A warm invitation is extended to all to come and join with us to celebrate SUSAN DOCHERTY’S installation to Professor of New Testament and Early Judaism at Newman University, Birmingham

An Invitation to

The Inaugural Professorial Lecture

Presented by Professor Susan Docherty

‘Rewriting the Exodus’

Monday 23rd May 2016 – 5.30pm

The biblical account of the Exodus has always been significant for Jews in constructing their history, identity and theology. The story of how God acted through Moses to free the Israelite slaves from their suffering in Egypt is, not surprisingly, retold in numerous Jewish writings throughout the centuries.

In Graeco-Roman times, the large number of Jews living outside of Palestine in cities and towns throughout the Empire particularly enjoyed celebrating Moses as a Hebrew hero who triumphed over hostile foreign powers. One of the most interesting of these re-tellings, known as the Exagoge, takes the form of a Greek Tragedy. I will discuss the interpretation given to the Exodus in this play, and how this compares to that found in other early Jewish sources and the New Testament.

This text raises questions which are still relevant today, including how far religion can be assimilated to different cultures, and how free theologians should feel to adapt authoritative sacred texts to respond to new circumstances.

About Professor Susan Docherty

Professor Susan Docherty is Head of Theology at Newman University

Birmingham. Her main research interest is the way in which the scriptures are interpreted in early Jewish and early Christian literature, and she has published widely on the use of the Old Testament in the New Testament, the Pseudepigrapha and the Septuagint. Professor Docherty is Director of the Newman Research Centre for the Bible and its Reception, and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, from which she received a grant in 2012 to develop a project on innovation in teaching Biblical Studies to undergraduates. She also serves as Chair of the Annual International Seminar on the Use of the Old Testament in the New, co-chair of the New Testament and Second Temple Judaism seminar of the British New Testament Society, and as a member of the international steering group for the Society of Biblical Literature Hebrews section. She was awarded the William Barclay Distinguished Research Fellowship in Biblical Studies at Trinity College Glasgow for 2016.

To reserve a place please contact Lee Lawrence on telephone 0121 476 1181 ext. 2405 or email L.Lawrence@staff.newman.ac.uk

To download the official invitation please click here