Summer SBL Forum Now Online

This just in:

The Summer 2008 issue of The SBL Forum is now available.

IN THE CLASSROOM
Reading Job from the Margins: Dialogical Exegesis and Theological Education
Robert Williamson Jr.

IN THE PROFESSION
Why I Chose a German Ph.D. Program
Jacob L. Wright

Seven Tips for Getting Your Feet Wet at the Society of Biblical Literature Annual Meeting
Shayna Sheinfeld

IN THE PUBLIC SPHERE
An Atheist's Dilemma: Should We Bend the Bible for Justice?
Michelle Krejci

IN POPULAR CULTURE
The Bible-Shaped Mirror: Biblical Women and Contemporary Culture in Recent Film
Donna Bowman


The SBL Forum is the online newsletter of the Society of Biblical Literature. It features essays, interviews, and up-to-date news of general and professional interest to SBL members. Its mission is to provide short, useful articles to inform, educate, and address the professional needs of biblical scholars, as well as those interested in biblical studies.

Leonard Greenspoon, editor
forum@sbl-site.org

AOAT Sale at Eisebnrauns

For the remainder of the month, Eisenbrauns is offering a hefty discount of 40% on 45 different titles from the extensive German series Alter Orient und Altes Testament (AOAT). The complete list of relevant titles may be viewed here.

Check them out!

Is a Jordanian Cave the Oldest Extant Christian Church?

According to a group of excavators, the answer to the above question is "yes." A recently discovered cave beneath a third-century church may have been used by early followers of Jesus between the time of his crucifixion and that of the destruction of Jerusalem by Roman forces in 70 CE. If such an assertion were to be confirmed, the cave would stand as the earliest extant Christian place of worship, easily displacing the third-century house church of Dura Europos uncovered by Yale researchers in the 1930s. Not surprisingly, Herschel Shanks, the feisty editor of Biblical Archaeology Review, has already questioned these claims, and he will certainly not be the last to do so. Nevertheless, BAR has helpfully compiled a number of news agencies' reports of the discovery, as well as images of the excavation site and other information, which may be viewed here.

Deep Discounts from Dove (say that three times fast!)

Dove Booksellers is currently offering significant discounts on a number of New Testament and other related titles from Routledge/Taylor & Francis. Most of these are still slightly beyond my preferred price range, but those with deeper pocketbooks should certainly take a look here.

Other noteworthy sale books are listed here.

The Routledge/Taylor & Francis sale ends June 23.

New ANE Monograph Series

A recent announcement from the SBL:

New Online Ancient Near East Monograph Series Established

The Society of Biblical Literature, in partnership with the Centro de Estudios de Historia del Antiguo Oriente, Universidad Católica Argentina (CEHAO/UCA), announces the establishment of a new online, open-access monograph series. The focus of the series will be on the ancient Near East, including ancient Israel and its literature, from the early Neolithic to the early Hellenistic eras. Proposals and manuscripts may be submitted in either Spanish or English. Manuscripts are subject to blind peer review by two members of the series’ editorial board before acceptance. Published volumes will be held to the high scholarly standards of SBL and CEHAO/UCA.

A prestigious international group of scholars has agreed to serve on the editorial board:

Co-General Editors:
Ehud Ben Zvi, University of Alberta
Roxana Flammini, Universidad Católica Argentina

Editorial Board:
Marcelo Campagno, Universidad de Buenos Aires, CONICET
Michael Floyd, Centro de Estudios Teologico, Santo Domingo, Dominica Republic
José Galan, Director of the Spanish-Egyptian Mission at Dra Abu el-Naga, Luxor (Egypt)
Erhard Gerstenberger, Philipps Universität-Marburg
Steven Holloway, Saint Xavier University and the American Theological Library Association
Alan Lenzi, University of the Pacific
Santiago Rostom Maderna, Universidad Católica Argentina
Martti Nissinen, University of Helsinki
Juan Manuel Tebes, Universidad Católica Argentina, Universidad de Buenos Aires

The partnership between SBL and CEHAO/UCA was initiated under the auspices of SBL’s International Cooperation Initiative (ICI) and represents the type of international scholarly exchange that is the goal of ICI. Scholars from anywhere in the world are invited to submit proposals, and the online nature of the series will provide global access to the published scholarship.

Questions about the series or proposals for volumes should be directed to Ehud Ben Zvi (ehud.ben.zvi@ualberta.ca), Roxana Flammini (roxflamm@yahoo.com.ar), or Billie Jean Collins (billie.collins@sbl-site.org).

RBL Highlights: 5/28/08

A few highlights from this week's Review of Biblical Literature:

François Bovon
Luke the Theologian: Fifty-Five Years of Research (1950-2005)
Reviewed by Eric Noffke

Dan W. Clanton
The Good, the Bold, and the Beautiful: The Story of Susanna and Its Renaissance Interpretations
Reviewed by Robert Doran

John J. Collins
A Short Introduction to the Hebrew Bible
Reviewed by Robin Gallaher Branch

Beverly Roberts Gaventa
Our Mother Saint Paul
Reviewed by Angela Standhartinger

Daniel M. Gurtner
The Torn Veil: Matthew's Exposition of the Death of Jesus
Reviewed by Tony Costa

Doug Ingram
Ambiguity in Ecclesiastes
Reviewed by Martin A. Shields

Lance Byron Richey
Roman Imperial Ideology and the Gospel of John
Reviewed by Warren Carter

RBL Highlights: 5/17/08

A few highlights from this week's Review of Biblical Literature:

Loveday C. A. Alexander
Acts in Its Ancient Literary Context: A Classicist Looks at the Acts of the Apostles
Reviewed by Chrys C. Caragounis

Markus Bockmuehl and James Carleton Paget, eds.
Redemption and Resistance: The Messianic Hopes of Jews and Christians in Antiquity
Reviewed by Joshua Ezra Burns

Frances Taylor Gench
Encounters with Jesus: Studies in the Gospel of John
Reviewed by John Painter

L. Ann. Jervis
At the Heart of the Gospel: Suffering in the Earliest Christian Message
Reviewed by Thomas W. Gillespie

Robert Kysar
John: The Maverick Gospel
Reviewed by Dirk G. van der Merwe

Terence C. Mournet
Oral Tradition and Literary Dependency: Variability and Stability in the Synoptic Tradition and Q
Reviewed by Robert K. McIver

Geert van Oyen and Tom Shepherd, eds.
The Trial and Death of Jesus: Essays on the Passion Narrative in Mark
Reviewed by Adam D. Winn

RBL Highlights: 5/9/08

A few highlights from this week's Review of Biblical Literature:

Paul N. Anderson
The Fourth Gospel and the Quest for Jesus: Modern Foundations Reconsidered
Reviewed by John Painter

Malcolm Choat
Belief and Cult in Fourth-Century Papyri
Reviewed by David Frankfurter

Michael Thomas Davis and Brent A. Strawn, eds.
Qumran Studies: New Approaches, New Questions
Reviewed by Heinz-Josef Fabry

April D. DeConick
The Original Gospel of Thomas in Translation: With a Commentary and New English Translation of the Complete Gospel
Reviewed by Stephan Witetschek

Mikael C. Parsons
Body and Character in Luke and Acts: The Subversion of Physiognomy in Early Christianity
Reviewed by Pieter J. J. Botha
Reviewed by Patrick E. Spencer

Todd Penner and Caroline Vander Stichele, eds.
Moving beyond New Testament Theology? Essays in Conversation with Heikki Räisänen
Reviewed by Jan van der Watt

Richard L. Rohrbaugh
The New Testament in Cross-Cultural Perspective
Reviewed by Stephan Joubert

C. Kavin Rowe
Early Narrative Christology: The Lord in the Gospel of Luke
Reviewed by Christopher Tuckett

Naomi Seidman
Faithful Renderings: Jewish-Christian Difference and the Politics of Translation
Reviewed by Cameron Boyd-Taylor

Brad H. Young
Meet the Rabbis: Rabbinic Thought and the Teachings of Jesus
Reviewed by Verlyn D. Verbrugge

New from Fortress: Apostle to the Conquered

A recent announcement from Fortress:



Apostle to the Conquered: Reimagining Paul's Mission






"The Apostle to the nations" in political perspective

Davina C. Lopez here combines attention to Roman visual and literary representations of conquered nations with a gender-critical "re-imagination" of Paul's apostleship. The result is a new and more critical perspective on the systematic violence of the Roman Empire, and a renewed understanding of "Paul's politics of the new creation."

Contents

Introduction: The Problem with "the Nations"

The Fate of the Nations in Roman Imperial Representation
Destiny and the Naturalization of Conquest
Conversion, Call, and Consciousness
The Politics of the New Creation

Conclusion: Dislocating Paul's "Universalism"

Davina C. Lopez is Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Florida and serves on the American Academy of Religion's Board of Directors.

ISBN: 978-0-8006-6281-3

Price: $29.00 / CAN $35.00 / UK ₤16.99

Spec: 6" x 9", hardcover with jacket, 224 pages

Order your copy today!

RBL Highlights: 5/5/08

A few highlights from the most recent editions of the Review of Biblical Literature (I've been slacking off due to finals).

Eldon Jay Epp
Junia: The First Woman Apostle
Reviewed by Nancy Calvert-Koyzis

Alice Hunt
Missing Priests: The Zadokites in Tradition and History
Reviewed by Lena-Sofia Tiemeyer

Ivan Shing Chung Kwong
The Word Order of the Gospel of Luke: Its Foregrounded Messages
Reviewed by Steven Runge

Philip L. Mayo
"Those Who Call Themselves Jews": The Church and Judaism in the Apocalypse of John
Reviewed by Jack T. Sanders

John Howard Schütz
Paul and the Anatomy of Apostolic Authority
Reviewed by Graydon F. Snyder

Tommy Wasserman
The Epistle of Jude: Its Text and Transmission
Reviewed by Stephen D. Patton

Herbert W. Bateman IV, ed.
Four Views on the Warning Passages in Hebrews
Reviewed by Felix H. Cortez

Joseph A. Fitzmyer
The One Who Is to Come
Reviewed by Jeffrey L. Staley

Kathy L. Gaca and L. L. Welborn, eds.
Early Patristic Readings of Romans
Reviewed by David A. Creech

Hillary Rodrigues and Thomas A. Robinson
World Religions: A Guide to the Essentials
Reviewed by Joseph Matos

Valerie M. Warrior
Roman Religion
Reviewed by Edmund P. Cueva

Claus Wilcke
Early Ancient Near Eastern Law: A History of Its Beginnings: The Early Dynastic and Sargonic Periods
Reviewed by Michael S. Moore

New from Oxford: Handbook of Biblical Studies

A recent announcement from Oxford. Technically, this isn't a new title, merely a new paperback edition of a previous title. But it's well worth a look!

The Oxford Handbook of Biblical Studies
Edited by J. W. Rogerson and Judith M. Lieu

Biblical studies is a highly technical and diverse field. The Study of the Bible demands expertise in fields ranging from Archaeology, Egyptology, Assyriology, and Linguistics through textual, historical, and sociological studies to Literary Theory, Feminism, Philosophy, and Theology, to name only some. This authoritative and compelling guide to the discipline is an invaluable reference work for all students and academics who want to explore more fully essential topics in Biblical studies.

RBL Highlights: 4/18/08

And speaking of the RBL, here are some recent highlights:

John Barton
The Nature of Biblical Criticism
Reviewed by James D. G. Dunn

Roland Boer
Symposia: Dialogues Concerning the History of Biblical Interpretation
Reviewed by Henning Graf Reventlow

Andrew Chester
Messiah and Exaltation: Jewish Messianic and Visionary Traditions and New Testament Christology
Reviewed by Martin Karrer

Zeba A. Crook
Reconceptualising Conversion: Patronage, Loyalty, and Conversion in the Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean
Reviewed by Dietmar Neufeld

A. Andrew Das
Solving the Romans Debate
Reviewed by Don Garlington

James M. Robinson
Jesus: According to the Earliest Witness
Reviewed by Robert A. Derrenbacker Jr.

Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza
The Power of the Word: Scripture and the Rhetoric of Empire
Reviewed by Warren Carter

Peter Jeffery Responds to Scott Brown

I recently received an e-mail from Peter Jeffery in which he indicated that the Review of Biblical Literature has refused to publish his reply to Scott Brown's extensive review of his recent book The Secret Gospel of Mark Unveiled (which has received high praise from a number of Yale faculty, including Harry Attridge). As a result, his reply may be found here; other related material is available here.

RBL Highlights: 4/10/08

A few highlights from this week's Review of Biblical Literature:

Carol Dempsey
Jeremiah: Preacher of Grace, Poet of Truth
Reviewed by Carolyn J. Sharp

Ronald Herms
An Apocalypse for the Church and for the World: The Narrative Function of Universal Language in the Book of Revelation
Reviewed by David L. Barr

Timothy Paul Jones
Misquoting Truth: A Guide to the Fallacies of Bart Ehrman's Misquoting Jesus
Reviewed by Craig L. Blomberg

Jan Joosten and Peter J. Tomson, eds.
Voces Biblicae: Septuagint Greek and Its Significance for the New Testament
Reviewed by Hans Ausloos

J. A. (Bobby) Loubser
Oral and Manuscript Culture in the Bible: Studies on the Media Texture of the New Testament-Explorative Hermeneutics
Reviewed by Alan Kirk

Nicholas Perrin
Thomas, The Other Gospel
Reviewed by Kenneth D. Litwak

Don Sausa
The Jesus Tomb: Is It Fact or Fiction? Scholars Chime In
Reviewed by Mark R. Fairchild

John L. Thompson
Reading the Bible with the Dead: What You Can Learn from the History of Exegesis That You Can't Learn from Exegesis Alone
Reviewed by John Sandys-Wunsch

D. Francois Tolmie
Persuading the Galatians: A Text-Centred Rhetorical Analysis of a Pauline Letter
Reviewed by Steven A. Hunt

Elaine M. Wainwright
Women Healing/Healing Women: The Genderization of Healing in Early Christianity
Reviewed by John J. Pilch

Even More SBL News

Publications News

New on The SBL Forum:

The April issue focuses on a controversial new German Bible translation: Die Bibel in gerechter Sprache (The Bible in Inclusive Language).

The Spring 2008 Journal of Biblical Literature 127.1 has been posted.

SBL Publications has added new books to the Online Books Program. For the complete list of books available, click here.

Calendar items for April 2008

4/7-4/11
Concept of Exile in Ancient Israel and its Contexts: A Workshop (Ludwig-Maximilians Universität, Munich and University of Alberta, Edmonton). To be held at the University of Alberta.
For a full description and program click here.

4/9-4/12
Museums and the Web 2008: Montréal, Québec, Canada
Annual conference exploring the on-line presentation of cultural, scientific and heritage content across institutions and around the world. http://www.archimuse.com/mw2008/

4/13-4/16
The Judeans in the Acheamenid Age: Negotiating Identity in an International Context
International conference to be held at the University of Heidelberg
Click Here for more info.

4/17-4/18
The Sword of Judith: Female Agency and the Aesthetic of Terror; New York Public Library
For a complete description of the conference, see: http://www.prweb.com/releases/2007/10/prweb559915.htm

4/18
New England Regional Meeting
Andover Newton Theological Seminary, Newton, MA
Click Here for more info.

4/19
A memorial service for Bernhard Word Anderson will be held in the Miller Chapel of Princeton Theological Seminary on April 19, 2008 at 11:00 AM, followed by a reception with music and remembrances in the Gambrell Room of Scheide Hall, next door to the Chapel.

4/28-4/29
Groningen Qumran Institute Symposium 2008
What is the contribution of the Dead Sea Scrolls for research into the formation of the canon of the Bible?
This question stands central at an international symposium in honor of Professor Florentino García Martínez.
University of Groningen, The Netherlands
For more info Click Here.

Roman Emperors in the Library

Not that one really needs a reason to visit one of the largest and most beautiful university libraries in the world:

Yale University Library Presents

















James J. O'Donnell
Provost & Professor of Classics, Georgetown University
"Roman Emperors in the Library: Tracking Them to Their Lair"
Thursday, April 3, 4:00 p.m.

Libraries: their riches, how they grow, and how they change. James J. O'Donnell, an historian of the late Roman world, uses his own quest for emperors, barbarians, saints and others to capture the excitement that sizzles through the quietest stacks and the darkest corridors.

James J. O’Donnell has been Provost of Georgetown University since 2002. He is a distinguished scholar and recognized innovator in the application of networked information technology in higher education. In addition to his duties as Provost, O'Donnell is a member of the faculty of Georgetown’s Classics department. He has served as president of the American Philological Association, the primary professional association for classicists in the United States and Canada, and has been elected a Fellow of the Medieval Academy of America. He earned his doctorate from Yale in 1975.

Free and open to the public.

More SBL News

More from the SBL:

Publications News

Recent Reprints:
Hymnic Affirmation of Divine Justice, James L. Crenshaw
Prophetic Conflict: Its Effect upon Israelite Religion, James L. Crenshaw
A Comprehensive Bilingual Concordance of the Hebrew and Greek Texts of Ecclesiastes, John Jarick
Semitic Interference in Marcan Syntax, Elliott C. Maloney
The Hand of the Lord: A Reassessment of the "Ark Narrative" of 1 Samuel, Patrick D. Miller and J. J. M. Roberts
Sepher Ha-Razim: The Book of Mysteries, Michael A. Morgan
Logos and Sophia: The Rhetorical Situation of 1 Corinthians, Stephen M. Pogoloff
The Syriac Version of the Psalms of Solomon: A Critical Evaluation, Joseph L. Trafton

Brown Judaic Studies Reprints:
Sparda by the Bitter Sea, Jack Martin Balcer
Sectarian Law in the Dead Sea Scrolls: Courts, Testimony and the Penal Code, Lawrence H. Schiffman
Fear Not Warrior: The Study of 'al tira' Pericopes in the Hebrew Scriptures, Edgar W. Conrad
Babylonian Witchcraft Literature: Case Studies, Tzvi Abusch
The Doctrine of the Divine Name: An Introduction to Classical Kabbalistic Theology, Stephen G. Wald

New on The SBL Forum:
In Essential Links: Harvard Passes Resolution on Open Access
Also: Announcing a new email discussion list for biblical studies, called "The Biblicalist"

Most new, recent, and backlist titles are available to SBL members at a 40% discount through June 15, 2008. This discount applies to SBL and Brown Judaic Studies titles. It does not apply to titles from Sheffield Phoenix Press. Download the order form or order online using promo code SPG2008.

SBL Publications is adding ten new books to the Online Books Program this month. For the complete list of books available, click here.

Calendar items for March 2008
For more information on all Events listed, click here.

3/27-3/28 Mid Atlantic Regional Meeting
Hyatt Regency
New Brunswick, NJ

3/28-3/29 Rocky Mountains - Great Plains Regional Meeting
Denver, CO
Hosted by Denver Seminary

3/28-3/29 Upper Midwest Regional Meeting
Luther Seminary
St. Paul, Minnesota

3/30-3/31 Central States Regional Meeting
St. Louis, Missouri

3/30-3/31 Pacific Coast Regional Meeting
Hosted by Fuller Theological Seminary

3/31 Call for Papers Deadline
"Septuagint Translation(s): Retrospect and Prospect"
Septuagint Institute
Trinity Western University

RBL Highlights: 3/30/08

A few highlights from this week's especially rich Review of Biblical Literature:

Joan Cecelia Campbell
Kinship Relations in the Gospel of John
Reviewed by Ritva H. Williams

Daniel K. Falk
The Parabiblical Texts: Strategies for Extending the Scriptures among the Dead Sea Scrolls
Reviewed by Matthew Goff

Karin Finsterbusch, Armin Lange, and K. F. Diethard Römheld, eds.
Human Sacrifice in Jewish and Christian Tradition
Reviewed by Jason Tatlock

John Fotopoulos, ed.
The New Testament and Early Christian Literature in Greco-Roman Context: Studies in Honor of David E. Aune
Reviewed by Michael Labahn
Reviewed by Karl-Wilhelm Niebuhr

Paul M. Fullmer
Resurrection in Mark's Literary-Historical Perspective
Reviewed by John Dart

Martha Himmelfarb
A Kingdom of Priests: Ancestry and Merit in Ancient Judaism
Reviewed by Henryk Drawnel

F. Rachel Magdalene
On the Scales of Righteousness: Neo-Babylonian Trial Law and the Book of Job
Reviewed by Markus Witte

James K. Mead
Biblical Theology: Issues, Methods, and Themes
Reviewed by James D. G. Dunn

William Varner
The Way of the Didache: The First Christian Handbook
Reviewed by Jonathan A. Draper

Robert Louis Wilken, trans. and ed.; with Angela Russell Christman and Michael J. Hollerich
Isaiah: Interpreted by Early Christian and Medieval Commentators
Reviewed by J. David Cassel

New from Fortress: Covenental Conversations

A recent announcement from Fortress:

Covenantal Conversations: Christians in Dialogue with Jews and Judaism

Eight key topics for Jewish-Christian relations today

This useful volume, edited by noted theologian Darrell Jodock and including leading thinkers both Christian and Jewish, explores the shared theological framework, special historical relationship, and post-Holocaust developments and current trouble spots that situate the Jewish-Christian relationship today. Covenantal Conversations is a special gift to students, scholars, and Christians of all descriptions who wish to understand the vital link and special promise that Jews and Christians share.

Eight special topics or talking points get special attention from the chief contributors and their dialogue partners: Judaism Then and Now, Covenants Old and New, Law and Gospel, Promise and Fulfillment, Difficult Texts, Promised Land and Zionism, Healing the World and Mending the Soul, and Jewish-Christian Relations in a Pluralistic World.

Contributors include Esther Menn in conversation with Krister Stendahl, Ralph Klein in conversation with Isaac Kalimi, and six other conversations and responses.

Darrell Jodock is Drell and Adeline Bernhardson Distinguished Professor of Religion at Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, Minnesota.

Order your copy today!

Regional SBL

I recently learned that my paper proposal for the upcoming New England Regional Meeting of the SBL (April 18 at Andover-Newton Theological School) was accepted. The proposal was based upon my first term paper at Yale--written for Prof. Adela Collins in the fall of 2005. Here's the abstract:

Splish, splash: the symbolism of water in the Book of Revelation

Nearly two thousand years after its initial composition and dissemination, the Book of Revelation remains among the most enigmatic and inscrutable components of the biblical canon. Generations of clerics, commentators, scholars, and students have struggled to penetrate the thick veneer of historical, cultural, and hermeneutical patina which has so successfully hidden its secrets. But as Adela Yarbro Collins, Frederick Murphy, and other sensitive modern exegetes have noted, attention to Revelation’s original historical and literary milieu provides the most illuminating insights into its character and purpose. A cursory examination of the book reveals that its author is heavily dependent upon the symbolic imagery of the ancient Near East, as found in portions of the Hebrew Bible and in the literature of other contemporary societies. The author often utilizes this imagery in a fairly universal way, incorporating it into his own work while retaining and exploiting the intrinsic emotional and thematic connotations present in his source material. This paper will present an extended analysis of one of the most pervasive of these symbolic elements: the element of water, which appears more than two dozen times throughout the work in an array of forms. With this analysis in hand, it is eminently clear that the author of Revelation has appropriated three established aquatic archetypes—the tumultuous sea and other raging waters; life-giving rivers, streams, and springs; and the elements of the storm—as crucial buttresses for his presentation of the Christian God as the sole possessor of sovereign power.

New from Tyndale Tech: The Tyndale Toolbar

The most recent edition of David Instone-Brewer's eminently useful Tyndale Tech series has been released. In this edition, Instone-Brewer outlines the features of the new Tyndale Toolbar, a remarkable free resource which every serious scholar, student, and pastor should immediately add to his or her browser. Links to Greek and Hebrew lexicons, bibliographic resources, and a huge number of Bibles are all available at the click of a mouse, without any tedious or repetitive searching, bookmarking, etc. And for those of you who feel that a picture truly is worth a thousand words, here's a visual outline of the toolbar:






Check it out!

RBL Highlights: 3/14/08

A few highlights from this week's Review of Biblical Literature, including the reviews of and responses to Prof. Joel Kaminsky's Yet I Loved Jacob: Reclaiming the Biblical Concept of Election which were originally presented at the SBL Annual Meeting. Those of you unable to attend this session should first read the reviews and then the book itself; it's a fresh, innovative contribution to biblical studies (which can't always be said in this day and age!).

Joel S. Kaminsky
Yet I Loved Jacob: Reclaiming the Biblical Concept of Election
Reviewed by Benjamin D. Sommer
Reviewed by Jacqueline Lapsley
Reviewed by Ellen F. Davis
Reviewed by Joel N. Lohr
Reviewed by Patrick D. Miller
Response by Joel S. Kaminsky

Richard J. Cassidy
Four Times Peter: Portrayals of Peter in the Four Gospels and at Philippi
Reviewed by Patrick J. Hartin

Ira Brent Driggers
Following God through Mark: Theological Tension in the Second Gospel
Reviewed by Elliott Maloney

Katharina Galor, Jean-Baptiste Humbert, and Jurgen Zangenberg, eds.
Qumran, The Site of the Dead Sea Scrolls: Archaeological Interpretations and Debates (Proceedings of a Conference held at Brown University, November 17-19, 2002)
Reviewed by Kenneth Atkinson

New from Fortress: Mark and Method

A recent announcement from Fortress:

Mark & Method
New Approaches in Biblical Studies
Second Edition

Since its publication by Fortress Press in 1992, Mark and Method has been an invaluable resource for the study of Mark, and of the range of methods used in interpreting the New Testament. This second edition offers a new introduction and chapters brought up to date with the latest developments in interpretation, including new chapters on Cultural Studies and Post-Colonial Criticism.

The contributors include: Janice Capel Anderson, Stephen D. Moore, Elizabeth Struthers Malbon, Robert M. Fowler, David Rhoads, Tat-Siong Benny Liew, and Abraham Smith.

Order your copy today!

Celebrate with the Authors of YDS

For those in and around New Haven, this is always a good time:

The 13th annual Yale Divinity School Faculty Book Party, celebrating books (and other media) produced by YDS/ISM faculty in this academic year...

TUESDAY, MARCH 25th 2007
4:30-6:00 p.m.
YDS COMMON ROOM

Champagne, food, and general merriment in good supply.

ALL ARE WELCOME!

RBL Highlights: 3/6/08

A few highlights from this week's Review of Biblical Literature:

Dale C. Allison Jr.
Studies in Matthew: Interpretation Past and Present
Reviewed by Bogdan G. Bucur

John J. Collins and Craig A. Evans, eds.
Christian Beginnings and the Dead Sea Scrolls
Reviewed by Matthew Goff

Jeffrey A. Gibbs
Matthew 1:1-11:1
Reviewed by Charles L. Quarles

John H. Hayes and Carl R. Holladay
Biblical Exegesis: A Beginner's Handbook
http://www.bookreviews.org/bookdetail.asp?TitleId=5970
Reviewed by David Allen

William Loader
The New Testament with Imagination: A Fresh Approach to Its Writings and Themes
Reviewed by Sean P. Kealy

Jerry L. Sumney
Philippians: A Greek Student's Intermediate Reader
Reviewed by Robert Keay

New from Fortress: Faith and Human Rights

A recent announcement from Fortress:

Faith and Human Rights: Christianity and the Global Struggle for Human Dignity

Is faith friendly to human rights or not?

The UN's 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights stands as a highpoint of twentieth-century moral deliberation, yet sixty years later human rights are widely denied, evaded, or ignored around the world. Where are religious persons in this situation? Here a philosopher and a theologian address the issues with authority, clarity, and genuine passion in a way that does not spare religion or even religious people, who have been among the most egregious violators of human rights in the world.

Faith and Human Rights argues that the idea of human rights is not exclusively religious, but that its realization in practice requires urgent action on the part of people of all faiths—and of no faith. The authors contend that while faith has much of value to contribute here, the world's religions will require vigilant reappraisal if they are to function as genuine partners in the global struggle for human dignity. Acknowledging the ambiguous moral legacy of their own tradition, Christianity, the authors draw on Christological themes to draft blueprints for a culturally sensitive "theology of human rights."

Order your copy today!

Additions to SBL Forum

New articles have been posted on the SBL Forum:

Towards an Ethic of Liberation for Bible Translation, Part 1: Ideology (Steven M. Voth)

Ancient Languages Are Still Around, but Do We Really Know How to Teach Them? (Rachel Halabe)

The Wiki Way: Improving Your Class Notes Using the Internet for Online Student Collaboration (Carl N. Toney)

Bernie McGinn Comes to Yale

The legendary Prof. Bernard McGinn will be lecturing at Yale tomorrow:

Bernard McGinn
Professor Emeritus of Historical Theology, Chicago Divinity School

"The Evangelical Pearl: The Last Masterpiece of Medieval Women's Mysticism"

Tuesday, March 4, 5:30 PM
Room 108, Whitney Humanities Center (Located at the corner of Church St. and Wall St.)

Part of the series Yale Lecturers in Medieval Studies (http://www.yale.edu/medieval/lectures.html)

Please join us for Professor McGinn's lecture, with a reception to follow.

"The Other in Second Temple Judaism": A Conference in Honor of John Collins

A conference has been organized at Amherst College in honor of my advisor, Prof. John J. Collins:

The Other in Second Temple Judaism
A Conference in Honor of John J. Collins

Friday, April 4 and Saturday, April 5, 2008
The Cole Assembly Room, Converse Hall
Amherst College, Amherst, MA 01002

A native of Ireland, Professor Collins is the Holmes Professor of Old Testament Criticism and Interpretation at Yale Divinity School. He has published widely on the subjects of apocalypticism, wisdom, Hellenistic Judaism, and the Dead Sea Scrolls. His books include The Scepter and the Star: The Messiahs of Apocalypticism in the Dead Sea Scrolls; Jewish Wisdom in the Hellenistic Age; and The Apocalyptic Imagination. He is co-editor of the three-volume Encyclopedia of Apocalypticism and has participated in the editing of the Dead Sea Scrolls. He is editor of a monograph series for the Brill-titled Journal for the Study of Judaism Supplements and of the journal Dead Sea Discoveries, and has served as editor of the Journal of Biblical Literature and as president of both the Catholic Biblical Association and the Society of Biblical Literature.

Sponsored by the Willis D. Wood Fund
Free and Open to the Public

For directions, lodging, and registration for lunch/dinner on April 5th, please see our website at http://www.cswebtech.com/collins/conference.html.

PROGRAM PARTICIPANTS

Carol Newsom, Emory University; "God's Other: The Intractable Problem of the Gentile King in Israelite and Early Jewish Literature"
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Samuel L. Adams, Union Theological Seminary/Richmond, "Poverty and 'Otherness' in Second Temple Instructions"
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Karina Martin Hogan, Fordham University, "Elusive Wisdom and the Other Nations in Baruch"
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Joel Kaminsky, Smith College, "Israel and the 'Other' in Late Biblical and Early Rabbinic Thought"
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Antonios Finitsis, Pacific Lutheran University, "The 'Other' in Early Postexilic Period: The Argument According to Haggai and Zechariah 1-6"
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Patricia Ahearne-Kroll, Ohio Wesleyan, "The 'Other' in the Study of Second Temple Judaism: The Question of Jewish Authorship and the Case of Artapanus"
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Daniel Harlow, Calvin College, "Idolatry and Otherness: Israel and the Nations in the Apocalypse of Abraham"

CONCLUDING REFLECTIONS

Susan Ackermann, Dartmouth College; Adela Yarbro Collins, Yale University; Susan Niditch, Amherst College

RBL Highlights: 2/28/08

A few highlights from this week's Review of Biblical Literature:

Cilliers Breytenbach, Johan C. Thom, and Jeremy Punt, eds.
The New Testament Interpreted: Essays in Honour of Bernhard C. Lategan
Reviewed by Douglas Estes

David Buttrick
Speaking Conflict: Stories of a Controversial Jesus
Reviewed by John J. Pilch

J. W. Childers and D. C. Parker, eds.
Transmission and Reception: New Testament Text-Critical and Exegetical Studies
Reviewed by Erroll F. Rhodes

Rachel Hallote
Bible, Map, and Spade: The American Palestine Exploration Society, Frederick Jones Bliss, and the Forgotten Story of Early American Biblical Archaeology
Reviewed by Eric M. Meyers

John R. Hinnells, ed.
A Handbook of Ancient Religions
Reviewed by Martin Ramey

Shane Kirkpatrick
Competing for Honor: A Social-Scientific Reading of Daniel 1-6
Reviewed by John J. Collins

Aquila H. I. Lee
From Messiah to Preexistent Son: Jesus' Self-Consciousness and Early Christian Exegesis of Messianic Psalms
Reviewed by Sam Janse

Yay for Serene Jones!

Congratulations to Prof. Serene Jones, the new president of Union Theological Seminary:

Theologian Serene Jones Leaving Yale Divinity School to Head Union Theological Seminary

Serene Jones, the Titus Street Professor of Theology at Yale Divinity School, has accepted an offer to serve as president of Union Theological Seminary in New York City, a school with a long history of ties to YDS and where Reinhold Niebuhr, one of YDS’s most illustrious graduates, once taught.

The appointment was announced Feb. 25 by Union, which said Jones will assume her new position on July 1. Union, which like YDS is ecumenical in orientation, had conducted a six-month search to fill the post being vacated by retiring president Joseph Hough, a 1959 graduate of YDS.

“Serene Jones will be greatly missed at Yale Divinity School and within the broader university community,” said Yale Divinity School Dean Harold Attridge. “She has been a vital member of the YDS faculty since 1991 as a teacher of theology, but her influence has extended far beyond the classroom.

“Serene has been an active participant in day-to-day life on Sterling Divinity Quadrangle, and she has been one of the primary links between YDS and Yale’s professional schools, particularly Law, and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences—where she has played significant roles in the Department of Religious Studies, the Department of African American Studies, and the Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies program”

In making today’s announcement, David Callard, chairman of Union’s Board of Trustees, stated, “Dr. Jones’s exceptional leadership style and distinguished scholarship make her the ideal person to lead this vibrant theological institution, which has been home to notable scholars Reinhold Niebuhr, Paul Tillich, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

“With Dr. Jones’s vision and commitment, Union is positioned not only to continue its role as a leading institution of theological education but also to be a strong voice at a time when religion, with all its pluralistic manifestations, has become an increasingly powerful and divisive issue.”

Jones expressed excitement about taking the reins at Union but noted that she is leaving with fond feelings about her time at Yale—which has included not only 17 years as a teacher but the time she spent earning an M.Div. at YDS and a Ph.D. in theology at the Graduate School, and her early childhood years. Jones was born while her father was pursuing his own degree at YDS, and she grew up around the Yale campus as he completed work on his B.D. and, then, his Ph.D.

“I am thrilled to be at the helm of a institution of theological education as esteemed and historic as Union Theological Seminary,” said Jones. “I am very sad to be leaving Yale, however. My time here—now more than half my life—has been filled with countless treasured friendships and an ongoing sense of intellectual companionship that’s been as rich as it has been expansive.

“Yale Divinity School is a magical place for ministerial formation—no other place like it on earth. The Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program is a community marked by academic earnestness and lively intellectual commitment. And the project I have participated in at the MacMillan Center—The Women, Religion, and Globalization Project—has been the most exciting collaborative endeavor of my career.

“I feel privileged to have benefited from Yale’s many resources over the years, and I will take a great deal of what I learned at Yale with me. After twenty-six years, Yale has seeped into my bones.”

In an interview published in the winter 2005 issue of Spectrum, Yale Divinity School’s alumni magazine, Jones described her teaching style this way: “What I spend most of my time doing is trying to engage and expand [students’] imaginations and hence their deepest desires. I teach and write to their imaginative universes—to the landscape of images, expectations, and possibilities that form the dramatic mental worlds in which their thoughts unfold.”

Emilie M. Townes, the Andrew W. Mellon Professor of African-American Religion and Theology at Yale Divinity School and current president of the American Academy of Religion, said, “I do not think it is a wise or faithful thing to stand in the way of a profound call. It is clear that this is what Serene is answering with her decision to accept Union’s presidency.” Townes, who came to YDS from a teaching position at Union, added, “I believe that she will lead Union wisely and with incredible creativity and foresight and not only will Union be blessed by her leadership, but all of theological education.”

And Margaret Farley, a close colleague of Jones and the Gilbert L. Stark Professor Emerita of Christian Ethics, said, "As an outstanding theologian, an interdisciplinary presence at Yale, a colleague, and friend, Serene Jones will be sorely missed at Yale Divinity School. Nonetheless, her talents are multiple and stunning, so I am delighted that she will now have an opportunity to exercise new forms of leadership not only at Union Theological Seminary but within the national and international communities of theological education."

Laura Wexler, professor of American Studies and professor of Women's, Gender and Sexuality Studies program, called Jones “an integral and vibrant member” of the program who is “committed to fostering feminist scholarship and activism.” In Jones’s role as acting chair of WGSS, Wexler noted, she has brought “energy, vision and leadership to the program as it seeks a higher profile in the university at large.”

Said Wexler, “Through her work in gender studies she has also forged a significant new alliance between the Yale Divinity School and the main campus as one of three principle investigators (along with Cheryl Doss and myself) of the Women, Religion and Globalization grant newly awarded by the Luce Foundation to the Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies Program, the Yale Divinity School and the MacMillan Center. I am proud that WGSS has nurtured, and been nurtured by, this exceptional theologian who is so very, very alive to women’s local and global challenges.”

“Clearly, Serene is one of the outstanding young theologians on the American theological landscape, and Union is fortunate to have her at the helm,” Attridge said. “We wish Serene the very best and look forward to continued interaction with her as she pursues new challenges at one of the nation’s great institutions of theological learning.”

Welcome Back, Jim West!

Although this is a little late (he's already written 22 posts in less than two days!), I feel compelled to add my name to the list of those grateful for Jim West's return to the biblioblogging world, despite his initial qualms about doing so. Before his exhaustive and exceedingly popular blog was senselessly deleted by hackers a few days ago, his words frequently rang out throughout cyberspace, calling us to examine and discuss the latest developments in the world of biblical studies, the latest deplorable depravities committed by deviant clergy, etc. Many people have written that they always considered Jim to be a provocative dialogue partner despite dramatic differences of opinion; I, on the other hand, frequently found myself in agreement with his charming rants, with one significant exception (I happen to like Wikipedia, while he thinks it's an abomination). I look forward to reading Jim's ever-humorous musings over my breakfast once more, and encourage everyone to give his new blog a look.

New from OUP: The Origins of Pilgrimage

This looks interesting... too bad I've got no free time in which to read it. ;-)

Pilgrimage in Graeco-Roman and Early Christian Antiquity
Edited by Jas Elsner and Ian Rutherford

This book presents a range of case studies of pilgrimage in Graeco-Roman antiquity, drawing on a wide variety of evidence. It rejects the usual reluctance to accept the category of pilgrimage in pagan polytheism and affirms the significance of sacred mobility not only as an important factor in understanding ancient religion and its topographies but also as vitally ancestral to later Christian practice.

RBL Highlights: 2/21/08

A few highlights from this week's Review of Biblical Literature:

David E. Aune, ed.
Rereading Paul Together: Protestant and Catholic Perspectives on Justification
Reviewed by James D. G. Dunn
Reviewed by Philip F. Esler

Giorgio Jossa
Jews or Christians? The Followers of Jesus in Search of Their Own Identity
Reviewed by Michael F. Bird

John S. Kloppenborg
The Tenants in the Vineyard: Ideology, Economics, and Agrarian Conflict in Jewish Palestine
Reviewed by Richard L. Rohrbaugh

J. Ed Komoszewski and Robert M. Bowman Jr.
Putting Jesus in His Place: The Case for the Deity of Christ
Reviewed by D. A. Carson

BAR Comes to Cyberspace

This just in:

EXCITING NEWS!
March/April BAR is Free and Open Online!

That's right! The entire March/April edition of BAR is free online. It just got much easier to share your favorite BAR articles with friends. And that's not all. Web exclusive "BAR Extras" will let you dig even deeper into the new issue. After reading BAR's cover story on a scholar's bold identification of a royal seal with the infamous Queen Jezebel, read other related articles on this fascinating woman. View more photos of BAR's intriguing "What Is It?" item. Read more on Emmaus and about the fascinating phenomenon of house shrines, including background information on the mysterious house shrine featured exclusively in the new issue of BAR. We're proud to share this issue (and its extras) with you. Please share it with others!

A Breath of Fresh Air with Bart Ehrman

Bart Ehrman's recent 45-minute appearance on NPR's Fresh Air, which focused upon issues related to his new book God's Problem: How the Bible Fails to Answer Our Most Important Question--Why We Suffer, may be heard here.

This Weekend: Religion and Violence

This weekend at the MacMillan Center:

Yale Conference on Religion and Violence, MacMillan Center Auditorium
Saturday, February 16th (8:30 am - 6 pm)
Convened by the MacMillan Center Initiative on Religion, Politics, & Society

The conference on Religion and Violence will take an interdisciplinary approach towards analyzing the relationship between religion and political violence by bringing together historians and social scientists. The fundamental question we hope to begin exploring is if there is something unique or different about religion that leads particular patterns of conflict across time and space.

The day-long event will consist of two panels and a keynote speaker. The first panel, relating to premodern societies, consists of Hugh Kennedy, Professor of Arabic, School of Oriental and African Studies, and Mack Holt, Professor of History, George Mason University. The second panel, relating to the modern period, consists of Paul Brass, Emeritus Professor of Political Science and International Studies, University of Washington, Seattle; Jennifer Todd, Associate Professor of Politics and Director of British and Irish Studies, University College, Dublin; and Malika Zeghal, Associate Professor of the Anthropology and Sociology of Religion, University of Chicago Divinity School. Our keynote speaker will be the distinguished historian Robert I. Moore, Emeritus Professor of History at Newcastle University.

Looking for Something to Do This Summer?

The editors of Biblical Archaeology Review may be able to help...

GREAT SUMMER OPPORTUNITY!
New Dig Site Lets Volunteers "Spend Your Summer in the Past"

A unique new Web site, http://findadig.com, provides visitors with everything they need to know about volunteering at more than two dozen archaeological excavations in the Middle East and Europe. The new Web site has been created by the editors of Biblical Archaeology Review (BAR), the most popular magazine in its field.

Findadig.com contains:
* In-depth descriptions of more than 30 sites currently undergoing excavation
* The historical and Biblical significance of each site
* Descriptions of how volunteers will help at the site of their choice
* Profiles of the dig directors
* Essays by winners of scholarships provided by the Biblical Archaeology Society, which enabled them to join a dig this past summer. Application forms for 2008 scholarships are available on the site.

Participating in a dig requires no previous experience; all that is needed is an enthusiasm for the adventure of digging up the past.

Visitors to findadig.com can also order a free e-book, I Volunteered for This?!, an informative, amusing and sometimes touching collection of articles by dig volunteers culled from BAR. Isn't working on a dig site a dirty and sweaty job? It sure is! But people wouldn't trade it for anything. Almost everyone who has been part of an archaeological excavation describes it as the experience of a lifetime.

Visit http://findadig.com to see why.

RBL Highlights: 2/14/08

A few highlights from this week's Review of Biblical Literature:

Brian J. Abasciano
Paul's Use of the Old Testament in Romans 9.1-9: An Intertextual and Theological Exegesis
Reviewed by Thomas Gillespie

Luke Timothy Johnson
Hebrews: A Commentary
Reviewed by Wolfgang Kraus

Melody Knowles, Esther Menn, John Pawlikowski, and Timothy Sandoval, eds.
Contesting Texts: Jews and Christians in Conversation about the Bible
Reviewed by Ithamar Gruenwald

Amy-Jill Levine, ed., with Maria Mayo Robbins
A Feminist Companion to the New Testament Apocrypha
Reviewed by James Elliott

Edmondo F. Lupieri; Maria Poggi Johnson and Adam Kamesar, trans.
A Commentary on the Apocalypse of John
Reviewed by Tobias Nicklas

George W. E. Nickelsburg
Resurrection, Immortality, and Eternal Life in Intertestamental Judaism and Early Christianity
Reviewed by Tony Costa

Stanley E. Porter, ed.
The Messiah in the Old and New Testaments
Reviewed by Michael F. Bird
Reviewed by James Hamilton Charlesworth

Acts with Abraham Malherbe

Anyone in New Haven over the next few weeks would do well to attend this series. Prof. Malherbe is among the finest living scholars of Pauline studies and Greco-Roman epistolary literature, among other fields. Certainly not your average set of Sunday School lessons!

All are invited to Bible Study at First Baptist Church of New Haven, Sunday mornings from February 3 to March 16, from 9:15-10:15 am. Dr. Abraham Malherbe will lead a study entitled "Windows on the Early Church: A Study in Acts." Dr. Malherbe is the Buckingham Professor Emeritus of New Testament Criticism and Interpretation and former Academic Dean of Yale Divinity School. First Baptist Church is located at 205 Edwards Street, at the corner of Edwards and Livingston Streets. For more information, contact the church office at (203) 562-0069. All are welcome!

RBL Highlights: 2/2/08

More exciting reviews from this week's Review of Biblical Literature:

Douglas A. Campbell
The Quest for Paul's Gospel: A Suggested Strategy
Reviewed by Matt Jackson-McCabe

Gordon D. Fee
Pauline Christology: An Exegetical-Theological Study
Reviewed by Don Garlington
Reviewed by Matthew Montonini

Anthony Grafton and Megan Williams
Christianity and the Transformation of the Book: Origen, Eusebius, and the Library of Caesarea
Reviewed by Claudio Zamagni

Pieter W. van der Horst
Jews and Christians in Their Graeco-Roman Context: Selected Essays on Early Judaism, Samaritanism, Hellenism, and Christianity
Reviewed by Christoph Stenschke

Jaclyn L. Maxwell
Christianization and Communication in Late Antiquity: John Chrysostom and His Congregation in Antioch
Reviewed by David Brian Warner

Patrick D. Miller
The Way of the Lord: Essays in Old Testament Theology
Reviewed by Walter Brueggemann

Edward L. Greenstein Lectures on Job

Beginning next week:

The Program in Judaic Studies with the Department of Religious Studies,
the Yale Divinity School, and Joseph Slifka Center for Jewish Life at Yale
Presents The 2008 Stanley H. Arffa Visiting Scholar

Edward L. Greenstein
Professor of Bible and Gwendolyn and Joseph Straus Distinguished Scholar at
Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel

A three-part series: "Is God Just, or Just God?---Rethinking Job”
February 7th – 4:00pm – “The Problem of Evil in the Book of Job” (Lecture)
February 13th – 4:00pm – “Job on Trial: Another Look at the Prose Tale” (Seminar)
February 20th – 4:00pm – “Is Everybody at Fault?: Another Look at the Dialogues in Job” (Seminar)

All talks will take place at 4:00pm, Joseph Slifka Center for Jewish Life
at Yale, 80 Wall Street, New Haven, CT

RBL Highlights: 1/27/08

A few highlights from this week's Review of Biblical Literature:

John M. G. Barclay, trans.
Flavius Josephus: Against Apion
Reviewed by René Bloch

Jeannine K. Brown
Scripture as Communication: Introducing Biblical Hermeneutics
Reviewed by Tony Costa

Philip F. Esler and Ronald A. Piper
Lazarus, Mary and Martha: A Social-Scientific and Theological Reading of John
Reviewed by Peter Phillips

Thomas R. Hatina, ed.
Biblical Interpretation in Early Christian Gospels: Vol. 1: The Gospel of Mark
Reviewed by David du Toit

Christine Helmer, ed.
The Multivalence of Biblical Texts and Theological Meanings
Reviewed by Christoph Stenschke

Robert Tannehill
The Shape of Luke's Story: Essays on Luke-Acts
Reviewed by Robert F. O'Toole

Stephen Voorwinde
Jesus' Emotions in the Fourth Gospel: Human or Divine?
Reviewed by William R. G. Loader

RBL Highlights: 1/17/07

A few highlights from this week's Review of Biblical Literature:

Young S. Chae
Jesus as the Eschatological Davidic Shepherd: Studies in the Old Testament, Second Temple Judaism, and in the Gospel of Matthew
Reviewed by Daniel M. Gurtner

Robert B. Chisholm Jr.
Interpreting the Historical Books: An Exegetical Handbook
Reviewed by Brian D. Russell

Craig Cooper, ed.
Politics of Orality: (Orality and Literacy in Ancient Greece, Vol. 6)
Reviewed by Jonathan A. Draper

J. Todd Hibbard
Intertextuality in Isaiah 24-27: The Reuse and Evocation of Earlier Texts and Traditions
Reviewed by Jeffery M. Leonard

Steven W. Holloway, ed.
Orientalism, Assyriology and the Bible
Reviewed by Patricia Dutcher-Walls

George H. van Kooten, ed.
The Revelation of the Name YHWH to Moses: Perspectives from Judaism, the Pagan Graeco-Roman World, and Early Christianity
Reviewed by Sabrina Inowlocki

Jerome Murphy-O'Connor
Jesus and Paul: Parallel Lives
Reviewed by Joseph A. Fitzmyer, S.J.

Grant R. Osborne
The Hermeneutical Spiral: A Comprehensive Introduction to Biblical Interpretation
Reviewed by Oda Wischmeyer

Megan Hale Williams
The Monk and the Book: Jerome and the Making of Christian Scholarship
Reviewed by Jonathan Yates

BAR Highlights: 1/17/07

More recent archaeological news from Biblical Archaeology Review:

In the Land of the Exodus
A magazine article describes Egypt’s tiny Jewish community.

Is It King David’s Palace?
An archaeologist guides a journalist through the Jerusalem site whose excavator has identified it as the Biblical hero’s palace.

HolyPass
A new card makes access to Jerusalem’s ancient sites more affordable and convenient.

Virtual Eternal City
With the help a new million dollar program, visitors to Rome can now explore 4.45 million acres of virtual terrain—complete with city bustle and friendly ancient bystanders—from the comfort of a local museum.

The Old is New
Researchers have published their reports on recent excavations at Ramat Rahel, the site of the only Judean royal palace unearthed to date.

A Step Forward
Iraqi archaeologists delivered 1,000 recently discovered artifacts to the National Museum, which has been closed since 2003, when invading US forces failed to protect the museum from rampant looting.

The Other Half
Finds near glamorous tombs of Pharaohs shed light on the everyday lives of ancient Egyptian laborers, including evidence of a labor strike.

Surprises Afoot
A US airman discovered ancient pottery fragments on the grounds of a military base near Kirkuk, in northern Iraq.

Still Searching for the Original Text

In an intriguing post entitled "The Composition of the Original Text," Dan Wallace addresses "a relatively new movement afoot in text-critical circles... the idea that the wording of the originals (also known as autographs) of the New Testament documents is not only not possible to recover, even the notion of an original is not true to history." He names Bart Ehrman and David Parker as prominent proponents of this theory; I would add Eldon Epp to the list as well, on the basis of his article in last summer's issue of Harvard Theological Review (about which I blogged here). In particular, Wallace critiques Parker's comparison of the New Testament text to the work of Shakespeare or Mozart, each of whom altered his own original creations and therefore made it impossible to speak of an "original." He counters, "In Shakespeare’s and Mozart’s case, the author continued to exercise control over the document. That is not the case with NT books." He adds that all of the New Testament texts were sent elsewhere, thus severing the author's control over them; the early church's interest in the words of the apostles would have led to a desire for accuracy; and that unlike the work of Shakespeare and Mozart, "authority," not "aesthetics," guided the transmission of the New Testament texts.

I am perfectly willing to discard any extended comparison between the New Testament and later artistic works (although I can see how such a comparison might be formed, particularly if earlier theories such as the editing of Acts by Luke were invoked), but a few of Wallace's other observations give me pause. While I certainly do not possess an encyclopedic knowledge of the theories of gospel transmission, I was unaware that the scholarly majority had determined that all of these works, in addition to the epistles, had been immediately dispatched to other locales after their composition. The Gospel of John, in particular, may have been composed and originally used by a single community. Furthermore, under certain conditions texts may be altered in the name of authority as readily as they might be changed for aesthetic purposes. To quote but one example, the infamous "Johannine Comma" (ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ, ὁ Πατήρ, ὁ Λόγος, καὶ τὸ Ἄγιον Πνεῦμα. καὶ οὗτοι οἱ τρεῖς ἕν εἰσι. καὶ τρεῖς εἰσιν οἱ μαρτυροῦντες ἐν τῇ γῇ; 1 John 5:7-8) seems to have been added in order to provide additional scriptural authority for the doctrine of the Trinity.

I would also second Epp's recent argument that an obsessive search for an "original" text often causes the critic to discard or ignore variants which have been branded as "spurious" or "unoriginal," despite the fact that their presence in the manuscript tradition indicates that they formed a part of Scripture for at least some early Christian communities (and were therefore "original" in their eyes). Many of these variants, even some which appear on only a few scraps of papyrus or parchment, still have a great deal to teach us about the individuals who copied, transmitted, and worshipped with them. And that means they're important, too.

Musings on Mark: 1/16/08

In what will hopefully become a weekly tradition, here are a few particularly juicy tidbits from Prof. Adela Collins' introductory comments in yesterday's inaugural meeting of Greek Exegesis of Mark:

*One of the most provocative questions concerning Mark is the question of genre. A number of major theories have been advanced: 1) that it belongs to a unique, independent, inherently Christian "gospel" genre, a theory which was particularly popular in the 1960s and 1970s; 2) that it should be classified as Greco-Roman "biography" (Gk. βιος), a theory which has been revived in recent years by Charles Talbert and Richard Burridge; 3) that it is an attempt to accurately depict the history of Jesus of Nazareth and his first followers, a theory which was wildly popular in the early modern period but was sharply curtailed by the criticisms of Karl Ludwig Schmidt and William Wrede. In her recently completed commentary, Collins describes Mark as an "eschatological historical monograph," borrowing the term "monograph" from Hans Conzelmann's earlier commentary on the Acts of the Apostles. She applies the adjective "eschatological" in light of its pervasive apocalyptic elements, which are not present in Greco-Roman texts. She does, however, note that Mark possesses some affinities with βιος, particularly its didactic and historical sub-genres.

*Although many scholars have assumed that Mark and the other canonical gospels circulated anonymously until the second century, Collins accepts the arguments of Martin Hengel, who argues that this was not the case. As she notes, if the gospel had remained anonymous until this point, surely the early Christian communities would have selected a more notable figure (e.g., Peter) for pseudonymous attribution. Furthermore, under these conditions one would expect to see a variety of attributions, with some communities assigning the gospel to one major figure, other communities to another; no extant copies of Mark bear the name of another author.

*Two schools of thought have emerged concerning the date of Mark, with Jesus' comment concerning the Temple in Mark 13:2 ("Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down") serving as the key to both. Some have argued that this prediction indicates that the gospel was written after the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE; Collins, on the other hand, argues for a date of composition during the Jewish War, possibly during the siege of the Jerusalem, but not after 70.

*The gospel's origin has been traditionally regarded as Rome, and a number of recent studies have also supported this theory, but Collins does not find the arguments convincing. Any major cosmopolitan area, including Jerusalem and Caesarea Maritima, is a possibility.

I hope that I haven't done any injustice to Prof. Collins' fine work through these brief comments. If you want to know more about any of these topics, don't ask me... pick up her commentary! ;-)

Latest Issues of Harvard Theological Review and Novum Testamentum Now Online

Thanks to Michael Pahl for pointing these out. Although full articles are available only to subscribing members and institutions (thank you, Yale University database!), abstracts may be viewed by all.



Harvard Theological Review 101.1 (January 2008)














Novum Testamentum 50.1 (January 2008)

Latest from Tyndale Tech: Unicode

The latest e-mail in David Instone-Brewer's eminently helpful "Tyndale Tech" series concerns Unicode fonts. Although Unicode fonts are quickly becoming the standard in biblical studies, many scholars and students remain largely unaware of what they are, how to find them, and how to use them in their own work. Dr. Instone-Brewer answers these and other questions with a few key links:

Tyndale Unicode Kit
Tyndale Unicode Keyboards

The first of these is Tyndale's easy-to-use installation kit for Greek and Hebrew Unicode fonts and keyboards. Full instructions are provided, although, as Instone-Brewer notes, installation is simple and intuitive. The second is a graphic which allows the user to view the Greek and Hebrew keyboard layouts. You probably won't need to use these for long, but they may be helpful in your first few weeks of typing.

Also included are links to downloadable Unicode Bibles (HB with vowels; LXX with accents; MT/LXX parallel; NT with accents), and the free Diogenes software, which can be used to search databases such as the TLG if you have the disks, or as a stand-alone lexical reference if you do not.

Whether you're a relative newcomer to Unicode (as I am) or a seasoned veteran, all of these are well worth a look.

OUP Sale at Dove

A number of excellent NT titles from Oxford University Press are currently on sale at Dove (through January 17):

Ashton, John
Understanding the Fourth Gospel
(Published 2007)
Hardcover List: $120.00 Dove Price: $95.99 Save $27.01
More Info & Ordering

Curtis, Adrian H W
Oxford Bible Atlas, 4th ed
(Published 2007)
Hardcover List: $35.00 Dove Price: $25.99 Save $9.01
More Info & Ordering

Dunderberg, Ismo
Beloved Disciple in Conflict?: Revisiting the Gospels of John and Thomas
(Published 2006)
Hardcover List: $99.00 Dove Price: $79.20 Save $19.80
More Info & Ordering

Ehrman, Bart D
Peter, Paul, and Mary Magdalene: The Followers of Jesus in History and Legend
(Published 2006)
Hardcover List: $25.00 Dove Price: $19.99 Save $5.01
More Info & Ordering

Ehrman, Bart D
New Testament: A Historical Introduction to the Early Christian Writings, 4th ed
(Published 2007)
Paperback List: $57.95 Dove Price: $46.36 Save $11.59
More Info & Ordering

Gregory, Andrew Christopher Tuckett (eds)
New Testament and the Apostolic Fathers, 2 Volume Set
(Published 2006)
Paperback List: $80.00 Dove Price: $63.99 Save $16.01
More Info & Ordering
(Published 2006)
Hardcover List: $199.00 Dove Price: $158.99 Save $40.01
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Gregory, Andrew Christopher Tuckett (eds)
New Testament and the Apostolic Fathers, Volume 1: The Reception of the New Testament in the Apostolic Fathers
(Published 2006)
Paperback List: $45.00 Dove Price: $35.99 Save $9.01
More Info & Ordering
Hardcover List: $99.00 Dove Price: $79.20 Save $19.80
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Gregory, Andrew Christopher Tuckett (eds)
New Testament and the Apostolic Fathers, Volume 2: Trajectories through the New Testament and the Apostolic Fathers
(Published 2006)
Paperback List: $55.00 Dove Price: $43.99 Save $11.01
More Info & Ordering
Hardcover List: $120.00 Dove Price: $95.99 Save $24.01
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Hodge, Caroline Johnson
If Sons, Then Heirs: A Study of Kinship and Ethnicity in the Letters of Paul
(Published 2007)
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Hvidt, Niels Christian
Christian Prophecy: The Post-Biblical Tradition
(Published 2007)
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Meech, John L
Paul in Israel's Story: Self and Community at the Cross
(Published 2006)
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Porter, J R
Jesus Christ: The Jesus of History, the Christ of Faith
(Published 2007)
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Rogerson, John W Judith M Lieu (eds)
Oxford Handbook of Biblical Studies
(Published 2006)
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Tuckett, Christopher M (ed)
Gospel of Mary (Oxford Early Christian Gospel Texts)
(Published 2007)
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This volume, the first in a major new series which will provide authoritative texts of key non-canonical gospel writings, comprises a critical edition, with full translations, of all the extant manuscripts of the Gospel of Mary. In addition, an extended Introduction discusses the key issues involved in the interpretation of the text, as well as locating it in its proper historical context, while a Commentary explicates points of detail. The gospel has been important in many recent discussions of non-canonical gospels, of early Christian Gnosticism, and of discussions of the figure of Mary Magdalene. The present volume will provide a valuable resource for all future discussions of this important early Christian text.

Pietersma, Albert Benjamin G. Wright (eds)
New English Translation of the Septuagint
(Published 2007)
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New Links... Check Them Out!

During the winter break, I encountered several new blogs (well, new to me) which have now been added to the blogroll, and also some excellent online resources which have been added to the "Helpful Links" section. Thanks to Nick Norelli for pointing me in the direction of these fine sites:

Greek New Testament
Online Commentary on the Greek Gospels

I also discovered Peter Coad's truly excellent Greek Bible Study, which allows the reader to view the KJV and NASB versions in parallel alongside both Tischendorf's New Testament and a graduated reader linked to William Mounce's introductory textbook Basics of Biblical Greek. The Greek texts are grammatically tagged; clicking on any word instantly displays its lexical information (as given in Thayer's standard lexicon). There is also a "verse-by-verse translation" feature. Highly recommended to Greek students of all experience and skill levels.

Finally, Prof. William Harmless' Bibliographies for Theology is another exemplary site, with entries arranged under the categories of New Testament, Early Christianity, Medieval Christianity, The Reformation, Spirituality & Mysticism, Sacraments, and Twentieth-Century Theology. Each of these categories is helpfully divided into a number of sub-categories. The perfect gateway to further reading and research, for both students and laypeople. Prof. Harmless' work on the bibliographies of the recently released English translation of Hubertus Drobner's The Fathers of the Church: A Comprehensive Introduction (soon to become the definitive introduction to patristic studies; you heard it here first) is another indication of his skill in this regard.

Enjoy!

Another Semester Begins...

Yale's spring semester begins today. While I'm considering a few other courses, my schedule will most likely consist of the following:

REL 681: Greek Exegesis of the Gospel of Mark (A. Collins)
REL 691: History and Methods of New Testament Study (A. Collins)
REL 854: Theology and Cinema (M. Villano)

Looking forward to another stimulating and enriching semester!