UK (University of Gloucestershire) Explore relationships between art and the Bible at International Centre’s 20th annual lecture

Ben Quash, Professor of Christianity and Arts at King’s College, London, is the guest speaker at the 20th annual lecture for the International Centre for Biblical Interpretation at University of Gloucestershire.

The inspiration for the lecture – entitled ‘Making (Reception) History: A Visual Commentary on Scripture’ – is Professor Quash’s increasing fascination with how the arts can play a part in renewing and refreshing engagement with the Bible.

Professor Quash (pictured) works principally in the area of Christian theology, with a longstanding interest in the 19th-century background to modern theology, 20th-century systematics, philosophical theology, and Christian ethics.

Professor Quash’s lecture will provide a visual commentary about how artists can operate as biblical interpreters, and how works of art illustrate the ways in which biblical texts have been understood at particular points in history since their original composition.

The lecture will take place on Tuesday, 6 December between 7.30pm and 8.30pm at the University’s Francis Close Hall Campus (Lecture Theatre FCT001), followed by a reception.

Please email Professor Philip Esler from the University’s School of Education and Humanities at pesler@glos.ac.uk to reserve a free place.

Professor Esler said: “Anyone interested in the Bible, whether for theological or cultural reasons, will find this an engrossing and charismatic presentation.

“They will, for example, find they appreciate far more the numerous paintings on biblical themes that hang on the walls of so many art galleries and museums.”

The International Centre for Biblical Interpretation aims to promote scholarship that both studies the Bible in its various ancient contexts and engages with its subject matter in such a way as to advocate its continuing significance for life in church and society.

The Centre’s activities include training postgraduate students in research, enhancing staff research and writing, receiving visiting scholars and developing a community of scholarship.