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KENYA: Biblical consultations Launched

Lutheran theologians and leaders from around the world are launching a series of biblical consultations to promote common insights and further the unity of The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) as it approaches the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation in 2017, reports CISA.

Thirty-five participants are gathering in Nairobi, Kenya, September 9-14 for the first event on Word of God in the Scriptures as Shared Space: Towards a Contemporary Hermeneutic for the Lutheran Communion. The initial consultation focuses on the Gospel of John.

It aims to revive focus on the Bible as a book for the church and shaper of many world cultures, making it central to the 2017 celebrations. The consultation will produce resources for academia and congregations that reflect biblical understandings across the Lutheran communion.

“Exposing our reading before the loving scrutiny of others brings Christians closer together,” said Rev Dr Kenneth Mtata, LWF Department for Theology and Studies (DTS) study secretary for Lutheran Theology and Practice. DTS is organizing the consultation.

“We think that legitimate interpretation of Scriptures is that which happens in communities of accountability,” Mtata commented. “By sharing the tools used in reading the Bible, benefiting from different reading contexts, such exchanges move everyone from their secure interpretative position to a new one.”

Dr Kathryn Johnson, DTS interim director, noted that the centrality of the Word of God had always been a cornerstone of the LWF communion.

“It is hoped that such an undertaking will not only strengthen the internal unity of the communion, but also sharpen a shared witness to the world through a relevant approach to the Bible that takes seriously its historical context, our Lutheran heritage and our various contexts as readers,” she remarked.

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TAGS: Kenya Nairobi The Lutheran World Federation Protestant Reformation Biblical consultations

[09/12/2011]

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