RBL 24/3/2011

Daphna Arbel, J. R. C. Cousland & Dietmar Neufeld, ".And So They Went Out": The Lives of Adam and Eve as Cultural Transformative Story
Reviewed by Deborah Rooke

Ehud Ben Zvi, Diana Edelman, and Frank Polak, eds., A Palimpsest: Rhetoric, Ideology, Stylistics, and Language Relating to Persian Israel
Reviewed by Bob Becking

Martin Hengel; ed. Claus-Jürgen Thornton, Studien zur Christologie: Kleine Schriften IV
Reviewed by Lars Kierspel

Horace D. Hummel, Ezekiel 21-48
Reviewed by Ralph K. Hawkins

AnneMarie Luijendijk, Greetings in the Lord: Early Christians in the Oxyrhynchus Papyri
Reviewed by Pieter W. van der Horst

Maarten J. J. Menken and Steve Moyise, eds., The Minor Prophets in the New Testament
Reviewed by Michael Labahn

Dermot Anthony Nestor, Cognitive Perspectives on Israelite Identity
Reviewed by Frank H. Polak

Marco Nobile, Saggi su Ezechiele
Reviewed by Donatella Scaiola

Kelli S. O'Brien, The Use of Scripture in the Markan Passion Narrative
Reviewed by Maarten J. J. Menken

Horst Seebass, Numeri: Kapitel 22,2-36,13
Reviewed by John Engle

Ένα νέο άρθρο στην τρέχουσα ηλεκτρονική έκδοση του JGRChrJ / A new article in the current e-edition of JGRChrJ

Στο τρέχον ηλεκτρονικό τεύχος του περιοδικού Journal of Greco-Roman Christianity and Judaism 7 (2010) αναρτήθηκε ένα νέο άρθρο, το οποίο οι ενδιαφερόμενοι αναγνώστες μπορούν να διαβάσουν ή να καταφορτώσουν (pdf):

Craig S. Keener, "Acts 10: Were Troops Stationed in Caesarea during Agrippa's Rule?"

Στο νέο τεύχος του OTE (OTSSA) / In the current issue of OTE (OTSSA)

Στο τρέχον τεύχος του περιοδικού Old Testament Essays (OTSSA) 23:3 (2010) δημοσιεύονται τα εξής άρθρα:

 

• David T. Adamo, "Teaching the history of ancient Israel from an African perspective : the invasion of Sennacherib of 701 B.C.E. as an example", 473-501
• Gérard N. Amzallag / Mikhal Avriel, "Complex antiphony in Psalms 121, 126 and 128 : the steady responsa hypothesis", 502-518
• Randall C. Bailey, "Why do readers believe Lot? : Genesis 19 reconsidered", 519-548
• Ulrich Berges, "The book of Isaiah as Isaiah's book : the latest developments in the research of the Prophets", 549-573
• Phil J. Botha, "Psalm 108 and the quest for closure to the exile", 574-596
• Elelwani Farisani, "Kuhumbulele, divhazwakale na mahumbulwa a thalutshedzelo : u saukanya ho dzhenelelaho ha 1 Dzikhosi 21:1-16 bivhilini ya Tshivenda", 597-626
• Jacobus W. Gericke, "Old Testament theology and philosophy of religion : a brief history of interdisciplinary relations", 627-651
• Frances Klopper, "Rape and the case of Dinah : ethical responsibilities for reading Genesis 34", 652-665
• James A. Loader, "Levels of contextual synergy in the Korah Psalms : the example of Psalm 86", 666-680
• John Lübbe, "The Danite invasion of Laish and the purpose of the book of Judges", 681-692
• Leonard P. Maré, "Creation theology in Psalm 139", 693-707
• Lee R. Martin, "Delighting in the Torah : the affective dimension of Psalm 1", 708-727
• Madipoane J. Masenya, "Parental instruction in differing contexts : using hermeneutical phenomenology to understand selected biblical and African proverbs", 728-751
• Andrew M. Mbuvi, "The ancient Mediterranean values of "honour and shame" as a hermeneutical lens of reading the book of Job", 752-768
• Ndikho Mtshiselwa, "How the Methodist Church of Southern Africa read Leviticus 18:22 and 20:13 in view of homosexuality", 769-787
• Charl W. Retief, "When interpretation traditions speak too loud for ethical dilemmas to be heard : on the untimely death of Haran (Genesis 11:28)", 788-803
• Gerrie Snyman, "The ethics of reading and the quest for the audience in the book of Chronicles", 804-821
• Peet J. van Dyk, "Eco-theology and losing the sacred", 822-833
• Beat Weber, "Die Buchouvertüre Psalm 1-3 und ihre Bedeutung für das Verständnis des Psalters", 834-845
• Willie Wessels, "God the creator : contrasting images in Psalm 65:10-14 and Jeremiah 23:9-15", 846-860
• Gerald O. West, "Unstructural analysis of the Bible reinforcing unstructural analysis of African contexts in (South) Africa?", 861-888
• Gunther H. Wittenberg, "In search of the right metaphor : a response to Peet van Dyk's "Challenges in the search for an ecotheology" ; part two: searching for an alternative", 889-912
• Ulrich Berges, "Obituary: Prof. Dr. Erich Zenger : (5.7.1939 - 4.4.2010)", 913-916

Το πρόγραμμα της Ακαδημίας Βόλου / The program of The Academy of Theological Studies of Volos

Στην ιστοσελίδα της Ακαδημίας Θεολογικών Σπουδών Βόλου έχει αναρτηθεί (σε pdf) το πρόγραμμα εκδηλώσεων για τη φετινή χρονιά. Ανάμεσά τους υπάρχουν αρκετά βιβλικού ενδιαφέροντος. Για να το διαβάσετε, πατήστε εδώ.

Ένα νέο άρθρο στην ιστοσελίδα The Bible and Interpetation / A new article on the Bible and Interpretation

Στην ιστοσελίδα The Bible and Interpretation έχει αναρτηθεί ένα νέο άρθρο, της Megan Bishop Moore, με τον τίτλο: "How to Study Israel's History"

Στο τρέχον τεύχος του ThLZ / In the current issue of ThLZ

Στο τρέχον τεύχος του περιοδικού Theologische Literaturzeitung 136:3 (2011) δημοσιεύονται τα εξής άρθρα βιβλικού ενδιαφέροντος:

• Konrad Schmid, "Literaturgeschichte des Alten Testaments : Aufgaben, Stand, Problemfelder und Perspektiven", 243-262
• Martin Ohst, "Wilfried Eckey zum Gedenken", 356-357

Συνέδριο για τον Μυστικό Μάρκο / A Conference on Secret Mark

Στο ιστολόγιο Apocryphicity αναρτήθηκε το προκαταρκτικό πρόγραμμα του συνεδρίου για το Μυστικό κατά Μάρκον, το οποίο θα λάβει χώρα στο Πανεπιστήμιο του York στις 29 Απριλίου. Παραθέτω το πρόγραμμα και τις περιγραφές των εισηγήσεων, όπως έχουν αναρτηθεί στο παραπάνω ιστολόγιο:

The York University Christian Apocrypha Symposium Series Presents:

Ancient Gospel of Modern Forgery? The Secret Gospel of Mark in Debate
Vanier College, April 29, 2011

9:00-9:15 Introductions: Tony Burke (York University) and Philip Harland (York University)

9:15-12:00 Session 1: The Authenticity Debate

Chair: Tony Burke, York University

The Case for Authenticity

9:15-9:30 “Secret Mark: Moving on from Stalemate,” Charles Hedrick (Missouri State University, Missouri)

This paper will briefly survey the status quo of scholarship on the Letter to Theodore and a Secret Gospel of Mark, and argue that, with the failure of the modern forgery theorists to make their case, research has no choice but to move on to a study the missing manuscript itself by means of the photographs. The paper, working back from the 18th century, argues that the sudden appearance of a previously unknown 2/3rd century manuscript in 18th century handwriting is not unusual. During the Renaissance, the classics of Greco-Roman tradition were recovered in versions much later than the time of their original composition—including texts previously unknown. The Letter to Theodore is taken seriously as deriving from the 2/3rd century, while Ernest Best’s argument that the longer excerpt of Secret Mark is “too much like Mark” to be Mark is found to be unconvincing. On the other hand, if the excerpts from a Longer Gospel of Mark in the Letter to Theodore are forgeries, they are likely to be early forgeries created in the context of Greco-Roman education, which stressed imitation as an important way of learning.

9:30-9:45 Response: Bruce Chilton (Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, New York)

9:45-10:00 Discussion

The Case for Forgery

10:00-10:15 “Morton Smith and the Secret Gospel of Mark: Exploring the Grounds for Doubt,” Craig Evans (Acadia Divinity College, Wolfville, Nova Scotia)

Although at one time I accepted Morton Smith’s account of his 1958 discovery of a lost letter of Clement of Alexandria, in which a longer edition of the Gospel of Mark is discussed and quoted, I no longer do so. I have doubts primarily because of a number of coincidences. The most troubling are these: (1) In three publications prior to the claimed discovery at Mar Saba Smith discussed the very elements that came to light in the discovery; and (2) Smith’s visit to Mar Saba, including his description of his frame of mind during the visit, parallels that of a fictional archaeologist in James Hunter’s novel, The Mystery of Mar Saba, published in 1940. The parallels are so close, one suspects influence, even dependence. Because Hunter’s novel predates Smith’s “discovery” by some 18 years, one must wonder if the novel served as Smith’s inspiration. For purposes of comparison Paul Coleman-Norton’s “Amusing Agraphon,” which is almost certainly a hoax, will also be discussed.

10:15-10:30 Response: Allan J. Pantuck (University of California, Los Angeles)

10:30-10:45 Discussion
10:45-11:00 Break

11:00-11:15 Report on Handwriting Analyses, Hershel Shanks (Editor, Biblical Archaeology Review)

11:15-12:00 pm General Discussion

12:00-1:30 pm Lunch


1:30-5:00 Session 2: Contexts and Interpretations
Chair: Phil Harland (York University)

1:30-1:45 “The Young Streaker in Secret and Canonical Mark,” Marvin Meyer (Chapman University, California)

This paper, which assumes the authenticity of the Secret Gospel of Mark, focuses attention upon the several references to the youth, or neaniskos, in Secret and Canonical Mark. Such a youth, sometimes fleeing and often naked, is also to be found in other literary and artistic contexts. In the paper these literary and artistic presentations are surveyed, and their significance is assessed. The references to the youth in Markan literature are then studied, individually and in possible relation to one another, and conclusions are drawn about the neaniskos as a thematic literary element in Secret and Canonical Mark employed to further Mark's message of discipleship in the face of the cross.

1:45-2:00 Discussion

2:00-2:15 “Halfway Between Sabbatai Tzevi and Aleister Crowley: Morton Smith’s ‘Own Concept of What Jesus “Must” Have Been’ and, Once Again, the Question of Evidence,” Pierluigi Piovanelli (University of Ottawa)

The recently published correspondence between Morton Smith and Gershom Scholem (1945-1982) provides new clues and insight into Smith’s intellectual itinerary. Smith claimed that in 1958 at Mar Saba, he discovered a fragment of a lost letter attributed to Clement of Alexandria which contained two quotations taken from a Secret Gospel of Mark. In fact, it seems far more plausible that Smith created the document himself, not in order to ridicule his colleagues, but rather, with the intention of promoting a new approach to the study of the Historical Jesus and Early Christianity.

2:15-2:30 Discussion

2:30-2:45 “What did he know and when did he know it? Further Excavations from the Morton Smith Archives,”Allan J. Pantuck (University of California, Los Angeles)

The theory that Morton Smith forged the Letter to Theodore presupposes both that he possessed all the expertise needed to create it and that he composed it for a specific purpose and with an intended interpretation prior to “discovering” it in 1958. This theory is possible to test. While there is no doubt that Morton Smith was an extremely competent scholar, was proficient in reading various ancient languages, and was acquainted with Greek manuscripts, there is little evidence that Smith, prior to his discovery, possessed an intimate knowledge of the writings of Clement of Alexandria sufficient to compose a de novo, original composition in Patristic Greek that would successfully imitate Clement’s complex thought, vocabulary, and writing style. Further, it has been persuasively established that Smith lacked the paleographic skills to physically write the Letter’s natural, free flowing, native eighteenth-century cursive Greek hand. A global survey of archival Smith papers and correspondence suggests both that Smith lacked the necessary abilities and motives to produce a text such as the Letter to Theodore in the 1950s, and that during the five years between 1958 and the completion of the first draft of Clement of Alexandria and a Secret Gospel of Mark in June 1963, he was in fact developing his understanding of the letter’s significance and doing the research that he presented in this book.

2:45-3:00 Discussion

3:00-3:15 Break

3:15-3:30 “Clement's Mysteries and Morton Smith's Magic,” Peter Jeffery (University of Notre Dame, Indiana)

The use by early Christian writers of vocabulary from the ancient mystery cults has been debated since the 17th century, but it is now possible to see that it represents a coalescence of idioms that were originally distinct. This is particularly clear in the writings of Clement of Alexandria, who describes the Christian sacraments, including the public reading of the scriptures, using glossaries from (1) Jewish apocalyptic, reapplied in the New Testament to the Incarnation of Jesus, (2) philosophical writing by Plato, and (3) typological, exegesis derived from Philo. The Mar Saba document, however, seems to follow the Clement of the Protrepticus, who was using mystery vocabulary literally in his disparaging descriptions of actual mystery cults. In this it seems to follow Morton Smith’s idiosyncratic understanding of “magic,” which made no distinctions among phenomena like shamanism, mysticism, divination, sacraments, miraculous healing, and so on—or among ancient Jewish, Greek, Egyptian, Near Eastern, Christian and Gnostic sources. For Smith, all forms of magic were the same, fraudulent attempts to induce paranormal experiences which, though they may be described in language of heavenly ascent, are fundamentally, or at least metaphorically, about (homo)sexual climax. Thus the writings of Smith provide the frame that makes sense out of the Mar Saba letter of “Clement,” just as the letter provides the frame that makes sense out of the “gospel excerpts.”

3:30-3:45 Discussion

3:45-4:00 “Behind the Seven Veils, I: The Gnostic Life Setting of the Mystic Gospel of Mark,” Scott Brown (Independent Scholar, Toronto)

An accurate understanding the life setting of the mystikon Gospel of Mark, as this is described in the Letter to Theodore, is vital to assessing the letter’s authenticity. Previous attempts to define this life setting have focused on the statement that this gospel was read “only to those who are being initiated into the great mysteries.” Are these persons candidates for baptism, as Morton Smith and most other scholars have reasoned? Or are they instead the most advanced students in Clement’s school (the “true gnostics”), as I have argued? The present paper expands on my previous studies by demonstrating, first, that the great mysteries in Clement’s undisputed writings are esoteric teachings pertaining to the noetic world, and second, that the letter confirms this meaning through its statement that the interpretation of the mystikon gospel “leads the hearers into the innermost sanctuary of the sevenfold veiled truth.” The decisive relevance of this metaphor has previously been overlooked: in Clement’s undisputed works, entering the innermost sanctuary connotes the mystical experience of perceiving the noetic world and rising incrementally through it (Strom. V.6.32.1–40.4; VI.8.68; Exc. 27.1–6). Initiation into the great mysteries and entry into the innermost sanctuary therefore describe the same thing—instruction in, and apprehension of, the unwritten gnostic tradition.

4:00-4:15 Discussion

4:15-5:00 General Discussion

7:00-9:00 pm Public Forum

Introductions: Tony Burke (York University)
Chair: Phil Harland (York University)

Panelists: Scott Brown (Independent Scholar, Toronto), Craig Evans (Acadia Divinity College, Wolfville, Nova Scotia), Peter Jeffery (University

Στο νέο τεύχος του περιοδικού Apocrypha / In the new issue of Apocrypha

Στο τρέχον τεύχος του περιοδικού Apocrypha 20 (2009) δημοσιεύονται τα εξής άρθρα:

•  François Bovon, "From Vermont to Cyprus : a new witness of the 'Acts of Philip'", 9-27
• Marielle Lamy, "Les Apocryphes dans les premiers chapitres des deux plus célèbres "Vies du Christ" de la fin du Moyen ˆAge : (les "Meditationes vitae Christi" du Pseudo-Bonaventure et la "Vita Christi" de Ludolfe le Chartreux)", 29-82
• Uáitéar MacGearailt, "The Middle Irish homily 'Scéla Laí Brátha'", 83-114
• Alain Desreumaux, "Deux anciens manuscrits syriaques d'oeuvres apocryphes dans le nouveau fonds de Sainte-Catherine du Sinaï : la 'Vie de la Vierge' et 'Les actes d'André et Mathias'", 115-136
• Charles Naffah, "Les "histoires" syriaques de la Vierge : traditions apocryphes anciennes et récentes", 137-188
• Régis Burnet, "Jude l'obscur ou comment écrire les actes d'un apôtre inconnu", 189-212
• Anna VandenKerchove, "Sacrifices de la foule, sacrifice de Judas : l'"Évangile de Judas" et le thème sacrificiel", 213-228
• José Montserrat Torrents, "L'ascension de l'âme dans l'"Évangile de Judas" (45, 24-47, 1)", 229-237
• Jean D. Dubois, "L'"Évangile de Judas" en question : à propos de quelques livres récents ; étude critique", 239-249
• Thierry Legrand, "A la recherche des Juifs qui croyaient en Jésus : à propos d'un ouvrage récent ", 251-264
• Simon C. Mimouni, "La question de l'hérésie ou de l'orthodoxie et de l'hétérodoxie : étude critique", 265-279

Ένα νέο άρθρο στο τρέχον τεύχος του JHS / A new article in the current issue of JHS

Στο τρέχον τεύχος του περιοδικού Journal of Hebrew Scriptures 11 (2011) αναρτήθηκε ένα νέο άρθρο, το οποίο οι ενδιαφερόμενοι αναγνώστες μπορούν να διαβάσουν ή να καταφορτώσουν (σε pdf):

Veronika Bachmann, "The Book of The Watchers (1 Enoch 1-36): An Anti-Mosaic, Non-Mosaic, or Even Pro-Mosaic Writing?"

Παρουσίαση του νέου βιβλίου του καθ. Χ. Οικονόμου / Presentation of the new book of Ch. Economou

Την Τρίτη 22 Μαρτίου 2011 και ώρα 19.00 θα γίνει η παρουσίαση του νέου βιβλίου του καθηγητή της Κ.Δ. στο Τμήμα Ποιμαντικής και Κοινωνικής Θεολογίας του ΑΠΘ κ. Χ. Οικονόμου στο Βυζαντινό Μουσείο Θεσσαλονίκης.

Για να διαβάσετε το πρόγραμμα της εκδήλωσης, πατήστε εδώ.