In Lübeck, from 14 to 15 May, at St. Mary’s Church – built in 1351 and serving as an architectural model for seventy churches of this style in the Baltic Sea region – a theological conference titled “Modes of Scripture Interpretation” took place, attended by more than 80 theologians from the countries of the Baltic Sea region – Norway, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, and Germany. Latvia was represented at this conference by members of the LALWT – Bishop emerita Jāna Jēruma-Grīnberga, UL FT Dean professor Dace Balode (photo on the right), doctoral candidate and chaplain Rudīte Losāne, pastor Ieva Puriņa, theologian Līga Puriņa-Purīte, and UL FT professor Laima Geikina. The conference was dedicated to questions of women’s ordination, and it placed particular emphasis on the situation of women in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia after the June 2016 Synod.
The conference was opened by Gerhard Ulrich, Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Northern Germany. In the Latvian context, the bishop is more widely known for the fact that he called on Archbishop J. Vanags to reconsider the decision adopted at the Synod, which will henceforth prohibit the ordination of women to spiritual office and is in contradiction with the document of the Community of Protestant Churches in Europe (CPCE) “Ministry, Ordination, Episkopé and Theological Education”, which in turn recognises the ordination of women as a gift of the Holy Spirit and a blessing to the churches.
Gerhard Ulrich (photo on the left), in his opening address, emphasised that the modes of interpreting the Christian Holy Scriptures, which were the central theme of the conference, are nothing new in the Christian church. Among the representatives of these various modes of interpretation there should be not confrontation, but discussion. Discussion about the understanding of the Bible has existed since the very beginnings of the Christian church. This theme is also addressed in Paul’s 2nd Letter to the Corinthians. G. Ulrich emphasised that a strong church is one that is able to discuss various hermeneutical approaches and remain united in Christ, rather than accepting only a single viewpoint, which in its deepest essence divides the church. In the hermeneutical approach to Holy Scripture, the focus must be not on us interpreting the Scriptures, but on the Scriptures interpreting us. And we are different. The word of God, as the Bible asserts, is a “double-edged sword”. But it is not meant as a weapon with which to combat another hermeneutical viewpoint, the bishop emphasised. It is not the power of humans to consolidate their authority, but the power of God to save. The Bible is unified, and hermeneutically each passage of Scripture must be interpreted in the context of the whole Bible. The Reformation, which is regarded as a rediscovery of the word of God, reminds us that the centre of interpretation is Christ. Today too, Christ is the hermeneutical key to theological evaluation. Questionable theological doctrines arise when this is not taken into account, but a particular passage of Scripture is emphasised, isolating it from the overall context. Gerhard Ulrich has discerned such a narrow approach to understanding the Bible in the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Latvia, in its prohibition of the ordination of women to spiritual office.
The bishop emphasised that today we live in a complex time, into which diversity enters and, through it, uncertainty. People therefore need to be given clear and simple answers about the fact that diversity is not a threat but an enrichment. One must think critically and beware of accepting questionable authoritative viewpoints that sow fear in society and cultivate isolation from what is different. This time is a serious challenge for theologians too, said the bishop, which is why an understanding of biblical hermeneutics appropriate to the times is needed, one that can help to unite and to reach agreement in diversity. Only unity in Christ is able to overcome various differences, such as between the sexes, between ethnic communities, and between social groups. All Christians are equally called to be members of the church and of the priesthood. Full participation and equality in the congregation for both men and women is an achievement of the Reformation, Bishop Gerhard Ulrich reminded.
Over the course of two days, six papers on questions of hermeneutics were read, which the conference participants discussed in working groups. Professor Gerlinde Baumann from the University of Marburg shared a paper on the basic principles of biblical hermeneutics, in which the presenter, briefly reviewing the historical development of hermeneutics in the 19th and 20th centuries, set out for the listeners various modes of hermeneutical understanding with respect to the passages of Scripture used by opponents of women’s ordination to deny women’s ministry in spiritual office.
Polish presenter Daria Małgorzata from Poznań shared a study on the situation of women in the Protestant church in Poland, using a cultural studies approach.
Professor Anne Kull from the University of Tartu in Estonia offered a study in practical hermeneutics, comparing the model of discord in the Bible between two Israelite communities that formed after the Babylonian captivity. The part of the people of Israel that, during the Babylonian captivity, remained in the territory occupied by the Northern Kingdom and had intermingled with non-Jews was unable to accept the part of the people that returned after the captivity from Babylon and had formed in a different cultural environment. In uncovering the causes of this conflict, the professor outlined the basic principles that are quite useful for understanding the situation in Eastern Europe after the collapse of the Soviet Union, when the refugees of the Second World War, who had grown up and been educated in Western democracy, returned to the fatherland, where, in turn, the part of the people that had remained had grown up and formed in a closed totalitarian environment.
Professor Dace Balode from the University of Latvia invited the audience to delve into and understand the fundamentalist hermeneutical approach to Holy Scripture, emphasising that a feature of this time is the resurgence of religious fundamentalism and political authoritarianism, which collaborate successfully with one another.
Professor Marianne Kartzow from the University of Oslo in Norway spoke about the paradigm shift in feminist hermeneutics, introducing a new approach – the intersectional one. Whereas until now attention had been paid to one type of discrimination – on the basis of sex – this approach takes into account that
the face of discrimination is manifold. It occurs simultaneously on the basis of age, of disability, of social status, and in other ways as well.
The lecture series was concluded by Astrid Kleist, Vice-President of the Lutheran World Federation, who spoke about the development of the modes of interpreting Holy Scripture.
The two days at the conference were enriching both theoretically and practically. The work in the groups, in which various, sometimes even opposing, viewpoints were heard, was especially creative.
The conference came to a close with the establishment of new contacts, the making of new friends, and an agreement to organise such and similar conferences and meetings in the future as well – a conference that, for the representatives of the Latvian Association of Lutheran Women Theologians, will be a source of strength for continuing to stand for the restoration of women’s ordination in Latvia.
Rudīte Losāne,
Chair of the LALWT
Photo: Līga Puriņa-Pūrīte