Scripture Week, a continuing education program hosted by the Center for Religion and Spirituality, has been held annually at Loyola Marymount University for almost ten years. The program offers free evening lectures that are open to the public, and daytime intensive courses for a tuition fee.

This year’s Scripture Week, June 27 to 30, is themed “Apocalypse!” and will feature Jean-Pierre Ruiz of St. John’s University in New York, Gregory Riley of the Claremont School of Theology and LMU professors David Sánchez and Jeffrey Siker.

“Scripture Week allows continuing education students and community members to dialogue with the big names in the field,” said Michael McNaught, assistant director of the CRS. Each year, a well-known Biblical scholar delivers the keynote and LMU theological studies faculty participate as lecturers. “Scripture Week is an opportunity to showcase the strong LMU faculty,” McNaught said. 

Past Scripture Week lecturers include such scholars as Lawrence Boadt, Donald Senior, Regina Plunkett-Dowling, John Donahue, John Kloppenborg, William Schiedewind, Carol Dempsey, Jerome Murphy-O’Connor, Sandra Schneiders, Daniel Harrington and LMU’s Daniel Smith-Christopher.

Originally a part of the Department of Theological Studies, the CRS was started in 1989. The center works to maintain an active dialogue between Southern California religious communities and institutions and the university; many of the Center’s certificate programs offer training for ministry in the Roman Catholic Church. Nearly 300 students were or are to be awarded certificates during 2010.

Continuing education students can get credit for daytime courses during Scripture Week. Questions and topics about apocalypticism and Christianity that will be posed at this year’s Scripture Week will address: What are the apocalyptic tendencies in Christianity as revealed in the books of the Bible? And what might their authors be saying, or more importantly, warning us about?

For more information on Scripture Week or the CRS, click here.

Posted June 14, 2010