Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Peter Kirby · 08-05-2005, 11:35 PM

The 2005 SBL program book has been published. Anything look especially interesting to you?

I have bought my tickets and booked my hotel room. I will be arriving on the morning of Saturday, November 19.

It should be a lot of fun. The SBL fee for student members is $70. Hotel and airfare is what kills you. So if you live around Philadelphia, this is a golden opportunity. Otherwise, it's still worth it if you're into this stuff.

I'm especially looking forward to the sessions with Stephen Carlson, especially the one on biblioblogging.

best wishes,
Peter Kirby

Toto · 08-06-2005, 12:27 AM

This looks interesting:

Ancient Fiction and Early Christian and Jewish Narrative
11/19/2005
9:00 AM to 11:30 AM

Jo-Ann Brant, Goshen College, Presiding
Ancient Fiction and the Gospel of Mark
Charles W. Hedrick, Southwest Missouri State University (Emeritus)
The Gospel of Mark and Realism in Western Narrative (20 min)
Paul Fullmer, The Graduate Theological Union
Death and Return to Life as Narrative Signal in Homer, Chariton, and the Gospel of Mark (20 min)
Eric Thurman, Drew University and Scott S. Elliott, A _Not Found

Quote:

Death and Return to Life as Narrative Signal in Homer, Chariton, and the Gospel of Mark

This study identifies an ancient storytelling convention in which narratives of death followed by a return to life accentuate significant points in a story. I will demonstrate the convention through a summary reading of certain novelistic texts such as Chariton’s Callirhoë and Apuleius’ Golden Ass, as well as in Homeric epic, the progenitor of such novelistic writings (Il. 5.628-703; 14.412-15.293; 22.437-515; Od. 5.423-493; 24.302-355). In Mark’s Gospel, this convention accentuates the power of Jesus’ ministry (Mark 5:21-43) as well as the ironic disloyalty of Jesus’ disciples as their failure is first assured (Mark 9:14-29) and then realized (Mark 16:1-8). The identification of this convention in the Gospel affirms an identification of the genre of Mark as novelistic literature (as Reiser, Tolbert, Wills, Vines, etc.). Moreover, the significant influence of epic, non-biblical traditions upon the Gospel becomes manifest without an assertion of direct dependence upon Homeric epic. Overall, the study provides a model for the examination of specific themes of the Gospel in light of related ancient literature that enhances modern understanding and appreciation of Mark’s story

Unsettling Heros: Reading Identity Politics in Mark’s Gospel and Ancient Fiction (20 min)
Whitney Shiner, George Mason University, Respondent (15 min)

Quote:

This paper locates the gospel of Mark within the larger context of ancient fiction in order to examine the construction and contestation of cultural identity in ancient narrative. Following Christine Thomas’ argument that early Christian literature, including the gospels, belongs to a type of popular narrative between klienliterature and hochliterature, this paper begins by situating the gospel historically within a range of ancient fiction characterized as “national hero romances�? (ala Martin Braun). Noting shared thematic interests between Mark and other pagan and Jewish novels, we will describe the politics of ancient popular literature, including the gospel, as decidedly “postcolonial,�? i.e., neither clearly anticolonial nor simply apologetic.

Discussion (10 min)
Break (5 min)

Carnival in Ancient Fiction
Bettina Fischer, University of Cape Town
The Battle of the Kingdoms: Carnivalistic Versions of the World in the Gospel of Luke (25 min)

Quote:

According to the Russian 20th literary scholar, Mikhail Bakhtin, the Menippea of the Graeco-Roman period is a body of diverse serio-comic texts, which contain the element of carnival as their distinguishing feature. Carnival presupposes double-voicedness, the carnival version being an inverted rendering of the mainstream discourse and of authoritarian structures of its time. This can take the form of either parody or utopia. Bakhtin classes the Greek Romance and early Christian literature, including the canonical Gospels, within this larger body of the Menippea. Part of a larger exploration into the carnivalistic inversions in the Gospel of Luke, this paper demonstrates how this element plays a crucial role on every level of the discourse of this text, which, if read that way, has a significant impact on interpretation. Jesus, as the carnival king, embodies the idea of the coming kingdom of God, this being the primary discourse that is tested throughout. The story line follows the carnival movement of birth, life, death and rebirth in the person of Jesus. The paper will also show how the text utilizes sections of Hebrew Scripture in a carnivalistic manner, rooting itself in the older text even when it renders it in an inverted form, actively entering into dialogue with it. The paper ends with a discussion of the carnival element in the parables of the Good Samaritan, the Rich Man and the beggar, Lazarus, and the Lost Son.

Don Polaski, College of William and Mary
"And also to the Jews in Their Script": Power and Writing in the Scroll of Esther (25 min)
Discussion (10 min)

And then there's this:

Quote:

Identifying the Hand of Secret Mark

The Secret Gospel of Mark is only known from a single manuscript of a previously unknown letter attributed to Clement of Alexandria that had been copied onto the end papers of a 17th century book. The experts consulted by the original editor of Secret Mark, Morton Smith, initially dated the hand to the 18th century, and this dating has not been seriously disputed since its publication in 1973. This study revisits the paleography of the manuscript by comparing the hand with MSS written at Mar Saba in the 18th century and concludes that the hand differs in many significant respects, including a "forger's tremor" and other mistakes in execution. This study also uncovers a second, previously unnoticed, MS at Mar Saba from the same hand, which Smith himself identified as belonging to a 20th century individual. Samples of that individual's Greek handwriting have been obtained and are found to account for the observed anomalies in the hand. The person who penned the Secret Mark MS is no longer a mystery.

And this:
Formation of Luke-Acts
11/21/2005
1:00 PM to 3:30 PM
Room: Salon L (Level Five) - Marriott

Theme: The Systematic Dependence of the New Testament on the LXX and on Each Other
Panel review of, Thomas L. Brodie, The Birthing of the New Testament: The Intertextual Development of the NT Writings(Sheffield Phoenix, 2004)

Robert Brawley, McCormick Theological Seminary, Presiding
Ellen van Wolde, Tilburg University
Challenged by Thomas Brodie's Intertextual Approach (25 min)
Dennis R. MacDonald, Claremont School of Theology
'The Birthing': A Reliable Method of Relating Texts? (25 min)
Mikael Winninge, Umea University
The Elijah-Elisha Narrative at Work in Luke-Acts: A Review of 'The Birthing' (25 min)
Heikki Leppa, University of Helsinki
The Gospels' Use of the Epistles in 'The Birthing' (25 min)
Thomas L. Brodie, University of Limerick
The Reasonableness of Seeing the New Testament as an Inspired Book (25 min)
Discussion (25 min)

Toto · 08-06-2005, 01:09 AM

And then there is this:

Theodore W. Jennings, Chicago Theological Seminary
Paul and (Post-modern) Political Thought

Quote:

Paul and (Post-modern) Political Thought

The discussion of Paul and Politics has often focused on Paul in his own 1st century environment. In this paper I propose to link up that discussion with another that has been underway for some time in contemporary continental thought that deals with Paul as a political thinker of importance for contemporary radical politics. Building upon reflections on the intersection of Pauline thought with that of Jacques Derrida on the question of justice I will indicate in what way Paul becomes a central figure for the political perspectives of thinkers as diverse as Alain Badiou, Slovoj Zizek and Giorggio Agamben. In Jacob Taubes’ phrase these are not specifically Christian thinkers but they are decidedly paulinists who understand Paul as in one way or another engaged (again to paraphrase Taubes) in a declaration of war, or at least unremitting struggle, against empire, then and now.

Vorkosigan · 08-06-2005, 09:11 PM

Thanks for the heads up, Toto. It looks like I need to get a copy of that paper.

Vorkosigan

08-05-2005, 11:35 PM	#1
Peter Kirby Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: the reliquary of Ockham's razor Posts: 4,035	SBL 2005 Program Book Published The 2005 SBL program book has been published. Anything look especially interesting to you? I have bought my tickets and booked my hotel room. I will be arriving on the morning of Saturday, November 19. It should be a lot of fun. The SBL fee for student members is $70. Hotel and airfare is what kills you. So if you live around Philadelphia, this is a golden opportunity. Otherwise, it's still worth it if you're into this stuff. I'm especially looking forward to the sessions with Stephen Carlson, especially the one on biblioblogging. best wishes, Peter Kirby

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08-06-2005, 09:11 PM	#4
Vorkosigan Contributor Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Barrayar Posts: 11,866	Thanks for the heads up, Toto. It looks like I need to get a copy of that paper. Vorkosigan

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