- This event has passed.
The 5th International Symposium on Biblical Exegesis
Timișoara, 13–15 November 2025
With the blessing of His Eminence Ioan, Metropolitan of Banat, the 5th International Symposium on Biblical Exegesis was held in a hybrid format (both in-person and online) from 13 to 15 November 2025. Organized by Fr. Dr Ioan Mihoc and Fr. Dr Iosif Stancovici of the Faculty of Letters, History, Philosophy, and Theology at the West University of Timișoara, the event opened in the Rotonda Hall of the Faculty on the feast of Saint John Chrysostom, a day which the Romanian Orthodox Church observes as Bible Day.
The theme of this edition — “Thy Will Be Done” (Mt 6:10): The Sermon on the Mount Throughout Centuries — provided a coherent and inspiring framework for the presentations and discussions. Scholars examined the Matthean text from biblical, liturgical, historical, philological, and artistic perspectives. Contributors representing universities and research institutions from Romania, Serbia, Bulgaria, Poland, Germany, Switzerland, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States gave the symposium a truly international character.
Over the three days participants explored a rich variety of topics, including the structure of sacred time, patristic interpretations of the Beatitudes, the relationship between biblical typology and wisdom literature, and the reception of the Sermon on the Mount in Christian art. Other papers addressed manuscript traditions in Greek, Slavonic and Romanian, themes of obedience in the Pauline epistles, and insights from the Acts of the Apostles on discerning God’s will in the early Church.
A particularly encouraging feature of this year’s edition was the active and high-quality participation of younger researchers, whose contributions testified to the vitality and dynamism of contemporary biblical studies.
The symposium once again highlighted the enduring value of serious, ongoing engagement with Sacred Scripture in both academic research and the life of the Church.
