By Matters India Reporter

Kolkota, Feb 24, 2019: People need to read the Bible with new eyes to express solidarity with the marginalized people, says a theology professor.

Father V. John, who teaches the New Testament at Bishop’s College Kolkata, was speaking on Feb 23 at an ecumenical seminar held at Serampore College in West Bengal state.

The poor cry to God against injustice and resist injustice done to them. God’s purpose of the creation includes the poor, John added.

Marginal people are victims of human expediency and greed. Mutuality, sharing and responsible custodianship as human duty is to work to protect and liberate the poor who have intrinsic worth, he added.

“Teaching and interpreting the Bible should take into consideration the experiences of struggling masses of the present day in the Indian society if Bible teachings were to become effective and relevant in our context,” the theology professor said.

This shall enhance creating communities of solidarity, plurality and inclusiveness that the dejected and rejected would not be excluded but all be transformed into one human community in solidarity with each other, he stressed.

More than 60 theology professors and students from Catholic seminary– Morning Star College, Barrackpore and three Protestant theology seminaries — Bishop’s College Kolkata, Serampore College and Biblical College Kolkata — attended the program.

The theme of the seminar was “reading the Bible with new eyes: recovering the biblical message for today.” It was a joint venture among them for unity and fellowship.

The resource person urged the participants to take special biblical concerns for the neglected people and the relevance of the scripture in the respective contexts with apt interpretation.

“The focus of the meet was on reading the bible from the perspective of the poor and downtrodden masses. We reflected how the Biblical texts can be contextual in our interpretations and homilies as our new way of reading the bible and for the marginalised people,” Father Udayanath Bishoyi, another theology professor, told Matters India.