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Tel 01722 424800Forthcoming Courses
Mon 18Mon 18Mon 15Relocating Religion: Cultural and Spiritual Realignments
Mon 15 February, 2:00 pm to Thu 18 February, 2:00 pmMeet the Academic Staff
Julia Mourant
Tutor in Spiritual Formation and Biblical Studies Read more
Karen O’Donnell
Coordinator, Centre for Contemporary Spirituality Read more
Beth Dodd
Director of Studies, Centre for Formation in Ministry and Lecturer in Doctrine and Theology, Arts and Culture Read more
All academic staff

- This event has passed.
The Book of Ruth
- Course Dates: Mon 8 February 2016, 1:00 pm to Thu 11 February 2016, 2:00 pm

Ruth is the story of the ancestry of David and Jesus that starts when the ‘house of bread’ (Bethlehem) has run out of bread.
Off to a bad start hindsight might not be all there is to this tale. Is this an agricultural idyll or a brutal tragedy? Is this an example of feminist liberation or patriarchal oppression? Is this a tale of ancestry begetting and begotten or a theology of redemption? Should we wonder about the ethics of immigration or individual Christian discipleship? With more than 2000 years of interpretation history there is a deep and very diverse well to drink from. But not all that glitters is gold and not all questions have unambiguous answers.
Not for the fainthearted, the course traces the outrageous friendship of God from Jesus Christ to Ruth and back again. In a close reading of this ancient Hebrew text we do not only encounter history, geography, culture, literature and art but also passion, cruelty, theology and ethics. Welcome to the biblical study break on Ruth.