ELCA theologian delivers Pontifical Biblical Institute lecture

by Frank Imhoff, ELCA News Service

The Rev. Karl P. Donfried delivered the McCarthy public lecture on April 4 at the Pontifical Biblical Institute (PBI) in Rome. "Rethinking Paul: On the Way Toward a Revised Paradigm" looked at Pauline theology in light of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Donfried is a visiting professor in Rome as PBI's 2006 Joseph Gregory McCarthy Professor -- the first U.S. Lutheran pastor to hold the McCarthy Chair. A pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and an ecumenical canon in the Episcopal Church, Donfried is the Elizabeth A. Woodson professor emeritus of New Testament, Smith College, Northampton, Mass.

PBI is a university-level institution of the Holy See established by Pope Pius X in 1909. The institution pursues "a more profound understanding and exposition of the meaning of Sacred Scripture," works toward "a better understanding and explanation of the meaning of Sacred Scripture, so that through preparatory study the judgment of the Church may mature," and strives to place Scripture in an active role in the study of theology, in pastoral ministry, in ecumenical dialogue, in the sacred liturgy and in the reading of the faithful.

Previous occupants of the McCarthy Chair have included the Rev. Eduard Lohse, former presiding bishop, United Evangelical Lutheran Church in Germany; Dr. Martin Hengel, professor emeritus of New Testament, Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen, Germany; and the Rev. Joseph A. Fitzmyer, S.J., professor emeritus of biblical studies, Catholic University, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.