13th Annual Elden Curtiss Lecture Series -- "Humor In The Bible: The Rabble-Rousing Rhetoric Of Prophetic Humor"

Much of Biblical humor has been lost in translation and further suppressed by Christian perceptions of the sacred and the mundane. Yet Biblical humor serves an important prophetic role in the Hebrew and Jewish literature of antiquity. Modern images of Jesus have reduced his humor to sweet laughter and all but eliminated his clever use of prophetic humor.

Dr. Terri Bednarz, RSM, will illustrate the obscure forms of humor in the Bible, including amusing wordplays, sardonic hyperbole, scatological jokes, comic absurdity and appalling reversals. She will discuss the prophetic function of Biblical humor and demonstrate how prophetic humor compels us to respond to the urgent needs in our world today.

Please register for this Zoom lecture via the website below.