The world is drowned today by the clattering sounds of war machineries and the militarization of space, of news of ecological disasters, of the unfulfilled promises of political figures, of people crying out because of exploitation and marginalization, of trending yet fleeting social media reels. Amidst all of these, the Catholic Church has also embarked on a journey of listening, of allowing people to speak, of letting God's Spirit once again open ourselves to the signs and sighs of the times.
As the Catholic Biblical Association of the Philippines (CBAP) celebrates its Silver Jubilee this 2024, we call on its members to continue this journey of faith and ministry of the Word to the people of God through the sharing of new/renewed hermeneutical methods and discovering of new insights guided by the three-year (2023-2025) over-all theme of "God's Word for the 21st century: Research, Reflection, and Relevance of the Bible for the Church and Society in the Philippines and the World".
As we gather for the 25th Annual Convention of the CBAP this 20-22 September 2024 in Iloilo City, the CALL FOR PAPER centers on the theme "'SPEAK, LORD!' (1 Sam 3:9): 25 Years of Listening and Responding to God's Word for a World in Crisis". We welcome proposals of 250-300 words that use historical, literary, and contextual approaches as methods of biblical interpretation, those that address topics of individual or communal/ collective calling (vocation), those that deal with moments of crises in the Bible such as war and subjugation to imperial powers, ecological disasters, disability and sickness, injustice or exploitation, individual or family crisis and how these situations can be related to the challenges of contemporary Philippine and global society.
Special Opportunity:
Six (6) accepted abstracts will qualify for an airfare subsidy of Php 4,000.00 from the AdMU's Lakbay-Aral Biblia - Kwan-Laurel Opportunity for the Humanities (ALAB-KOH) special grant. Presentations will be given for 20 minutes (around 2500 words) with 10 minutes allotted for Q&A. After a peer review process, the delivered presentations will be published in a special 2025 issue of Landas, the theological journal of the Loyola School of Theology, as a commemorative publication of the 25th anniversary of the CBAP (1999-2024).
Important dates to remember:
31 March 2024 - Call for papers closes.
15 April 2024 – Decision on the accepted papers.
6 September 2024 – Convention presentation handouts due date.
20-22 September 2024 – Annual convention presentation.
30 November 2024 – Full paper submission for peer review.
30 January 2025 – Peer review decision.
31 July 2025 – Target Journal publication date.
