Hellenistic Judaism @ SBL Annual Meeting, Denver, CO (original) (raw)
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Journal for the Study of Judaism 53 , 2022
The special issue of JSJ brings together four contributions that were originally presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature in 2020 in a panel dedicated to the question "What is Hellenistic Judaism?" The panel was organized by the steering committee of the SBL Hellenistic Judaism section. In the introduction, the editors compare early approaches to Hellenism (Droysen) with contemporary ones (Chaniotis, the contributions in this issue), and discuss the question when Jewish Hellenism ends.
What Is Hellenistic Judaism? An Introduction
Journal for the Study of Judaism
The special issue of JSJ brings together four contributions that were originally presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society of Biblical Literature in 2020 in a panel dedicated to the question “What is Hellenistic Judaism?” The panel was organized by the steering committee of the SBL Hellenistic Judaism section. In the introduction, the editors compare early approaches to Hellenism (Droysen) with contemporary ones (Chaniotis, the contributions in this issue), and discuss the question when Jewish Hellenism ends.
THE STUDIA PHILONICA ANNUAL Studies in Hellenistic Judaism
L’ „extase mystique“ dans la tradition platonicienne: Philon d’Alexandrie et Plotin, 2010
The cover photo, Ezra Reads the Law, is from a wall painting in the Dura Europos synagogue and used with permission from Zev Radovan (www.BibleLandPictures.com).
This article offers an overview of what every theologian and scholar of religion should know about changes in biblical studies that have taken place concerning the past depreciation of Second Temple Judaism, the use of newly discovered sources and their implications, as well as integrative approaches to top-down (reflected beliefs, prescribed practices, textual sources) and bottom-up (intuitive beliefs, lived practices, material culture) processes. Changes in the field lead to the re-writing of the history of the Bible and of Judaean society in the Greco-Roman context. By means of this co-authored research article, we wish to demonstrate the benefit of, as well as the need for, interdisciplinary work in the study of antiquity.
IBR 2022 Conference Speaker in Early Christian Judaism Group (Nov. 19, 2022) - Denver, CO
Institute for Biblical Research (IBR), 2022
I presented my paper, “Purity and Physiognomy: Jesus's Reimagination of Physiognomic Concerns in Luke,” for the 2022 annual meeting of the IBR's “Early Christian Judaism” research group, Denver, CO. I am grateful to the co-chairs (Drs. Jason Staples [NC State University] and David Sloan [TEDS]) for affording me the opportunity to present my research, and to my paper respondent, Isaac Soon (Crandall University). From the Research Group CFP: "For 2022, the theme of our session will be “The Family of God.” We invite proposals for papers that explore how this traditional Israelite/Jewish concept is represented and reshaped in various ways in the New Testament and early Christian texts. Papers that focus on women in the community, marriage/intermarriage among Jewish and gentile followers of Jesus, procreation, circumcision of infants, baptism, table fellowship, and/or purity concerns are especially welcome. Paper proposals are due to Jason Staples (jasonastaples@gmail.com) by February 28, 2022." From the IBR Site: "IBR Research Groups are specially designed to gather a community of scholars to study one particular topic for three or more years. Non-members are warmly welcomed to visit IBR Research Groups and we encourage members to commit to one group across multiple years." "Research Groups run for an initial three-year period, allowing participants to consider topics from various perspectives. Each group elects how best to approach their topic of interest and not every group issues a call for papers in any given year. The conveners may engage invited papers, panel discussions, or other avenues to best engage a topic. Often, a group’s work is published."
IBR 2020 Conference Speaker in Early Christian Judaism Group (Dec. 02, 2020) - Boston, MA
Institute for Biblical Research (IBR), 2020
I presented my paper, "The Reception History of Phil 3:2–3a in Dialogue with Mark D. Nanos," in the Early Christian Judaism group of the Institute for Biblical Research (IBR) at the IBR 2020 Conference in Boston, MA (Dec. 02, 2020). The meeting will be held in conjunction with SBL/AAR 2020. The Early Christian Judaism session took place on Wednesday, December 02, from 5:00 to 7:00 pm. ----------- Early Christian Judaism This group examines the diverse ways in which Jews embraced Jesus from the lifetime of Jesus until the rise of Islam. “Is Hindsight Really 2020?” is our 2020 theme. The act of looking backwards through church history to confirm contemporary practices and beliefs is a methodological decision that carries with it numerous assumptions that influence our interpretation of the New Testament and later literature. This year’s papers identify problematic assumptions that have been barriers to reading the New Testament “within Judaism.” David Sloan, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Presiding Jason A. Staples, NC State University Righteousness, the τέλος νόμου, and Israel’s Restoration: Reevaluating Romans 10:1–13 in an Early Jewish Context (20 min) Discussion (15 min) Charles Cisco, University of Edinburgh Can Anything Good Come Out of Works of the Law? (20 min) Discussion (15 min) Gregory Lamb, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary The Reception History of Phil 3:2–3a in Dialogue with Mark D. Nanos (20 min) Discussion (15 min) General Discussion (15 min) ----------------------- 2020 Call for Papers “Is Hindsight Really 2020?” is our 2020 theme. The act of looking backwards through church history to confirm contemporary practices and beliefs is a methodological decision that carries with it numerous assumptions that influence our interpretation of the NT and later literature. We invite papers that relate in any way to our general research group description, but we will prioritize papers that critically engage: (1) significant “problem texts” in the NT to reading the NT “within Judaism.” These papers may demonstrate the ways in which “problem texts” have been (mis)used to support a “Christianity vs. Judaism” narrative and/or provide a compelling interpretation of the “problem text” that makes sense “within Judaism.” (2) problematic assumptions and/or methodologies that under gird “Christianity vs. Judaism” narratives. These papers may demonstrate ways in which certain assumptions have been used to support a “Christianity vs. Judaism” narrative and/or critique the assumption in question while offering a different starting point. (3) the ways in which Jewish modes of following Jesus, or engagement in Jewish practices, were considered to be heretical. These papers may examine things like: Who is making the judgment? Where geographically is this judgment made? Who is supposedly or actually represented by such a judgment? What is the motivation for this judgment? And what are the merits for validity/invalidity of such a judgment? Because we value the perspectives and voices of everyone, our research group warmly invites submissions from women and minorities. Please submit proposals by Feb. 28 to David Sloan (david@davidbsloan.com) and Ben Snyder (ben.snyder@asburyseminary.edu). Note that papers will be distributed to our mailing list before the conference and therefore will need to be submitted by October 31.
Grad. seminar: Judaism & Christianity in Antiquity: Textual & Comparative Approaches.
This course introduces graduate students in Christianity and Theology to Judaism, by comparison with Christianity, from the Dead Sea Scrolls to the Babylonian Talmud: a formative period of both traditions as we know them today. Each session integrates three stages of inquiry: (a) Beginning with close study of primary texts/ artifacts, we diagnose cultural and ideological problems; (b) To explore those problems, we draw on comparative evidence from antiquity, as well as close examination of analogous problems in later or contemporary sources (with special attention to philosophy; anthropology; and ethnographic cases); (c) Returning to the primary materials, we ask how these comparisons can redefine our problems by contrast to their predominant solutions in the scholarly literature. In sum, we integrate philological; comparative; and contemporary academic viewpoints, in order to recontextualize ancient sources.
SBL 2022 Conference Speaker in the Greco-Roman Religions Program Unit (Nov. 20, 2022) - Denver, CO
Society of Biblical Literature (SBL), 2022
I presented my paper, "Becoming ‘Monsters’? Paul’s Use of Dehumanizing Terms as Boundary Markers in Philippians," on Nov 20, 2022 for the Greco-Roman Religions program unit at the 2022 SBL Annual Meeting in Denver CO. Grateful to the co-chairs (Drs. Barbette Stanley Spaeth [College of William and Mary] and Maria Doerfler [Yale University]) for giving me the opportunity to present my research. From the Program Unit CFP: "Description: This unit is highly interdisciplinary and comparative, a forum regularly bringing together historians of religion, specialists in Christian origins, classicists, archaeologists, and social scientists from across the world to pursue questions that foster new cooperative research initiatives. Call for papers: We invite papers for the following sessions: 1. Materiality and Religion in the Greco-Roman World: on the “material turn” in the study of religion, including studies of amulets, clothing and cosmetics, cult architecture, the protection of doorways, funerary artifacts and spaces, the arrangement of altars and votives, iconic books, etc., that discuss matters of efficacy, agency, assemblage, human/thing interaction, and discursive reflections on object-agency. Papers should be explicit in their understanding of “materiality of religions.” 2. Sex, Embodiment, and Cult Spaces in Greco-Roman Antiquity: on embodied religious experiences associated with cult spaces, including pilgrimage, devotional behaviors, ritual performances, sacred prostitution, therapeutic practices. We welcome papers mapping processes of religious continuities and discontinuities, individual or collective conversions, transformations and reconstructions of places and space. 3. Encountering Monsters: Religious Interactions with the Monstrous in Greco-Roman Antiquity: on interactions with monstrous beings in the literature and material culture of ancient Mediterranean religions. We welcome papers exploring the place and function of a wide range of human and non-human monstrous entities in myth, cultic rites, apotropaic contexts, processes of identity construction, including mutation from/into human form, and other phenomena of relevance for Greco-Roman religions. 4. Remodeling the Motel of the Mysteries: Innovations in the Study of Secret Cults (joint session with the Society for Ancient Mediterranean Religions): on recent innovations in the study of mystery religions, including analyses of soundscapes, affective impact, social identities, network analyses, digital reconstructions of sacred spaces, the descriptions of mystery rites by the Church Fathers, the intersections of mystery cult with magical practices, and distinctions between Greek and Roman mystery rites."