Dr Margaret Barker, known for her development of the approach to Biblical studies known as Temple Theology,has been chosen to give the 29th Father Alexander Schmemann Memorial Lecture at St Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary in 2012. Her lecture will be entitled “Our Great High Priest: The Church as the New Temple.”
After studying theology at the University of Cambridge, UK, Dr Barker researched independently, going on to becomepresident of the Society for Old Testament Study in 1998, and editing the Society’s second Monograph Series, published by Ashgate. Since 1997 she has taken part in the symposium Religion, Science and the Environment, convened by His All Holiness the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I.
Drawing on all available sources, Temple Theology aims to illumine the early Christian worldview, demonstrating that the roots of key concepts such as the Messiah, divine Sonship, incarnation, atonement, resurrection and the Kingdom of God can be traced back to the first Temple before the reforms of King Josiah. Temple theology believes that integral aspects of Christianity such as the Eucharist, the Trinity and the role of Mary owe perhaps much more to this First Temple tradition than they do to Hellenistic culture or to the early synagogue.
In July 2008 Dr Barker was awarded a DD by the Archbishop of Canterbury.
The free lecture will be held on January 29, 2012 at St Vladimir’s Seminary in Crestwood, NY, at 4 p.m.
http://www.svots.edu/events/schmemann-lecturer-2012-professor-margaret-barker