The SNTS International Initiatives Program has continued its outreach through the activities of the four liaison committees and through coordinated initiatives.
Sponsorships and Research Posters
As a one-off initiative this year members or guests being sponsored, who are not already presenting or responding to papers, have been invited to provide Research Posters to be on display during the Marburg conference. There are 9 Research Posters produced by established members and guests from Nigeria, Ghana, Lesotho, India, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Romania (2), with Thursday and Friday morning refreshment breaks set aside for presenters to be available for further discussion of their research. Beside those presenting posters there are 5 others who have received sponsorships (from Russia, Romania, Kenya, Zambia, and Mexico), bringing the total sponsored to 14.
Pre-Conferences
This year in Marburg it was decided not to hold a pre-conference. Next year in Rome there will be a partly joint pre-conference of the Eastern European Liaison Committee and the Latin America Caribbean Liaison Committee. We are currently negotiating the nominal allocation of sponsorships for next year taking into account the following year when we will meet in Melbourne, Australia, and where the Asia Pacific Liaison Committee will hold a pre-conference.
Member Initiatives
These are essential and include
- Nominating scholars for membership, especially from beyond the more established regions
- Mentoring and supporting scholars with fewer means
- Assisting scholars with Library Resources
The Stellenbosch Electronic Library continues to be a significant resource (applications are to be directed to the Assistant Secretary for International Initiatives), as is now the increase in the availability of research publications on-line.
Regional Liaison Committees
African Liaison Committee
The 15th Bi-annual meeting of the SNTS ALC Nairobi Group was held on 27 April 2019 at the United Bible Societies, Nairobi, Kenya.
Asia Pacific Liaison Committee
The APLC held a regional conference at the Chung Yuan Christian University, Taoyuan City, Taiwan, 19-21 October, 2018, was set within the context of the “Interpretation and Application of Greco-Roman Classics in Contemporary Asian Context” with the theme: “Investigating Significant Texts of the Emerging Jesus Movement”. It included 17 scholars: from Taiwan, Korea, Japan, China, and Hong Kong, committee members from Australia and Austria, and some local PhD students. papers from the conference are to be published later this year by Innsbruck University Press, Austria, in the form of an on-line, electronic book.
conference in 2020 in Hiroshima, Japan.
Eastern European Liaison Committee
1. Conferences
- Athens pre-conference with 12 scholars presenting from Russia, Slovakia, Armenia, Ukraine, Poland, Hungary, Serbia, Romania, Greece.
- Participation in conference on Matthew, Moscow, 24-29 September, 2018, publication in English and Russian under preparation. Post conference visiting western scholars lectured in the Higher School of Economics (Oriental Department) and in the Aspirantura/Doktorantura for graduate students and Bible teachers from seminars or academies in Russia.
- Regional conference on the relationship between OT and NT, Sofia, 11-14 October, 2018, also celebrating the 20th anniversary of Bibliotheca Biblica Sofia, papers by scholars from Bulgaria, Serbia, North-Macedonia, Greece, Germany, and Switzerland.
- 8th East-West Symposium on Biblical Anthropology, Caraiman Monastery, Romania, 26-31 May, 2019. 50 active participants, including 8 women, from 18 countries (Russia, Estonia, Ukraine, Armenia, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Serbia, North Macedonia, Greece, Latvia, Austria, Germany Australia, USA, UK, Lebanon) plus ca 10 from Romania. Publication in preparation
2. Libraries and Biblical Institutes
- Bibliotheca Biblica Sofia celebrated its 20th year
- Bibliotheca Biblica, St. Petersburg – prospect of opening a Theological Faculty at St. Petersburg State University
- Biblical library in Belgrade at the Biblical Institute (BINST) of Theological Faculty – project underway to translate LXX into Serbian.
3. Publications
- 7th East-West Symposium, Moscow 2016: Russian translation of papers published; English, to appear later this year (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck).
- Moscow Matthew conference volume in preparation (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck) .
- The Centre for Biblical Studies at Babes-Bolyai University Cluj-Napoca (Romania) publishes Sacra Scripta. Journal of the Centre for Biblical Studies (ISSN 1584-7624). Vol. XV/1-2 (2017) as “Festschrift für Ulrich Luz zum 80. Geburtstag”.
4. Plans
- Participation in Moscow conference on Luke-Acts, September 2020
- Joint pre-conference with Latin America Caribbean LC, Rome, 27-28 July.
Latin America Caribbean Liaison Committee
Regional Conference in Santiago de Chile, 3-8 September, at the Universidad Católica, on Latin American Hermeneutics, ca 30 participants.
Joint pre-conference with Eastern European LC, Rome, 27-28 July.
William Loader Assistant Secretary for International Initiatives