2022 Theological Symposium

The Exegetical Elephant in the Room?

The upcoming 32^nd Annual Theological Symposium, “Search the Scriptures: Finding Christ and Ourselves in the History of Exegesis,” will compare and contrast the ancient and modern exegetical methods and approaches to reading and interpreting the Scriptures. The symposium is set for Sept. 20-21, 2022, on the Concordia Seminary campus. Dr. David Maxwell, the Seminary’s Louis A. Fincke and Anna B. Shine Professor of Systematic Theology, talks about his opening plenary scheduled for the symposium, “The Exegetical Elephant in the Room,” with Dean of Theological Research and Publication Dr. Erik Herrmann.

“The early church, for well over 1,500 years, has read the Bible in a different way than we do. And we never talk about it,” Maxwell says. “They are much more free to find patterns between the two testaments, to connect passages from either testament to the church, to the Sacraments, to our own lives. Whereas we feel a little bit constrained by … the intent of the human author. They don’t feel quite so constrained by that. … When you see the church fathers doing things that wouldn’t have occurred to you, it enriches your reading.”

Registration closes Aug. 31. Learn more and register at csl.edu/symposium.