Religion in Culture Lunch Series

On February 22, 2006, the work of Prof. William "Bill" Arnal--of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Regina (Saskatchewan, Canada)--was the focus of a lunchtime discussion (for REL majors and faculty). In Gorgas Library, on the following day, he presented the second Religion in Culture Lecture of the Spring 2006 semester. (For more on this lecture, please visit this page.)

Although trained as a scholar of Christian origins (a designation that differs from "New Testament" insomuch as the latter is mainly interested in studying the text itself as opposed to studying the text as an artifact of a prior social world), and specifically as a scholar of Q (an ancient text-- named after the German word "Quelle," or Source--of sayings of Jesus, hypothesized by scholars to have once existed alongside an early version of what is today known as the Gospel of Mark), Arnal spoke at lunch on his 2001 essay, "Definition" from the edited collection of essays, Guide to the Study of Religion.

Although it is mainly a survey of various ways of defining religion, Prof. Arnal's article ends with provocative comments on the social and political utility of the modern European/North American assumption that the term "religion" primarily signifies an inner, personal, and thus apolitical sentiment or disposition that defies adequate public expression. His lunchtime talk, and the discussion that followed, elaborated on this insight, suggesting that such modern distinctions as those between belief/practice and experience/expression are highly useful strategies for dealing with social worlds that are inevitably comprised of fragmented (and competing) identities.

Prof. Arnal is also the author of Jesus and the Village Scribes and is the the co-editor of a collection of essays entitled, Whose Historical Jesus? He is also the English-language editor for Canada's main periodical in our field, Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses.

Interested in learning more about various theories of Christian origins?

Our thanks to Betty Dickey and to Donna Martin for all of their work to plan Department events. Thanks also to Melanie Williams for taking photos of this event.

Prof. Bill Arnal, opens the lunchtime discussion with a summary of his goals in writing an overview article on approaches to, and the problems associated with, the definition of the category "religion."

Among those attending the lunch were (left to right): Prof. Steve Jacobs, Sarah Luken, Justin Nelson, and Zach Price. As always, the event was held in the Department's recently renovated seminar room. Framed flyers for the annual Aronov Lecture can be seen in the background.

Dr. Rob Stephens, working as an Instructor in the Department for the 2005-6 academic year (to assist while Prof. Trost is on sabbatical), poses a question; to his right are REL majors Tim Davis, Zach Price, and Justin Nelson.

Prof. Arnal was joined at lunch by Prof. Darlene Juschka, Program Coordinator of the Women's Studies Program, also at the University of Regina. Learn more about her own Religion in Culture lunch and lecture (which was co-sponsored by our own Department of Women's Studies).

Prof. Arnal pictured rather artistically with his recent book, The Symbolic Jesus: Historical Scholarship, Judaism, and the Construction of Contemporary Identity, which argues that scholarly controversies on the Jewishness of Jesus--an ongoing issue among scholars interested in reading the texts of early Christianity in light of their social and historical context--are debates not about the past but, in fact, debates about contemporary identity issues, whether scholarly, political, or religious.