Dreams in Low Places: Online Biblical Courses at MBIT this Autumn

As the new academic year begins, a fresh round of online short courses, study days and events are commencing at the Margaret Beaufort Institute (MBIT) in Cambridge. Fittingly, Scripture is at the forefront with a pair of four-week courses on Tuesday evenings 5.30-7pm, one on Luke 6-9 (8-29 October) and one on Genesis 37-50 (5-26 November), that can be studied on their own or consecutively. These texts complement one another in fascinating ways, particularly in their evocative descriptions of "dreams in low places".

The Gospel of Luke course (Lk 6-9: Education for Discipleship) that I will lead invites us to take our place on 'the low ground' (pedinos) (Lk 6:17), by the shore of the Sea of Galilee, as Jesus descends from the mountain with the Twelve (6:12) to instruct us, as hearers, alongside a great multitude of disciples and people. Here, seated on the ground, we - the destitute, the hungry, the mourning and the ostracised (see Louis Ndekha, The Sermon on the Plain (Lk 6:20-49) and Greco-Roman Panegyrics, (Bamberg Press, 2023), pp. 87-107) - are encouraged to rejoice in a new vision of a divinely ordered society, not as a distant dream, but as a counter-cultural reality which is already in-breaking (cf. Lk 11:20). This section of Luke's Gospel (Lk 6:12-9:6) anticipates the Sunday Lectionary readings that commence on the 6th Sunday of Ordinary Time (Year C) (beginning on 16 Feb 2025). www.whatgoodnews.org/sunday-gospels-year-c

Studying this course will deepen our engagement with the Gospel of Luke, and enrich our understanding of what it means to be a disciple, following the curriculum that the Twelve received in Luke's narrative.

The Genesis course (Gen 37-50: Beyond the Coat of Many Colours: Reading the Joseph Narrative) invites us to move beyond what Jason Donovan can teach us about biblical narrative, to plumb the depths of one of the most profound theological texts in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, and an acknowledged literary masterpiece. This narrative, too, invites us to glimpse dreams in 'low places', with its recurrent spatial motif of 'going down': (Hebrew verb: yrd): Joseph goes down to Egypt (Gen 39:1), goes down to prison (Gen 39:20), and even goes down into the pit (Gen 37:24). Dr Rosalie Moloney, whose PhD thesis was focused on the Tamar narrative of Genesis 38 (Cambridge, 2019), will lead us through Gen 37-50, enabling us to gain a clearer sense of this 'dreamer', Joseph (Gen 37:19), and the psychological depths of its portrayal of sibling rivalry, paternal loss, and divine providence, love (hesed) and grace (hēn) (cf. Lindsay Wilson, Joseph: Wise and Otherwise, Wipf & Stock, 2007). The course will also pay particular attention to the multifaceted depictions of women characters in the narrative.

Both courses will be streamed live, and recorded, with additional handouts available on the online learning platform, and a Certificate of Attendance on completion. To sign-up please click on the Eventbrite links below. If you require any further details please email Adele at: aa2451@mbit.cam.ac.uk

LINKS

The Gospel of Luke 6-9: Education for Discipleship:
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/luke-6-9-education-for-discipleship-tickets-1007496458027

Beyond the Coat of many Colours: Reading the Joseph Narrative (Genesis 37-50)
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/beyond-the-coat-of-many-colours-reading-the-joseph-narrative-tickets-1007489607537

Dr Sean Ryan
Vice Principal, MBIT