École Biblique
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École biblique et archéologique française de Jérusalem, commonly known as École Biblique, is a French academic establishment in
Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
specializing in
archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...
and
Biblical The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) biblical languages ...
exegesis Exegesis ( ; from the Ancient Greek, Greek , from , "to lead out") is a critical explanation or interpretation (philosophy), interpretation of a text. The term is traditionally applied to the interpretation of Bible, Biblical works. In modern us ...
. It is housed by the Saint-Étienne priory. Associated with the
Order of Preachers The Order of Preachers (, abbreviated OP), commonly known as the Dominican Order, is a Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by a Castilian priest named Dominic de Guzmán. It was approved by Pope Honorius ...
(Dominicans), it is one of two major Roman Catholic biblical academies in Jerusalem, along with the ''
Studium Biblicum Franciscanum Studium Biblicum Franciscanum (SBF), Latin for 'Franciscan Biblical Studies', is a Franciscan academic society based in Jerusalem. It is a center of biblical and archaeological research and studies, established by the Franciscan Custody of the H ...
''.


History


Foundation

The school was founded in 1890 under the name ''École pratique d’études bibliques'' by Marie-Joseph Lagrange, a Dominican priest. Its studies were officially sanctioned by
Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII (; born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2March 181020July 1903) was head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 until his death in July 1903. He had the fourth-longest reign of any pope, behind those of Peter the Ap ...
in his papal encyclical '' Providentissimus Deus'' in 1893.


Modernist crisis

The election of
Pope Pius X Pope Pius X (; born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto; 2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914) was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death in August 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing Modernism in the Catholic Church, modern ...
in 1903 saw the beginning of a conservative reaction against perceived "Modernists" inside the Catholic Church. Père Lagrange, like other scholars involved in the 19th-century renaissance of biblical studies, was suspected of being a Modernist."Our Founder",, École biblique et archéologique française de Jerusalem
/ref> The historical-critical method was considered suspect by the Vatican. Père Lagrange's 1904 book, ''The Historical Method'', drew criticism. In 1905, the Pontifical Biblical Commission issued a caution about two of his methodological principles. The situation worsened with the enactment of the papal decree '' Lamentabili sane exitu'' and the papal encyclical '' Pascendi Dominici gregis'' by Pius X in 1907, both of which condemned Modernism as heretical. In 1909, conflict between the Dominicans and the
Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
, common at the time, resulted in the Pope's creation of the Pontifical Biblical Institute, as a Jesuit rival to the school. In 1912 Lagrange was given an order of silence for the '' Revue Biblique'' to cease publication and to return to France. The École itself was closed for a year, but was then re-opened by the new
Pope Benedict XV Pope Benedict XV (; ; born Giacomo Paolo Giovanni Battista della Chiesa, ; 21 November 1854 – 22 January 1922) was head of the Catholic Church from 1914 until his death in January 1922. His pontificate was largely overshadowed by World War I a ...
and Lagrange was allowed to return to Jerusalem continue its work.


Subsequent years

In 1920 the school took its current name, following its recognition, by the ''
Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres The () is a French learned society devoted to history, founded in February 1663 as one of the five academies of the . The academy's scope was the study of ancient inscriptions (epigraphy) and historical literature (see Belles-lettres). History ...
'', as a national archaeological school in France. The enactment of the papal encyclical '' Divino afflante Spiritu'' by
Pope Pius XII Pope Pius XII (; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 18769 October 1958) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. He is the most recent p ...
in 1943 officially sanctioned the use of historical criticism in the study of the Bible, ending previous tensions between the school and the Vatican. Following the discovery of the
Dead Sea Scrolls The Dead Sea Scrolls, also called the Qumran Caves Scrolls, are a set of List of Hebrew Bible manuscripts, ancient Jewish manuscripts from the Second Temple period (516 BCE – 70 CE). They were discovered over a period of ten years, between ...
, the scholars at the school have been heavily involved in the translation and interpretation of the texts. In 1956 the School published '' La Bible de Jérusalem'', a work which strove both for critical translational rigour and for quality as a piece of literature; a second, revised version, was published in 1998. Since 2005, the École has maintained a storehouse in Gaza City storing finds from the school's archaeological research in the region. Israeli forces entered the store in January 2024 during the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip.


Activities


Research and exegesis

The school is part of the Dominican St. Stephen's Priory, French: "Couvent de Saint-Étienne". Most of the teachers of the École Biblique are Dominican friars, and all members of the Dominican priory are involved in the work of the École.Aviva Bar-Am, ''St. Stephen's Monastary ic– The brothers' work'',
Jerusalem Post ''The Jerusalem Post'' is an English-language Israeli broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, Israel, founded in 1932 during the British Mandate of Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''The Palestine Post''. In 1950, it changed its name to ''The Je ...
, 14 September 200

/ref> The priory is centred around the modern Basilica of St Stephen, Jerusalem, Basilica of St Stephen (Saint-Étienne) built over the ruins of an ancient predecessor, to which the supposed relics of
Saint Stephen Stephen (; ) is traditionally venerated as the protomartyr or first martyr of Christianity."St ...
were transferred in 439, making the Byzantine-period church the centre of the cult of this particular saint. Since its creation, the school has been involved in the exegesis of biblical text, and has carried out archaeological research, in a complementary manner and without secrecy, in
Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...
and the adjacent territories. Its principal disciplines are
epigraphy Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...
, the
Semitic language The Semitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. They include Arabic, Amharic, Tigrinya, Aramaic, Hebrew, Maltese, Modern South Arabian languages and numerous other ancient and modern languages. They are spoken by mo ...
s,
Assyriology Assyriology (from Greek , ''Assyriā''; and , ''-logia''), also known as Cuneiform studies or Ancient Near East studies, is the archaeological, anthropological, historical, and linguistic study of the cultures that used cuneiform writing. The fie ...
,
Egyptology Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Ancient Greek, Greek , ''wiktionary:-logia, -logia''; ) is the scientific study of ancient Egypt. The topics studied include ancient Egyptian History of Egypt, history, Egyptian language, language, Ancient Egypt ...
, other aspects of ancient history,
geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...
, and
ethnography Ethnography is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. It explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject of the study. Ethnography is also a type of social research that involves examining ...
. It has the power to confer official doctorates in ''Holy Scripture''.


Publications

It publishes the '' Revue Biblique'' (RB), which is a diverse collection of scholarship from its fields of excellence. It also publishes material addressed to larger audiences, including a particular French translation of the Bible, known as the
Jerusalem Bible ''The Jerusalem Bible'' (JB or TJB) is an English translation of the Bible published in 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd. As a Catholic Bible, it includes 73 books: the 39 books shared with the Hebrew Bible, along with the seven deuterocanonical ...
(a work which strove both for critical translational rigour and for quality as a piece of literature).


Notable members

Among its most illustrious members, in addition to Marie-Joseph Lagrange, are Marie-Emile Boismard, Roland de Vaux, Raymond-Jacques Tournay, Jerome Murphy-O'Connor, and Pierre Benoit. * Félix-Marie Abel (1878–1953) * :pl:Charles Coüasnon, led the 1961–1977 excavations at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre * Jean-Baptiste Humbert (born 1940) * Louis-Hugues Vincent (1872–1960)


References


External links

* {{authority control Archaeological research institutes Biblical archaeology Biblical studies organizations Educational institutions established in 1890 1890 establishments in the Ottoman Empire Archaeological organizations based in Israel