annotated translations of some works of older Jewish and Christian sources (Midrash, the Apocrypha and the works of the Church Fathers). The substantive aspects of the results of the programme group show that all researchers make special efforts to ensure the validity of ethical values in all segments of Slovenian society. The methods of literary theory help us to distinguish between analytical methods and theological reflection. They can help systematic theologians to accept the constant tension (but not separation) between linguistic and literary expressions of truth and the more speculative and systematic approaches to systematic theology in its mission to develop a holistic reflection on the key relationship of the Bible's message for human existence. An in-depth holistic literary reading of the texts helps to discover the great value of Bible actualization in the Jewish tradition of Targum and Midrash on the one hand and the Christian tradition of biblical commentaries, homilies, and other writings of Church Fathers and later theologians on the other. A holistic reading of Judeo-Christian sources in terms of fundamental values can help us to understand many contemporary problems, such as: solidarity with the poor, liberation theology, the position of women, human rights, protection of human life, nature protection, longing for world peace. The central message of evangelical justice and love cannot prevent the emergence of racial segregation, anti-Semitism and other forms of discrimination and violence. Throughout time, discrimination and violence have made us realize how justified it is to seek the deeper meaning of the biblical message. Exploring alternative perspectives on metaphors, symbols, and personifications helps use learn to think creatively and critically, and to ask questions in the nexuses between different fields from poetry, fine arts, entrepreneurial models, and politics. The antithetical relationships of the use of symbols of virtue and corruption provide an ideal basis for exploring and understanding human experience, our world, the values of different cultures, and ethical questions. The programme group consists of researchers from theological fields that represent an internationally valid system: Bible studies, Judaism, patristics, liturgy, systematic theology, Church history, and canon law. All programme group subprojects are important for academic and general education in Slovenia. The research implementation will serve the needs of the pedagogical programme of the Faculty of the University as a whole, while encouraging the development of other educational institutions and general culture. Junior researchers are included in the redesigned programme in order to provide a source of qualified experts for all basic theological fields for the future. The most important task of the programme is to serve the crucial need for high-quality theological literature in Slovenian and to develop mutual research cooperation in a broader international academic context. The results of the research will be welcomed by writers of history textbooks and of academic discussions, and will indirectly enrich the knowledge of the Church's involvement in mediating and shaping universal moral values based on natural spiritual experience while delving into values in Judeo-Christian sources.
