The Bible in art, poverty and social justice, as well as Christian-Jewish dialogue, are the main themes on the agenda of the 25th congress of the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) held in Vienna from 23 to 26 July. Over 1,000 scholars from all over the world took part in the congress; the universities of Budapest, Prague, Bratislava and Bucharest were also represented. The programme of the congress was rich, with 200 events, including a discussion on the Bible in films, an exhibition on the life of women in ancient Israel, another exhibition on the Bible in papyri, displayed in the Museum of Papyri at the Austrian National Library. According to Friedrich Schipper, Protestant Old Testament expert and Viennese biblical archaeologist, who was responsible for organizing the congress, the event “represents an important platform for biblical research”, since “the results of the exchanges between the international experts will be documented in the many specialized journals”. The congress was hosted by the University of Vienna and in particular by the Biblical institutes of the Evangelical and Catholic Faculty of Theology, by the Institutes of Judaic and Oriental Studies, and by other scientific institutions and Austrian religious communities.
