”We live in a Body”
International Biblical Conference XII
Date: 9th-11th September 2010
Venue: HU-6720 Szeged Dóm tér 6.
The topic of the Conference is: “We live in a Body”
In his encyclical letter entitled Deus Caritas est(25th December, 2005)Benedict XVI talks about the bewilderment of the concept of love and also about love concerning the body, i.e. eros, because of which Nietzsche condemned Christianity. The Pope declares, “Nowadays Christianity of the past is often criticized as having been opposed to the body; and it is quite true that tendencies of this sort have always existed.” When the truth-content of this critique is examined, we must keep in mind that today people have curious points of view about the human body and about the culture of the body, too.
On the one hand, today’s approach to human body is indeed different from Christian and biblical visions; on the other hand, however, religions – and especially Christianity – are looked upon as enemies of the body. Many believe that the Bible is ab ovo against the body and that due to its biased appreciation for the soul it depreciates the body.
Nevertheless, we can encounter a love that is much more complicated in the Bible. The rigid separation of the concept of body and soul entered Christian theology through Greek philosophy and the doctrines of the death of the body and the eternal life of soulare also due to the influence of this philosophy.
The Bible uses two different words for the body; one for the lifeless one – considering it to be mere flesh and another one for the body that carries life within itself to which the scriptures attribute psychical functions as well.
Jewish texts cannot conceive man without a body; they talk a lot about the interaction of body and soul and thus the existence after death is looked upon by them as a kind of shadow-like being. When the body is mentioned in the New Testament texts, it is always connected to the orientation of the spiritual sphere of man. When the soul is orientated towards God, they talk about a holy spirit and when it is of devastating nature, demons are mentioned. The divine part of man is the “breath of life” (Gen2:7); it does not only makes the body become alive but also consecrates it (Cf. Job8:19; Ps103:14; Ez37:5-10).
The topic within the Christian Church was principally evolved by the Apostle Paul. When he mentioned the dominion of the body (1Cor15:44; Gal4:13; Rom7:24; 8:5-8) he talkedabout theinstinctive, self-destructing dimensions of man and when he talked about the fruit of soul (Gal5:19-22), then he spoke of the positive orientation of the whole man, including soul and body.
The gospels do not only talk about Jesus’ soul but they describe his bodily manifestations as well; moreover, it is highly appreciated in them that in Jesus’ body the God’s Verb became a man of flesh and blood (Jn1:14). Thus Christian man should care about their body which will become absolutely complete through resurrection; since, according to Christian vision, it is not only the soul but also the body which will live on after having risen from the dead. Paul judges offences against the body more strictly (1Cor6:18) since those due to the damage done to the body leave a more profound impression in human personality. Moreover, when attempting to express the unity of the Christian community, Paul uses the concept of body in a particular way according to which the Church should become the body of Christ.
The lectures of the Szeged International Biblical Conference 2010 contribute to this relevant and exciting topic.
Renowned Lecturers
Lecturers arrive at the Szeged International Biblical Conference XII from Prague, Budapest, Tsukuba (Japan), Vienna, Munich, Zagreb, Cluj-Napoca,Győr and Alba Iulia, thus representing adequately Hungarians of the CarpathianBasin as well as European and Asian Bible scholars.
The most prominent lecturer of the conference is the internationally renowned authority, Joachim Gnilka professor from Munich, member of the Pontifical Biblical Commission and an enthusiastic supporter of our conference. Joachim Gnilka, several books of whom have been translated to Hungarian, too has established a prize which firstly has been awarded to Archbishop of Alba Iulia György Jakubinyi who had been cultivating Bible studies at a high level already when his volume on the interpretation of the Ecclesiastes entitled All is Vanity could only be published under pseudonym. Moreover, he already supported the Szeged conference when authorities were frowning over the contact between theologians reaching over the Hungarian borders.
Some Words about the History of the Conference
In the past twenty-two years 3105 people have been interested enough to be present at our gatherings, 230 lectures have been attended and twenty conference volumes have been published. Nearly half of the lecturers, 114 professors arrived from abroad and we opened the door to all renowned Hungarian Bible scholars over our borders to give a lecture and have it published so that the audience within Hungarian borders could get to know them. The conference volumes have also been sent to territories where Hungarians live in minority.
Our conference was first supported by a prelate living in Vienna Géza Valeintiny,then by the Hungarian Catholic Bishops’ Conference, later by Bishop Endre Gyulay, then by private donations and afterwards by Bishop Dr. László Kiss-Rigó. This way, it became possible for all Christian institutions of higher educations to join in our scholarly debate.
Invitation to the Szeged International Bible Conference XXII
We request the pleasure of the company of all the heads in Hungarian ecclesiastical higher education at the conference and the award celebration of the Gnilka Prize (10th September, 2010) in order to pay our tribute to the supporters of the conference and to the support given by Archbishop György Jakubinyi for decades.
I invite and expect the presence of all who are interested in the conference and who considers religion as an indispensable part of culture and who believes that the spiritual roots of Europe stem from the Jewish-Christian culture.
Application via e-mail: or
For further information, please see:
Szeged, 23rd June, 2010
Dr. György Benyik
Chairman of Szeged International Bible Conference
International Biblical Conference XXII
Date: 9th-11th September 2010
Venue: HU-6720 Szeged Dóm tér 6.
"We Live in a Body”
September 9th-11th,2010
Patrons of the Conference: Diocesan Bishop Dr. László Kiss-Rigó, Archbishop Dr. György Jakubinyi, Prof. Dr. György Fodor, President of PPKE (Pázmány Péter Catholic University) and Prof. Dr. Joachim Gnilka.
Lecturer’s name / City / Title of the Lecture01 / Jutta Hausmann / Budapest / Does God Need a Body? Considerations about Anthropomorphisms in the Old Testament
02 / BrožJaroslav / Prague, / "One flesh": The Spousal Symbology in Ecclesiology of the Epistle to the Ephesians (5:21-33)
03 / József Szécsi / Budapest / On Reincarnation, one of the Tendencies of Jewish Thinking
04 / Imre Kocsis / Vác, Hungary / Soma psychicon - soma pneumaticon. The Contrast Between the Earthly and the Resuscitated Body in 1Cor 15:44
05 / Manabu Akiyama János / Tsukuba (Japan) / The Life-Giving Spirit of the Community is Jesus. Reflections on the Gospel According to Saint John.
06 / Rita Perintfalvy / Vienna / The Resignation Over Human Evanescence and the Dissolution of this Resignation in Faith. Intertextual analysis of the Anthropological Motifs of Psalms 103:14-16]
07 / Pál Herczeg / Budapest / Romans 8:1-11 „To Live in a Body” – Life Space and/or Qualification?]
08 / György Benyik / Szeged / Gospel References to Jesus’ Bodily Manifestations
09 / Joachim Gnilka / Munich / Der Mensch als biblisches Wesen nach dem Verständnis des Apostels Paulus.
10 / Mario Cifrak / Zagreb / „Lass die Toten begraben ihre Toten“ (Q9,60)
11 / Korinna Zamfir / Cluj-Napoca / Anthropological perspectives in 1Timothy. Cultural Background and Rhetoric.
12 / Zoltán Olah / Alba Iulia / The Interpretation of the concept of body in Jerome's Commentary on Isaiah.
13 / János Schmatovics / Győr / Sport in the Bible. Game Practices and Sport Metaphors.
14 / Géza Xeravits / Budapest / What about the sex of angels?
15 / Ida Fröhlich / Budapest / “Only Earth, from soil formed” (1QH X.3-4)
Pictures of human in Qumran text
16 / Ottó Pecsuk / Budapest / Translational Considerations of “Soma and Sarx”
17 / Rita Perintfalvi / Vienna / Resignation Over Elemental Evanescence and Its Resolution in Faith. Intertextual Examination of Anthropological Motifs of Psalms 103:14-16
18 / Abdul Fattah Munif / Budapest / Human Body in Al-Koran
19 / György Jakubinyi / Alba Iulia / Christmas martírologium paragraph and biblical time reckoning
International Biblical Conference XXII
Date: 9th-11th September 2010
Venue: HU-6720 Szeged Dóm tér 6.
"We Live in a Body”
September 9th-11th, 2010
Patrons of the Conference: Diocesan Bishop Dr. László Kiss-Rigó, Archbishop Dr. György Jakubinyi, Prof. Dr. György Fodor, President of PPKE (Pázmány Péter Catholic University) and Prof. Dr. Joachim Gnilka.
PROGRAMSeptember. 9., Thursday / September 10., Friday / September 11., Saturday
07:00 / Breakfast / Breakfast
08:00 / Morning Payer / Morning Payer
08:30 / Break / Break
09:00 / Fröhlich - Pecsuk / Perintfalvi - Schmatovics
09:30 / Xervits - Szécsi / Akiyama Manabu- Abdul Fattah Munif
10:00 / Discussion / Discussion
10:30 / Break / Summary Farewell – Benyik
11:00 / Brož – Kocsis / Closing Farewell ceremony Kozma G. rektor
11:30 / Beginning of Registry / Oláh – Cifrák / Te Deum
12:00 / Discussion / Diner
12:30 / Break / Farewell
13:00 / Diner
13:30 / Opening ceremony Kozma G. rector / Break
14:00
14:30 / Free programme or City tour
15:00 / Hausmann - Zamfir / Gnilka
15:30 / Discussion / Jakubinyi
16:00 / Benyik- Herczeg / Discussion –
16:30 / Discussion / Gnilka Preis ceremony Laudation – Fodor, Bölcskei, Fabiny,Kiss-Rigó
17:00 / Break / Jakubinyi Laudation
17:30
18:00 / Cultural program / Service in Cathedral Jakukbinyi archbishop
19:00
20:00 / Super / Reception(Bishop residence)