Corinthian Matters

A Resource for the Study of the Corinthia, Greece

Category: Religion, Churches

On Phoebe, Honored Courier of St. Paul (Michael Peppard)

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We’ve mentioned Phoebe of Kenchreai here at Corinthian Matters as an individual who was not simply a “helper” to St. Paul — one translation of the Greek diakonos) — but also a prostasis, an influential member of some wealth and authority in the earliest Christian community of the region.

Michael Peppard has recently published an article in Commonweal  (“Household Names: Junia, Phoebe, & Prisca in Early Christian Rome“) about Phoebe and two other significant women named in the final chapter of St. Paul’s Epistle to the Romans. Peppard’s piece discusses the high status of these women and their importance in the mission of Paul. It’s a thoughtful piece of which I include a few snippets below.

But pay closer attention to whom Paul addresses and a surprise emerges: the status of women in the early church in Rome. Specifically, three women: Junia, Phoebe, and Prisca. They are not household names. They are not mentioned from pulpits on Sunday morning. But they were undeniably important to Paul—and to the Christian assemblies in Rome and Corinth, where they were authoritative leaders….

…Back to the first-century Phoebe: a more powerful translation than “benefactor” for prostatis would also be more faithful to the Greek term in its social context. When used in the masculine form prostatês, its semantic range covers “leader,” “ruler,” “presiding officer,” “administrator,” “protector,” “guardian,” or “patron.” Certainly the possession of wealth and the concomitant powers of benefaction could be related to one’s role as a leader, presider, or protector. But generosity alone does not capture the meaning of the term that Paul uses for Phoebe…

…As an honored and trusted courier, Phoebe could have had the sender’s blessing to explain her letter and its author’s intention as well. The social context thus suggests that, in addition to being a diakonos, a prostatis, and the courier of the most important theological text in Christian history, Phoebe may also have been its first authorized interpreter….

Thus when Phoebe arrived in Rome with Paul’s letter, it was into Prisca’s hand she most likely placed the scroll. Prisca had known Paul for years, and she was one of his most trusted partners, just as Phoebe was a trusted courier. So when we envision the very first discussion of the letter to the Romans, both scriptural and historical evidence suggest the same thing: it was women who were doing the talking.

 

 

Routledge Encyclopedia of Ancient Mediterranean Religions

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This new Routledge Encyclopedia of Ancient Mediterranean Religions, edited by Eric Orlin and a team of collaborators, claims to be the “first comprehensive single-volume reference work offering authoritative coverage of ancient religions in the Mediterranean world.” As the publisher page describes it:
The volume’s scope extends from pre-historical antiquity in the third millennium B.C.E. through the rise of Islam in the seventh century C.E. An interdisciplinary approach draws out the common issues and elements between and among religious traditions in the Mediterranean basin. Key features of the volume include:
  • Detailed maps of the Mediterranean World, ancient Egypt, the Roman Empire, and the Hellenistic World
  • A comprehensive timeline of major events, innovations, and individuals, divided by region to provide both a diachronic and pan-Mediterranean, synchronic view
  • A broad geographical range including western Asia, northern Africa, and southern Europe

This encyclopedia will serve as a key point of reference for all students and scholars interested in ancient Mediterranean culture and society.

Orlin, Eric, ed. Routledge Encyclopedia of Ancient Mediterranean Religions. Routledge, 2015.
Not possible to outline an A-Z encyclopedia running over a thousand words, but the associated keywords suggest enough connections to Corinthiaka:
Abraham. Acolyte. Aeon. Aggadah. Apis. Assumption. Baptism. Byzantine Rite. Catharsis. Church of Rome. Codex Vaticanus. Constantinople. Cult Statue. Dead Sea scrolls. Demeter. Dionysius Exiguus. Eldad and Modad. Exorcism. Falcon. Fascinus. Flavia Domitilla. Glossolalia. Hagiography. Harpokrates. Healing Cults. Heaven. Heliopolis. Herodotus. Incubation. jackal, sacred. Jannes and Jambres. Jonah. Jude, Epistle of. Kerdir. Kirta Epic. Kronos. Lady Elat. Leviathan. Liturgy of John Chrysostom. Maccabees, First Book of. Magic bowls, Aramaic. Marduk. Midrash Rabbah. Monk. Nazirite. Netinim. Obadiah. Oracle. Pantheon. Peplos. polis religion. priestess. Ptolemaic kingdom. Renenutet. rites of passage. Sacrament. Samaritan Pentateuch. Saturnalia. Selkhet. Sinai, Mt. Sophokles. Taurobolium. Theodoric. Tobiad. Urartu. Vestal Virgins. Witchcraft. Yeshiva. Yohanan ben Zakkai. Zealots. Ziggurat.
Google Books has digitized and made available a significant chunk of the encyclopedia including the forward, which outlines the reason for the work and approach to subject (new theoretical currents, interdisciplinary approaches to religion, and the growing importance of material culture, among others). Digitized text also includes maps and numerous entries, which range from a hundred words to a page or more. A keyword search by the word “Corinth” turns up a couple of dozen hits from the currently digitized material.

On the Churches and Saints of Corinth

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Kodratos of CorinthTomorrow marks the feast day of Kodratos, Corinth’s most famous ancient country saint martyred during the reign of the Emperor Decius. As I noted a number of years ago when I paraphrased a Latin version of his life, Kodratos was Corinth’s quintessential rural saint: an orphan raised by his Father God in the fields and mountains after his parents’ early death. When he descended into the city of sin and pleasure as an adult, smelling of the country (in a good way — as his biographer notes), he preached with eloquence and attracted a small group of like-minded associates (the famous Leonidas of Lechaion was a friend of his) until he and a few others were martyred by Jason the provincial governor. When confronted with torture, Kodratos responded: “Bring it on!”

The stories and biographies of Corinth’s martyrs and saints such as Kodratos remain largely inaccessible to an anglophone public today because they have rarely been translated, let alone paraphrased, from their Byzantine Greek and Medieval Latin sources (or the modern Greek summaries). In a similar way, most of the late antique churches around Corinth associated with Corinth’s martyrs were excavated by Greek archaeologists (Dimitrios Pallas, especially) who published their findings in Greek (or French and German), rarely in English.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
Church of Kodratos in Ancient Corinth

Strangely, then, an English-speaking public is somewhat disconnected from the abundant early Christian remains in the Corinthia and the description of martyrs noted in Byzantine martyrologies and the Acta Sanctorum. This is unfortunate given both the popular interest in religion in Corinth and a healthy tourist industry oriented specifically around St. Paul and Christian pilgrimage.

 

There is, however, a growing body of scholarship in English discussing the churches around Corinth. These include:

  • William Caraher, “Church, Society, and the Sacred in Early Christian Greece,” PhD Dissertation, Columbus, 2003: Ohio State University. See also his two recent articles on the Lechaion basilica, which he has discussed and posted on his blog.
  • Brown, Amelia R. “Medieval Pilgrimage to Corinth and Southern Greece.” HEROM: Journal on Hellenistic and Roman Material Culture 1 (2012): 197–223.
  • Brown, Amelia R. “The City of Corinth and Urbanism in Late Antique Greece,” PhD Dissertation, Berkeley, 2008: University of California- Berkeley. Available as PDF here.
  • Richard Rothaus, Corinth: The First City of Greece, Leiden, 2000: Brill. See especially his chapter on Christianizing the city. Snippet view of part of the book available via Google Books
  • G.D.R. Sanders, “Archaeological Evidence for Early Christianity and the End of Hellenic Religion in Corinth,” in Schowalter and S.J. Friesen (eds.), Urban Religion in Roman Corinth, Cambridge, MA, 2005, 419-42. Freely available via Academia
  • V. Limberis, “Ecclesiastical Ambiguities: Corinth in the Fourth and Fifth Century,” in Schowalter and Friesen (eds.), Urban Religion in Roman Corinth, Cambridge, MA 2005, 443-457.
  • Sweetman, Rebecca J. “Memory, Tradition, and Christianization of the Peloponnese.” American Journal of Archaeology 119, no. 4 (2015): 501–31. Available for free download here.
  • Sweetman, Rebecca. “The Christianization of the Peloponnese: The Topography and Function of Late Antique Churches.” Journal of Late Antiquity 3, no. 2 (2010): 203–61.

I hope to work with a student or two at Messiah College next year to produce DIY English translations of some of these lives and perhaps descriptions of the churches. That would be a fun project.

This marks the fourth in a (mostly) Wednesday Lenten series on resources for the study of religion and Christianity in Corinth. Earlier posts include

 

 

 

 

 

2015 Publications in Corinthian Studies: New Testament, Christianity, and Judaism

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This is the third in a series of five bibliographic reports related to Corinthian scholarship published or digitized in 2015. This post also marks the next installment in a Lenten series on resources for the study of Judaism, New Testament, and early Christianity in Corinth (see last week’s post on Corinthian-related blogs). Today’s report presents scholarship published or digitized in 2015 related in some way to the subjects of Christianity, Judaism, and the New Testament. This includes some scholarship on the Hellenistic and early Roman “backgrounds” of Christianity and Judaism but most of this material relates to New Testament studies.

Download the PDF by right clicking on this  link:

I generated these reports through Zotero tags and searches, and there are undoubtedly missing entries as well as false positives. Next week, I’ll put together a post about using the bibliographic database for the study of religion in Roman Corinth.

If you see references missing from the list, please send to corinthianmatters@gmail.com

Photo by David Pettegrew, June 6, 2014
Photo by David Pettegrew, June 6, 2014

 

Coming Soon: Rural Lives and Landscapes in Late Byzantium (Gerstel)

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Landscape approaches to the Byzantine world are still uncommon these days despite the increasing integration of regional approaches into ancient and medieval studies generally. It is gratifying, then, to see that another work dedicated to the subject of Byzantine landscapes will be out in print this month. Sharon Gerstel’s book looks delightful  in its combination of different sources of evidence and its abundant illustrations: churches of Attica, the Peloponnese, Crete, and Aegean islands; archaeological survey data from the Pylos region; and the local memory through ethnographic work in Greek villages. Here are some of the details:

Rural Lives and Landscapes in Late ByzantiumGerstel, Sharon E. J. Rural Lives and Landscapes in Late Byzantium: Art, Archaeology, and Ethnography. Cambridge University Press, 2015. 

 

 

 

Table of Contents:

1. The landscape of the village
2. Communication and the village church
3. The village woman
4. Village men, village labor
5. In the service of the church
6. The body and the soul.

Description:

“This is the first book to examine the late Byzantine peasantry through written, archaeological, ethnographic, and painted sources. Investigations of the infrastructure and setting of the medieval village guide the reader into the consideration of specific populations. The village becomes a micro-society, with its own social and economic hierarchies. In addition to studying agricultural workers, mothers, and priests, lesser-known individuals, such as the miller and witch, are revealed through written and painted sources. Placed at the center of a new scholarly landscape, the study of the medieval villager engages a broad spectrum of theorists, including economic historians creating predictive models for agrarian economies, ethnoarchaeologists addressing historical continuities and disjunctions, and scholars examining power and female agency.”

Limited excerpts of texts and images are available via Google Books.

The First Urban Churches: Roman Corinth (In the Works)

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A couple of years ago, I had the good fortune of participating in a session at the Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) conference on the theme of Polis and Ekklesia: Investigations of Urban Christianity. The paper I delivered outlined new perspectives on the diolkos and the implications of this research for understanding the commercial backdrop of the early Christian communities at Corinth.

The good news is that this session will soon be published by SBL as part of a multi-volume series on Polis and Ekklesia edited by James R Harrison and L.L. Welborn. The first three volumes are either in the works or forthcoming:

The First Urban Churches. Volume 1: Methodology: As the editors

have summarized this volume, “This book, comprising all the invited papers of SBL Consultation Polis and Ekklesia (SanFranciso, 2011) and with the addition of other solicited contributions, concentrates on the responsible use of documentary (papyrological, epigraphic), numismatic, iconographic, and archaeological evidence in reconstructing the historical, social, cultural, and economic life of cities, their inhabitants and neighbours in antiquity. This volume forms a preface to the study of the significant biblical cities in the first-century AD, charted in the subsequent eight volumes of the series.”

The First Urban Churches. Volume 2: Roman Corinth. According to the editors, “This book, comprising all the papers of SBL Consultation Polis and Ekklesia (Chicago, 2012) and with the addition of other solicited contributions, concentrates on the epigraphic, numismatic, iconographic, and archaeological evidence in reconstructing the historical, social, cultural, and economic life of Roman Corinth in the early Christian era.”

The First Urban Churches. Volume 3: Ephesus. According to the editors, “This book, comprising all the papers of SBL Consultation Polis and Ekklesia (Baltimore, 2013) and with the addition of other solicited contributions, concentrates on the epigraphic, numismatic, iconographic, and archaeological evidence in reconstructing the historical, social, cultural, and economic life of Ephesus in the early Christian era.”

Here’s an outline for the second volume on Roman Corinth, which is scheduled for delivery to the press later this year: 

1. Laurence L. Welborn, “Polis and Ekklesia: Investigating Roman Corinth in Its Urban Context”

2. Cavan Concannon, “Negotiating Multiple Modes of Religion and Identity at Roman Corinth”

3. Kathy Ehrensperger, “Negotiating Polis and Ekklesia: Challenge and Re-Assurance in 1 Cor 12:1-11”

4. Michael Peppard, “Roman Controversiae about Inheritance Disputes and 1 Corinthians 6”

5. David Pettegrew, “Lost in the Country: Corinthian Territory and the Early Christian Communities of the 1st Century CE”

6. Annette Weisenreider, “Bodies and Space: Sitting or Reclining in 1 Corinthians 14:30”

7. Brad Bitner, “Τὰ γραφέντα PRO ROSTRIS LECTA: Bilingual Inscribing in Roman Corinth”

8. Fredrick J Long, “‘The god of This Age’ (2 Cor 4:4) and Paul’s Empire-Resisting Gospel”

9. Laurence L. Welborn, “Paul, the Politics of ‘Equality’ and the Power Monopoly of the Corinthian Elite”

10. James R Harrison, “The Cursus Honorum in the Roman Colonies of Corinth and Philippi: Consequences for Paul’s Gospel and Rhetoric”

I spent much of January revising my 2012 conference paper and adding substance. My chapter, “Lost in the Country: Corinthian Territory and the Early Christian Communities of the 1st Century CE,” offers case studies in how the countryside / landscape might intersect with the study of the first Christians. In particular, I want to highlight the territory as a fundamental part of the “polis” in Roman times. Here’s the working abstract.

“Corinthian territory has occupied a paradoxical role in the modern scholarship surrounding Paul’s mission to Corinth and the Christian community in conflict. In one respect, the isthmian crossroads has functioned as an essential backdrop to understanding the population’s maritime orientation, commercial proclivities, and general tendencies to immorality and division. The twin harbors of Lechaion and Kenchreai, the pan-Hellenic sanctuary at Isthmia, and the diolkos allegedly made Corinth a city of transients at a great crossroads of the ancient world. In another respect, scholars have regularly disregarded the territory in their discussions of the Corinthian correspondence as though the region beyond the city’s boundaries was of little concern or interest to the earliest Christians. In this paper, I propose a different way of thinking about the intersections of the early Christian community with the countryside. Through a series of case studies on the diolkos, canal, harbors, and agriculture, I highlight the contingent developments of the territory and their effects on the developing ekklesia. The region was not a timeless commercial thoroughfare but developed historically in the course of the first century CE. This paper, then, recommends greater attention to the historical developments of the territory and their influence on the local religious communities.”

I’ll post more as this collection of essays moves toward publication.

2013-2014 Publications in Corinthian Studies: New Testament, Christianity, and Judaism

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This is the fourth and final post in a series of bibliographic releases of new Corinthian scholarship published or digitized in 2013-2014. See this post last last Monday for further information about the sources of this bibliography and instructions for accessing the Zotero database. For earlier releases, see these posts:

Today’s list presents scholarship published or digitized in 2013 and 2014 related in some way to the subjects of Christianity, Judaism, and early Christianity. This includes some scholarship on the Hellenistic and early Roman “backgrounds” of Christianity and Judaism but most of this material focus directly on questions of religion.

Screenshot (31)

I have divided these reports by year to keep them manageable. Download the PDFs by right clicking on these link:

I generated these reports through Zotero tags and searches, and there are undoubtedly missing entries as well as false positives. For best results, visit the Zotero library or download the RIS file into your bibliographic program.

If you see references missing from the list, please send to corinthianmatters@gmail.com

Corinthiaka at the AIA Meeting: New Orleans, January 2015

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One of the small benefits of not attending the annual meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America next month is that I will not have to spend Christmas break frantically working on a paper that I was unable to complete during a busy semester. On the other hand, New Orleans in January should be fantastic, with pleasant weather that contrasts with the nightmare AIA in the Snow of Chicago 2014.

The conference website notes 150 archaeology sessions and 800 speakers—which doesn’t include papers of the parallel meeting of the Society for Classical Studies (formerly APA). As in years past, I’ll post the smattering of paper titles on Corinthiaka subjects, but first, I couldn’t resist another word cloud image of the AIA 2015 after playing around with SBL titles last month. This Wordle image is based on all the AIA paper titles stripped (or mostly stripped) of presenter titles, affiliations, institutions, and meaningless keywords. 

AIAWordle

The hit subjects this year are Mediterranean, the Roman period, and the State (I should probably have stripped Ancient and Age which are too generic to be useful). Conference attendees will hear much about – gasp – the traditional places of classical archaeology: Italy, Greece, Crete, Athens, Rome, and the Etruscans (Cyprus, Sicily, Turkey, Spain, and Israel remain secondary). The Roman period is most frequent, but Bronze Age and Classical topics follow close behind (note the smaller Hellenistic period – remarkable given its vast geographic scope – and the tiny Byzantine period that must appear in only a handful of papers). I am glad to see that the “public” makes a modest show and that “evidence” and “analysis” are so important, but the tiny “digital” is surprising given its prominence in the humanities disciplines.

The Corinthiaka papers from the Program include:

  • “Tombs, Burials, and Commemoration in Corinth’s Northern Cemetery”
    (Kathleen Warner Slane, University of Missouri)
  • “Isotopic Investigation of Late Antique Human Population Movement in
    Cemeteries from Corinth, Greece” (Larkin Kennedy, Texas A&M University)
  • “Reliefs from Early Roman Corinth” (Mary C. Sturgeon, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill)
  • “Corinth’s Economic Basis in the Eastern Adriatic during the Fifth – Second
    Century B.C.E.” (Jeffrey Royal, RPM Nautical Foundation/East Carolina University)
  • “The Ancient Corinth-South Stoa Roof Project: Previous Restoration and Conservation Treatments-New Approaches” (David Scahill, American School of Classical Studies at Athens, and Nicol Anastassatou, Corinth Excavations)
  • “Tegulae Mammatae in the Roman Baths at Isthmia” (Jon M. Frey, Michigan State University, and Timothy E. Gregory, Ohio State University)
  • “A Sixth Century Church in Corinth” (Paul D. Scotton, California State University, Long Beach)

See also:

The Final Pagan Generation

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Over the Thanksgiving break last week, I found a few minutes to harvest a few of the thousands of unread Google alert emails about Corinthiaka. No promises that I’ll make my back through all or most of this vast collection of emails, but I have begun to update the Corinthian Studies Zotero Library as I’ve discovered relevant works (you can filter by CSM_2014_November or “CSM_2014_December, or sort the Library by “Date Added”). I’ll push out a few of these in the next couple of weeks as I recover from the semester.

One little gem turned up in my box yesterday. This new forthcoming book by Edward Watts on fourth century pagans and Christians looks like a great read. Not sure why the keyword Corinth triggered the book, but it may have had something to do with the well-known case of Aristophanes, the Corinthian elite in the imperial service who was accused of astrology, defended by Libanius, and eventually pardoned by the emperor Julian. That case is common to fourth century discussions of Paganism and Corinth, and is most fully discussed in Richard Rothaus’ Corinth: First City of Greece.

The book looks interesting and should contribute significantly to our knowledge of the fourth century, an period of transformation for the Corinthia as for other regions of the Roman world.

Here are the details:

Watts, Edward J. The Final Pagan Generation. Univ of California Press, 2015.

Front Cover“The Final Pagan Generation recounts the fascinating story of the lives and fortunes of the last Romans born before the Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity. Edward J. Watts traces their experiences of living through the fourth century’s dramatic religious and political changes, when heated confrontations saw the Christian establishment legislate against pagan practices as mobs attacked pagan holy sites and temples. The emperors who issued these laws, the imperial officials charged with implementing them, and the Christian perpetrators of religious violence were almost exclusively young men whose attitudes and actions contrasted markedly with those of the earlier generation, who shared neither their juniors’ interest in creating sharply defined religious identities nor their propensity for violent conflict. Watts examines why the “final pagan generation”—born to the old ways and the old world in which it seemed to everyone that religious practices would continue as they had for the past two thousand years—proved both unable to anticipate the changes that imperially sponsored Christianity produced and unwilling to resist them. A compelling and provocative read, suitable for the general reader as well as students and scholars of the ancient world.”

A couple of pre-reviews from the publisher page:

“Edward Watts has produced a scintillating portrait of the transformative fourth century of the Roman Empire. He employs the creative device of looking at the history of an era through the eyes of its own generation—like our Woodstock generation or Gen X—to show how its men and women witnessed, experienced, and engaged with the big and little events of their day. The results are variously quotidian and startling, ordinary and surprising, but never banal or entirely as expected. Understanding the oceanic changes in belief and behavior of the ‘last pagan generation’ in real time helps readers see that world from the perspective of the persons who lived it and not, as we often do, as if in some cosmic rear-view mirror. A real page turner!”—Brent D. Shaw, Andrew Fleming West Professor in Classics at Princeton University

“Edward Watts is a leading authority on the intellectual history of the later Roman Empire. Deeply nuanced and profoundly humane, this book shows what it meant to live through the Roman Empire’s initial transition to Christianity. In clear and eloquent prose, Watts introduces us to a wide range of persons who responded to the Emperor Constantine’s conversion in widely different ways, from hostility or distaste to excitement and profound life changes. Watts provides a fresh and exciting vision of one the great generations of Mediterranean history, whose choices shaped the legacy of antiquity and the future of Christianity. This is a book that should be of interest to anyone who wants to understand the rich variety of religious experience.”—David Potter, Francis W. Kelsey Collegiate Professor of Greek and Roman History at the University of Michigan

Society of Biblical Literature Conference, San Diego, 2014

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I have always been impressed with the enormous output of scholarship directed to understanding biblical literature and backgrounds. In past years, I’ve posted paper titles or abstracts for presentations at the annual and international meetings of the Society of Biblical Literature: Baltimore 2013, Chicago 2012, London 2011, and Atlanta 2010.

As Thanksgiving week has just begun in the U.S.A., and the annual Society of Biblical Literature conference is wrapping up in San Diego, it seemed appropriate to see what biblical scholars have harvested this year. The following comes from a keyword search on “Corinth” in the Program Book. Not all of the following papers concern Corinth topics, of course, but all of the following sessions have at least some discussion of Corinth or Paul’s Corinthian correspondence. There are presumably other Corinth papers that this keyword search did not reach, but this provides some cross-section of current discussions among New Testament scholars. To read abstracts, search by the paper title.

Before the list, this word cloud produced in Wordle offers a great way to visualize the content of the paper titles and session abstracts. 

Wordle_SBLSanDiego2014

 

And the Papers themselves…

S21-201

Paul and the Apocalyptic Imagination
11/21/2014
12:30 PM to 5:30 PM
Room: 300 A (Level 3 (Aqua)) – Hilton Bayfront (HB)
Across various branches of biblical and theological study, there is a renewed interest in ‘apocalyptic’. This development is seen particularly in the study of Paul’s theology, where it is now widely agreed that Paul pr

omotes an ‘apocalyptic theology’. However, there is little agreement on what this means. Scholars from different perspectives have, as a result, continued to talk past each other. This special session provides an opportunity for leading Pauline scholars from different perspectives to engage in discussion about the meaning of Paul as an apocalyptic thinker. Indeed, one of the strengths and aims of this event is that different and opposing views are set next to each other. The session will hopefully bring greater clarity to the ‘apocalyptic’ reading of Paul by providing much needed definition to central terms and interpretive approaches and by highlighting both their strengths and weaknesses.

Session 1
Jason Maston, Highland Theological College, Presiding
Jason Maston, Highland Theological College, Welcome (5 min)
M. C. de Boer, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam – VU University Amsterdam
Apocalyptic as Eschatological Activity (25 min)
N.T. Wright, University of St. Andrews
Apocalyptic as Sudden Fulfilment of Divine Promise (25 min)
Loren Stuckenbruck, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München
Apocalypticism in Second Temple Judaism (25 min)
Philip Ziegler, University of Aberdeen
Apocalypticism in Modern Theology (25 min)
Discussion (15 min)
Break (15 min)
Session 2
Ben Blackwell, Houston Baptist University, Presiding
Michael Gorman, Saint Mary’s Seminary and University
The Apocalyptic New Covenant and the Shape of Life in the Spirit (25 min)
Edith Humphrey, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary
Apocalypse as Theoria in Paul: A New Perspective on Apocalyptic as Mother of Theology (25 min)
Douglas Campbell, Duke University
Paul’s Apocalyptic Epistemology (25 min)
Beverly Gaventa, Baylor University
Romans 9–11: An Apocalyptic Reading (25 min)
John Barclay, University of Durham
Apocalyptic Investments: First Corinthians 7 and Pauline Ethics (25 min)
Discussion (20 min)
Word of Thanks, Book Promotion, and Adjournment: John Goodrich, Moody Bible Institute
P21-302

Institute for Biblical Research
11/21/2014
4:00 PM to 6:00 PM
Room: 202 B (Level 2 (Indigo)) – Hilton Bayfront (HB)

Theme: Emerging Scholarship on the New Testament
This session showcases emerging New Testament scholars sponsored by Fellows of the Institute of Biblical Research. All are welcome to attend the session. Summaries of the papers will be read at the session leaving opportunity for discussion. Full papers will be available at the Institute of Biblical Research website: http://www.ibr-bbr.org/ (click on Emerging Scholarship on the New Testament Group) no later than October 1, 2014. For information on this session please contact Ruth Anne Reese (ruthanne.reese@asburyseminary.edu).

Ruth Anne Reese, Asbury Theological Seminary, Presiding
Drew Strait, University of Pretoria
Of Gods and Kings: Early Judaism, Ruler Cults, and Paul’s Polemic against Semasmata in Acts 17:23 (10 min)
Discussion (20 min)
Terri Moore, Dallas Theological Seminary
The Mysteries and 1 Cor 15:29: Comparative Methodology and Contextual Exegesis (10 min)
Discussion (20 min)
Luke Tsai, Dallas Theological Seminary
It’s Affordable: The Cost of Civil Litigation in First-Century Roman Corinth (10 min)
Discussion (20 min)
Phillip Strickland, McMaster Divinity College
“Le style, c’est l’homme”: The Use of Literary Stylistics in the Defense of Lukan Authorship of Hebrews—A Critical Assessment (10 min)
Discussion (20 min)
S22-128

Inventing Christianity
11/22/2014
9:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Room: Sapphire Ballroom P (Level 4 (Sapphire)) – Hilton Bayfront (HB)

Theme: Competing Christianities in North Africa

Laurence Welborn, Fordham University, Presiding
Outi Lehtipuu, University of Helsinki
Who Has the Right to Be Called a Christian? The Politics of Inventing Christian Identity in Tertullian’s On the Prescription of Heretics (30 min)
Patout Burns, Vanderbilt University
Self-Identity through Competition: The Development of African Ecclesiology (30 min)
Geoffrey D. Dunn, Australian Catholic University
Disputed Christian Identities in North Africa: A View of the Current Landscape (30 min)
Discussion (30 min)
Business Meeting (30 min)
S22-132a

Paul and Politics
11/22/2014
9:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Room: Room 31 B (Upper level) – San Diego Convention Center (CC)

Katherine Shaner, Wake Forest University, Presiding
Ben Dunning, Fordham University
Paul, Bodily Difference, and the Politics of the Universal: Reading Romans 7 with and against Contemporary Philosophers (25 min)
Shelly Matthews, Brite Divinity School (TCU)
‘Who Really Cares That Paul Was Not a Gender Egalitarian after All?’: Thinking through the Question with the Unveiled Corinthian Women Prophets (25 min)
Eric A. Thomas, Drew University
Practicing Porneia: Inappropriating 1 Cor 6:9-20 for Erotic Justice (25 min)
Anna Miller, Xavier University
“All the City Was Shaken”: Women’s Speech and Ancient Political Discourse in the Acts of Paul and Thecla and 1 Corinthians (25 min)
Crystal L. Hall , Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York
Paul’s Collection and the Body Politics of Empire (25 min)
Discussion (25 min)
S22-133

Pauline Epistles
11/22/2014
9:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Room: 410 B (Level 4 (Sapphire)) – Hilton Bayfront (HB)

Theme: Paul’s Judaism

R. Barry Matlock, University of Tennessee, Chattanooga, Presiding
Matthew Novenson, University of Edinburgh
Did Paul Conceive of Such a Thing as Judaism? (25 min)
Matthew Thiessen, Saint Louis University
Christ, the Seed of Abraham (25 min)
William Sanger Campbell, The College of St. Scholastica
Paul’s Judaism and the Jesus Movement (25 min)
Tyler A. Stewart, Marquette University
Fallen Angels, Bastard Spirits, and the Birth of God’s Son: An Enochic Etiology of Evil in Gal 3:19–4:11 (25 min)
James Ware, University of Evansville
The Coherence of Paul’s Theology of the Law in Romans 2–3: A New Proposal (25 min)
S22-142

Social Scientific Criticism of the New Testament; Meals in the Greco-Roman World; Gender, Sexuality, and the Bible
Joint Session With: Social Scientific Criticism of the New Testament, Meals in the Greco-Roman World
11/22/2014
9:00 AM to 11:00 AM
Room: Room 17 B (Mezzanine level) – San Diego Convention Center (CC)

Theme: Food in Antiquity

Zeba Crook, Carleton University, Presiding
Philip Tite, University of Washington
Roman Diet and Meat Consumption: Reassessing Elite Access to Meat in 1 Corinthians 8 (25 min)
Andrew McGowan, Yale Divinity School
Knowing the Color of One’s Bread: How Forms and Types of Bread Reflected and Created Ancient Social Structures(25 min)
Break (10 min)
Alicia Batten, Conrad Grebel University College
Fish for Thought in the Early Church (25 min)
Michel Desjardins, Wilfrid Laurier University, Respondent (25 min)
Discussion (10 min)
S22-206

Bible and Popular Culture
11/22/2014
1:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Room: Room 11 A (Upper level) – San Diego Convention Center (CC)

Theme: Graphic Novels, Punk Rock, and Decolonizing the Bible? Oh My!

Valarie Ziegler, DePauw University, Presiding
Paul Robertson, Colby-Sawyer College
Biblical Myth and “The Encyclopedia of Early Earth” (2013): Modernity and Re-Telling in the Graphic Novel (30 min)
Jacob D. Myers, Emory University
Apocalyptic Power; Dystopian Hope: John of Patmos and Paul the Apostle in Conversation with Young Adult Fiction(30 min)
Elizabeth Rae Coody, University of Denver and Iliff School of Theology
Punk Rock Paul: The Cross as a ‘Dumb’ Symbol in Comics and Paul’s Epistles (30 min)
Heidi Epstein, University of Saskatchewan
My Beloved is a Bass Line: “De-colonial,” Pop Musical Interventions in the Politics of Love as a Cultural Practice (30 min)
Business Meeting (30 min)
S22-208

Biblical Literature and the Hermeneutics of Trauma
11/22/2014
1:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Room: Sapphire Ballroom A (Level 4 (Sapphire)) – Hilton Bayfront (HB)

Theme: Hermeneutics of Trauma in Biblical Studies and Theology
This session includes two theologians and two pastoral theologians presenting on how interpreting biblical texts through the lens of trauma studies benefits theological and pastoral theological work. The session is co-sponsored by the AAR section “Bible, Theology and Post-modernity.”

Christopher Frechette, Boston College, Presiding
Peter Yuichi Clark, UCSF Medical Center & American Baptist Seminary of the West (GTU)
Toward a Pastoral Reading of 2 Corinthians as a Memoir of PTSD and Healing (30 min)
Philip Browning Helsel, Princeton Theological Seminary
Shared Bodily Pleasure as a Treatment for Trauma: Modern Body Therapies and Ecclesiastes’ Injunction to Enjoyment (30 min)
Shelly Rambo, Boston University
Resurrecting Wounds: John 20:24–29, Trauma Theory, and the Doctrine of Resurrection (30 min)
Robert Schreiter, Catholic Theological Union
Reading Biblical Texts through the Lens of Resilience (30 min)
Discussion (30 min)
S22-212

Development of Early Christian Theology
11/22/2014
1:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Room: Room 30 B (Upper level) – San Diego Convention Center (CC)

Theme: The Spirit in the Early Church: Accounts of the Spirit in the Early Church

Mark Weedman, Johnson University, Presiding
Ben C. Blackwell, Houston Baptist University
Irenaeus on the Deification of Believers and the Divinity of the Spirit (25 min)
Kellen Plaxco, Marquette University
The Place of the Spirit in Origen’s Taxological Grammar of Participation (25 min)
Jonathan Morgan, Toccoa Falls College
Circumcision of the Spirit: Type and Pneumatology in Cyril of Alexandria (25 min)
David Kneip, Abilene Christian University
The Spirit and the Bible in Alexandria: Cyril and Didymus (25 min)
Paul M. Pasquesi, Marquette University
Reclaiming the Divine Feminine: Re-Reception of the Holy Spirit in the Divine Economy (25 min)
Discussion (25 min)
S22-216

Greco-Roman Religions
11/22/2014
1:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Room: 502 B (Level 5 (Cobalt)) – Hilton Bayfront (HB)

Theme: The Cults of Demeter

James Hanges, Miami University, Presiding (5 min)
Teresa Morgan, University of Oxford
Chippings from the Laughterless Rock: Popular Perceptions of Demeter and Her Cult (25 min)
Jill E. Marshall, Emory University
Inscribing Power: Curse Tablets and Temple Building in the Corinthian Sanctuary of Demeter (25 min)
Nancy Evans, Wheaton College (Massachusetts)
Demeter as Focal Point; Eleusis as Mirror (25 min)
Discussion (40 min)
Business Meeting (30 min)
S22-228

Latter-day Saints and the Bible
11/22/2014
1:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Room: Room 24 B (Upper level) – San Diego Convention Center (CC)

Eric Huntsman, Brigham Young University, Presiding
Avram R. Shannon, Ohio State University
Mormons and Midrash: Narrative Expansion as Interpretation in Mormonism and Early Judaism (20 min)
Tod R. Harris, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
“Taking a Different View of the Translation”: The Illumination of Alternative Meanings in the Bible Translations of Joseph Smith and Meister Eckhart (20 min)
Jared W. Ludlow, Brigham Young University
Joseph Smith as a Narrator in the Joseph Smith Translation (20 min)
Discussion (15 min)
Shon D. Hopkin, Brigham Young University
Deuteronomistic History and the Latter-day Saints (20 min)
Lynne Hilton Wilson, LDS Stanford Institute
The Female Rite of Wearing a Veil in 1 Cor 11:2–13 (20 min)
Robert M. Bowman Jr., Institute for Religious Research
The Temple Setting of the Sermon on the Mount in the Book of Mormon: A Hermeneutical Key? (20 min)
Discussion (15 min)
S22-229

LGBT/Queer Hermeneutics
11/22/2014
1:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Room: 400 B (Level 4 (Sapphire)) – Hilton Bayfront (HB)

Theme: Pauline Letters: A Queer Turn

Lynn Huber, Elon University, Presiding (2 min)
Heather White, New College of Florida
Inventing the “Clobber Texts”: Biblical Interpretation and Modern Sexual Identity (25 min)
Discussion (5 min)
David Tabb Stewart, California State University – Long Beach
Against Nature (25 min)
Discussion (5 min)
Kjeld Renato Lings, Other Sheep Europe
Toxic Translations: The Extensive Use of Sexual Anachronisms in 1 Corinthians 6 (25 min)
Discussion (5 min)
Joseph A. Marchal, Ball State University
“Queer(ing) Children of God: Sideways Angles on a Pauline Metaphor?” (25 min)
Discussion (13 min)
Business Meeting (20 min)
S22-238

Rhetoric and the New Testament
11/22/2014
1:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Room: 501 C (Level 5 (Cobalt)) – Hilton Bayfront (HB)

Greg Carey, Lancaster Theological Seminary, Presiding
Greg Carey, Lancaster Theological Seminary, Introduction (5 min)
Timothy J. Christian, Asbury Theological Seminary
Paul and the Rhetoric of Insinuatio: How Paul Raises the Dead in First Corinthians (25 min)
Isaac Blois, University of St. Andrews
The Power of a Shared Boast: Paul’s Use of kauchema in Philippians as a Motivation for Ethical Conduct (25 min)
Oh-Young Kwon, Whitley College
A Rhetorical Analysis of Paul’s Use of Prolambano and Ekdechomai (1 Cor 11:21, 33) (25 min)
Troy Martin, Saint Xavier University
Legitimating Rhetorical Situations in the Epistles of Acts 15:23-29 and First Peter (25 min)
Todd Penner, Austin College, Respondent (25 min)
Discussion (20 min)
S22-240

Second Corinthians: Pauline Theology in the Making
11/22/2014
1:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Room: 400 A (Level 4 (Sapphire)) – Hilton Bayfront (HB)

Theme: 2 Corinthians 8–9

Steven Kraftchick, Emory University, Presiding
Calvin J. Roetzel, Macalester College
Explorations in the Pluri-significance of the Offering in 2 Corinthians 8 and Related Texts (25 min)
Thomas A. Vollmer, Cincinnati Christian University and Emmanuel Nathan, Australian Catholic University
Beyond Expectation (2 Cor 8:5): The Macedonians’ Generosity in light of Paul’s Rhetorical Strategy (25 min)
Paul B. Duff, George Washington University
Second Corinthians 9: The Earliest of the Letters Contained in Canonical 2 Corinthians? (25 min)
Reimund Bieringer, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
The dikaiosynê of God and the dikaiosynê of the Corinthians (2 Cor 9:9-10) (25 min)
Edith Humphrey, Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, Respondent (15 min)
Discussion (35 min)
S22-245

Systematic Transformation and Interweaving of Scripture in 1 Corinthians
11/22/2014
1:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Room: Indigo Ballroom A (Level 2 (Indigo)) – Hilton Bayfront (HB)

Theme: Systematic Use of Scripture in 1 Corinthians 1–4

Yongbom Lee, Fuller Theological Seminary (Pasadena), Presiding
Erik Waaler, NLA University College
Paul and the Prophets: Paul’s Use of Scripture in 1 Corinthians 1–4 (30 min)
Christopher Stanley, Saint Bonaventure University, Respondent (20 min)
Discussion (25 min)
Mark Strauss, Bethel Seminary (San Diego, CA), Respondent (20 min)
Discussion (55 min)
S22-313

Early Christianity and the Ancient Economy
11/22/2014
4:00 PM to 6:30 PM
Room: 307 (Level 3 (Aqua)) – Hilton Bayfront (HB)

Theme: Economic Aspects of Early Christianity

David Hollander, Iowa State University, Presiding
Thomas Schmeller, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main
How to Make a Giver Cheerful: Motivating the Corinthian Believers for the Collection (30 min)
Michelle Christian, University of Toronto
Toward an Anthropology of Money in the Gospels (30 min)
Michael Flexsenhar III, The University of Texas at Austin
Tying the Knot: Marriage, Economy, and Survival in Early Christianity (30 min)
Cavan Concannon, Duke University
Islands in the Corrupting Sea: Mapping Second-Century Christianity (30 min)
Jeremiah Bailey, Baylor University
The Occasion of 1 Clement Reconsidered (30 min)
S22-317

Gender, Sexuality, and the Bible
11/22/2014
4:00 PM to 6:30 PM
Room: 311 B (Level 3 (Aqua)) – Hilton Bayfront (HB)

Gwynn Kessler, Swarthmore College, Presiding
Geoffrey D. McElroy, University of Texas at Austin
Warrior-Men and City-Women: The Implications of Military Imagery in the Song of Songs (20 min)
Discussion (5 min)
Jared Beverly, Chicago Theological Seminary
Loving Animals: A Queer Zoological Reading of Song of Songs (20 min)
Discussion (5 min)
Break (5 min)
Midori E. Hartman, Drew University
Animalizing Others in 1 Corinthians 5: Gender, Sexuality, and Racial-Ethnic Terms in Paul’s Logic of Exclusion (20 min)
Discussion (5 min)
Holly Morse, University of Oxford
A Monster in Paradise (20 min)
Discussion (15 min)
Business Meeting (10 min)
S22-345

Texts and Traditions in the Second Century 
11/22/2014
4:00 PM to 6:45 PM
Room: Sapphire Ballroom H (Level 4 (Sapphire)) – Hilton Bayfront (HB)

Theme: Christ as Savior in the Second Century

Michael Bird, Ridley Melbourne, Presiding (2 min)
David Downs, Fuller Theological Seminary (Pasadena)
The Pauline Concept of Union with Christ in Ignatius of Antioch (25 min)
Discussion (5 min)
Joseph Dodson, Ouachita Baptist University
Universalism and Particularism in the Book of Wisdom, the Gospel of Matthew, and the Epistle of Barnabas (25 min)
Discussion (5 min)
Janelle Peters, Emory University
The Christology of the Phoenix in 1 Clement (25 min)
Discussion (5 min)
Meghan Henning, University of Dayton
Christ as Savior in the Otherworld: The Harrowing of Hell in the 2nd Century (25 min)
Discussion (5 min)
Candida R. Moss, University of Notre Dame
Christ as Cosmic Victor and Emetic: Salvation in the Letter of the Churches of Lyon and Vienne (25 min)
Discussion (5 min)
Discussion (13 min)
S23-104

African Biblical Hermeneutics; Disputed Paulines
Joint Session With: African Biblical Hermeneutics, Disputed Paulines
11/23/2014
9:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Room: 311 B (Level 3 (Aqua)) – Hilton Bayfront (HB)

Theme: Ephesians from African Perspectives

Funlola Olojede, University of South Africa, Presiding
Daniel K. Darko, Gordon College
What Does It Mean to Be ‘Saved’? An African Reading of Ephesians 2 (30 min)
Jeff Brannon, Belhaven University
Another Look at the Principalities and Powers in Paul (30 min)
Elna Mouton, Stellenbosch University
Ancient Household Codes as Model for Present-day Communities of Character (in Africa)? (30 min)
Shelley Ashdown, Graduate Institute of Applied Linguistics
The Armor of God (Eph 6:10-18) in the World View of Ndorobo (30 min)
Discussion (30 min)
S23-137

Performance Criticism of Biblical and Other Ancient Texts
11/23/2014
9:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Room: Sapphire Ballroom L (Level 4 (Sapphire)) – Hilton Bayfront (HB)

Theme: Orality and Performance of Ancient Texts

Lee Johnson, East Carolina University, Presiding
Kathy R. Maxwell, Palm Beach Atlantic University
At the Intersection of Written Text and Oral Performance: There and Back Again (30 min)
Shem Miller, Florida State University
The Pedagogical Performance of Sapiential Literature in the Ya’ad Movement (30 min)
James Hanson, Saint Olaf College
Becoming Paul: Oral Performance and the “Center” of Paul’s Thought (30 min)
Sherri Brown, Niagara University
What’s in an Ending? John 21 and the Performative Force and an Epilogue (30 min)
Reinhard G. Lehmann, Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz
Form Follows Function: A Calligraphic Approach to Oral Performance in Northwest Semitic Epigraphs (30 min)
S23-141

Ritual in the Biblical World
11/23/2014
9:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Room: 202 B (Level 2 (Indigo)) – Hilton Bayfront (HB)

Soham Al-Suadi, Universität Bern – Université de Berne, Presiding
Rodney A. Werline, Barton College
Ritual, Order, and the Construction of an Audience in 1 Enoch 1–36 (25 min)
Discussion (5 min)
Jason T. Lamoreaux, Texas A&M University
Ritual, Media, and Conflict in Pauline Communities (25 min)
Discussion (5 min)
Stephen McBay, University of Manchester
Ephesians, Braided Narrative, and Ritual Pattern (25 min)
Discussion (5 min)
Jade Weimer, University of Toronto
Una Voce Dicentes: The Ritual Significance of Singing with One Voice in Early Christian Assemblies (25 min)
Discussion (5 min)
Group Discussion
Jonathan Schwiebert, Lenoir-Rhyne University, Respondent (30 min)
S23-145

Social Scientific Criticism of the New Testament
11/23/2014
9:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Room: 400 B (Level 4 (Sapphire)) – Hilton Bayfront (HB)

Alicia Batten, Conrad Grebel University College, Presiding (5 min)
Callie Callon, University of Toronto
Humorous Invective as a Component of Persuasion in Early Christianity (20 min)
Discussion (5 min)
Ryan Olfert, University of Toronto
Trouble Getting In: Third John in light of Greco-Roman Associations (20 min)
Discussion (5 min)
Seungwoo Shim, Brite Divinity School (TCU)
Evidence of Market Economy and Economic Rationality in the Gospel of Luke: Initial Proposal (20 min)
Discussion (5 min)
Break (5 min)
Matt O’Reilly, University of Gloucestershire
Resurrection or Destruction? Social Identity and Time in Philippians 3 (20 min)
Discussion (5 min)
Scott Ryan, Baylor University
Insecurity, Wrath, and the God of Hope: Reading Paul’s Apocalyptic Gospel in the Roman World (20 min)
Discussion (5 min)
Discussion (15 min)
S23-147

Systematic Transformation and Interweaving of Scripture in 1 Corinthians
11/23/2014
9:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Room: 310 B (Level 3 (Aqua)) – Hilton Bayfront (HB)

Theme: Paul and the Law in 1 Corinthians

Erik Waaler, NLA University College, Presiding
Brian Rosner, Ridley Melbourne
Paul and the Law in 1 Corinthians (30 min)
Frank Thielman, Beeson Divinity School, Respondent (15 min)
Discussion (15 min)
A. Andrew Das, Elmhurst College, Respondent (15 min)
Discussion (15 min)
Linda Belleville, Grand Rapids Theological Seminary, Respondent (15 min)
Discussion (45 min)
S23-225

Intertextuality in the New Testament
11/23/2014
1:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Room: 204 A (Level 2 (Indigo)) – Hilton Bayfront (HB)

Theme: Varieties of Intertextual Methods

Erik Waaler, NLA University College, Presiding
B. J. Oropeza, Azusa Pacific University
A Covenant Sealed in the Core of Clay Jar: Intertextual Reconfigurations of Jeremiah in 2 Corinthians 1–7 (30 min)
Discussion (15 min)
Liz Myers, Independent Scholar
Assessing the Direction of Intertextual Borrowing between New Testament Books: A New Methodology and Application to 1 Peter and Hebrews (30 min)
Discussion (15 min)
Break (5 min)
Joseph Ryan Kelly, Southern Seminary
A Discipline by Any Other Name? Intertextuality, Inner-Biblical Exegesis, Echoes, and Allusion (30 min)
Discussion (10 min)
S23-236

Pauline Epistles; Paul and Judaism/Paul Within Judaism; Disputed Paulines; Pauline Soteriology; Second Corinthians: Pauline Theology in the Making; Systematic Transformation and Interweaving of Script
Joint Session With: Pauline Epistles, Paul and Judaism/Paul Within Judaism, Disputed Paulines, Pauline Soteriology, Second Corinthians: Pauline Theology in the Making, Systematic Transformation and Interweaving of Scripture in 1 Corinthians
11/23/2014
1:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Room: Sapphire Ballroom M (Level 4 (Sapphire)) – Hilton Bayfront (HB)

Chan Sok Park, Harvard University, Presiding
Michael Patrick Barber, John Paul the Great Catholic University and John Kincaid, John Paul the Great Catholic University
Cultic Theosis in Paul and Second Temple Judaism: A Fresh Reading of the Corinthian Correspondence (18 min)
David A. Burnett, Criswell College
“So Shall Your Seed Be”: Paul’s Use of Gen 15:5 in Rom 4:18 in light of Early Jewish Deification Traditions (18 min)
Pamela Eisenbaum, Iliff School of Theology, Respondent (8 min)
Ward Blanton, University of Kent at Canterbury, Respondent (8 min)
N. T. Wright, University of St. Andrews, Respondent (8 min)
Break (5 min)
Matthew E. Gordley, Regent University School of Divinity
Psalms of Solomon and Pauline Studies (18 min)
Hans Svebakken, Loyola University of Chicago
Romans 7:7-25 and a Pauline Allegory of the Soul (18 min)
Pamela Eisenbaum, Iliff School of Theology, Respondent (8 min)
Ward Blanton, University of Kent at Canterbury, Respondent (8 min)
N. T. Wright, University of St. Andrews, Respondent (8 min)
Discussion (25 min)
S23-244

Religious Experience in Antiquity
11/23/2014
1:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Room: 303 (Level 3 (Aqua)) – Hilton Bayfront (HB)

Scott Mackie, Independent Scholar, Presiding
Lauren K. McCormick, Syracuse University
Modern Theory, Ancient Statuaries: What Figurine Aesthetics Can Tell Us about Religious Community-Making at Sumer (30 min)
Daniel K. Falk, University of Oregon
Liturgical Progression and the Experience of Transformation in Prayers from Qumran (30 min)
Deborah Forger, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
The Jewish High Priest: Mediator of the Divine (30 min)
Sally Douglas, Melbourne College of Divinity
Why Was Jesus Understood and Proclaimed in the Language and Imagery of Woman Wisdom? An Exploration of the Role of Experience in the Ignition of Wisdom Christology and Wisdom Soteriology in the Early (30 min)
Ross Ponder, University of Texas at Austin
Visions of the End: On Death and Animated Dreams in Tertullian and Perpetua (30 min)
S23-305

Bible and Practical Theology
11/23/2014
4:00 PM to 6:30 PM
Room: Sapphire Ballroom M (Level 4 (Sapphire)) – Hilton Bayfront (HB)

Theme: Intersections of Biblical Interpretation and Practical Theology II

Denise Dombkowski Hopkins, Wesley Theological Seminary, Presiding
Michael Koppel, Wesley Theological Seminary, Presiding
Deborah A. Appler, Moravian College & Theological Seminary and Sharon A. Brown, Moravian College & Theological Seminary
Strangers in a Strange Land: Creating a Heart-Centered Praxis (35 min)
Discussion (10 min)
Aubrey E. Buster, Emory University
Memory and Agent Formation in the Psalms (25 min)
Discussion (10 min)
Jin Hwang, Fuller Theological Seminary (Pasadena)
Storytelling and Spiritual Formation according to Apostle Paul (25 min)
Discussion (10 min)
Lance B. Pape, Brite Divinity School (TCU)
Paul and the Lord’s Supper in Corinth: A Paradigm for Practical Theological Method (25 min)
Discussion (10 min)
S23-333

Pauline Epistles
11/23/2014
4:00 PM to 6:30 PM
Room: Room 33 C (Upper level) – San Diego Convention Center (CC)

Theme: Revisiting Albert Schweitzer’s Mysticism of the Apostle Paul

Emma Wasserman, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Presiding
Adela Collins, Yale University
The Mysticism of Paul (25 min)
Paula Fredriksen, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
It’s the End of the World as We Know It: Apocalyptic Eschatology, The Gentile Mission, and the Mysticism of Schweitzer’s Paul (25 min)
Kathy Ehrensperger, Prifysgol Cymru, Y Drindod Dewi Sant – University of Wales, Trinity Saint David
‘To Those Who Are Sanctified in Christ’ (1 Cor 1:2): A Contribution to the ‘in Christ’ Debate (25 min)
Terence Donaldson, Wycliffe College, Respondent (20 min)
Magnus Zetterholm, Lunds Universitet, Respondent (20 min)
Discussion (30 min)
S23-341

Second Corinthians: Pauline Theology in the Making
11/23/2014
4:00 PM to 6:30 PM
Room: 400 B (Level 4 (Sapphire)) – Hilton Bayfront (HB)

Thomas Schmeller, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main, Presiding
Julien C. H. Smith, Valparaiso University
The Transforming Image of the Ideal King: Paul’s Apostolic Defense (2 Cor 2:14–4:6) in light of Greco-Roman Political Ideology (30 min)
Christopher D. Land, McMaster Divinity College
The Benefits Outweigh the Costs: Human Obedience and Divine Blessing in 2 Cor 6:1–7:2 (30 min)
Steven Kraftchick, Emory University, Respondent (15 min)
Discussion (15 min)
Business Meeting (30 min)
S24-103

African Biblical Hermeneutics
11/24/2014
9:00 AM to 11:00 AM
Room: 206 (Level 2 (Indigo)) – Hilton Bayfront (HB)

Theme: Sexuality, Masculinities, HIV and AIDS, and the Bible in Africa

Dora Mbuwayesango, Hood Theological Seminary, Presiding
Madipoane Masenya (Ngwn’a Mphahlele), University of South Africa and Marthe Maleke Kondemo, University of South Africa
What of the Problematic Norm? Rereading the Book of Ruth within the Mongo Women’s Context (25 min)
Discussion (5 min)
Alice Yafeh-Deigh, Azusa Pacific University
Rethinking Paul’s Sexual Ethics within the Context of HIV/AIDS: A Postcolonial Afro-Feminist-Womanist Perspective(25 min)
Discussion (5 min)
Kuloba W. Robert, Kyambogo University
“Homosexuality is Unafrican and Unbiblical”: Examining the Ideological Motivations to Homophobia in Sub-Saharan Africa—The Case Study of Uganda (25 min)
Discussion (5 min)
S24-110

Children in the Biblical World
11/24/2014
9:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Room: 311 A (Level 3 (Aqua)) – Hilton Bayfront (HB)

Theme: Childist Interpretation and Children in the New Testament and Its Apocrypha

Sharon Betsworth, Oklahoma City University, Presiding
Julie Faith Parker, Andover Newton Theological School
Click “Add to Dictionary”: Why We Need to Speak of Childist Interpretation (50 min)
Steven Thompson, Avondale College of Higher Education
Jesus and Early Life Stages according to Luke: Expressing Jewish Male Formation and Gendering Using Greco-Roman Human Development Terms (25 min)
Anna Rebecca Solevag, School of Mission & Theology 
Listening for the Voices of Two Disabled Girls in Early Christian Texts (25 min)
Carla Swafford Works, Wesley Theological Seminary
“Babes in Christ”: The Vulnerability of Infancy (25 min)
J.R.C. Cousland, University of British Columbia
Born to Be Wild? Jesus in the Infancy Gospel of Thomas (25 min)
S24-115

Corpus Hellenisticum Novi Testamenti
11/24/2014
9:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Room: Room 30 E (Upper level) – San Diego Convention Center (CC)

Theme: History of Religions School Today-2
This is the second of two sessions of papers representing new applications of the history-or-religions approach to the study of early Christianity in the broader Hellenistic and early Roman context.

Clare Rothschild, Lewis University, Presiding
David G. Monaco, Pontifical College Josephinum
The Rhetoric of Narrative in Acts 8:26-40: Ramifications of the Baptism of the Ethiopian Eunuch for the Author of Luke-Acts (30 min)
Mark Reasoner, Marian University (Indianapolis)
Paul’s God of Peace in Canonical and Political Perspectives (30 min)
Andrew Langford, University of Chicago and Matthijs den Dulk, University of Chicago
Polycarp and Polemo: Christianity at the Center of the Second Sophistic (30 min)
Jeff Asher, Georgetown College
Missiles, Demagogues, and the Devil: The Rhetoric of Slander in Eph 6:16 (30 min)
Discussion (30 min)
S24-120

Feminist Hermeneutics of the Bible
11/24/2014
9:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Room: Room 28 B (Upper level) – San Diego Convention Center (CC)

Theme: Current Topics in Feminist Hermeneutics

Richard Weis, Lexington Theological Seminary, Presiding
Colleen Conway, Seton Hall University
Riding Feminist Waves: Jael in the 20th and 21st Century (30 min)
Anne Létourneau, Université du Québec à Montréal
Wartime Rape in Judg 5:28-30: Discussing “Women” as a “Seriality” with Jael, Deborah, and Sisera’s Mother (30 min)
Ken Stone, Chicago Theological Seminary
Gender, Animal, Sacrifice: Domestication and the Daughter of Jephthah (30 min)
Ron Serino, Texas Christian University
A Sign in the Dark: Moses’s Cushite Wife and Boundary Setting in the Book of Numbers (30 min)
Jon Mark Reeves, Texas Christian University
Gender, Ethnicity, and Power: Rethinking the Rhetoric of Paul’s Enslavement to All (30 min)
S24-141

Pauline Epistles
11/24/2014
9:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Room: Room 11 A (Upper level) – San Diego Convention Center (CC)

Theme: Paul and Embodiment

Caroline Johnson Hodge, College of the Holy Cross, Presiding
Laura Dingeldein, Brown University
No Male and Female…in Virtue? Paul on Women’s Moral Development (25 min)
Diana M. Swancutt, Boston University School of Theology
Veiled Woman in the Rhetoric of Paul (2 Corinthians 3–4): Gender Slander of Judean Superapostles in Corinth (25 min)
Stephen L. Young, Brown University
You Were Effeminate: Paul and the Masculinization of Gentiles in Christ (25 min)
James Unwin, Macquarie University
In Honor and Dishonor: Differing Receptions of Paul’s Spectacle Metaphors in 2 Corinthians 4 and 6 (25 min)
S. Scott Bartchy, University of California-Los Angeles
Paul’s Unacknowledged Opponents (25 min)
S24-207

Book of Acts
11/24/2014
1:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Room: Room 1 B (Upper level) – San Diego Convention Center (CC)

Theme: Empowering, Empir-ing or Engaging? Acts in the Discourses of Politics

Steve Walton, St. Mary’s University, Twickenham, Presiding (5 min)
Matthew L. Skinner, Luther Seminary
Who Speaks for (or Against) Rome? Acts in Relation to Empire (30 min)
Bruce W. Winter, Macquarie University
Paul and Roman Law: The Luck of the Draw (30 min)
Warren Carter, Brite Divinity School (TCU)
Ship Happens: Acts 27 as an Aquatic Display of Navigating the Stormy Roman Imperial World (30 min)
Break (5 min)
Mikeal Parsons, Baylor University, Respondent (10 min)
Barbara Rossing, Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago, Respondent (10 min)
Discussion (30 min)
S24-211

Cognitive Linguistics in Biblical Interpretation
11/24/2014
1:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Room: Room 7 A (Upper level) – San Diego Convention Center (CC)

Bonnie Howe, Dominican University of California, Presiding
Ellen van Wolde, Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen
The Surplus of a Combination of Cognitive Linguistic Approaches to Grammar and Meaning (25 min)
Discussion (5 min)
Richard A. Rhodes, University of California-Berkeley
Interpreting the Vocabulary of Commands in Koine (25 min)
Discussion (5 min)
Timothy A. Brookins, Houston Baptist University
“Many Members, One Body”: The Stoic Body Metaphor and Conceptual Blending in Paul (25 min)
Discussion (5 min)
Discussion (40 min)
Business Meeting (20 min)
S24-212

Contextual Biblical Interpretation
11/24/2014
1:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Room: Indigo Ballroom D (Level 2 (Indigo)) – Hilton Bayfront (HB)

Theme: Paul’s Letters and Revelation
At the session, papers will be summarized and discussed in roundtable format. Papers will be available online ahead of time at http://www.youaregood.com/2014SBL_CBI.htm

James Grimshaw, Carroll University, Presiding
Paul’s Letters
Elsa Tamez, United Bible Societies
Reading Philippians from the Perspective of a Political Prisoner Waiting for a Sentence to Death (15 min)
Discussion (10 min)
Bernard Ukwuegbu, Seat of Wisdom Seminary
The Legitimating Function of the Sarah/Hagar Allegory in Gal 4:21-30: Insights from Social Identity Theory (15 min)
Discussion (10 min)
Jennifer Houston McNeel, Union Presbyterian Seminary
Paul and the Mommy Wars: Reading Paul’s Maternal Metaphors in Contemporary American Context (15 min)
Discussion (10 min)
Eric Bortey Anum, University of Cape Coast
Collaborative Hermeneutical Reading of 1 Tim 3:1-7 in the Ghanaian Context (15 min)
Discussion (10 min)
Revelation
Lynn Huber, Elon University
John’s Apocalypse and Queer Contextual Interpretation (15 min)
Discussion (10 min)
Gosnell Yorke, Northern Caribbean University
A Novel Take on John’s Apocalypse: A Proposed Movement from an Island-inspired Revelation to an Island-Inspired Reading (15 min)
Discussion (10 min)
S24-242

Rhetoric and the New Testament
11/24/2014
1:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Room: 400 B (Level 4 (Sapphire)) – Hilton Bayfront (HB)

Theme: Rhetorics of Vision and Visual Rhetorics: Ekphrasis and Beyond I

Lillian Larsen, University of Redlands, Presiding
Lillian Larsen, University of Redlands, Introduction (5 min)
Rebecca Skaggs, Patten University
The Rhetoric of the Apocalypse of John: Through the Lens of Vision-Reports (25 min)
Michael Kochenash, Claremont School of Theology
Cornelius’ Obeisance to Peter (Acts 10:25-26) and the Judea Capta Coins (25 min)
Robert von Thaden, Jr., Mercyhurst University
The Power of Pictures: The Somatic Power of Temple Images (25 min)
Elizabeth Arnold, Gardner-Webb University
Euripides and Ephesians: Peripeteia and Deus Ex Machina in Eph 2:1-10 (25 min)
Scott D. Mackie, Independent Scholar
Seeing a Way in the Wilderness: Visually Oriented Rhetoric in Hebrews 3–4 (25 min)
Discussion (20 min)
S24-333

Pauline Epistles
11/24/2014
4:00 PM to 6:30 PM
Room: Room 31 B (Upper level) – San Diego Convention Center (CC)

Theme: Paul and the Greco-Roman Context

Caroline Johnson Hodge, College of the Holy Cross, Presiding
Richard Last, Queen’s University
The periergazomenoi of Paul’s Thessalonian Christ-Group (2 Thess 3:6-15) (25 min)
Mitchell Alexander Esswein, Princeton Theological Seminary
The oikos of Christ and the Church at Corinth: Understanding oikonomos and oikonomia in Paul’s First Epistle to the Corinthians (25 min)
Tobias Hagerland, Lund University
Paul’s Large Letters in the Context of Hellenistic Primary Education (25 min)
Erin Roberts, University of South Carolina
Darkened, Senseless, Foolish Minds (25 min)
Geoffrey Smith, University of Texas at Austin
Contesting the Gift of Gnosis in 1 Corinthians (25 min)
S24-337

Reading, Theory, and the Bible
11/24/2014
4:00 PM to 6:30 PM
Room: 400 B (Level 4 (Sapphire)) – Hilton Bayfront (HB)

Robert Paul Seesengood, Albright College, Presiding
K. Jason Coker, Albertus Magnus College
The Corporation of God: Globalization Studies and God’s Basileia (30 min)
Yvonne Sherwood, University of Kent at Canterbury
The Mestizo Bible of Diego Durán (30 min)
Susanne Scholz, Southern Methodist University
Biblical Studies Is Feminist Biblical Studies, and Vice Versa (30 min)
Lindsey Guy, Drew University
Wasting Apocalyptic Time: Queer Temporality as Resistance in 1 Corinthians (30 min)
Ken Stone, Chicago Theological Seminary
‘The Matter of a Dead Animal’: Derrida, Klawans, and the Chimera of Biblical Sacrifice (30 min)
S24-341

Speech and Talk: Discourses and Social Practices in the Ancient Mediterranean World
11/24/2014
4:00 PM to 6:30 PM
Room: Room 7 A (Upper level) – San Diego Convention Center (CC)

Michal Beth Dinkler, Yale Divinity School, Presiding
Tilde Bak Halvgaard, University of Copenhagen
Language Speculation in the Thunder: Perfect Mind (25 min)
Discussion (5 min)
Jeremy F. Hultin, Murdoch University
The Sound of His Voice: Jesus’ Voice as Theological Problem (25 min)
Discussion (5 min)
Daniele Pevarello, Trinity College Dublin
Polylogia in Matt 6:7 within the Framework of Graeco-Roman and Jewish Discussions on Verbosity (25 min)
Discussion (5 min)
Cian Power, Harvard University
“A Nation from Afar, a Nation Whose Language You Do Not Understand”: The Theme of the Alloglot Invader in Biblical Prophecy (25 min)
Discussion (5 min)
Sin-pan Daniel Ho, Lutheran Theological Seminary, Hong Kong
Home-building in Christian Worship: A Discourse Analysis of 1 Cor 14:20-25 in light of the Domestic Cultic Practice in Roman Corinth (25 min)
Discussion (5 min)
S25-109

Bible, Myth, and Myth Theory
11/25/2014
9:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Room: 410 A (Level 4 (Sapphire)) – Hilton Bayfront (HB)

Robert Kawashima, University of Florida, Presiding
Francis Landy, University of Alberta
The Mythical and the Mystical: Rivers in Psalm 93 (30 min)
Noga Ayali-Darshan, Bar-Ilan University
The Mythologem of the Creation of Mount ?aphon Echoed in Job 26 and Psalm 89 (30 min)
Robert R. Cargill, University of Iowa
Swapping Sex for Drugs: Mandrake Mythology and Fertility Drugs in Gen 30:14-24 (30 min)
Andrew Tobolowsky, Brown University
The Sons of Jacob and the Sons of Herakles (30 min)
Jonathan Redding, Vanderbilt University
Decolonizing Daniel: A Post-Colonial Interpretational Examination (30 min)
S25-110

Children in the Biblical World; Gender, Sexuality, and the Bible
Joint Session With: Children in the Biblical World, Gender, Sexuality, and the Bible
11/25/2014
9:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Room: D (Level 3 (Aqua)) – Hilton Bayfront (HB)

Theme: Children, Gender, and Sexuality in the Biblical World

Laurel Taylor, Eden Theological Seminary, Presiding
Stephen M. Wilson, Duke University
What Makes a Man? The Construction of Biblical Masculinity in Contrast to Boyhood (20 min)
Discussion (5 min)
Caryn A. Reeder, Westmont College
Colonized Bodies: The Rape of Children in 4 Ezra, Josephus, and Tacitus (20 min)
Discussion (5 min)
Break (10 min)
Robert von Thaden, Jr., Mercyhurst University
Temple Children: Children, Sex, and the Rhetoric of Sacred Space (20 min)
Discussion (5 min)
John Penniman, Fordham University
“What Flows from the Breast Is Milk, and Milk Is the Food of Babes”: Infancy and Maternity in Gregory of Nyssa’s Homilies on the Song of Songs (20 min)
Discussion (5 min)
Discussion (20 min)
Business Meeting (20 min)
S25-116

Ethiopic Bible and Literature
11/25/2014
9:00 AM to 12:30 PM
Room: 400 B (Level 4 (Sapphire)) – Hilton Bayfront (HB)

Theme: Ideology, Sociology, and Literary Formation in the Ethiopic Tradition
The Ethiopic tradition bears as many marks of originality as it does marks of external influence. Influences come from Christian traditions—like the Greek, Syriac, and Armenian—but also from Jews and Muslims in the Horn of Africa. Ethiopian theologians and community leaders developed their own sense of identity and expressed these in their form of the biblical text (unique in form and extent) and in various works of literature. This session invites a vibrant discussion on these themes.

Ralph Lee, Holy Trinity Theological College, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Presiding
Steve Delamarter, George Fox University
The Singular, Dual, and Triple Textual Histories of Ethiopic Old Testament Texts (25 min)
Daneil Assefa, Capuchin Friary, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
The Traditional Ethiopian Commentary on the Animal Apocalypse of Enoch (25 min)
James Prather, Abilene Christian University
Artificial Intelligence and Data Mining Methods for Ethiopic Textual Criticism (25 min)
Desta Heliso, Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology
Canticles and Christology (25 min)
Yonatan Binyam, Florida State University
The Ethiopian Alexander: Tracing the Roots of Ethiopic Traditions about Alexander the Great in the Zena Ayhud (25 min)
Bruk A. Asale, University of KwaZulu-Natal
The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (EOTC) Canon of Scripture: Neither Open nor Closed (25 min)
Meron Tekleberhan, Ethiopian Graduate School of Theology
The Reception and Adaptation of 1 Cor 7:1-16 in Selected Ethiopic Literature: A Study in Biblical Reception History(25 min)
Alemayehu Gabreil, Saint Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary
Genesis 3:5 in the Ethiopic Tradition (25 min)
S25-129a

Paul and Judaism
11/25/2014
9:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Room: Sapphire Ballroom L (Level 4 (Sapphire)) – Hilton Bayfront (HB)

Theme: Re-Imagining Paul’s Assemblies Within Judaism

Magnus Zetterholm, Lund University, Presiding (5 min)
Michael Cover, Valparaiso University
Scripture Speaks: The Personification of Scripture as Interpretive Authority in Paul and the School of Rabbi Ishmael(25 min)
Karin Neutel, University of Groningen
A Cosmopolitan Community: Paul’s Eschatological Ideal in Its Jewish Context (25 min)
Break (5 min)
Genevive Dibley, University of California-Berkeley
Abraham’s Uncircumcised Children: the Enochic Precedent for Paul’s Program of Gentile Reclamation qua Gentiles(25 min)
Benjamin D. Gordon, Duke University
On the Sanctity of Mixtures and Branches: Two Halakhic Sayings in Romans 11 (25 min)
Discussion (25 min)
Business Meeting (15 min)
S25-131

Polis and Ekklesia: Investigations of Urban Christianity
11/25/2014
9:00 AM to 11:30 AM
Room: Sapphire Ballroom I (Level 4 (Sapphire)) – Hilton Bayfront (HB)

Theme: Philippi

James Harrison, Sydney College of Divinity, Presiding
Cedric Brelaz, Universite de Strasbourg
First-Century Philippi: The Social and Political Background of Paul’s Visit (25 min)
Richard Ascough, Queen’s University
Associations and the Social Dynamics in the Christ Group at Philippi (25 min)
Peter Oakes, University of Manchester
The Imperial Authorities in Paul’s Letter to Predominately Greek Hearers in a Roman Colony (25 min)
Samuel Vollenweider, Universität Zürich
Rivals, Opponents, and Enemies: Three Kinds of Theological Argumentation in Philippians (25 min)
L. White, University of Texas at Austin, Respondent (25 min)
Discussion (25 min)