Psychological Hermeneutics of Biblical Themes and Texts

Call For Papers: The psychological aspects of human life are integral to human existence, but they represent an under-examined area in Biblical studies. Biblical authors show great interest in people's capacity to cope psychologically with their circumstances, in their interpretations of life situations, and in how to effect change – both internal and external. This section investigates the potential of an examination of Biblical texts with regard to symbols and archetypal images, unconscious factors in biblical motifs and practices, psychodynamic aspects, biblical personalities, religious experience, and the psychology of biblical ethics. We invite papers on the psychological aspects of the biblical themes and texts, as they may be found behind the texts, in the texts themselves, and in their reception up to the present day. In a time of emering racism, concurrent with a deepening climate crisis, exploring defense mechanisms appear to be a promising approach to the interpretation of present-day politics, a psychological factor exploited by populism. How would this situation be dealt with, and how would it resonate with Biblical themes and texts? This year we especially welcome papers that explore defense mechanisms, (such as denial, displacement, regression, repression, rationalization, sublimation) without excluding other themes and approaches. We prefer papers that make explicit use of existing psychological theories. The intersection between biblical theology and psychology is a meeting between two disciplines in their full right – each with their specific questions and areas of expertise, but very much complementary to each other.

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