EDUCATION
Advanced Biblical Studies Program
In January, the winter semester of the second year of the Advanced Biblical Studies (ABS) program concluded in Zagreb, and in February, the final summer semester began. This marked the completion of the first cycle of this two-year program.
Throughout the year, we continued running the ABS program in Sarajevo. At the beginning of autumn, in cooperation with three churches from Rijeka (Evangelical Pentecostal Church, Baptist Church, and Church of Christ), we launched the ABS program in Rijeka as well. As part of our online ABS program for the broader public, a lecture was made available: New Testament Book: 1 Corinthians.
Organized by our CBI department, a new cycle of Biblical Hebrew I began in the fall, held at our reading room on Gajeva Street.
Guest Lectures by Our Professors
In the summer semester of 2023, our professors were guest lecturers at other institutions. At the University Center for Protestant Theology Matija Vlačić Ilirik, Danijel Berković, PhD, taught Hebrew, and Ervin Budiselić, PhD, taught New Testament Theology and The Book of Revelation. At the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Osijek, Danijel Časni, PhD, taught Church and Media and Introduction to Pastorology, while Goran Medved, PhD, taught New Testament Exegesis – Paul’s and Other Epistles.
Public Lectures and Seminars
Our professors also held a series of lectures, such as Salvation Comes from the Jews (EPC Šibenik, Ervin Budiselić, PhD), From the First to the Last (Biblical) Passover (EPC Našice, Judita Paljević Kraljik), and Introduction to the Gospels (Church of Christ Samobor, Ervin Budiselić, PhD).
Service to Churches and the Community
We continued serving and cooperating with churches such as EPC Šibenik, EPC Stijena Spasenja Zagreb, EPC Split, Church of Christ Kušlanova Zagreb, EPC Osijek, Baptist Church Dubrava Zagreb, Church of Christ Samobor, Evangelical Church Sarajevo, etc. Cooperation with various organizations such as STEP and Fokus also continued. Our professors were guests on national Croatian television and radio programs (Duhovna misao, Pozitivno, Danijel Berković, PhD), on Zabavni Radio (Dr. Danijel Časni), and as part of the World Day of Prayer “History and Heritage of the Inhabitants of the Holy Land,” Dr. Danijel Berković delivered a lecture.
Perry Stepp was the keynote speaker at the international Christian conference Adria Interaction on the topic “Christ in Me, I in Christ.”
In May, we supported and assisted Bible365 in organizing the Bible and Society conference, where PhD Vishal Mangalwadi was the speaker.
In July, we hosted about 15 pastors and other church workers from Boston and the surrounding area (USA) so they could learn about evangelical Christianity in our unique context. Peter Kuzmič, PhD, dean of the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Osijek, attended the meeting.
In May and October, we organized two-day gatherings of the Havura initiative in Lika and Gorski Kotar, which brought together mainly church workers interested in the Jewish roots of the Christian faith.
SCOLARLY WORK
Our professors worked on three scientific projects: Narrative and metanarrative of the biblical Psalter and biblical psalmody: how the narrative in biblical poetry is used for conveying content and message (leader: Danijel Berković, PhD), Evangelical churches in Croatia (1990-2020) (leader: Stanko Jambrek, PhD), and The concept of discipleship among evangelical churches in Croatia (leader: Ervin Budiselić, PhD), within which two studies were conducted on biblical literacy and reading habits of believers.
To expand research work, in April, we opened the Documentation and Research Center for Protestant-Evangelical History, which will focus on researching Protestantism and the evangelical worldview throughout history in Croatia.
Symposium
In June, the International Theological Conference The Biblical Story of God: Challenges of Interpretation and Living was successfully held in cooperation with the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Osijek, Abilene Christian University (USA), the Ars Theologica Research Center of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences “Aurel Vlaicu” from Arad, Romania, and the Evangelical Theological Society in Croatia.
Cooperation
CBI, in cooperation with the Nadbiskupijski arhiv in Zagreb (The Archdiocesan Archive), began preparations regarding the manuscript and script of the Psalter translated by Antun Sović (1881-1941).
The Pasionska baština anthology published the article “The Silence of Suffering and the Painful Silence” by Danijel Berković, PhD. Professor Berković also collaborated on a project related to the Kajkavian text of the Psalter by Ignac Kristijanović at the Institute of Croatian Language and Linguistics.
In March, to mark the completion of the six-year project of publishing the Central and Eastern European Bible Commentary, in which we participated, a Langham Partnership conference was held in Prague, attended by Danijel Berković, PhD.
International Cooperation
Our professors also participated in international events such as the General Assembly of the European Council for Theological Education (ECTE) held in March in Cyprus; the European Leadership Forum 2023 held in Wisła, Poland; and “A Cry in the Digital Thicket” in June in Ljubljana.
PUBLISHING
Books
The following titles were published, independently or in partnership:
- Stanko Jambrek, Crkva za sva vremena i sve kulture (Church for All Times and All Cultures)
- Thomas Long, Svjedočanstvo propovjedanja (The Witness of Preaching) (co-published)
- Blaženka Horvat, Svjetlo mojoj stazi (Light to My Path) (co-published)
- Vishal Mangalwadi, Ova je knjiga promijenila sve (This Book Changed Everything)
- Timothy J. Crutcher, Uvod u život i misao Johna Wesleya, (John Wesley: His Life and Thought) (co-published)
- Ervin Budiselić, Učeništvo na Isusov način (Discipleship the Jesus Way)
Kairos Journal
We published two issues of the academic journal Kairos: Evangelical Theological Journal in Croatian and English.
NEWS
25 Years of the Biblical Institute
We marked 25 years of the Biblical Institute with a two-day event attended by many former and current students, associates, and partners. Representatives of many churches, well-known spiritual music artists, and several organizations promoting the Bible and its values participated. The theme of the first day was “Looking Back with Gratitude,” and the second day was “Looking at the Present and Future with Joy and Hope.” The keynote speaker on both days was Mark Lanier.
10 Years of the CBI Department
The Center for Biblical Research (CBI) celebrated its tenth anniversary in May.
Documentation and Research Center for Protestant-Evangelical History (DCP)
The Reformation Day was marked in our DCP department.
Library
In May, users of the Biblical Institute Library were given trial access to EBSCO’s e-books in the fields of religion and theology.
Staff
After several years of successful cooperation, our lecturer, Dalibor Kraljik, PhD, took on new challenges in Osijek as dean of the Evangelical Theological Seminary. At the same time, our long-time external associate Goran Medved, PhD, joined our team.
