austraLasia #3014
A Jew and a Christian Read the Bible
MELBOURNE: 11 February 2012 -- Fr Frank Moloney finished his term of office as the Provincial in Australia and the Pacific on December 31. Fr Greg Chambers has now taken on the burden of that office. Although Frank has managed to “keep his hand in” over his six years (he has published each year), he has now been appointed a Senior Professorial Fellow at Australian Catholic University, and thus able to return to a scholarly life. His tasks are to teach in graduate seminars, to supervise doctoral dissertations, to monitor some of the younger professors, and to make a contribution to the research profile of the University.
He returned to the podium in the middle of January, when he worked with a Jewish Rabbi to present a special summer course in the Master of Theology programme: “A Christian and a Rabbi read the Bible.” It was an exciting venture for a number of reasons. In the first place, the University made extensive use of IT to deliver this course to Masters students all over the University. Frank was located on ACU’s Strathfield Campus in Sydney, Rabbi Fred Morgan was located at the Melbourne Campus, and students from Brisbane and Canberra also were able to be there.
How? Via a closed video link-up. Each morning the presenters spoke for three hours and received questions. In the afternoons, each geographical location met to share some reflected reading and discussions. They then went to the computer library and carried on a directed link-up across the university for two more hours. Several other biblical professors from across the University were present at all the afternoon sessions. One of the many extra values of this method is that all the material – both visual and sound – are recorded and still available for consultation.
This was the first time the University had delivered a unit in this fashion for the whole University, which has campuses in Brisbane, Sydney (2), Canberra, Melbourne and Ballarat. Rabbi Fred Morgan gave an illuminating series of lectures on the interpretative methods of the Jewish tradition, introducing students to the midrashic method of interpretation, and sharing some close readings of Targumim, the early Midrashim, the two Talmudim, and some of the later great Jewish commentators.
It was a stimulating “first” for many ACU students. Professor Moloney spoke generally about principles of Christian interpretation, and then did exercises on texts that looked back to the Old Testament: the infancy narrative of Matthew, the passion narrative of Luke, and the Johannine use of the Old Testament. The Rabbi and Frank entered into lively discussion, and both learnt something from one another, as the students followed and entered the debate.
The critical issue, respected by both scholars, was the unconditional commitment of the Jewish tradition to the application and interpretation of Torah in each new age and situation, and the unconditional commitment of the Christian tradition to a contemporary reading of Sacred Scripture that sees everything through the lens of what God has done for us in and through the person of Jesus Christ.
A Jew and a Christian Read the Bible
He returned to the podium in the middle of January, when he worked with a Jewish Rabbi to present a special summer course in the Master of Theology programme: “A Christian and a Rabbi read the Bible.” It was an exciting venture for a number of reasons. In the first place, the University made extensive use of IT to deliver this course to Masters students all over the University. Frank was located on ACU’s Strathfield Campus in Sydney, Rabbi Fred Morgan was located at the Melbourne Campus, and students from Brisbane and Canberra also were able to be there.
How? Via a closed video link-up. Each morning the presenters spoke for three hours and received questions. In the afternoons, each geographical location met to share some reflected reading and discussions. They then went to the computer library and carried on a directed link-up across the university for two more hours. Several other biblical professors from across the University were present at all the afternoon sessions. One of the many extra values of this method is that all the material – both visual and sound – are recorded and still available for consultation.
This was the first time the University had delivered a unit in this fashion for the whole University, which has campuses in Brisbane, Sydney (2), Canberra, Melbourne and Ballarat. Rabbi Fred Morgan gave an illuminating series of lectures on the interpretative methods of the Jewish tradition, introducing students to the midrashic method of interpretation, and sharing some close readings of Targumim, the early Midrashim, the two Talmudim, and some of the later great Jewish commentators.
It was a stimulating “first” for many ACU students. Professor Moloney spoke generally about principles of Christian interpretation, and then did exercises on texts that looked back to the Old Testament: the infancy narrative of Matthew, the passion narrative of Luke, and the Johannine use of the Old Testament. The Rabbi and Frank entered into lively discussion, and both learnt something from one another, as the students followed and entered the debate.
The critical issue, respected by both scholars, was the unconditional commitment of the Jewish tradition to the application and interpretation of Torah in each new age and situation, and the unconditional commitment of the Christian tradition to a contemporary reading of Sacred Scripture that sees everything through the lens of what God has done for us in and through the person of Jesus Christ.
