Historian Volker Leppin from Yale University spoke at the Cluster of Excellence about the illusion of the Bible’s unambiguity and the Reformation conflicts that arose from it in the 16th century. In his evening lecture ‘How clear is the Bible? Authority and argument in the Reformation dispute over truth’, he discussed the tension between the claim to infallible authority and the necessity of interpreting the Bible. In his lecture, Leppin analyses the Reformation as a ‘history of insisting on a claim’ which, in practice, could not be fully upheld from the outset. Watch the video (in German)

In his lecture at the Cluster of Excellence "Religion and Politics", Director of the Centre for Jewish Studies at the University of Basel and Hans Blumenberg Professor for 2026 Alfred Bodenheimer discussed the justification of Contemporary Jewish actions through historical and, in part, biblical events or models of behaviour.
In his lecture entitled “ Forward into the Past: Contemporary Jewish Self-Definitions in the Grip of Historical Analogies,” he explored the question of how historical—and in parts biblical—events and models of behaviour shape Jewish self-identification and contemporary actions.  Read more

To mark the 2026 NRW Day in Münster, researchers from the University of Münster have jointly developed a quiz on interdisciplinary religious studies in Münster. Through nine questions covering Egyptology, the study of religion, Jewish Studies, Scandinavian Studies, Islamic Theology, medieval history and Catholic Theology, common perceptions of religious practices and historical contexts are examined to assess their scientific basis. How well do you know your way around research on religion? The interdisciplinary religious studies quiz challenges widespread clichés and shows you what the academic research says. Take the quiz (in german)