International Scientific Symposium The Prophet in Exile
The International Scientific Symposium The Prophet in Exile inspired by the life and work of Dr. Ján Lajčiak will be held on October 28-29, 2024 at the premises of Comenius University, Evangelical Lutheran Theological Faculty, Bartókova 8, Bratislava.
The International Scientific Symposium The Prophet in Exile takes place within the framework of the grant task VEGA 1/0698/23 Lajčiak´s Dissertation about Ezekiel in the Contemporary Research of Prophetic Writings
International partners of the symposium:
Department of Old Testament Studies, Protestant Theological Faculty, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic
Department of Old Testament Studies and Biblical Archeology, Faculty of Protestant Theology, University of Vienna, Austria
You can confirm your attendance at the Symposium Opening Ceremony until 25 October 2024 here or use the QR code below. Your registration will help us to better organize the event.
The keynote speaker of the symposium will be prof. Dr. Konrad Schmid of the University of Zurich. Konrad Schmid is Professor of Hebrew Bible and Ancient Judaism at the University of Zurich, Switzerland. He has been a research fellow at the Israel Institute for Advanced Studies in Jerusalem (2012-2013), at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton (2017), and at the Wissenschaftskolleg in Berlin (2020-2021). He served as the 27th president of the International Organization for the Study of the Old Testament from 2019 to 2022. His major publications include Genesis and the Moses Story (2010); The Old Testament: A Literary History (2012); A Historical Theology of the Hebrew Bible (2019); and, co-authored with Jens Schröter, The Making of the Bible (2021).
Prof. Konrad Schmid is the Principal Investigator of the European Research Council Advanced Grant "How God Became a Lawgiver: The Place of the Torah in Ancient Near Eastern Legal History.
He will open the International Scientific Symposium at Comenius University Bratislava, Evangelical Lutheran Theological Faculty, with a lecture:
“Männer des ewig Neuen” - “Men of the Eternally New”: Ezekiel among the Prophets in the history of research at the turn of the 19th to the 20th century
In the second part of the opening ceremony of the symposium, the prominent Slovak prose writer, publicist, author of film scripts and radio plays Anton Baláž will read from his biographical novel Speak, Ezekiel: The Story of Ján Lajčiak. Mr. Baláž is the recipient of several prestigious awards and honors.
The opening ceremony of the International Symposium "The Prophet in Exile" will be musically accompanied by theology student Gabriel Vladimir Lovas.
The opening ceremony of the symposium is connected with an invitation to make a charitable contribution. Participants will be able to contribute financially to the activities and improvement of social services for people who need 24-hour care all year round at the SED Horné Saliby facility for the elderly (https://www.diakonia.sk/nedela-diakonie-2024/) as part of Diakonia Sunday 2024, sponsored by the Evangelical Diakonia of the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Slovakia.
The title and theme of the symposium are inspired by the life and work of Dr. Jan Lajčiak. Among Lajčiak's many important theological works, his dissertation at the Sorbonne in Paris, "Ézéchiel: Sa Personne et son Enseignement" (Paris, 1905), stands out.
Ezekiel, the subject of this work, was a prophet of the Old Testament era. He was active during the critical period of the kingdom of Judah, its fall, the conquest and destruction of its capital, Jerusalem, with its temple as the center of religious life. The prophet spent his life in exile in Babylon. Ezekiel was a critical observer, an eccentric person, but also a visionary who, despite the tragic situation, did not give up hope for a better future. Many aspects of the life and personality of this Old Testament figure are reflected in the work and life of Dr. Ján Lajčiak. Lajčiak earned his doctorate in Semitic philology in Leipzig and in theology in Paris. He was an educated and critical observer of Slovak society, as can be seen in his posthumously published work Slovensko a kultúra /Slovakia and Culture/ (Slovak Ev. A. C. Theol. Academia, 1921).
Lajčiak concluded his life in intellectual exile in a remote parish in Vyšná Boca on the day of the establishment of the Czechoslovak Republic, October 28, 1918. He did not live to see the change and freedom of this republic. However, his work, like the book of the biblical prophet Ezekiel, testifies that despite his "exile" and his critical attitude towards the conditions of his own society, one should not give up hope for a better future. With his personality, Dr. Ján Lajčiak transcended the local context. His life in the fields of education, mobility, free exchange of ideas, international cooperation and research anticipated and embodied many of the values and ideas of the united Europe we know today.
The symposium will explore themes of research on Old Testament prophets, Old Testament prophetic books, and the social or confessional context of the times in which Dr. Ján Lajčiak lived and worked.
Practical note: Participants and listeners attending the second day of the symposium (October 29, 2024) can order lunch for that day at the Faculty Cafeteria, Bartókova 8, Bratislava. Lunch can be ordered one day in advance (i.e. on Monday, October 28, 2024) directly on the caterer's website or in person at the Faculty Cafeteria during lunch time on Monday, October 28, 2024 (more information on the Faculty website) or by registering using the link below by Sunday, October 27, 2024 at the latest. The cost of lunch for external caterers is EUR 5.60.
